Preview of 4/11 Meetings

Five of MTC’s standing committees will meet on Wednesday, April 11, starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Bay Area Metro Center. These five committees include:

• Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee meeting, 9:30 a.m.
• MTC Administration Committee meeting, 9:35 a.m.
• MTC Programming and Allocations Committee meeting, 9:40 a.m.
• MTC Policy Advisory Council Equity & Access Subcommittee meeting, 12:00 p.m.
• MTC Policy Advisory Council meeting, 1:30 p.m.

Here are some highlights of items to be discussed during these meetings. Tune in to the meetings and stream them live via the Live Webcasts page on the MTC website.

The Administration Committee’s work is to oversee the operation and management of MTC staff, approve consultant contracts, set the commission’s budget, establish financial and personnel policies, and oversee financial reports and audits. At Wednesday’s Administration Committee meeting, committee members will vote on whether or not to approve the FY 2018-19 Overall Work Program (OWP), Planning Certification, and Authorization for Execution of Agreements for Federal and State Planning Grants. The OWP guides the collaborative metropolitan transportation planning process involving MTC, ABAG, Caltrans and other local transportation partners. Staff will also seek approval for authorization to enter into agreements for transportation planning funds.

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The Programming and Allocations Committee develops regional policies and recommendations for spending state and federal transportation dollars, allocates funding for various transportation projects and programs, and reviews projects for consistency with regional priorities and air quality laws. Wednesday’s Programming and Allocations Committee meeting is packed with a number of items up for committee approval, including the adoption of the 2019 Regional Active Transportation Program (ATP) Cycle 4 Guidelines. The Active Transportation Program taps both state and federal funds to provide a total of about $120 million each year for bike and pedestrian projects across California. MTC is responsible for developing the guidelines for the Regional ATP, and for recommending proposed projects to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) for adoption. The guidelines under consideration at this meeting will establish MTC’s policies, procedures and project selection criteria for the Cycle 4 Regional ATP, which will provide about $37 million in new funding to the nine-county Bay Area over four years, beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20.

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Additionally, information will be presented to the Programming and Allocations Committee on the proposed framework for the Regional Means-Based Transit Fare Program, as well as an update by BART staff on their railcar procurement and Transbay Corridor Core Capacity Project.

Finally, the MTC Policy Advisory Council will meet 1:30 p.m. The Policy Advisory Council is composed of up to 27 Bay Area residents appointed by the Commission and provides advice to the Commission on funding priorities, legislative initiatives, revisions to the long-range regional transportation plan—or Plan Bay Area—and other key subjects.

Staff will provide Policy Advisory Council members an overview of outreach events that were held in March in support of the Horizon initiative, a new planning effort underway that is meant to explore the pressing issues and possible challenges Bay Area residents may face through 2050. Based on the input heard from Bay Area residents at these outreach events, planners have crafted four preliminary Guiding Principles, which identify regional aspirations over the next three decades and will be used to guide the Horizon process. Staff will ask for feedback from Council members on the preliminary Guiding Principles.

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