Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Events

The Walk to Work: More Than a Pedestrian Journey

April 5, 2018 By Staff
A traffic signal with the walk sign indicated by a figure of a person in white light. Behind it is trees and q a large white building with black windows.

Walk to Work Day is an annual event to pay tribute to the oft-overlooked act of putting one foot in front of the other. Now in its sixth year, Walk to Work Day, organized by Walk SF and sponsored by MTC, invites everyone who lives or works in San Francisco to walk part of their commute. Learn more about the event and read some stories from our staff members about their walks to work. Read More

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BART
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Neighborhoods
Pedestrian Safety
Pedestrians
San Francisco Bay Trail
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
Public Participation

Are We Coming Through Loud and Clear? Are We Hearing You?

April 3, 2018 By Brenda Kahn
MTC/ABAG staff and members of the public discuss the projections for population and housing for Plan Bay Area 2040 at an open house event. Individuals stand in groups while display boards are on the table in the background.

Marshall McLuhan famously posited that “the medium is the message,” meaning that how you convey information is as important as the intended message itself. MTC’s Draft 2018 Public Participation Plan examines the media and methods the agency uses to get its messages across to the public, and to collect feedback. In essence, we are asking the public to comment on how they would like to receive information and comment in the future on MTC’s plans and programs. Read More

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Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Plan Bay Area
Public Comment
Public Participation Plan
Regional Planning
Meetings

Preview of 2/28 Meetings: BATA and MTC

February 26, 2018 By Julie Teglovic
The interior of the board meeting room at the Bay Area Metro Center.
Noah Berger

The Bay Area Toll Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission are scheduled to meet starting at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 28, at the Bay Area Metro Center in San Francisco.

The BATA meeting will be brief, with a Chair’s Report and approval of a consent calendar. View the agenda here.

The MTC meeting will consist of presentations from the Legislation, Planning, and Programming and Allocations Committees. Topics on the agenda include Proposition 69, MTC’s Draft Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan, MTC’s Goods Movement Investment Strategy, the Bay Area Preservation Pilot (BAPP) Fund, and State Transit Assistance funds. View the full agenda here. Tune in to the meetings live once they are underway here. Read More

Related
Bay Area Toll Authority (Calif.)
Draft Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan
Goods Movement
Meetings
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Proposition 69
State Transit Assistance (STA)
MTC

Preview of 2/14 BATA and MTC Meetings

February 13, 2018 By Julie Teglovic
The exterior entrance of the Bay Area Metro Center in San Francisco.
Noah Berger

Five meetings are scheduled for this Wednesday, February 14, 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 & Allocations Committee, the MTC Policy Advisory Council Equity & Access Subcommittee, and the MTC Policy Advisory Council.

Highlights include: the Bay Area Preservation Pilot, a proposed new policy for State Transit Assistance population-based funds, Regional Measure 2, the Transportation Improvement Program, the Regional Means-Based Fare Proposal Update, recent meetings of the California Transportation Commission, and more!

Continue reading on to see more from the agendas and find links to all meeting materials. As always, you can tune in live on MTC's website once meetings are underway. Read More

Related
Bay Area Toll Authority (Calif.)
California Transportation Commission (CTC)
Means-Based Transit Fare Pricing Study
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Policy Advisory Council
Regional Measure 2
Senate Bill 1 (SB 1)
State Transit Assistance (STA)
Transportation Improvement Program
MTC

Meeting Wrap-Up, 1/24: BATA Approves Regional Measure 3 for June Ballot; MTC Approves New Transportation Program Guidelines; CASA Reviews Housing Strategy Framework

January 26, 2018 By Julie Teglovic
375 Beale
Noah Berger

Five meetings were held at the Bay Area Metro Center on Wednesday, January 24. The highlight of the morning was the Bay Area Toll Authority meeting, where the Commission unanimously approved a resolution to place Regional Measure 3 on the June 5 ballot in all nine Bay Area counties. If approved by a combined majority of all voters, a sweeping $4.45 billion package of congestion relief projects would be financed by a $1 increase in tolls on the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges beginning Jan. 1, 2019, followed by a $1 increase in January 2022 and another $1 increase in January 2025. Read more about the measure and the vote on MTC’s website or in the news. Watch a recording of the full BATA meeting here, or download the agenda. Read More

Related
BATA
Bay Area Infrastructure Financing Authority (BAIFA)
Bay Area Metro Center
Bay Area Toll Authority (Calif.)
CASA
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
One Bay Area Grant (OBAG)
Regional Measure 3
SMART train
Senate Bill 1 (SB 1)
Transportation Improvement Program
Transportation

The End of the Automotive Era?

December 22, 2017 By Chirag Rabari
A rendering with vehicles with circles around them, indicating awareness of automated vehicles.

The subject of driverless (or autonomous) vehicles and the future of transportations brings about all manner of prognostication. Some commentators think the revolution is nigh: No corner of the transportation sector will be left untouched and impacts will be felt across the entire economy – and soon. Others dismiss this all as so much hype: The technical, political and social barriers are too high and real change is decades (and decades) away.   

Count this piece from Bob Lutz – former vice chairman and head of product development at General Motors – as a provocation from Team Revolution.  Read More

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Autonomous vehicles
Connected vehicles
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
Transportation

New Light Rail Vehicles Come to San Francisco, Plus the Wilderness of Transportation Finance

December 8, 2017 By Chirag Rabari

The City of San Francisco is celebrating a major milestone with a once-in-a-generation new light rail train now in service, as shown in the above video from our partners at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni).  Muni reports:

These… trains are more comfortable, reliable, and rider-friendly. They include a new seating configuration that will provide wider aisles for more capacity, better customer signage, quieter cars and improved design that will reduce delays.  This new car represents the first of more than 200 vehicles that will add more train service that will reduce congestion, improve service frequency and overall service for hundreds of thousands of daily riders.

So: as the nine-county Bay Area’s transportation financing agency, did MTC help pay for these new vehicles? The answer is: yes, mostly, and then not exactly, and then mostly again… but… it’s complicated.

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: Esoteric transportation finance wonkery to follow. Read More

Related
Bridge Tolls
FTA
Financing
Light Rail Transit
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
New Starts
SFMTA
San Francisco Central Subway Project