News, Views and Analysis from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments
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. Read More
Update: Video recordings of these meetings are now available.
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 meetings on Friday from our Live Webcasts page. 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
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:
More than $720 million in new funding last year went to projects that were either under way or completed across all of California’s 58 counties, a two-thirds increase in implemented investments. From rebates for electric cars to affordable housing units, completed projects totaled 75,000, including doubling the number of home energy efficiency installations and nearly tripling the number of trees planted….
Continue reading on for more details about the Cap-and-Trade system and for an overview of the Bay Area projects that received support through Cap-and-Trade proceeds. Read More
MTC and ABAG have released their first-ever joint annual report to Congress for 2018, urging lawmakers in Washington D.C. to honor long-standing bipartisan commitments to transportation, housing and disaster relief. The report, Accelerating Progress: Strong Partnerships Move the Bay Area Forward:
For more detail on these and other issue areas and initiatives, download the report. 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 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
The stage is set for $386 million in federal funds to go to 180 transportation projects in 95 jurisdictions across all nine Bay Area Counties with last month's MTC commissioner approval of the One Bay Area Grant 2 (OBAG 2) County Program of Projects. OBAG 2, which also has a Regional Program, is the policy framework for MTC’s distribution of $862 million in federal Surface Transportation Program and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds from Fiscal Years 2017-18 to 2021-2022.
In the below video, MTC’s Mallory Atkinson provides an overview of the program and highlights some key facts, figures and policy considerations as the OBAG 2 County Program moves ahead. Read More