Funding

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.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is highlighting how the historic bipartisan infrastructure bill will repair roads and bridges, improve transportation options, build a national network of chargers to accelerate the adoption of EVs, and upgrade airports and ports across the country.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in sharply declining ridership and emergency funding to support essential transit service remains in doubt.

BART General Manager Bob Powers has joined a national coalition of the country’s leading public transportation agencies calling for significant and immediate emergency federal relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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 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

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: Provides an overview of the Bay Area’s policy and funding priorities, including priorities for a national infrastructure and a response to the Trump Administration’s budget proposal Discusses the region’s major capital investment grant requests, including Caltrain modernization and the Bay Area’s next

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.