HIGHLIGHTS:
GOVERNOR RELEASES BUDGET
RIVERSIDE COUNTY TALKS TRANSIT
HIGH SPEED RAIL HEARINGS SCHEDULED
NEW STATE FUNDING PROGRAMS AVAILABLE

PLUS:
New STPP CA web site
Silicon Valley bus cuts
Wider roads deadlier
SF transit stations for sale
Electric Buses
Quotable

GOVERNOR'S BUDGET REQUEST PROVIDES BOOST FOR TRANSPORTATION; MODEST INCREASE FOR TRANSIT OPERATIONS

Governor Gray Davis unveiled his $104B budget proposal in early January with significant transportation funding increases due to the 6-year, $8B congestion relief package (AB2928) approved by the legislature last year. The budget contains a $9.6B request for Caltrans, up from $7.8B approved for the department in FY01. Funding for actual project construction also gets a huge boost, with capital outlays rising from $2.3B in FY00 to $3.4B in FY01 to a $4B request from Davis for the coming year. While capital spending continues to dwarf maintenance and repair funding both for highways and transit, the Governor's budget request did contain some good news for transit operations. Due mostly to higher gasoline sales and the share of the sales tax on gas temporarily directed towards public transportation, the state transit assistance (STA) account is slated to receive $189M in FY02 -- an increase of $77M or 69% over the previous year. STA funds are used to fund non-capital transit operations, and are critical for maintaining and expanding frequencies and implementing night and weekend transit service. The Davis budget also includes a $3M proposal to provide graduated tax credits for employers who purchase transit passes for their workers. An additional $18M is slated for a new rural transit program to fund mostly capital expenditures in non- urbanized areas, $100M for a diesel emissions reduction program through the Air Resources Board, $4M for a farmworker transportation pilot program and $50M for a zero-emission vehicle incentive program. Budget subcommittees in both houses of the legislature will begin debate on the state budget in the next month. For more information on proposed transit funding increases visit www.transitassociation.org/hot/report_01-11-01.html
Back to Top

RIVERSIDE COUNTY ENVISIONS TRANSIT-ORIENTED FUTURE

An ambitious integrated planning process to determine how to accommodate the massive population growth expected in largely undeveloped Riverside County has settled on an intriguing "transit oases" plan to attract mixed-use development around linear parks served by frequent shuttle service. Under the plan, 18 linear "transit oases" would be created consisting of one-way transit loops traversing linear parks of about one square mile in size. All destinations within the oases would be within a five-minute walk, and there would be waits of no longer than 10 minutes at each of the several stations located along the loop. The shuttle service would tie in to regional express bus and commuter rail service, thereby providing links to major destinations inside and outside Riverside County at a cost, excluding land acquisition, of just $5.5 million. The intent, says transit planner Alan Hoffman, "is to link transportation and land use by creating rights of way for public transit around which mixed land uses will naturally cluster, thereby allowing transit to get closer to people without busting the transit budget." The plan has been endorsed by the elected officials, environmentalists, developers and others involved in the county's Community, Environment and Transportation Acceptability Process (CETAP). The $30 million integrated planning process - one of the most ambitious efforts in the nation -- is simultaneously developing and overlaying a new general plan for the county with a transportation plan and a multiple species habitat plan. "The transit oases plan hasn't yet been adopted by the county transportation commission," notes Riverside County Supervisor Tom Mullen, who is heading the effort. "But it holds tremendous promise as a way to ensure future mobility at a very reasonable price." For more information contact Gloria Ohland in STPP's southern California office, 213.629.2043
Back to Top

STATE HIGH SPEED RAIL PLANS INCH FORWARD

Just a year ago the California High Speed Rail Authority seemed down on its luck. Governor Davis kept dismissing the $25B plan as a "Buck Rogers Scheme," board members had scrapped plans to place a mammoth funding measure before voters in the November 2000 election and the authority itself was set to expire unless reauthorized by the legislature. Yet $25 million in planning funds provided in last year's state budget, a three year extension for the authority, and the recent defeat of a southern California maglev funding proposal has for now kept hopes alive for the proposal. On February 5th, the rail authority will kick off an ambitious eight-week round of fifteen public workshops intended to provide input for the mandated state and federal environmental reviews (the so-called EIR/EIS). Ranking high on the list of questions is how to pay for the up front capital costs of the system, whether the service could actually generate an operating profit as authority staff contend, and where the train will actually run. While an initial route has been proposed, the political dogfight for winning the rights to a local station will only intensify as the plan evolves. An increasing number of groups are also asking the rail authority reconsider its initial decision to skirt the edge of several cities as a cost cutting measure, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, where greenfield stations will likely only exacerbate sprawling development patterns. "The new high speed rail stations should be in the downtowns," notes Train Riders Association of California (TRAC) Executive Director Richard Silver. "It's a perfect opportunity to channel growth in the Central Valley." For a full listing of all high speed rail public workshops visit http://www.cahighspeedrail.org/public_workshops/index.html.
Back to Top

NEW STATE FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL COMMUNITY, HOUSING AND PEDESTRIAN SAFETY PROGRAMS

A variety of new community funding programs are now available through two departments within the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. The Department of Housing and Community Development has unveiled three new grant programs as a result of a boost in funding from the FY01 state budget. Applications for the $4.5M Inter-Regional Partnership Grants for Jobs Housing Balance are due March 12th, and will focus on multi-county efforts to address imbalances between economic and residential growth between regions. A notice of funding availability for $97M in Jobs-Housing Balance Incentive Grants will be issued in early February but will only be awarded in early 2002 after jurisdictions have met certain criteria including a quantifiable boost in housing construction, multi- family units and the use of infill locations. Once awarded, grants can be used for a variety of community improvement and livability projects. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has released the next call for projects in the second round of the $20M Safe Routes to School program due May 22nd. Only local governments are eligible to apply for funding and projects are restricted to capital improvements that make it safer for children to walk and bike to school. The program will expire by law unless reauthorized by Senate Bill 10 authored by State Senator Nell Soto. A second $8M pedestrian safety fund made available through the STPP-sponsored AB2522 (Shelley) will also soon be available through the Caltrans Office of Local Programs. Applications will like be due by late spring or early summer. For more information on the jobs-housing grants visit http://housing.hcd.ca.gov/ca/fac.html. Guidelines for the Safe Routes to School can be downloaded from http://www.ca.dot.gov/hq/LocalPrograms/. Guidelines for the pedestrian safety program will soon be available on the same local programs website. More details on Senate Bill 10 can be found at http://www.transact.org/ca/saferoutes_bill.htm.
Back to Top

The STPP Website

STPP has unveiled a new California web site that contains detailed state level information for a variety of topics including traffic congestion, pedestrian safety, smart growth and state legislation; a detailed guide to transportation funding is also available including regional program information and links to local agencies
Back to Top

Silicon Valley bus cuts

Despite passage of a $30 billion sales tax extension to bring BART to San Jose, the Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority is proposing the elimination of three bus lines and service reductions on 27 others due to a labor shortage blamed partially on the high cost of living in Silicon Valley; 84% of VTA riders depend on the bus and 66% have no other way to reach their destination (SJ Merc 1/8)
Back to Top

Wider roads deadlier

New research concludes that the reduction in U.S. vehicle- related fatalities over the past several decades has been largely the result of education campaigns aimed at seatbelt usage and designated drivers; the study says that when adjusting for these trends, widening roads actually produces higher vehicle fatality rates due to faster travel speeds (full report: http://www.cts.cv.ic.ac.uk/staff/wp5-noland.pdf)
Back to Top

SF transit stations for sale

San Francisco's transit system (MUNI) is taking a page out of the stadium financing handbook and selling naming rights for transit stations; if approved, MUNI would be the second transit agency in the country to make the move -- Boston's T sold the naming rights for four downtown stations, estimated to be worth $20 million over 5 years (SF Chron 1/23)
Back to Top

Electric Buses

he Orange County Transportation Authority has become the first transit agency on the West Coast to place a full-size hybrid- electric transit bus into commercial service; the vehicle is powered by an advanced hybrid-electric powertrain that dramatically reduces vehicle emissions (CTA)
Back to Top

QUOTABLE

What I'd like to do is try to take some of the politics out of transportation. -- State Assemblymember John Dutra (D-Fremont), commenting on his priorities in his new role as Assembly Transportation Committee Chair. As quoted in "Transactions," published by the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Back to Top