BART

[This post is adapted from a web story on MTC's site.]

A ribbon-cutting celebration was held Friday, May 26, for BART’s newest addition, the BART to Antioch extension.

Elected officials and BART representatives joined hundreds of community members for the ceremony outside of the new Antioch Station, one day before the official start of the clean, modern and fast service, which relies on Diesel Multiple Units, or DMU train cars. After the ceremony, guests were treated to free rides on the new line. 

“East County residents now have an environmentally friendly, comfortable and state-of-the-art commute option,” said BART Director Joel Keller, who serves East Contra Costa County and is among the local leaders who were instrumental in getting the extension built. “The BART to Antioch extension will carry as many people as an additional lane of Highway 4 and will reduce vehicle miles traveled by 99 million per year.” The extension is predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 260,000 pounds a day.

Keep reading on to find out more about this exciting development in regional transportation. Read More

The long-awaited expansion of regional rail service into eastern Contra Costa County is (almost) finally here: this Saturday, May 26, the BART to Antioch extension will open for service, giving commuters more travel options and relieving congestion on Highway 4.  A community ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at the new Antioch Station on Friday, May 25, 2018 at 11 a.m. to celebrate this major milestone.

As can be seen in the above video, the new trains are convenient, quiet and fast. Continue reading on to find out more about the project, as well as MTC's role in financing it. 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. 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 heart of Silicon Valley and HOV Lanes through the Marin-Sonoma Narrows; a planned BART extension from San Jose to Santa Clara; new rail cars and capacity for SF Muni and BART; Caltrain electrification and expansion; increased frequency for trains along the Capitol Corridor; extending SMART to Larkspur and Windsor; express regional bus service in Solano County; plus improvements at the Port of Oakland, new clean zero-emission buses, and pedestrian projects, among many others. 

Continue reading to find out more about the state's grant award recommendations and grant award winners and what it means for the Bay Area. Read More

Five of MTC’s standing committees will meet on Wednesday, April 11, starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Bay Area Metro Center: the Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee, the MTC Administration Committee, the MTC Programming and Allocations Committee, the MTC Policy Advisory Council Equity & Access Subcommittee, and the MTC Policy Advisory Council. Here is a peek at what is on their agendas, as well as links to all the meeting agendas. Read More