 Bridge Toll Hike Proposed for Earthquake Safety
The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) is seeking public comment on a toll increase on the seven state-owned Bay Area toll bridges: the Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael, San Francisco-Oakland Bay and San Mateo-Hayward bridges. The toll proposal does not affect the Golden Gate Bridge, which is owned and operated by an independent authority. The proposed toll hike — which likely would be effective July 1, 2010 — comes in response to the need to raise an additional $160 million in annual revenues. The chief reason the additional revenue is needed is to finance the estimated $750 million cost of necessary seismic retrofit projects on the Antioch and Dumbarton bridges. Other factors include a slow but steady decline in toll-paying traffic on the state-owned bridges during each of the past five years, increasing operational expenses, and rising debt (due in part to the upheaval in the municipal bonds markets over the past two years). Three options were presented at the October 14, 2009, BATA Oversight Committee meeting, all of which would raise the needed $160 million annually. For Options 1 and 2 (detailed at right), BATA would raise the base toll on automobiles by $1 (to $5), and in so doing raise the first $100 million of additional new revenues. The remaining funds would be generated by a combination of increasing the per-axle toll for trucks and/or introducing a toll for carpools, which would be collected electronically via FasTrak® toll tags. Also under consideration (Option 3) is the introduction of peak-hour congestion pricing on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Preliminary analysis shows that such pricing could reduce morning peak delay on the Bay Bridge by 15 to 30 percent.
Four public hearings were held around the Bay Area in November and early December to take public comment on the options. Residents who were unable to attend one of the public hearings can make their views known via an online survey at: www.mtc.ca.gov/get_involved. The survey will be available through December 21, 2009. Written comments also will be accepted until 4 p.m., December 21, 2009. Written comments should be submitted to the BATA Public Information Office at 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, California, 94607-4700; faxed to BATA at 510.817.5848; or sent via e-mail to tolls@mtc.ca.gov. After receipt and review of public comment, BATA commissioners are scheduled to consider the adoption of a revised toll schedule in early 2010. For more information, call the BATA Public Information Office at 510.817.5757. Bay Trail Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary
I was pleased to join over 100 enthusiastic guests who celebrated the 20th anniversary of the San Francisco Bay Trail project at the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center on Saturday, June 6. The event honored State Treasurer Bill Lockyer for authoring Senate Bill 100, the 1987 legislation that helped authorize the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) to develop and adopt a plan for a continuous recreational corridor edging San Francisco and San Pablo bays. Since that plan’s adoption in 1989, over half of the Bay Trail — or 293 of 500 miles — has been completed. MTC has been a major financial contributor to the Bay Trail over its 20 years, providing over $2.4 million to ABAG for the planning of the Bay Trail. MTC also has helped finance the construction of various Bay Trail segments, including the bicycle path on the Carquinez Bridge, the recently opened bicycle/pedestrian path of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge, and the impending East Span of the Bay Bridge, which will house a new bicycle/pedestrian path from Oakland to Yerba Buena Island. In the face of climate change, the Bay Trail provides an important commute alternative for bicyclists, and connects to numerous public transit facilities, including ferry terminals, light-rail lines, bus stops, and Caltrain, Amtrak, BART and VTA stations. The Bay Trail also provides free and easily accessible recreational opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts, including hikers, joggers, bicyclists, rollerbladers and wheelchair users. The Bay Trail connects nearly 100 waterfront parks, creating a linked greenbelt along the shoreline, reminding us of our shared connection to the San Francisco Bay. The pace of construction will likely accelerate in the coming months and years thanks to the Transportation 2035 Plan adopted this year by MTC, which calls for investing $1 billion to complete the Regional Bicycle Network, including the Bay Trail system. For more information on the Bay Trail, go to www.baytrail.org. BART Breaks Ground on Subway Section of Warm Springs ExtensionOn September 30, top regional transit and local officials broke ground on the subway portion of the Warm Springs Extension, a 5.4 mile project that will bring BART closer to San Jose. The subway section of the extension is a $136 million project to extend BART south through Fremont Central Park, including under a portion of Lake Elizabeth, and beneath the Union Pacific Railroad freight track to just north of Paseo Padre Parkway. The subway work is expected to take three and a half years. BART hopes to have the Warm Springs Extension in service by 2014. The City of Fremont is well underway with another key component of the extension: an overpass that would carry BART trains above Paseo Padre Parkway. The total project budget for the Warm Springs Extension is approximately $890 million. Of this amount, nearly $300 million comes from Regional Measure 1 and Regional Measure 2 bridge toll funds, distributed by MTC. Other sources include Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority Measure B funds, state fund sources, Proposition 1B funds, a contribution from the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency, and a BART agency contribution. BART and Caltrain Begin Accepting TransLink®East Bay and Peninsula commuters have two new reasons to celebrate now
that both BART and Caltrain are accepting TransLink®, the Bay Area’s
transit fare card. On August 3, BART TransLink® is a regional transit fare card engineered by MTC that is also accepted by San Francisco Muni, AC Transit, Golden Gate Transit and Ferry, and Dumbarton Express. Eventually, all Bay Area transit agencies will accept TransLink®, and Bay Area transit riders will be able to use one card to pay their fares on different transit systems — no more worrying about exact change or carrying multiple passes. TransLink® customers who receive pre-tax transit benefits (like Commuter Check or WageWorks) can use their benefits to load value onto their card. In October, the entire TransLink® system
averaged more than 40,000 transactions per weekday, more than double
the number of transactions a year earlier, and for the first time exceeded
one million transactions in a month. TransLink® customers also added
more than $2.5 million worth of fare value to their TransLink® cards
in October. For more information about TransLink®, visit translink.org. Legislative UpdateExpress Lane Bill on 2010 DocketAssembly Bill 744, a bill to authorize the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) to develop an express lane network (also known as a high-occupancy toll or HOT lane network) remains MTC’s top state legislative priority for 2010. The bill moved quickly through the California State Assembly last spring, winning bipartisan support and a floor vote of 58-18. After a number of amendments, it was also approved 6-1 by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee. The bill currently resides in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it can be taken up anytime beginning in 2010. The bill enjoys strong support from local partners, including the business community (the Bay Area Council, the Contra Costa Council, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group) and Bay Area congestion management agencies, especially the two agencies already developing the region’s first express lanes – Alameda Congestion Management Agency and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. At the state level, the bill is supported by the California State Automobile Association, the California Transportation Commission and the California Transit Association. Amendments taken in the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee include requirements that the toll structure maximize person throughput rather than revenue, and that public transit improvements be given the highest priority when expenditure plans are developed for the net revenue – funds remaining after operating, maintenance and debt service obligations. The bill designates BATA as the lead agency to plan, finance and manage the network, while phasing plans, system design and operational policies will be developed through an interagency oversight committee consisting of congestion management agencies, Caltrans, CHP and BATA staff. Expenditure plans for the use of net revenue will be developed through a bottom-up process in each individual travel corridor, led by congestion management agencies. MTC staff and commissioners are working closely with the Bay Area’s Senate delegation to craft additional amendments necessary to secure the bill’s passage, without compromising on the fundamental goal of a connected, regional express lane network that will improve travel times for carpools, buses and vanpools, while offering a new, reliable travel option to single-occupant vehicles willing to pay a toll. MTC Co-Sponsors Saving the Bay DocumentaryFrom the Gold Rush to the Golden Gate Bridge, and through World’s Fairs and World Wars, San Francisco Bay has been central to the identity of one of the world’s leading economic, academic, recreational and cultural regions. This fall, KQED took a look at the history of the San Francisco Bay with Saving the Bay, a documentary presented in four one-hour episodes narrated by actor and environmentalist Robert Redford. MTC and its Bay Area Toll Authority were series sponsors of the documentary. Widely acclaimed as one of the world’s most beautiful natural harbors, San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of both North and South America. It is also the most invaded aquatic ecosystem in North America. Saving the Bay details how the Bay was almost lost to landfill schemes ranging from the daring to the deranged, and celebrates the more recent restoration and expansion of this once threatened treasure. KQED Education Network will prepare extensive learning materials for classroom use of Saving the Bay. The education efforts focus on creating resources for San Francisco Bay Area informal and community-based education organizations who wish to use the series as part of their work with teachers and students from schools and youth organizations, and in public programs. Twenty segments from Saving the Bay will be selected that are of particular relevance to KQED education partners and correlate with state content standards. These film clips, along with viewing guides and other supporting materials, will be available for free online. Workshops and trainings will be held for education partners and other informal education organizations in order to support the use of these new resources in their programs and in their work with local school groups. Additionally, a Saving the Bay map will be produced with the locations and contact information of Bay Area organizations that provide educational and outreach opportunities regarding the San Francisco Bay. MTC and BATA are proud to sponsor this production. For more background, go to www.savingthebay.net. |