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Executive Director's Report

Report to the Commission: January 22, 2025

Personnel

Departures

  • Andrea Visveshwara – Andrea started with MTC in March 2022 as a Deputy General Counsel in
    the Office of General Counsel. Her last day with MTC was Jan. 14.
  • Kate Hartley – Kate started with MTC in February 2022 as a Section Director for the Bay Area
    Housing Finance Authority. Her last day with MTC is Jan. 31.

New Appointments

  • Tony Dang – Tony started with MTC on Jan. 6 as the Section Director in the newly established Sustainable Mobility and Operations section.
  • Scott Spansail – Scott started with MTC on Jan. 6 as a Senior Counsel in the Office of General Counsel.
  • Joseph White – Joseph started with MTC on Jan. 6 as a General Services Unit Assistant in the Procurement, Risk, and Property Management section.
  • David Man – David started with MTC on Jan. 13 as the Section Director in the Capital Delivery, Asset Management, and Roadside Tolling section.

Updates

Sadly, our friend and co-worker Donna Bregman-Fletcher passed away on Jan. 9 after a long illness. Donna had very recently retired from the Procurement, Risk and Property Management section supporting the agency as a Contracts Specialist. Information about a memorial event for Donna is forthcoming. 

On Jan. 13, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority hosted MTC and other transportation operators across the Bay Area at the Milpitas Transit Center BART station to sign the Equity in Infrastructure Project Pledge. Chief Deputy Executive Director Alix Bockelman and DeNise Blake, President of the Northern California Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) and MTC Assistant Director of Operations & Capital Projects, spoke at the event. This pledge underscores MTC’s commitment to fostering generational wealth and addressing the racial wealth gap by improving public infrastructure contracting practices to create more opportunities for Historically Underutilized Businesses, including Disadvantaged and Small Business Enterprise firms, through prime, joint venture and equity contracting opportunities. For more information read this story, MTC, Bay Area Agencies Join National Movement to Support Minority-Owned Businesses.

Commissioner Rabbitt was joined by MTC staff and Policy Advisory Council members, former Commissioner Damon Connolly, Congressman Jared Huffman and a host of other officials on Jan. 10 to celebrate the opening of the North Petaluma SMART station. The project was funded in large part through the state Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, made possible by a coordinated Sonoma County application endorsed by MTC. Another Commission endorsement helped secure a state Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities award for a 131-unit affordable housing project scheduled to break ground soon on a site adjacent to the new station.

The last of three $1 toll increases approved by voters through Regional Measure 3 (RM 3) in 2018 went into effect at the seven state-owned toll bridges on Jan. 1. This is separate from the toll hike approved by BATA in Dec., which will be phased in over five years, beginning Jan. 1, 2026, to pay for the maintenance, rehabilitation and operation of the bridges. Through RM 3, toll revenues are funding a comprehensive suite of highway and transit capital improvements across the region to improve mobility in the bridge corridors as well as express bus service and operating funding for the Salesforce Transit Center. For details on the full RM 3 expenditure plan, read the Regional Measure 3 page.

MTC required that jurisdiction recipients of various OBAG 2 and 3 funds receive Housing Element certification from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) by Dec. 31, 2024. As of the previous update to the Commission in Nov. 2024, four jurisdictions had OBAG grants at risk due to noncompliance with this requirement. In December 2024, the Commission transferred sponsorship of an OBAG 3 project from a noncompliant jurisdiction (San Mateo County) to a compliant jurisdiction (Redwood City). Thanks to the diligent work and exemplary coordination among MTCABAG, HCD, and local jurisdiction staff, all three remaining jurisdictions subject to this requirement met MTC’s deadline and no grant awards will be rescinded. Overall, 96 Bay Area jurisdictions have certified housing elements. 

Lastly, I’m honored to recently have been appointed by the U.S. Department of Transportation to its Federal System Funding Alternative (FSFA) Advisory Board as the representative of an owner and operator of toll facilities. This appointment is for two years as of Dec. 30. The FSFA Advisory Board is specified in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to provide recommendations on a long-term solution and sustainable future of the Highway Trust Fund and is the first step in a cascade of program tasks leading to a large, at-scale pilot program demonstrating the feasibility of a national motor vehicle distancebased fee to potentially replace the federal gas tax, which was last raised in 1993. The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is the source of funding for the federal highway formulabased programs that fund MTC’s One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) program as well as the federal transit formula funds that are programmed and allocated by MTC. In recent years, the HTF has only remained solvent as a result of General Fund transfers. The first meeting will be scheduled for the week of Feb. 24.