TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

March/April 2004

Commission Actions

January 2004

Approved the ABAG*/MTC Task Force final report and recommendations for fostering closer collaboration between the two agencies. The report calls for the creation of a permanent joint policy committee — consisting of representatives from both boards — that would have authority to review and comment on regional plans or strategies devised by either agency. The committee will focus its initial efforts on developing incentives and information sharing strategies to implement the Smart Growth Vision adopted by ABAG and MTC in 2003. In approving the report, the Commission also requested that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District be invited to join the new joint policy committee.

* Association of Bay Area Governments

February 2004

Acting through the Administration Committee, authorized $150,000 to study how four transit operators serving suburban areas of the East Bay (Central Contra Costa Transit Authority, Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority, Western Contra Costa Transit Authority and Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority) can collectively improve transit service efficiency and effectiveness. The study will include an analysis of both functional and possible institutional consolidations among the four agencies.

March 2004

Released the draft 2004 Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP) for review and held a public hearing on the RTIP on March 24, 2004. Scheduled for adoption on April 28, 2004, the draft 2004 RTIP reflects Bay Area funding priorities for inclusion in California’s 2004 State Transportation Improvement Program. Due to the state’s difficult budget situation, no new funds are available for transportation projects. The draft 2004 RTIP therefore reschedules projects from early years to later years of the RTIP program cycle.
Acted to support a state bill that would increase the size of MTC’s governing board as a way of making the Commission more proportionally representative of current population patternsin the region. AB 2741 (Salinas/Wolk) would add two new voting members — one to be appointed by the mayor of Oakland and the other by the mayor of San Jose — to the Commission’s roster.

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