Planning

Policy

Chew on This: Federal Performance Targets (Comments Due by April 17, 2018)

April 4, 2018 By Brenda Kahn
Image of freeway congestion in the vicinity of Danville, CA.
Noah Berger
One of the performance targets under consideration measures traffic congestion, expressed as annual hours of peak-hour excessive delay per capita.

Here’s a question only a policy wonk could love: Should a performance target be achievable or aspirational? In other words, should it be based on current trends, or on desired outcomes? That question is at the heart of a position paper now circulating for review by MTC’s partners, stakeholders and the public. Read More

Related
CMAQ
FHWA
Performance
Performance Evaluation
Planning
Targets
Vital Signs
Land Use

Reminder! Applications for Priority Development Area (PDA) Assistance Programs Due March 5

February 27, 2018 By Chirag Rabari
Rendering of Mission Blvd. Tree-lined roadway with pedestrian walkways.

Priority Development Areas (PDAs) are neighborhoods near transit and other amenities that city or county governments have identified and approved for future growth. PDAs are key to the "Focused Growth" strategy at the heart of Plan Bay Area 2040, the nine county region's long-range transportation and land use plan.

Applications are due March 5, 2018 for three MTC PDA assistance programs (Planning, Technical Assistance, and Staffing) that will help local governments plan for and implement PDAs within their jurisdictions, and thereby help the region achieve its goals for the environment, economy and equity.

Key Documents

For more information, contact Mark Shorett, PDA Program Manager, mshorett@bayareametro.gov, (415) 820-7994. Read More

Related
Land Use
Planning
Priority Development Area
MTC-ABAG

Preview of 2/9 Meetings: Joint MTC Planning & ABAG Administrative, MTC Operations, MTC Legislation

February 6, 2018 By Julie Teglovic
The board room of the Bay Area Metro Center.

Three meetings are scheduled for this Friday, February 9, starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Bay Area Metro Center: the Joint MTC Planning Committee with the ABAG Administrative Committee, the MTC Operations Committee, and the MTC Legislation Committee. 

Highlights include: an overview of an ambitious new joint agency project called Futures, an update of MTC’s Draft Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan, a report on MTC’s Goods Movement Investment Strategy, an update on efforts to improve traffic operations systems in the I-880 corridor, a discussion of the imminent Regional Measure 3 ballot pamphlet, and an overview of key elements of Governor Jerry Brown's budget proposal.

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

Related
Draft Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan
Futures
Goods Movement
I-880
Legislation
Operations
Planning
Regional Measure 3
Senate Bill 1 (SB 1)
Housing

Interested in Housing & Development Legislation? Attend the First "Planning Innovations" Forum of 2018 on February 13!

January 22, 2018 By Julie Teglovic
A construction worker working on the roof of an unfinished house.
Karl Nielsen

Given recently passed state housing legislation and lawsuits against local jurisdictions, cities face increasing scrutiny when approving or denying housing development proposals. MTC’s long-running Planning Innovations series kicks off 2018 with a timely workshop on these issues, How Objective is "Objective"? Effective Development Standards in the SB35 and Housing Accountability Act Era. The workshop will be held starting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 13, at the Bay Area Metro Center in San Francisco; register and see additional details here. Read More

Related
Housing
Housing Development
Housing Policy
Legislation
Planning
Priority Development Area
Funding

Participatory Budgeting: A Proposed MTC Pilot Project and a Brief Lit Review

January 3, 2018 By Chirag Rabari

According to the Participatory Budgeting Project, participatory budgeting (PB):

... is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. It enables taxpayers to work with government to make the budget decisions that affect their lives.

PB has been around internationally for some time and recently PB projects have been implemented locally on a limited scale in both Vallejo and Oakland. Since 2012, the City of Vallejo has engaged over 15,000 residents in allocating nearly $7 million for 25 local projects. In Oakland, over 1,200 residents of two City Council Districts helped decide how to spend nearly $800,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to benefit low-and moderate-income residents. 

Here at MTC, staff are proposing to pilot PB projects through the next cycle of the Community-Based Transportation Planning (CBPT) Program, set to run from 2017-2021. Read More

Related
Citizen Participation
Community-Based Transportation Plans
Lifeline
Planning
Project Funding
Public Outreach