News, Views and Analysis from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments
A group of Metropolitan Transportation Commission members and staff are in Washington this week to advocate for funding through the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to advance the ambitious goals set forth in Plan Bay Area 2050, the long-range roadmap for transportation, housing, economic vitality and environmental health adopted jointly in October 2021 by MTC and ABAG.
Starting in May, county transportation agencies (CTAs) throughout the nine-county Bay Area will release calls for projects for local transportation projects as part of the One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) program.
During this challenging time, BayREN Home+ program is helping families reduce energy bills while making their homes healthier and more comfortable this summer with an additional $1,000 to the $5,000 in rebates for energy efficiency upgrades. Read More
The New Yorker had a humorous take on President Trump's focus on building a wall between the United States and Mexico, while roads and bridges are left to go to pot across the country. Read More
Raising gas taxes for transportation improvements is not political problem, as long as voters know cash will go to fix roads and bridges, said the democrat expected to head the key House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Here’s more good news for transportation in California and the Bay Area: Caltrans announced [last week] the recipients of $105 million in State of Good Repair (SGR) program funds from Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), money that will provide capital assistance to local governments and agencies to rehabilitate and modernize California’s existing local transit systems. This program has a specific goal of keeping transit systems in a state of good repair, including the purchase of new transit vehicles and maintenance and rehabilitation of transit facilities and vehicles. This includes nearly $38 million for Read More
Last week was a big one for transportation in California, with the state announcing grant award recommendations or winners for four different programs funded by Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the state’s landmark transportation funding law signed in 2017. The nine-county Bay Area did very well with the recommendations. The region is currently on track to receive a total of $2 billion in funding over the next 10 years to support 23 critical Bay Area transportation projects. These projects range from a host of improvements along U.S. Highway 101, including Express Lanes and express buses through the
Last month Congress approved a $1.3 trillion appropriations bill to fund the government for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. In a departure from previous years, the budget included major boosts in funding for both defense and non-defense discretionary programs and also significantly increased investment in federal housing and transportation programs. This post will provide summaries of major housing, transportation and other relevant provisions from the final FY 2018 spending bill; a chart comparing FY 2017 and FY 2018 funding levels; and analysis of California and/or Bay Area impacts for select housing
Last week a report was released detailing the dramatic progress made by California Climate Investments – the statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work – in supporting projects that are reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening local economies, and improving public health and the environment across the state. The California Climate Investment Annual Report to the Legislature for 2018, a joint effort produced by the California Air Resources Board and California Department of Finance, contains lots of good news for the state, and the Bay Area specifically
The MTC Commission today adopted an investment strategy for goods movement which will direct $3.8 billion over 10 years to 20 different projects in the Bay Area, with a particular focus on Interstate Corridors and the Port of Oakland in Alameda County. Currently, almost $1 trillion in freight flows to, from or through Northern California every year and these flows are projected to double by 2040. The goods movement sector is crucial to the success of many other related industries and is a key component of the region’s economic strategy for increasing access to living-wage jobs that have low