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Executive Director's Report

Report to the Commission and the ABAG Executive Board: July 25, 2018

HSR Coordination

July 9, San Francisco

Brian Kelly – the new CEO of the California High Speed Rail Authority – stopped by the Metro Center to discuss ways to better coordinate the activities of his agency, MTC, and the numerous local partners who are developing and implementing projects up and down the Peninsula Corridor to make way for high speed rail service in the future. Among these projects are the electrification of the Caltrain corridor and major station construction at the Diridon Station in San Jose and the Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco.

MaaS Working Dinner

July 10, San Francisco

I hosted a working dinner with several of our major transit agency and CMA partners to discuss the emerging concept of “Mobility as a Service.” As the name implies, the basic idea is to develop an app-based platform that would enable travelers to plan a trip using multiple service providers and pay for that trip using a single travel account. Stay tuned as we continue to refine this concept for Bay Area implementation in the coming months.

CTC Program Update

July 11, San Francisco

Chair Mackenzie presided over a meeting of several MTC commissioners with their counterparts at the California Transportation Commission (CTC). Susan Bransen – CTC’s executive director – also joined the meeting.

Summer Reading

The Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley has just released a new study about the achievements and shortcomings of Senate Bill 375. There are quite a few compliments about our One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) program and other incentive strategies. You can find the study at the following link: ternercenter.berkeley.edu/sb-375

Chart of the Month

I can’t help myself from presenting yet another housing chart, this one showing some (relative) good news for a change. This chart compares the Bay Area’s progress in meeting our regional housing goals with our “Big Four” colleagues in the Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento regions. As you can see, all four regions are doing reasonably well in building above moderate housing stock and far less well in building housing for residents of low and very low incomes. The good news is that the Bay Area is leading the pack in all categories except moderately-priced housing, where Los Angeles and Sacramento are doing better.

 

Map of the Month

U.S. White Population Growth Rate, 1790-2020

The U.S. white population experienced an absolute decline for the first time in 2016 and is forecasted to continue this trend, as illustrated here.