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Legislative Hearings

With transportation again topping the list of Bay Area residents' concerns in the 1999 edition of the Bay Area Council's annual poll, members of the region's state delegation are weighing in with proposed legislative solutions to worsening traffic congestion.

(Photo ©2000 Noah Berger) State Sen. Don Perata presided over the hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Bay Area Transportation held in Oakland in December.

The hearings, which concluded in December, focused on management of Bay Area highway and transit systems, including how to objectively measure performance of competing transportation projects; impacts of jobs and housing location on transportation; Caltrans budget issues; and service coordination and gaps among the region's transit systems.

Noting at the Dec. 9 hearing in Oakland that there is no "only" solution to traffic congestion and also that "there is no real idea in politics unless you have a bill," Perata said he intends to introduce a legislative package that may require some tough choices. His package of bills reportedly will require MTC to conduct studies and develop plans to reduce traffic congestion and better measure how competing transportation proposals reduce delay; evaluate a merger of the Bay Area's multicounty rail transit operations into a single agency; and create demonstration high-occupancy/toll (HOT) lanes on the Sunol Grade section of Interstate 680 in Alameda County and on U.S. Highway 101 in Sonoma County. (HOT lanes, which are currently operated in Orange and San Diego counties, allow motorists in single-occupancy vehicles to pay a toll to use carpool lanes.)

At a hearing of Sen. Sher's subcommittee on transportation on Nov. 15, MTC Deputy Executive Director Steve Heminger stressed the need for better on-time and on-budget delivery of transportation projects, noting there is a $1.7 billion cash balance in the State Highway Account due to delays in project delivery. And he said MTC believes it is vital for the state to provide a stable, predictable source of funds to the deficit-ridden Public Transportation Account for needed transit capital improvements.

The theme of providing a continuous source of funds for transit was echoed at Assemblymember Torlakson's transportation committee hearing on Bay Area transit issues on Nov. 16. Torlakson pointed out that revenues from county half-cent transportation sales taxes are uncertain because the taxes are not permanent, and the revenues may decline as (untaxed) Internet sales increase or if the current strong economy falters. Gas tax revenues, he said, also will decrease as cars become more fuel efficient. The assemblyman said he plans to introduce legislation to provide a General Fund source of revenue for transit and local road repair (since introduced as Assembly Bill 1612).

In her testimony at the November hearing, MTC Manager of Funding and External Affairs Therese McMillan highlighted another problem facing Bay Area transportation, pointing out the dramatic change taking place in commute patterns. "With a 50 percent population increase expected in outlying areas by 2020, compared to a 19 percent increase in urban areas, responding to this growth imbalance has to be a centerpiece of our transportation planning," McMillan said.

As the second half of the two-year legislative session gets under way in Sacramento, MTC's Heminger said he expects the Commission to work closely with members of the Bay Area delegation in shaping their transportation bills.
-- Marjorie Blackwell

Contents

• Front Page
• Transportation Blueprint for the 21st Century - Funding Prospects
• Interview with State Senator John Burton
• Welfare to Work
• Legislative Hearings
• Project Updates
  • San Mateo Bridge Widening
  • Tasman Light-Rail Line Rolls Into Operation
• News Briefs
  • Bridges on Display
  • MTC Awards "TLC" Grants
  • Region Pays Respects to AC Transit General Manager