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Executive Director's Report

Report to the Commission: October 25, 2023

Personnel

New Appointments

  • Cody Pappillion – Cody started with MTC on October 2nd as a Human Resources Analyst in the Administration and Human Development section.
  • Nazanin Rezaei – Nazanin started with MTC on October 2nd as an Associate Planner Analyst in the Regional Planning Program section.
  • Brittny Sutherland – Brittny started with MTC on October 16th as a Clerk Assistant in the Executive Office section.
  • Carsie Bonner – Carsie started with MTC on October 16th as a Junior Clerk in the Executive Office section.
  • Sonia Draves – Sonia started with MTC on October 16th as a Section Administrator in the Legislation and Public Affairs section.

Awards and Updates

Caltrans’ Excellence in Transportation Award for All Aboard Bay Area Transit

MTC received a 2022 Caltrans’ Excellence in Transportation award for the ongoing All Aboard Bay Area Transit campaign. Initiated by the Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force and working in partnership with the Bay Area’s 27 transit agencies, the campaign launched in summer of 2021 to encourage residents of all ages to move forward together on the region’s buses, trains, ferries and light-rail vehicles. Caltrans, which honored All Aboard Bay Area Transit for excellence in the public awareness campaigns category, noted in its award summary the campaign’s goals to accelerate the growth in transit ridership and demonstrate a unified message across the region’s transit agencies.

Housing Heroes Awards for BAHFA

BAHFA and the Bay Area Housing For All Coalition (BAHA) received a Housing Heroes Awards from the Housing Action Coalition. This award recognizes the housing leaders fighting for prohousing solutions across the region and throughout state. I was joined by ABAG President Arreguin and BAHFA Director Kate Hartley to receive the award on behalf of BAHFA last Wednesday evening, Oct. 18. Former Assemblymember and the current San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu presented the award to BAHFA. Several other BAHFA champions were in attendance including Senator Scott Wiener and former MTC Executive Directors Therese McMillan and Steve Heminger.

Bay Area Travel Study

This month MTC began mailing invitations to Bay Area residents to participate in the Bay Area Travel Study, an initiative being undertaken to learn more about how people travel throughout the Bay Area and to help MTC and our partner agencies plan for a more efficient and effective regional transportation network. Between now and December, some 750,000 households in all nine Bay Area counties will receive invitations to participate in the study. Respondents will be able to complete the study online, by phone, or through the rMoveTM smartphone app.

New HUD PRO Housing Grant Application

MTC, in partnership with BAHFA, intends to submit an application to HUD’s new PRO Housing Grant Program. The application will seek funding to support the launch of the Priority Sites Program, including regionwide technical assistance and project-level support. Additionally, MTC has partnered with BART and VTA to seek capital funding for one project in each agency’s transit-oriented development portfolio. A public hearing about the draft application was held on October 11 during the MTC Administration Committee meeting. A complete copy of the draft application is available on Legistar.

AB 1319 and ACA1

The state legislature AB 1319, legislation that makes various “clean-up” modifications to BAHFA’s enabling legislation and provides clarity for BAHFA’s implementation of its 3P mandate. It also passed Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1 (ACA-1), which, if approved by voters, would lower the voter approval threshold for affordable housing bonds like BAHFA’s. All great news for affordable housing across the state.

Ride-Along and Socialize Event with Bay Area Transit Leaders

On Sept. 29, members of the public met at the Palo Alto Caltrain Station/Transit Center for an opportunity to ride alongside heads of transit agencies, ask questions, hear about transit career opportunities and discuss ideas for the future of Bay Area transit. Attendees included MTC representatives; general managers; and CEOs/executive directors from BART, Caltrain, County Connection, LATVA/Wheels, Muni, SamTrans, VTA and WETA/San Francisco Bay Ferry.

Ferry Tour

On October 11, I joined a San Francisco ferry tour co-hosted by the Bay Area Council and WETA. We traveled along the San Francisco waterfront to get a glimpse into WETA’s vision for a Rapid Electric Emission-Free Ferry Program (REEF) to expand quick, electric ferry service along the waterfront from the Presidio to Oyster Point. Potential riders include new residents at planned developments all along the San Francisco waterfront.

Richmond-San Rafael Toll Plaza Incident

On 10/9 a truck crashed into the Richmond-San Rafael Toll Plaza and caused significant damage to several lanes. Caltrans closed lanes 5-7, including the wide load lane, and will remain closed until late November/early December. Repairs have begun by Caltrans Maintenance and BATA contractors and will continue until completed. All recent observations of traffic operations at the toll plaza show no difference in travel times or backup queues.