BUDGET CUTS,
ECONOMIC WOES, PUT SQUEEZE ON STATE'S TRANSIT OPERATORS
While there was little
good news for anyone in the Governor's so-called May Revise that revealed
the gaping $24 billion hole in the state budget,
mass
transit systems are getting hit doubly hard due to their dependence on
shrinking local tax revenues. Regions of the state where transit operators rely
heavily on local sales taxes, like the San Francisco Bay Area, are
finding themselves facing massive deficits. Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation
Authority (VTA) is contemplating a 5 percent reduction in bus service
along with a 15 percent fare hike. BART, the Bay Area’s rapid transit
system, is facing a $28 million shortfall and contemplating a similar
increase in fares and a reduction in service. Other service reductions
are being considered in Santa Cruz County, where the transit district
is facing a $3.4 million shortfall and eyeing service cuts on 40 separate
bus lines.
On
top of the disappearance of local revenues, the state’s budget woes
could translate into a loss of as much as $73 million in crucial
transit operating funds from one of the few remaining places that
transit systems can fund day to day operations –- the State Transit
Assistance (STA) account. The proposed dramatic reduction, from a high
of $171M in the current fiscal year to just $98M under the May budget
revision, could force cuts beyond ones that are currently being
discussed throughout the state.
But
transit advocates with the Bay Area Transportation and Land Use
Coalition are urging many agencies to get creative with new sources of
revenue that could offset the need to raise fares. The BART system is
one such place where advocates are pointing to the provision of free
parking spaces for suburban commuters as a potential source of new
income. BART, which relies heavily on suburban commuters, has
historically been reluctant to charge for parking, instead spreading the
cost out over all riders.
Similar
‘user fee’ proposals are in play at the Golden Gate Bridge District,
where a plan to raise the bridge’s vehicle toll from $3 to $5 and
charging bicyclists and pedestrians $1 to cross has made national
headlines. Without an increase in revenues, the agency is threatening to
cut its companion bus and ferry service. STPP and others are encouraging
the agency to consider variable tolling based on charging higher tolls
at rush hour and congested weekend periods and lower tolls during off
peak and early morning hours.
Click here
to view the BART parking charge proposals from BATLUC. Click here
to learn more about the Golden Gate Bridge toll debate.
"INFILL"
BILLS ADVANCE IN SACRAMENTO DESPITE DIFFICULT LEGISLATIVE YEAR
Two
STPP-sponsored bills promoting infill housing and transit-oriented
development have advanced in the state legislature despite increasing
pressure to slow all bills due to the budget crisis and an intense
lobbying effort against one of the bills from several transportation
agencies.
SB1262
(Torlakson) would require regional transportation agencies to use 5
percent of their capital funding as incentive grants to reward local
governments who construct infill housing and retail adjacent to mass
transit and town centers. The bill -- modeled on a pilot program in San
Mateo County that has since achieved widespread acclaim -- has attracted
one of the most diverse array of supporters ever, with STPP, labor
unions, the California Building Industry Association (CBIA), the
California Association of Realtors (CAR), non-profit housing
associations, the Sierra Club, social justice and faith-based groups in
support. Yet a concerted lobbying effort against the bill from the
Contra Costa Transportation Authority, the Los Angeles Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA), and the Association of General
Contractors is threatening the future of the legislation in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
Far
less controversial is SB1636 (Figueroa), an STPP-sponsored bill to relax
state-mandated traffic "Level of Service" (LOS) standards
around transit stations and along bus rapid transit corridors throughout
the state. LOS standards require that housing or mass transit projects
with any discernable traffic impacts fund and prepare "deficiency
plans" that usually include expensive intersection enhancements and road
widening measures. The unintended consequence of the policy is to force
development projects into areas where there will be no major traffic
impacts -- typically greenfield sites far away from existing city and
town centers. SB1636 is expected to appear before for a vote on the
floor of the State Senate the week of May 27th and, if approved, will be
taken up in the State Assembly in early June.
Several
other bills promoting infill development, including AB1937 sponsored by
the California Transit Association, are also moving forward.
More information is available
at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/.
View a more
detailed analysis of SB1262 or see
the latest support list. Click here
to read a recent editorial supporting SB1636. Click here
for additional STPP analysis on other bills.
TRANSPORTATION
MEASURES MAY BE HEADING FOR NOVEMBER BALLOT
On
the heels of an impressive margin of victory for Proposition 42 -- the
transportation spending measure on the March 2002 ballot -- the Planning
and Conservation League is moving ahead with its own plans for a
transportation measure that will heavily favor spending on mass transit,
environmental mitigation, air quality and community safety projects. If
approved by a majority of the state's voters, the measure would capture
a portion of the existing sales tax revenues on new car and truck
revenues -- worth roughly $800 million a year -- for a range of
transportation programs and projects.
Voters
will also get to decide on a historic $2.1 billion affordable housing
bond proposal in November, in addition to a massive $13 billion bond
measure to fund school construction. And while the budget crisis
severely limits the chances for any other spending measures to sneak out
of the legislature by mid-summer, STPP has sponsored a $500 million bond
measure (AB2369-Salinas) for senior and disabled transportation
improvements that has won the support of AARP, transit agencies and
disability groups across California.
Local
county transportation sales tax measures may also appear on Fresno,
Riverside, Solano, and Merced countywide ballots in November. For a full
history of all local transportation sales tax votes in California, click
here. For more information about the PCL initiative, visit www.pcl.org.
Contact Trinh Nguyen in STPP's Sacramento
office for more information about AB2369.
TRANSIT RIDERSHIP
SHOWS RECORD GAINS IN CALIFORNIA FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW
After
years of losing riders in the early 1990s and despite the current economic
downturn, California transit agencies have posted yet another record
year for transit usage. Ridership across all major systems grew six
percent from 2000 to 2001, following a five percent increase the
previous year, according to new numbers released by STPP and the
American Public Transportation Association.
The
US Census also released its so-called "journey to work" data
for 2000 on May 17th. Preliminary numbers show longer commutes statewide
but no
significant change in solo drivers since 1990. The census, however, only
counts work-related trips. Recent studies suggest that as many as
three-quarters of all
trips made by Californians are now for the purpose of running errands,
shopping or shuttling kids. Data that show a more complete picture of
California's travel habits are typically collected by regional
transportation agencies at the metropolitan or county level.
View the latest transit ridership
statistics from APTA and STPP's press
release for California. STPP
will soon make available an analysis of California commuting data
released recently by the U.S. census.
CALTRANS
PLEDGES TO
RETHINK DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR LOCAL HIGHWAYS
The
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has taken several
major steps towards better addressing the issue of state-owned
"highways" that serve as local roads and main streets. Local
governments, businesses and neighborhood groups have long voiced
frustration in their attempts to make smaller, conventional state
highways better function as main streets for their communities. Though
built long before the advent of freeways, these traditional surface
streets have nevertheless remained under the jurisdiction of Caltrans
(signaled by the triangular green shield designating the route number)
and thus have had to comply with the strictest highway engineering
standards for moving the greatest amount of traffic at the greatest
speed.
But
Caltrans has started to take local demands for bicycle and pedestrian
safety -- and growing political support for "livable
communities" -- far more seriously in recent years. The Department
recently announced a new "Context Sensitive Solutions" policy
requiring Caltrans district staff to make every effort to incorporate
livability, bicycle and pedestrian safety, local business and
environmental protection concerns into the design of every project. The policy --
aimed at all roads under Caltrans' jurisdiction but perhaps most
relevant for more local facilities -- is intended to incorporate both
flexibility in design guidelines as well as a new approach to
incorporating greater public involvement at the front end of project
design. The policy comes two years after Governor Davis vetoed an STPP-sponsored
bill (AB597; Longville) to require the Department to establish new road design guidelines.
STPP,
the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and the Local Government
Commission have also teamed up to release a new report on state highways
that serve as main streets targeted specifically at California.
"Civilizing Downtown Highways" highlights several California
and national success stories, and is available for purchase for $30 from
www.cnu.org or by calling CNU at
415.495.2255. Click here
for a full PDF version of the new Caltrans policy on "Context Sensitive
Solutions" (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
