Executive Director Steve Heminger's Report to the Commission Meeting of July 24, 2013
CARB Presentation on Plan Bay Area
Sacramento, June 27
Chair Worth, Commissioner Luce, Ezra Rapport and I made a presentation to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on our progress in adopting the Bay Area’s first Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS).
Bay Area Legislative Briefing
Sacramento, July 8
The members of the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee which I chair briefed members of the Bay Area Legislative Delegation on the Bay Bridge bolt investigative report that we released earlier this month. I made a similar presentation before Bay Area legislative and congressional staff on July 12th in Oakland.
Plan Bay Area Adoption
Oakland, July 18
At the end of a long trail of blood, sweat, toil and tears, the ABAG Executive Board and MTC Commission adopted Plan Bay Area last Friday at 12:20 a.m. in a packed room in the Oakland Marriott Hotel. I’d especially like to thank all the members of the Commission as well as the following MTC staff for all the time and effort they put into this inaugural SCS:
Catalina Alvarado
Carolyn Clevenger
Joe Curley
Ann Flemer
Ellen Griffin
Doug Johnson
Ken Kirkey
Adam Noelting
Dave Ory
Therese Romell
Award-Winning Annual Report
MTC’s 2012 Annual Report featuring the new regional headquarters facility at 375 Beale Street in San Francisco has won a gold medal from the League of American Communications Professionals. Congratulations to Brenda Kahn, Joe Curley, Peter Beeler, and our entire public affairs staff for the well deserved commendation.
Map of the Month
This map shows that China invests 8.5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on infrastructure. This amount almost doubles the combined infrastructure investment of the European Union (2.6% GDP) and the United States (2.6% GDP). In fact, it far exceeds what any other country or region spends; China’s infrastructure spending is twice the level of India, and more than four times that of Latin America. In the U.S., the largest share of infrastructure spending is towards Roads, followed by Transit and Water. According to the Congressional Budget Office, between 2003 and 2007, public spending on transportation and water infrastructure declined by $23 billion, or 6 percent. That decline, which reflects a decrease in real capital spending, especially by the federal government, stands in contrast to the fairly steady increase in spending for such infrastructure during the previous two decades.
MTC Operational Statistics
The monthly report on the performance of MTC’s operating programs: