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Executive Director's Report

Report to the Commission: June 26, 2024

Personnel

New Appointments

  • Andrew Harris, Facilities Manager, Facilities and Contract Services.
  • Tiffany Vuong, Project Manager, Highway Toll Systems Delivery, Field Operations and Asset Management.
  • Sophie Gabel-Scheinbaum, Regional Planner, Regional Planning Program.
  • Jeannie Cuan, Associate Clipper Program Coordinator, Electronic Payments.
  • Ronda Perez, Quality Analyst, Electronic Payments.
  • Amba Gupta, Regional Planner, Regional Planning Program.

Updates

First Meeting of Transportation Revenue Measure Select Committee, June 24

Chaired by Commissioner Spering, the Transportation Revenue Measure Select Committee established by Chair Pedroza at the Commission’s special meeting earlier this month held its first meeting Monday morning as the members work to build regional consensus for state legislation that would authorize Bay Area voters to consider a 2026 revenue measure to preserve and enhance public transit in the region. The Select Committee is expected to meet monthly through October, with Former TransForm executive director Stuart Cohen serving as the facilitator. Committee members include Commissioners from across the region, Chair Pedroza, Commissioner Spering, and representatives from business, labor, transit advocacy and equity organizations.

MTC Garners Recognition at WTS Awards Gala

The WTS San Francisco Bay Area Chapter named Commissioner Dina El-Tawansy its Woman of the Year at the June 20th, 2024, Annual Scholarships & Awards Gala. In addition, former MTC staff Carol Kuester was honored with WTS Lifetime Achievement Award, and the San Mateo U.S. 101 Express Lanes project won the WTS Award for Innovative Transportation Solutions.

Be Safe Together: IBTTA’s Global Road Safety Week, June 24-28

MTC is proud to support the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association’s (IBTTA) global road safety campaign and Global Road Safety Week from June 24-28, 2024. The “Be Safe Together” campaign highlights the tolling industry’s commitment to ensuring that our roads are safe for everyone. To demonstrate our support, I appeared in a video developed for the event by MTC that also featured the Bay Area Freeway Service Patrol.

MTC Hosts State’s Transit Transformation Task Force, June 17

MTC hosted the June 17th meeting of the state Transit Transformation Task Force, which is charged with developing policy recommendations to grow transit ridership, improve the transit experience for riders and address long-term operational funding needs throughout California. Chief Deputy Executive Director Alix Bockelman is a member of the Task Force, along with 24 other representatives of state government, local agencies, academic institutions and advocacy organizations.

SMART Pathway Groundbreaking, June 14

I was joined by Commissioners Fleming and Rabbitt in Santa Rosa on June 14 for a groundbreaking of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) multiuse path. The extension of the SMART Pathway will connect Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa. The new construction, along with a second segment currently being built between Penngrove and Petaluma, will add 5.7 miles of pathway for pedestrians and cyclists.

VTA Breaks Ground on BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension, June 14

Commissioners Chavez and Mahan were speakers (and shovel-wielders) at the groundbreaking ceremony for the BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension, held at the site where the tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be launched to begin carving a five-mile tunnel from Santa Clara and through downtown San Jose. Members of the audience included Vice Chair Josefowitz and Chief Deputy Executive Director Alix Bockelman. The project will integrate Santa Clara County with the greater Bay Area BART system, enhancing regional connectivity and providing numerous economic, environmental and social benefits.

BART-Caltrain San Bruno Derailment Exercise, June 14

On June 14th, there was a tabletop exercise at the San Mateo Regional Operations Center (ROC) in Redwood City. Participants included BART, Caltrain, San Bruno Fire Department, SamTrans, San Mateo County Office of Emergency Services, and a handful of other agencies. The event focused on multi-agency response to a train derailment in the area on the Peninsula where BART and Caltrain have parallel tracks. MTC provided pre-exercise design and development technical support.

Regional Transportation Tabletop Exercise, June 5

MTC held the annual regional transportation exercise on June 5th at the Metro Center, with 34 different agencies attending the event including Caltrans, BART, VTA, SFMTA, and others. This discussion-based exercise provided participants the opportunity to talk through their agency’s roles and responses to an emergency scenario in an informal, low stress setting. This is the second exercise of a three-part series, which will culminate in a functional exercise in early 2025. The scenario for this exercise series was centered around the recovery from widespread, low-to-medium-severity terrorism attacks on transportation infrastructure, facilities, and vehicles.

State Resource Agency Approves Plan for North Bay Habitat and Species Conservation

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife in May approved the North Bay Baylands Regional Conservation Investment Strategy produced by MTC, Caltrans, the San Francisco Estuary Partnership, the Sonoma County Transportation Authority and other organizations with support from scientists and members of the public. The new strategy outlines a comprehensive plan for protecting sensitive tidal marsh, freshwater marsh and upland areas that provide critical wildlife habitat across portions of Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties.

Looking Ahead

Bay Area Summer Academy Kicks off July 8

Over 300 high school students will be participating in the Norman Mineta Bay Area Summer Academy paid internship program hosted by ABAG, MTC, BCDC and the Air District. The program kicks off on July 8, 2024, and over the course of the subsequent four weeks, students will learn how regional agencies deal with issues like environmental justice, housing and transportation equity, community health, and social justice. The program ends on Wednesday, July 31 when students will make their capstone presentations. MTC leadership and staff are encouraged to attend the catered event taking place at UC College of the Law San Francisco; please RSVP with Ky-Nam Miller: kmiller@bayareametro.gov

Ann Fitzgerald Flemer College Mentorship Program

MTC’s internship program for college students was recently renamed the Ann Fitzgerald Flemer College Mentorship Program in honor of the late former Deputy Executive Director Ann Flemer. We have 12 college mentees for the 2024 summer session. The program runs from June 10th , 2024, through August 2, 2024. The mentees will be in nine different sections and 12 programmatic areas throughout the agency. They come to us from 10 different colleges and universities within the Bay Area region.