Transactions Newsletter

MTC Prepares Blueprint for Next Century

MTC has launched a year-long project to develop a "plan of plans" that will coordinate a host of disparate plans, strategies and ideas for Bay Area transportation. Titled the "Bay Area Transportation Blueprint for the 21st Century," the project's goal is to set priorities, evaluate feasibility and identify potential funding for diverse transportation proposals that are on the drawing board but lack the wherewithal to carry them out.

"We're examining proposals ranging from the $23 billion California high-speed rail line, to expanded ferry service on the Bay, renovating or replacing the Transbay Terminal and adding a fourth bore to the Caldecott Tunnel," said MTC project manager Doug Kimsey. "None of these proposals is included in the 1998 Regional Transportation Plan, (RTP) because they have no identified funding sources."

Kimsey said the first step is to create an inventory of all the transportation plans and projects; second, to evaluate how each would fit into the region's transportation network; third, to develop a regional consensus on their priority; and fourth, to identify potential funding sources, such as a statewide sales or gas tax, a statewide bond measure, regional gas tax, county sales taxes or a rollover of the BART property tax.

The RTP, adopted by MTC last October, outlines $88 billion worth of expenditures in federal, state and regional revenue anticipated over the next 20 years to operate, maintain and improve the region's existing transportation system. By law, the plan may include only transportation projects the region can afford, meaning that the 20-year plan must fit the 20-year budget.

The RTP also identifies transportation projects and programs that are needed but lack identified funds. Known as "Track 2," these projects are included in the mix being examined in the "Blueprint."

The Blueprint planning effort will be overseen by MTC's Executive Committee in cooperation with the Bay Area Partnership, which is made up of the leaders of the region's major transportation, land-use and environmental agencies. The planning work will include outreach to relevant local, state and federal officials, the business and environmental communities, and the general public.

Two rounds of public outreach meetings will be held around the region, the first in late spring, the second near the end of the study process.

-- Reka Goode

• Clean Air 101
• Classification Catch-22
• Air Quality Glossary
  Bay Area Air Quality Timeline
• Reduction in Emissions for
  Transportation Control Measures
• MTC Prepares Blueprint for Next Century
• Caldecott Tunnel Study Expands in Corridor
• Transportation Frustration Tracks Economy