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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

July/August 2003

Facts and Figures

Summit E-voting Yields Consensus and Contradictions
 A highlight of MTC’s Transportation 2030 Summit in June (see story) was the interactive e-voting that allowed attendees to register their opinions right from their seats.

The polling produced some paradoxical results. A full 89 percent of the 450-plus attendees agreed with the statement that the Bay Area should critically re-examine all its transportation policies, programs and projects. Yet there was little support for reducing money for MTC’s current top priority: operations and maintenance of existing infrastructure and services.

A huge majority of the e-voters favored modifying the goals of the existing 2001 Regional Transportation Plan, but no clear vision emerged of specific new goals for the forthcoming Transportation 2030 Plan.

The issue of the transportation/land-use connection elicited some strong responses. Nearly 80 percent voted to substantially modify the region’s approach to transportation and land use. And in excess of 90 percent of e-voters indicated that MTC should be proactive in using incentives to promote transit-oriented development. At the same time, nearly two-thirds thought that local governments — not MTC — should continue to make land-use decisions, and two-thirds agreed that government should not force people to live in smaller housing units in dense urban centers.

When asked whether prior commitments should be dropped, fewer than half the attendees answered “yes.” Instead, 77 percent supported finding new revenue sources to pay for new transportation investments.
— John Goodwin

Leave unchanged or modify?

Unchanged
Modify

Should the goals in the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan remain basically unchanged or would you propose they be modified for the 2030 plan?

16%
84%

Should the balance of existing commitments (90 percent) and new investments (10 percent) remain unchanged for the 2030 plan or would you propose the proportions be modified?

25%
75%

Should the current approach to land use and transportation remain basically unchanged in the 2030 plan or would you propose it be substantially modified?

21%
79%

Do you agree or disagree?

Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree

We must critically re-examine all of our policies, programs and projects.

65%
24%
8%
3%

Local governments, not regional agencies, should continue to control local land use.

32%
30%
23%
16%

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission should use incentives and rewards to push local communities to build transit-friendly developments.

72%
21%
2%
5%

Many people don’t want to live in smaller housing units in dense urban centers, so government should not try to force them.

37%
30%
20%
12%

Instead of dropping prior commitments, we should find new money for new projects and programs.

44%
33%
13%
10%

Due to rounding, percentages may not add up to 100.


Get involved... in mapping the region’s future via our interactive Web site: www.mtc.ca.gov/T2030

  • Take the online issues survey
  • Submit creative ideas for taming traffic, improving mobility and promoting livability.


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