Ticket to Ride

COALITION FIGHTS
"NO SUBWAYS" INITIATIVE

A coalition has been forming to fight Proposition A, L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's initiative on the November 3 ballot, which would prevent the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) from using local sales tax revenues to build any more subways. Because nearly three-quarters of the MTA's budget is funded with local sales taxes, the measure would virtually ensure that a subway could never be built. Prop A would also prevent the use of local funding for construction of underground tunnels for either light rail or busways.

The coalition is composed of advocates from East L.A. -- including Mothers of East L.A., several churches, members of the United Neighborhoods Organization (UNO) and the MTA's Eastside Residents Advisory Committee -- as well as the Sierra Club, transit advocates, several unions, and STPP. Coalition members argue that while Prop A does nothing to reform the MTA and the contracting practices that caused the subway boondoggle, Prop A does disadvantage older, transit-dependent, densely populated, built-out communities like East L.A. -- which has such narrow streets that it would be impossible to find the space required for light rail or a busway. "To punish the Eastside for the failures and mismanagement of the MTA simply isn't fair," says coalition member Frank Villalobos of Barrio Planners.

Moreover, the coalition argues, it's unfair that the initiative continues subway construction up to well-heeled Universal Studios in Yaroslavsky's district, and that funds once earmarked for the Eastside project are being used to complete that leg of the subway. And given the projected 44 percent growth in population and 300 percent growth in traffic congestion in the next 20 years, they ask why anyone would want to rule out any available transportation option.

"We should never say never to a subway," says the Sierra Club's Jim Blomquist. "It simply isn't good public policy." Adds Jaime Hernandez of Laborer's Local 300, "If no one can get around in L.A. and goods can't be moved through L.A. then businesses and investment and jobs are going to go somewhere else. Even Mexico has a better public transportation system than L.A."

The team of Villalobos, Mothers of East L.A., and Father John Moretta and the Church of the Resurrection -- who are heading up this effort -- have in the past fought successfully against the siting of a prison and toxic incinerator in East L.A. They point out there are already seven prisons in East L.A., and seven freeways. "When they put all the freeways through our neighborhoods they never gave it a second thought," former UNO president Diana Tarango told L.A. Times editorial writer Frank del Olmo in last Sunday's paper. "Now that we have a chance to get transportation that decreases traffic and reduces pollution they want to stop the project."

A DAVID AND GOLIATH STORY
ABOUT SIDEWALKS

Last month's newsletter chronicled the efforts of pedestrian advocates in Santa Monica Canyon at odds with the L.A. DOT over their desire to calm traffic vs. the DOT mandate to increase the throughput of cars. This month's newsletter tells the David vs. Goliath tale of Mono County, which recently took on the mighty L.A. Department of Water and Power and won back its water rights, and which is now taking on two even more powerful government entities -- Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission -- in order to calm traffic on scenic state highway 395.

Mono County Transportation Commissioners, thinking they were responding correctly to the mandate of SB45 -- which gave local officials the right to choose local transportation projects instead of Caltrans -- put together a regional transportation improvement program (RTIP) consisting mostly of sidewalks and bike lanes. Planner Scott Burns says he thought that given all the memos he'd received about the importance of planning for pedestrians and multi-modal projects that this list was appropriate. But apparently there weren't enough highway construction projects for the CTC, which questioned whether sidewalks were as "cost-effective" as highways -- the only challenge that the CTC can use to reject an RTIP -- and threatened to not approve the RTIP unless it was amended.

Many Mono County residents, however, are adamant about wanting measures that slow traffic down instead of highway "improvement" projects that speed it up. Residents of Lee Vining, for example, a tiny town known as the "Gateway to Yosemite" where U.S. 395 serves as Main Street, are particularly concerned about Caltrans plans to widen the highway, which has no stop lights or crosswalks, outside of their town.

The problem is that there are lots of tourist buses and pedestrian traffic along U.S. 395 in Lee Vining's business district, and while the posted speed limit is 35 mph cars whiz through at a brisk 55 mph. Because of a Caltrans rule that prohibits posting a speed limit that's less than the speed 85 percent of all cars are driving, Caltrans wants to raise the limit to 45 mph. But what residents want is to preserve quality of life on their main street by slowing traffic down with curb extensions, safety islands, landscaping and wide sidewalks.

The Federal Highway Administration brought residents and Caltrans together recently at a "Pedestrian Safety Road Show," at which Caltrans promised to work things out. And heeding the CTC's recommendation, the Mono County Transportation Commission will consider sweetening the RTIP project list with more road projects per the CTC's request, and intends to tap Mono County's Transportation Enhancements Activities (TEA) funding, which is being held in reserve, for the non-motorized projects.

"When entering a town in England or Holland motorists go over speed humps or around chicanes [structural changes that make the street narrower or curvier so they have to slow down," says transportation planner Jeffrey Tumlin, who's working on the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation Strategy, which is seeking to solve the park's traffic congestion problem by working with surrounding towns. "The trouble is that Caltrans has one set of values and the community has another, and there's no forum for finding the right balance. Hopefully this effort will set a precedent."

NOT YET L.A.

The debate over growth control measures in both Ventura and San Diego counties is raging in the press, on the Internet, and even at sea: In San Diego the Building Industry Association just sponsored a $250-$1,000-per-person fundraiser yacht cruise to "help sink the Rural Heritage and Watershed Initiative, building moratoriums and regional development impact fees."

Meantime, in Orange County a recent L.A. Times poll reported that 66 percent of residents would now vote to limit development, up dramatically since the defeat of a "sensible growth" measure on the ballot 10 years ago -- when opponents outspent proponents 40-to-1. The Orange County story was part of a series on the downside of uncontrolled growth.

In Ventura County there are seven Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) measures on the ballot -- one countywide measure and six in cities -- to prevent politicians from rezoning farmland and open space without voter approval. A SOAR measure has been in effect in the City of Ventura since 1995. "Why do voters need the power to stop Los Angeles-style sprawl? Because our current process is not stopping it from relentlessly marching across Ventura County," says SOAR director Steve Bennett. "Development interests are the largest contributors to local politicians, and their relentless pressure causes inappropriate projects to be approved. Voter approval provides the necessary check and balance."

In San Diego County, the Rural Heritage (RHWI) initiative would restrict lot sizes in the mostly undeveloped eastern two-third of the county to 40 or 80 acres, thereby directing growth into existing cities along the coast. Critics worry about increases in housing density, but proponents counter that less than 4 percent of the county's entire housing stock would be affected and point out that densities cannot be increased without amending cities general plans -- thereby providing local control. Concluded one proponent in a recent on-line debate, "Density is coming with or without the initiative. The better question is whether this density will be preceded by committed and comprehensive city planning."

Quote of the Month:

"California's traffic-choked freeways can be relieved by building more toll roads and carpool lanes, not by pouring more money into mass-transit projects . . . The fact is most Californians are not going to get out of their cars."

California Attorney General Dan Lungren, gubernatorial candidate, speaking to the League of California Cities last month.

"If more highway investment was a way to reduce traffic, Los Angeles would be the least congested city in America. Instead it's the most congested,"

Roy Kienitz, executive director of STPP, said at a press conference criticizing two proposed highway projects in Pittsburgh.

TEMPEST IN THE TEA POT, PART II

Ticket to Ride last month reported that the California Transportation Commission (CTC) was up to some mischief with the inter-regional share of California's transportation enhancements activity (TEA) funding, the flexible federal funding earmarked for non-motorized and other innovative transportation projects. While 75 percent of TEA funds is handed down to the regions to program (which the MTA, for example, does in the Call for Projects -- see Bike Shorts below), 25 percent goes to Caltrans for inter-regional projects. The CTC has so far come up with and then withdrawn three program structure proposals that drew a firestorm of protest from bike and pedestrian advocates, environmentalists, and state and local elected officials.

But after the CTC unanimously voted at its September meeting to approve a fourth proposal that everyone found mostly acceptable, CTC Chair Bob Wolf scrapped it too, and behind closed doors crafted a fifth proposal that takes back some of the concessions advocates had lobbied for. The CTC now intends to transfer about $20 million out of TEA to increase Caltrans staffing, the maximum amount allowable under federal law (TEA-21 allows for the transfer of up to 25 percent of a state's TEA funding over and above their FY97 allocation), and to not make most of TEA funding available for programming until 2002.

These antics have advocates crying foul. "This commission is hostile to the enhancements program and the process has reflected that," says Laura Cohen of the Rails to Trails Conservancy. "If they don't address our concerns at their October meeting we'll seek a legislative solution."

TRANSIT ADVOCATES WIN BIG IN BAY AREA

The Bay Area Transportation and Land Use Coalition has scored a major funding victory for public transit in the nine-county metropolitan region by taking a very different tack than L.A.'s Bus Riders Union: Instead of seeking to make up shortfalls in bus funding by going after rail funding, bus and rail advocates, STPP, environmentalists and social justice advocates together singled out a highway expansion project in each county that could be axed -- thereby freeing up funding to cover $200 million in shortfalls for bus and rail capital projects.

But no one was more surprised than the coalition when a committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (the Bay Area's equivalent to the MTA) last week agreed this was a good idea, and then voted to cover not just $200 million but $375 million in public transit capital shortfalls. The committee scrapped the coalition's list of highway projects in favor of a list that the counties develop, and the plan has yet to go before the full MTC board at the end of the month. But transit advocates are confident of success.

"Nobody's ever won this big on this issue," says the coalition's Stuart Cohen. "It's a decision that will upset a lot of people, especially that formidable coalition known as the highway lobby that's made up of developers, the cement and asphalt manufacturers, Big Oil, and AAA."

STPP and the Rails to Trails Conservancy are co-hosting four day-long TEA-21 workshops around the country for activists, elected officials and transportation professionals. In San Francisco Dec. 11. Call 202-974-5121 or e-mail rtcknozik@transact.org.

STPP's "TEA-21 User's Guide: Making the Most of the New Transportation Bill" is now available. It's an in-depth look at the policies and funding contained in TEA-21, and a must-read for anyone who wants to use transportation to build better communities! Available from STPP for $15 a copy. Call 202-466-2636 or visit http://www.tea21.org

BIKE-FRIENDLY CALTRANS?

Caltrans has finally responded to a wish list requested from the California Bicycle Coalition (CBC) last spring. The 10-point list had asked for: the re- establishment of the California Bicycle Office created by then-Governor Ronald Reagan, funding for bicycles equal to bicycling's one percent modal share, bicycle access to bridges especially in the Bay Area, promotion of the California Bike Commute, the institutionalization of bike planning in each Caltrans district, and development of a statewide bike network. CBC legislative director Ryan Snyder characterizes Caltrans response as "somewhat positive," noting that the agency did indicate interest in funding some high-profile bike projects with state highway funding. Snyder notes this opens up a potential $15 million funding source and adds, "They've asked us for funding guidelines and we'll begin pushing some projects."

BIKE SHORTS

Applications for the MTA's bi-annual Call for Projects will be sent out next month. This is the competitive process by which the MTA disburses Enhancements funding (as well as other federal, state and local funds,) and is how bike projects are funded in L.A. County. Last year's Call totaled about $650 million, with $20 million earmarked for a combined bike and pedestrian category . . . . . The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) is working on a "fair share for bikes" campaign to increase bicycle funding to 1 percent of total transportation funding in L.A. County, equaling bicycling's 1 percent modal share. Since the MTA's annual budget is about $2.5 billion, 1 percent would equal $25 million. Bikes and peds together got $20 million for the two years covered by the last . . . . . LACBC and STPP will co-sponsor with several state agencies a free workshop entitled "Bucks for Bikes: Learn about the new opportunities to build and improve facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians through TEA-21 and other federal, state and local programs." Charlie Gandy, called "Johnny Appleseed" because he has seeded so many advocacy efforts around the country, is a featured presenter. At the MTA Nov9. Call LACBC for more info, 310-815-2103 . . . . . The Bicycle Federation of America has excellent information on all TEA-21 funding sources for non- motorized transportation at http://www.bikefed.com . . . . Bike L.A. Safety Training (BLAST) is sponsoring a bike-a-thon to raise money for BLAST bicycling club members who cannot afford a bike. . . . . For info on L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan's "Digital Coast Ride" on Nov. 14 call the Mayor's office, 213-847 -3634 . . . . . Call (818) 997-2455 . . . . . "Bicycles: History, Beauty, Fantasy" is at UCLA's Fowler Museum of Cultural History through Jan. 4.

SHORT SHORTS

There could be five new California Transportation Commissioners if Gray Davis becomes governor: One seat is currently vacant, two of Governor Wilson's recent appointments have not been confirmed, and two more terms will soon be over. . . . . MTA's Regional Transportation Alternatives Analysis races toward a November conclusion, with community focus groups, local electeds, MTA board members and a peer review panel (including STPP's Hank Dittmar) assessing which projects should go forward. . . . . TEA-21's new $20 million Transportation and Community and System Preservation Pilot program is designed to fund projects that address the critical linkage between land use and transportation. Applications are due Nov. 15. See http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tea21/fedreg3.htm . . . . . A new study from the University of British Columbia shows that it costs five times as much to build the infrastructure to serve a typical suburban development as it does to serve a New Urbanist development . . . . . A new study by the Brookings Institution and the Fannie Mae Foundation finds that after many years of decline downtown populations are increasing throughout the country . . . . . 1998 Federal Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey found that from 1990-1995 U.S. households increased their daily travel by car. Personal motor vehicle use was up 3 percent to an 89 percent total daily modal share. Walking was down 23 percent to a 5 percent modal share.

WALKING SHORTS

At a child injury prevention conference in Washington D.C. last month the Centers for Disease Control noted pedestrian injuries are now the third leading cause of death and injury in the U.S. Main conference themes that emerged: Reducing children's exposure to traffic is not the solution because children need to exercise more; solutions should focus on adapting to kids not changing them; traffic calming is more effective than pedestrian education; education needs to focus on changing the behavior of drivers not pedestrians. . . . . British researchers say children who are driven to school risk growing up with heart disease and brittle bones. A report from the Institute of Child Health says parents may think it's safer to drive their children to school than let them walk, but they're establishing a behavior pattern that could undermine their children's health later. . . . . Students in England can now get to school via a "virtual bus," complete with a "conductor" who picks up children at "bus stops" and walks them to school, and a "driver" with a cart for backpacks and lunches . . . . . From the "road rage" files: A mother in Durham, North Carolina who was taking her children to school got frustrated with traffic and drove up onto the sidewalk instead, at one point dragging for several yards a police officer who'd given chase. Complaining she "didn't have time for this" she then drove off across people's yards, and wasn't caught until she dropped her two girls off at elementary school. She faces felony charges including assault with a deadly weapon.

the Surface Transportation Policy Project's SoCal newsletter

Septermber/October 1998 Volume 2 Issue 6

Contents:

BIG FOOT!