HIGHLIGHTS:
CALIFORNIA TRANSIT RIDERSHIP BOOMS
LOCAL AIR QUALITY LAWSUITS PROLIFERATE
BILLIONS IN NEW TRANSPO FUNDING UP FOR GRABS
STPP STAFF CHANGES, NEW CA POSITION AVAILABLE

PLUS:
QUOTABLE
STATE BRIEFS

CALIFORNIANS RIDING TRANSIT IN RECORD NUMBERS

Reversing several decades of declining numbers, California's transit systems are now enjoying record ridership levels the likes of which haven't been seen since World War II. According to new data released by the American Public Transit Association and the Surface Transportation Policy Project last week, 25 of California's 29 largest public transit systems posted significant ridership gains between 1999 and 2000.

Leading the pack are the newly unveiled ACE train service between Stockton and San Jose (66% increase), Amtrak's Capitol Corridor (up 51%), and the San Diego Trolley (up 17%). Yet both urban and suburban bus systems also posted strong gains, and overall ridership on the state's largest 29 transit systems increased more than 5 percent -- the equivalent of 30 million new riders -- and will likely outpace the growth in driving statewide.

Advocates say the addition of new streetcar and commuter rail lines as well as improvements to existing bus services may all finally be adding up to make transit a competitive choice for an increasing number of California commuters. Experiments in giving buses priority along streets and at intersections in Los Angeles in particular may hold promise for other parts of the state unable to afford new rail lines anytime in the near future. "Using very inexpensive technology, there was an incredible increase of 25% on the two L.A. 'rapid bus' corridors," explained Bay Area Transportation and Land Use Coalition Chair Stuart Cohen in the Los Angeles Times (4/17). "It shows a lot of people will take transit if it will take them where they want to go in a reasonable amount of time. That's why we think speeding up buses is going to give the biggest bang for the buck in Los Angeles and most other areas."

For more detailed information by individual system visit http://www.transact.org/ca/ . Additional data is available through the American Public Transit Association at 202.898.4000 or http://www.apta.org .

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LAWSUITS TARGET REGIONAL AGENCIES OVER AIR QUALITY

Three separate lawsuits have been filed in the Bay Area and Sacramento in the last year, all of which claim both transportation and environmental agencies haven't done enough to improve regional air quality. One of the two Bay Area lawsuits against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resulted in a consent decree requiring the region to draft a new air quality attainment plan by August or risk losing state and federal highway funds.

A second suit against the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and several local transit agencies over failure to meet transit ridership goals established in the early 1980s is still pending even though one of the parties to the suit--AC Transit--has already settled. Officials, however, question its merits. "It's irrelevant to link transit ridership from the 1980s with air quality goals in the twenty-first century," said MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger. Part of a similar suit in Sacramento was thrown out over clean air jurisdiction issues, while the remainder of the claims may result in updated modeling methodologies and a revised air quality attainment plan.

While lawsuits remain an anathema to most agency staff and local elected officials, many community groups who have historically felt shut out of the planning process believe it remains one of the most effective means of influencing decisionmakers. Lawyers from the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund filed the Bay Area complaints in January on behalf of a broad coalition of community activists including Bayview Community Advocates, Communities for a Better Environment, Latino Issues Forum, Sierra Club, the Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund (TRANSDEF), Urban Habitat, and Our Children's Earth Foundation. "It's unfortunately the way a modern activist has to function," explains TRANSDEF's David Schonbrunn.

For better or worse, lawsuits appear to spur action, at least in the short term, from the agencies they target. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) unveiled a new $70M diesel engine replacement program shortly after their lawsuit was filed. The Los Angeles MTA signed a historic consent decree in 1995 agreeing to significantly increase local transit service and reduce overcrowding on buses. The key to avoiding lawsuits over the long term may lie in the ongoing struggle many agencies face in significantly stepping up efforts to involve the public and community groups in their decisionmaking process. Meanwhile resolution on the two outstanding suits is expected sometime in the next month.

To learn more about both the Bay Area and Sacramento lawsuits, visit http://www.earthjustice.org , http://www.sacog.org  or http://www.mtc.ca.gov .

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REGIONS, COUNTIES, PREPARE TO COMPETE FOR MILLIONS IN NEW TRANSPORTATION FUNDING

Despite a range of new legislative proposals to boost state transportation funding by several billion dollars a year, state and local agencies will be preparing both applications and project lists for a sizable amount of existing funding already anticipated to available over the course of the next twelve months. Two of the larger programming exercises include updates to each region's twenty year transportation plans (RTP), which serve as the local long range budgeting blueprint, along with the much more project-specific programming of more than $4.5 billion in State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) funds that will commence sometime this summer. Both documents are updated and developed by a combination of regional transportation planning agencies (RTPAs) and county transportation agencies.

The STIP funding in particular represents one of the largest expenditures of technically "flexible" transportation funds this year, a combination of state and federal dollars that can be spent on a broad range of projects including bike lanes, freeways, new transit systems, and road repairs. As a result of the Governor's transportation plan of 2000 (AB2928), a portion of this year's STIP funds will also be eligible for transit operations and maintenance.

Smaller, community-based transportation funding opportunities are also pending. The second round of applications for Caltrans' $20M Safe Routes to School program are due May 22nd along with proposals for the new $8M pedestrian safety fund. Due June 1st are applications for $7.2M in Caltrans' Bicycle Transportation Account (BTA) funding and $25M in state Transportation Enhancements Activities (TEA) funds.

For more information related to STIP funding visit http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/transprog/stip.htm  or http://www.transact.org/ca/funding.htm . More details on the four community-based funding programs is also available at http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LocalPrograms/ .

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STPP STAFFING CHANGES INCLUDE NEW CALIFORNIA POSITION

Several staff changes at STPP include the appointment of David Burwell as the organization's new national President and CEO. Burwell was the founder and President of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, has served on STPP's Board of Directors since its inception in 1990, and will be heading up STPP's Alliance for a New Transportation Charter (ANTC) aimed at building new broad-based national and state transportation coalitions. Roy Kienitz will continue to serve as the national organization's Executive Director.

Gloria Ohland, STPP's southern California Campaign Manager since 1996, has accepted a new position as staff writer with the Great American Station Foundation. She will continue to consult with STPP's California state campaign. The organization's California offices are also hiring for a new position based in the San Francisco office--responsibilities will include state policy, local coalition building, research and writing. The position will report to STPP's California Director, James Corless. A full job description will be available soon at http://www.transact.org/ca/  or by e-mailing jcorless@transact.org .

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QUOTABLE  

"We were at the point that smart growth--responsible growth-- was becoming such a major topic that it would have been on the agenda this year. But unfortunately this energy mess has taken that off the radar screen." --Assemblyman Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), explaining why the growing local and regional interest in smart growth is failing to capture the full attention of state lawmakers. As quoted in the Contra Costa Times, 4/29/01.

"What you're seeing in California is the reverse of the precipitous decline in transit ridership during the early 1990s...we've also invested a lot more in transit, and it's paying off."

--STPP California Director James Corless explaining why transit ridership is at its highest level in California since World War II. As quoted in the Los Angeles Times, 4/17/01.

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STATE BRIEFS 

The Safe Routes to School bill (SB10), approved by the Senate Transportation Committee 11-3 on April 3rd, was placed on the suspense file by the Senate Appropriations Committee at their April 30th hearing; despite having no impact on the state budget, the bill is one of hundreds that are now in flux as the Governor and legislative leadership juggle a dwindling budget surplus and increasing uncertainty over financial plans to help avert continuing blackouts as summer approaches...

Southern California's Regional Transportation Plan is in trouble achieving so-called conformity with federal air quality regulations due in large part to the region's proposal for a new $7B regional high speed 'maglev' train; the Federal Highway Administration and others have raised serious concerns that several optimistic assumptions add up to unrealistic promises for future air pollution reduction -- the proposal itself is seen as being in direct competition with the larger statewide Sacramento to San Diego high speed rail proposal (LA Times 4/16)...

Energy officials are predicting that a shortage of gasoline supplies in California could lead to price increases of between 25 and 75 cents a gallon by the end of summer; while San Francisco and San Jose lead the state with the most expensive gas at more than $2 a gallon, analysts say prolonged shortages and recurring blackouts could lead to prices as high as $3 a gallon by September (Sac Bee 4/25)...

The Bay Area's BART rapid transit system approved plans last week for a new "infill" station at West Dublin/Pleasanton adjacent to the I-580/I-680 interchange; the project will consist of a 17 acre transit village comprising a mix of office, retail and apartments high rises, and will be one of the first in the state built through a public-private partnership (CC Times 4/13)...

Fresno's transit system (FAX) has unveiled several new hybrid diesel-electric test buses that are the first of their kind in the Central Valley and are part of a larger effort to combat the region's notorious air quality problems; the vehicles run through a bank of 48 batteries mounted on the roof but charged by a small diesel engine similar to those found in pickup trucks (Fresno Bee 4/17)...

The South Coast Air Quality Management District became the first air pollution control agency in the U.S. to begin mandating the use of clean fuel school buses in southern California by a vote in late April; priority will go to natural gas-powered engines although newer diesel models will be allowed if outside funds aren't available to pay for the switchover, a move that's expected to cover nearly half of the region's 8800 buses (LA Times 4/21)...

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