Federal Government

With President Joe Biden putting an new emphasis on science and the environment, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it is appointing a chief science officer for the entire department for the first time in more than four decades. Read More

Update: Video recordings of these meetings are now available. 6/9 MTC Planning Committee: Video Recording 6/9 MTC Operations Committee: Video Recording 6/9 MTC Legislation Committee: Video Recording Three of MTC’s standing committees will meet starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 8, at the Bay Area Metro Center. Highlights include a preview of a new report on autonomous vehicles, proposed action on two pieces of housing-related state legislation, updates on this week’s state primary election, and federal legislation and funding updates. Read on for links to everything, and tune in live to the Read More

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 Read More

Four meeting will be held on Friday, March 9, starting at 10:00 a.m. at the Bay Area Metro Center, including the MTC Operations Committee, Joint MTC Planning and ABAG Administrative Committees, Joint MTC and ABAG Legislative Committees, and Joint MTC Commission and MTC Policy Advisory Council. Major items for discussion include a proposed amendment to Plan Bay Area 2040 (Plan) and the Amended 2017 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) to revise the cost and scope of the U.S. 101 Managed Lanes Project in San Mateo County (see the staff presentation and memo); a summary of the 2018 housing Read More

Earlier this morning, KQED Forum discussed President Trump’s proposal for $200 billion in federal infrastructure spending over ten years, including how much money might make its way to the Bay Area and which projects it might support. MTC’s own Director of Legislation and Public Affairs, Randy Rentschler, joined host Michael Krasny, along with Sean Randolph of Bay Area Council Economic Institute, to discuss the proposal and a host of other Bay Area transportation issues. Listen to the whole interview on KQED’s website. Read More