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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

September 1999
Hats Off to Heroes: Merit Awards

Merit Award
Transportation Choices Forum & BOSS
One group, the Bay Area Transportation Choices Forum, was formed in 1997 specifically to participate in regional transportation planning decisions. The other, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), found itself drawn into the transportation arena as an outgrowth of its quarter-century-long struggle against poverty and homelessness. Both groups found themselves working together to advocate increased funding for public transit in MTC's 1998 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and in Alameda County's proposed expenditure plan for a renewal of its half-cent sales tax for transportation. Singling out for special praise Transportation Choices Forum Executive Director Stuart Cohen and BOSS' Director of Community Organizing Dawn Phillips, MTC's Deputy Executive Director Steve Heminger said, "We are pleased to recognize these two groups for bringing new voices to the transportation planning table."

-- Joe Curley

Merit Award
Bill Baxter and the Santa Clara County Traffic Operations Center
Bill BaxterWith its bank of video screens showing live images of traffic at key intersections along expressways, the Santa Clara County Traffic Operations Center (TOC) is on the cutting edge of technology.

The $1.7 million center became a reality in May of 1998 thanks to the tenacity of Bill Baxter, branch manager for the County Roads and Airports Department. "It is a tool to more efficiently handle increasing volumes of traffic in the county," explained Baxter.

The TOC allows five cities and the county to coordinate traffic movement across jurisdictional lines. Data flows into the center from more than 2,000 road sensors that can detect signal malfunctions or traffic slow-downs. Technicians can zero in on problems via a network of dozens of strategically placed video cameras, and can quickly adjust the timing of traffic signals or dispatch signal maintenance crews -- and eventually will be able to direct motorists to alternate routes via changeable message signs.

The program is expected to expand to all 130 intersections along all 75 miles of expressway in the county within the next few years.

-- Catalina Alvarado
(Photo: Richard Wheeler)

Merit Award
Caltrans District 4 Public Awareness Campaign Team
When construction work on a freeway slows traffic or requires a detour, motorists may chafe at the delay and blame the Caltrans workers. In an effort to increase public awareness of safety needs near highway work areas and improve the public's overall perception of Caltrans, a group of Caltrans District 4 employees organized a Public Awareness Campaign (PAC). The PAC team members have produced radio and TV public service announcements, pamphlets, flyers, changeable sign messages, videos and even a children's activity book on transportation that is now in use statewide.

To keep costs down, the PAC team conveys its messages through partnerships with other organizations, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, California Highway Patrol, California State Automobile Association, major Bay Area airports, car rental agencies, sports arenas, hospitals and a cable TV firm. PAC team members also take their program to schools.

-- Marjorie Blackwell

Merit Award
Phil Frank
Phil FrankMany a Bay Area commuter starts the morning by flipping to the back page of the San Francisco Chronicle news section for a daily dose of "Farley," the newspaper's long-running comic strip about local politics and lifestyles. A good percentage of the time, the topic is transportation related, be it the travails of parking in San Francisco or waiting for a Muni bus, our irrational attachment to automobiles, or the hot issue du jour.

The strip's eponymous protagonist -- a reporter for the mythical Daily Requirement, a thinly disguised version of the S.F. Chronicle -- strongly resembles Phil Frank, the cartoonist who created the Farley character 24 years ago. In its first incarnation, the strip was nationally syndicated and was called "Travels With Farley." In 1986, Frank turned the comic into an exclusive feature of the Chronicle, shifting the focus to local topics.

Whether working in his office in the clock tower of the Chronicle, or in his studio -- a pilot house atop an 1880s ferry moored in Sausalito -- Frank mines the headlines for his humor. "My strip is intended to be a fun look at serious issues. And usually it mirrors the way the public is feeling," he said.

-- Brenda Kahn

Farley

(Click to enlarge)

Merit Award
S.F. Caltrain Station Renovation
From a rather drab and uninviting place, Caltrain's 23-year-old terminus at 4th and King streets in San Francisco has been transformed into a light and airy structure, its glass-and-steel enclosed concourse -- designed by VBN Architects of Oakland -- winning rave reviews from passengers.

Photo: Russell Abraham

S.F. Caltrain StationFinanced by federal and state moneys, the $6.5 million facelift was not just for cosmetic purposes, however, according to Ross Weir, manager of the project for the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which operates the Caltrain commuter rail line. "A major thrust of the renovation was to make the site more accessible to persons with disabilities," he said. In addition to tactile warning strips along platform edges, lowered ticket counter windows and bathrooms that are now up to Americans With Disabilities Act guidelines, the station also features "talking signs" for visually impaired passengers.

A wide, sheltered pathway allows those making transfers to buses and the Muni Metro light-rail line to reach their destinations without having to brave the elements. Bicyclists, too, have been provided for, with storage spaces created for 200 bicycles. And with the soon-to-be-completed Pac Bell Park just a short walk away, Giants fans will find the sparkling new station a fitting gateway to the burgeoning South-of-Market neighborhood.

Launched in December 1997, the refurbishing took place while normal train operations continued, with thousands of travelers passing through the station. The official ribbon-cutting took place in December 1998, and the final touches were completed this summer.

-- Réka Goode

Merit Award
Fair, Isaac Petaluma Commute Center
When Fair, Isaac and Co. began planning new corporate offices in San Rafael two years ago, the software company's vice president for real estate and facilities management, Michael Gordon, hit upon an idea to ease the commute for the nearly 200 Sonoma County residents who form 25 percent of the firm's local work force. A satellite office was set up in Petaluma to give employees a place to wait out peak-period traffic congestion on Highway 101 and get a start on their workday at the same time.

In operation since 1997, the 2,400-square-foot facility offers Fair, Isaac workers 34 work stations with connections to the main office via phones, faxes and computers. Located one block from the freeway, the facility is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, allowing employees to stop for an hour or two on the way to or from San Rafael, or put in some after-hours or weekend time. Abe Kleinfeld, the company's facility operations manager, notes, "We have a core group of employees who use the center on a regular basis. They feel it's a great boon to their productivity... and it's also a good morale booster." Begun as an experiment, the commute center could serve as a model for similar facilities in the South and East Bay for Fair, Isaac employees with even longer commutes.

-- Réka Goode

Dianne Fukami of Bridge Media, Inc. assisted with interviews of the award winners.

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