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Executive Director's Report

Report to the Commission: February 24, 2016

YES Conference 2016
Credit
Kingmond Young

Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee

Las Vegas, January 28

At the request of my counterpart at the Las Vegas MPO, I testified before this committee appointed by the Governor of Nevada to consider ways to improve mobility in the southern portion of the state.  In particular, they were interested in learning about the challenges of constructing the new Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco.

Peninsula 101 Corridor Group Meeting

San Francisco, January 29

Commissioner Sartipi, Andy Fremier and I joined a roomful of state, local, and private sector officials convened by California STA Secretary Brian Kelly to discuss ways to expedite completion of additional high occupancy vehicle capacity on the U.S. 101 corridor in San Mateo County.

YES Conference

Berkeley, January 30

Commissioner Bates delivered the welcoming remarks on behalf of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and MTC at the third Youth for the Environment and Sustainability (YES) conference at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley.  Video of the 250 Bay Area students who attended the event is available at the following link:  http://mtc.ca.gov/whats-happening/news/future-environmental-leaders-make-stop-2016-yes-conference.

U.S. DOT Certification Review

Oakland, February 2-3

This month marked our turn for a quadrennial review of our metropolitan planning process by officials from the Federal Highway and Transit Administrations. 

Obama Proposes Clean Transportation System

Washington, February 4

As part of his FY 2017 budget submission, President Obama proposed a new $10 per barrel fee on oil that would provide $30+ billion of additional annual funding for a suite of low carbon transportation programs. While certainly well-intentioned, this initiative comes only months after the President signed the multi-year FAST Act into law.  Thus, it is extremely unlikely that Congress will take any action on the proposal at all.

VTA Leadership Meeting

San Jose, February 4

Chair Cortese and I met with VTA Chair Cindy Chavez and VTA CEO Nuria Fernandez to discuss the history and extent of MTC’s funding support for the Valley Transportation Authority.

TBPOC Meeting

Oakland, February 11

Given the dwindling nature of our workload, the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) now meets quarterly.  At our last meeting, I also stepped down as chairman after serving in that role for the last six years.  We elected Caltrans director Malcolm Dougherty as the new TBPOC chair.  CTC Executive Director Will Kempton also announced that this would be his last TBPOC meeting due to his impending re-retirement on March 31.

High Speed Rail Business Plan

Sacramento, February 18

In a major development for the region, the California High Speed Rail Authority has released a draft business plan that proposes to connect the Central Valley segment now under construction to the Silicon Valley as the next phase of work on the statewide system. The new segment would branch off north of Fresno, enter the region through the Pacheco Pass, and stop at a station in Gilroy on its way to the intermodal hub at Diridon Station in downtown San Jose. The draft plan states that the Authority can finance the Silicon Valley segment with funds already under its control, including the continuous appropriation of cap & trade revenue approved by the Legislature two years ago. We will present our proposed comments on this significant new initiative to the Planning Committee in March.

Assembly Committee on Regionalism

Oakland, February 19

Chair Cortese and Commissioner Pierce (in her role as ABAG President) testified before the newly-created Assembly Select Committee on Regional Planning about the ongoing merger study.  The select committee is chaired by Assemblyman Tony Thurmond of Richmond, and it plans to meet monthly through the summer. 

Calling the Bay Area Home conference

Oakland, February 20

Hearty thanks to all the commissioners and MTC staff who made this Saturday event on the housing affordability and displacement challenge such a success.  A broad cross-section of 300+ local officials and advocates enabled a robust dialogue in the subregional break-out sessions, and the plenary panels provided insights about the national, Bay Area, and (for comparison) Seattle housing markets.  We plan to present the first draft of a proposed policy response to this event at the Commission workshop scheduled for late April.

State Legislative Visits

Sacramento, February 23

Vice Chair Mackenzie and Commissioner Spering joined us for several visits in Sacramento with members of the Bay Area state legislative delegation.

Map of the Month

February 2016:

Which States Rely the Most on Federal Aid?

This map answers the question: Which states rely the most on federal aid?  The map depicts all federal governmental transfers to the states, not just transportation funding.  For the nation as a whole in FY 2013, a full 30% of state revenues derived from federal grants-in-aid.  Of course, it is one of the rich ironies of our modern politics that some of the states that express the greatest resentment about federal interference also benefit the most from federal largesse.