Advocacy

TransForm: A Tenacious Advocate for Sustainable Transportation and Smart Land Use

TransForm has won literally billions of dollars and groundbreaking policies in support of public transportation, smart growth, affordable housing, and bicycle/pedestrian safety. 

Advocacy is a core part of our history and our ongoing work to create great, walkable communities and world-class public transportation for all.

See below for more information on our current Bay Area Transportation Advocacy, Bay Area Land Use Advocacy, and California and Federal Advocacy. Or, learn about Past TransForm Campaigns.

Bay Area Transportation Advocacy

The Bay Area deserves a world class transportation system with fast, frequent, reliable and affordable transit and safe walking and biking access to give all residents quality transportation choices. Achieving a robut transportation network will ensure access to those who need it most, help keep the Bay Area affordable for working families, give everyone more time by reducing congestion, and it will move the region forward in achieving healthier air and a protected climate.

To achieve world-class transportation in the Bay Area, TransForm is working in these priority areas:

Bay Area Land Use Advocacy

For the past 50 years, poorly planned growth has led to an almost complete reliance on cars and the loss of some of the region’s best farmland and most beautiful landscapes. The long distances between housing, services, and workplaces have left many people living in areas with grinding commutes, polluted air, and untenable transportation costs. Walkable communities near transit, with a mix of housing for all income levels, shops, offices, community facilities, and parks can make a world of difference for our health, quality of life, and environment.

TransForm’s land use advocacy focuses on two key strategies for achieving walkable neighborhoods around transit:

California and Federal Advocacy

California has adopted ground-breaking laws that call for reducing global warming pollution through changing our approach to land use, housing, and transportation. But, entrenched interests and long-held policies threaten to undermine these tremendous opportunities. TransForm is working with partners at the state-level and across the country to ensure that California and the Bay Area have the tools we need to meet our climate change goals and create world class transportation and walkable communities.

To do this, we're pursuing the following areas:

Past TransForm Campaigns

Since TransForm’s founding in 1997, we’ve made incredible strides in winning billions of dollars and groundbreaking policies that together have moved the region forward.

Learn more about past TransForm campaigns:

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

Bay Area Transportation Advocacy

The Bay Area deserves a world class transportation system with fast, frequent, reliable and affordable transit and safe routes for walking and biking. Achieving a robust network of choices will ensure that the nearly two million residents who don’t drive can meet their daily needs. A cost-effective and reliable transportation system will help to keep the Bay Area affordable for working families as they’re able to put more money in the bank, not the gas tank. Quality travel options will give everyone, including people in cars, more time by reducing congestion. And, a world-class transit system will help us all breathe cleaner air and will push back on a changing climate.

To achieve world-class transportation in the Bay Area, TransForm is pursuing these priorities:

Bay Area’s Sustainable Communities Strategy/Regional Transportation Plan—SB 375: TransForm is working with a coalition of partners to ensure that MTC’s next Regional Transportation Plan is a model of transparency, performance, equity, and that it achieves regional goals that will make the Bay Area a better place to live now and for the next 25 years.

Securing New Funds for Public Transit: TransForm is working on increasing the share of existing funds that go to transit, and to raise new funds at the local and regional level. One of the hottest issues is Alameda County's Measure B, the draft proposal to raise nearly $8 billion by doubling the transportation sales tax and extending it in perpetuity.

High Occupancy/Toll Lanes: TransForm is working to ensure that a regional High-Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lane network will expand transportation access for low-income individuals, provide greater transportation choices for all travelers, and help carpools and buses avoid congestion.

Transit Sustainability Study: TransForm is working to shape MTC’s Transit Sustainability Study so that it provides a useful, implementable plan that will significantly improve Bay Area transit service, making it more reliable, cost-effective, and will stabilize costs and service.

Bus Rapid Transit: TransForm is working to engage local communities in shaping Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes in the East Bay and South Bay to create model cost-effective, world-class transit options that may be replicated throughout the region and beyond.

For more information, contact Carli Paine.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

Sustainable Communities Strategy - Bay Area

What’s at Stake

The passage of SB 375 in 2008 created an unprecedented opportunity to fundamentally change the paradigm of growth away from sprawl and towards walkable communities. The law’s centerpiece is the development of a “Sustainable Communities Strategy” (SCS), a regional blueprint for transportation, housing and land use that is focused on reducing driving and associated greenhouse gas emissions. This “SCS” will incorporate the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) that TransForm has influenced many times in the past. In our region, this will be called "Plan Bay Area."

TransForm is working with a host of partners to make sure the region achieves at least a 15% reduction in per-capita CO2 emissions. When combined with cleaner fuels and vehicles, this would help California meet AB 32 climate targets.

The SCS is also a chance, if done right, to meet other key regional goals: providing housing for people of all incomes, improving health through more physical activity, reducing the cost of transportation, and preserving open space.

While the opportunity is tremendous, there are also daunting challenges such as:

  • a $25-plus billion shortfall just to operate and maintain our existing transit system;
  • local governments that need funds to protect open space and focus growth around our existing infrastructure; and
  • transportation models that are not sensitive to many critical strategies, like making walking or cycling safer.

Kick-off meeting for New Healthy Transportation Network (HTN)

Join us as the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and TransForm jumpstart a new collaboration of advocates, community members, health professionals, and planning experts from across the Bay Area.

Please mark your calendars now: KICK OFF MEETING February 15, 9 am.

Please register today.

Our first meeting will include a discussion of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s $250 million OneBayArea grant, and give easy tools for people concerned about public health, equity, and the environment to make a difference in future Bay Area expenditures on transportation. To make it easy to participate this kickoff will be a call-in meeting, and participation is free of charge.

Please contact Marty Martinez of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership with any questions or concerns (415) 637-6488 Marty@saferoutespartnership.org, or Manolo González-Estay from TransForm at (510) 740-3150 x315 mgonzalezestay@transformca.org.

Be part of making history through health and transportation!

 

Progress to date

For the past year, TransForm has been working with social justice, public health, transportation, and environmental partners to make the SCS/RTP a model of transparency, performance, and equity, and to ensure that it achieves regional goals that will make the Bay Area a better place to live now and for the next 25 years. We have been working together to influence decisions by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and other regional agencies to develop the 2013 SCS.

The agencies' public process attempts to involve a broader range of stakeholders than ever before and balance input and influence from the regional and local levels (see timelines for 2011-12 and 2012-2013).

This has resulted in:

  1. January 2011: Agencies adopts a strong set of performance targets
  2. March 2011: Agencies release an "Initial Vision Scenario" as a starting point for conversations with local governments and Bay Area residents about about where new development should occur, and how new long-term transportation investments can serve this new growth.
  3. April 2011: MTC adopts a "committed projects" policy that will reconsider many projects that would have previously been included without any further review. The final decision on this "committed projects policy" was much better than in previous years, even though it was not as good as we had hoped (see our blog posts for some history)
  4. July 2011: Agencies release first draft of a One Bay Area Grant program, to use transportation funds to reward cities that do the most to plan and deliver sustainable and equitable development near transit. A program like this was one of the recommendations of TransForm's Strategic Investments for a Better Bay Area platform. See our comments on the draft program.
  5. November 2011: MTC releases a groundbreaking project performance assessment of 80 of the largest projects being considered for inclusion in the 2013 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). See our commentary on the promise and shortcomings of the analysis.
  6. December 2011: When agencies analyze five different transportation-land use scenarios, NONE of them meet the greenhouse gas targets! See the agencies' analysis.

As the process moves forward, the most important step is for the agencies to hear from you! The Bay Area, more than any other region, has the potential to develop a Sustainable Communities Strategy that sets a model for other regions, and eventually other states, to emulate.

What you can do: individuals

What you can do: organizations

Resources

For more information, contact Jeff Hobson.

RTP/SCS Platform: Strategic Investments for a Better Bay Area

The product of conversations among dozens of nonprofit advocacy groups, this “Strategic Investments for a Better Bay Area” platform is a set of policy recommendations to influence the transportation investments in “Plan Bay Area.” That's the name of the Bay Area's Regional Transportation Plan this time around, and it will be part of our region’s first Sustainable Communities Strategy. This “SCS” will be a comprehensive transportation and land use strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from cars, pickups, and SUVs. This plan is happening because of California’s ground-breaking climate change legislation, SB 375.

For more information on what’s at stake, progress to date, and how to get involved in shaping Plan Bay Area, see our main page about the effort.

We are seeking organizational endorsements of this platform, to build on the work by dozens of organizations during the past several months.

What you can do

For more information, contact Jeff Hobson by email or by calling 510-740-3150 ext 312

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

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Sign On to The RTP/SCS Platform

Sign on to “Strategic Investments for a Better Bay Area”. This platform was developed by TransForm and dozens of nonprofit groups working together to ensure the Bay Area’s first Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) helps us fight climate change while winning a better Bay Area. These groups have been coming together since 2010 as the “Bay Area SCS Partners.”

The platform includes strategic investments put forward by a Transportation Working Group convened by TransForm and a Land Use Working Group convened by Greenbelt Alliance, plus feedback from over 20 groups or individuals responding to an initial draft circulated in March 2011.

By clicking Submit, you confirm that you have the authority to commit your organization to endorsing this platform and that you wish to have your organization listed as shown in the last text box above.

Your County and the RTP/SCS

You Can Shape the Regional Transportation Plan/ Sustainable Communities Strategy

How to Get Involved

  1. Find a meeting in your county.  Meetings are listed below in "SCS/RTP related events".
  2. Contact TransForm staff for more information to help you participate in county workshops: background information, suggested talking points, and connections with like-minded advocates!

For more information, contact Manolo González-Estay.

Alameda County’s Measure B

 

Latest Status (updated February 2, 2012)

Alameda County's elected officials have been working to put a measure on the November 2012 ballot to ask voters to double the existing transportation sales tax, extend it forever, and approve a $7.7 Billion plan for the next 30 years of transportation spending. The stakes have never been higher for transportation in Alameda County!

On January 26, the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) adopted a final expenditure plan. The final plan is an improvement from where the Commission started, but it also lacks some taxpayer safeguards that TransForm and others recommended. As the plan moves forward to approvals at individual cities, TransForm will weigh the pros and cons of the full package, look for opportunities to secure the necessary safeguards in other forums, and seek input from our constituents before taking a formal position.

We want to take a moment to thank the hundreds of people who emailed ACTC, numerous public interest groups who worked for months to improve the plan, and the elected officials who engaged in the tough work of trying to craft a solution. Working together in the coalition behind the “Community Vision Platform” is what created the pressure to make the real improvements in the plan. Thank you!

 

What’s next?

During February-May, ACTC will proceed to each city, the county Board of Supervisors, BART, and AC Transit to present the plan and seek the cities’ approval to place the measure on the ballot. In June or July, ACTC will ask the Board of Supervisors to officially place the measure on the ballot.

  1. See attached for a calendar of dates and times when ACTC will present to City Councils.
  2. Tell us what you think. What do you think of the final spending plan? Do you plan to support it in November? Contact Manolo Gonzalez-Estay at 510-740-3150 x315 or email at manolo@transfomca.org

 

Past Meeting & Event Summaries

Thursday, January 26 ACTC Steering Committee Meeting and ACTC Board Meeting

ACTC held two meetings. First the Steering Committee took extensive public comment and discussed the TEP. Several Commissioners echoed the concerns of TransForm and others with the coalition, and Chair Mark Green accepted some small changes. The Steering Committee voted to forward the plan to the full Board, with three abstentions (Kaplan, Atkin, Harper).

Then the full ACTC Board again took extensive public comment. Several more Commissioners echoed coalition concerns. The Chair formalized two changes to the plan’s language, and the full Board voted to send the plan to the cities, with 22 votes in favor and 2 against (from Supervisor Carson who is counted for two votes).

See news coverage by the Contra Costa Times and ABC-7.

For the final version of the ACTC Transportation Expenditure Plan click here.

Tuesday, January 24 Community Vision Platform Press Conference

Several public interest groups stood together to express concerns about the expenditure plan, including speakers from the League of Women Voters, ATU Locals 192 and 1555, Urban Habitat, TransForm, Genesis, East Bay Bicycle Coalition, and Greenbelt Alliance.

Listen to what our coalition allies said: click here for a video.

See news coverage by the Contra Costa Times and a related article in the New York Times.

Friday, December 16th ACTC’s Annual Board Retreat
No vote was taken to adopt any draft, but staff were given input from Alameda Commissioners to have something ready to vote on for their January 26th meeting. Over a dozen people from our coalition showed up and spoke out in support of our Community Vision Platform, yet a majority of Board members agreed that the staff draft was getting very close to what they wanted to see in the final expenditure plan. Many speakers also showed up in support of BART to Livermore.

Much hope is being pinned on a negotiation meeting to be held with members of our coalition by an ad hoc committee of the TEP Steering committee (including Chair Mayor Green, Supervisor Haggerty, Councilmember Kaplan, Councilmember Henson, Supervisor Miley, and Councilmember Worthington). The hope is that a compromise can be reached over the things we are asking for (flexible language for Livermore to BART, a youth bus-pass program, programmatic funding for TOD, local streets and roads, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and increased funding for transit operations that will not just MAINTAIN existing service, but will RESTORE a bit of what has been lost). 

The Board will meet again to vote on a plan on January 26th.  

Thursday, December 15th BART Board of Directors Meeting: 7 of 17 of the speakers (more than 1/3!) spoke out against supporting the existing draft of the TEP. No action was taken, but consensus was reached regarding the need for any language about BART to LIvermore on the 2012 ballot conveying that it is just a portion of the funding needed. BART Directors and staff also acknowledged that they do not know where the rest of the funding would come from. TransForm staff distributed suggested alternative language for a rapid transit connection for Livermore residents to the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station.

 

Background

In 2000, Alameda County voters approved the second "Measure B", reauthorizing the county's ½¢ transportation sales tax through 2022 and approving a $1.4 billion spending plan. TransForm played a key role in shaping and helping to pass that measure, which received over 81% of the vote. That came after a 1998 measure failed to gain consensus support and failed at the ballot box.

Recent polls found that there is strong community support to focus spending on: saving BART from its pending fiscal crisis; expanding transit service after years of cuts; fixing local streets; keeping transit affordable, especially for youth; and fully funding the Countywide Bicycle Plan.

In early November 2011, the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) released a "Preliminary Draft Expenditure Plan" less than 48 hours before asking their Community Advisory Working Group to comment on the plan, and without a clear explanation of the basis for the specific elements in the plan. Community response was largely negative.

Key Issues

Save BART! BART has huge unfunded shortfalls to maintain its existing system. Built in the 60s and 70s, it is getting old and needs major upgrades. BART cars are already packed at rush hour. More and more people want to ride, but BART can't handle the increase without major investment to fix it first. Without those investments, trains would move much slower and could carry as few as half as many riders at commute hours. The situation will get worse if additional riders from new extensions get on board, and there are already 3 unfinished extensions on the books. Alameda County needs to invest in saving the existing BART system, not promising more extensions. See two presentations to the BART Board; one with details of the looming problem and another report about what could happen if the problems aren't solved.

Livermore needs real transit solutions now, not false promises. Extending BART to downtown Livermore, or the I-580 exit close to downtown, would cost over $3 billion. Recently, project proponents have been talking about a one-station extension, taking BART just five miles down the road to Isabel Avenue for $1.2 billion. But promising "BART to Livermore" is a recipe for another decade of disappointment for Livermore residents, forcing the county to scramble to find money that isn't there for an overly expensive project.  ACTC, BART, and Livermore need to focus on figuring out the most cost-effective and realistic way to connect Livermore to the BART system and job centers – in a few years instead of a few decades – taking advantage of HOV lanes recently built or coming in the next 3 years. See a related article in the New York Times.

Respond to the "Measure B Community Vision Platform". TransForm signed on to a 4-page platform of recommendations (see attachment below), with details on specific funding recommendations. The platform asked the county to create a Measure B that would:

  • Fix it First
  • Help meet state and regional climate change targets
  • Improve mobility and health for all communities
  • Achieve geographic equity
  • Uphold high standards for planning
  • Protect the county from skyrocketing project costs
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SAVE BART! factsheet245.96 KB
Measure B Summary Sheet116.6 KB
BART State of Good Repair Regional Impacts Report468.56 KB
BART State of Good Repair Presentation1.25 MB
InteliBART Alternatives704.96 KB
actc_calendar_of_city_presentations.pdf30.53 KB

Securing New Funds for World-Class Public Transportation

The Bay Area must raise at least $18 billion over the next 25 years just to operate and maintain our existing public transit system. Even more funding is needed for key improvements and expansions to make transit work better and serve for more people. TransForm is working with diverse sets of partners on increasing the share of existing funds that go to transit, and to raise new funds at the local and regional level.

TransForm is working to identify and pass new funding sources that would:

  • Create a significant amount of funding
  • Provide a stable and secure source of revenue
  • Be eligible for use for transit operations
  • Minimize any disproportionate financial or other impacts on vulnerable populations
  • Be winnable in the next several years

We're looking at a variety of opportunities to create new revenue for transit, including:

  • High-Occupancy/Toll (HOT) lanes, which could provide funding for transit throughout the region. To learn more, contact John Knox White. 
  • Several options surfacing to save Caltrain, which is facing massive cuts despite growing ridership. While Caltrain, county agencies, and MTC are scrambling to craft a short-term fix, long-term cuts are looming. TransForm is collaborating with Friends of Caltrain, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group's Save Caltrain effort, and others. To learn more, contact Chris Lepe.
  • The potential reauthorization of Alameda County's transportation sales tax, Measure B. TransForm is one of two dozen organizations represented on the Citizens Advisory Working Group that will discuss the possible reauthorization of Measure B and what it would fund. To learn more, contact Joel Ramos.
  • A new regional funding measure.
  • State policy reforms to increase state-level investments in transit and provide communities and regions with more tools for establishing additional local and regional funding sources.

The passage of Proposition 26 in 2010 makes it tremendously difficult to create new streams of funding for transportation through impact and pollution mitigation fees. TransForm’s Sacramento team is working with diverse stakeholders to figure out just what this means for future Bay Area efforts to generate new funding.

Resources

MTC’s 2009 Annual Report provides details about the dismal state of transportation funding in the Bay Area.

Read about the critical connection between transit funding and the potential for transit oriented development in TransForm's article for the Federal Reserve Bank. 

TransForm has been successful in shaping and passing literally billions in new transportation funding in the Bay Area. Learn about some of our past successful funding campaigns.

For more information, contact Jeff Hobson.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

Express Lanes (High Occupancy Toll lanes)

Express lanes, or High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, are carpool lanes that allows non-carpool vehicles to pay to use them when there is excess capacity. TransForm is leading an effort with environmental and social justice partners to ensure that HOT lanes create more transportation choices and support access for low-income residents.

The Bay Area could have a regional roadway network with transit and high-occupancy vehicle lanes seamlessly connecting the region’s jobs centers, providing convenient and swift transit connections through the Bay Area. Planned as a transit system, one that sells excess system capacity to non-carpool vehicles, we could meet our region’s goals, the SCS targets, while providing new transportation choices. In fact, even Los Angeles is already planning such a network.

Express Lanes, particularly if done through the conversion of existing HOV and all-purpose highway lanes, may be a good step towards equitable road pricing. However there is a lot of devil in the details. We will need to be satisfied on a range of equity, transportation and transportation funding issues before we could support a final project.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is currently seeking authorization for express lanes for 270 lane-miles of regional highways as part of a larger express lane network.  This will be a key input into the 2013 Sustainable Communities Strategy and Regional Transportation Plan.

Campaign Update

September 28, 2011: MTC moves forward with CTC application for Bay Area Express Lane network. TransForm releases independent analysis critiquing the plan's climate impact and lack of equity analysis. For details read TransForming the Bay: MTC Express Lanes: Flawed Plan, Needs Public Planning

Resources

The Bay Area’s very first express lane, on I-680 South, opened on September 20, 2010. Additional express lanes are scheduled to open in 2011 on I-580 and Rte 287 , and in the following years on US101 and Rte 85.

TransForm's report, World-Class Transportation for the Bay Area, outlined TransForm’s support for well-designed express lanes that invest funds generated by the lanes to expand transportation access for low-income individuals, provide greater transportation choices for all travelers in the corridor, and maintain the ability of carpools and buses to avoid congestion.

For more information contact Manolo González-Estay.

Express lanes (High Occupancy Toll lanes) allow solo drivers into carpool lanes when there is space, but for a fee. TransForm is working to ensure that express lanes create more transportation choices and support access for low-income residents.
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Healthy Transportation Network

Powerful New Collaboration Kicks Off in the Bay Area

TransForm and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership are kicking off a powerful new collaboration of advocates, community members, health professionals, and planning experts from across the Bay Area: the Healthy Transportation Network. 

If you want to learn about and shape key transportation decisions so they yield healthy outcomes for all, get plugged in now!

Contact Manolo with questions.

REGISTRATION OPEN: Kick off meeting of the Healthy Transportation Network -- Bay Area

02/15/2012 9:00 am
02/15/2012 10:00 am
America/Los Angeles
Regional Meeting: 
No
Location: 
Your phone, at your desk, CA
Google Map URL: 
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Your+phone+at+your+desk+CA

Location: To make it easy to participate, this will be a call-in meeting. Register today.

Join us as the Safe Routes to School National Partnership and TransForm jumpstart a new collaboration of advocates, community members, health professionals, and planning experts from across the Bay Area.

Our first meeting will include a discussion of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s $250 million OneBayArea grant, and give easy tools for people concerned about public health, equity, and the environment to make a difference in future Bay Area expenditures on transportation.

Please register today. To make it easy to participate this kickoff will be a call-in meeting, and participation is free of charge. Please contact Marty Martinez of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership with any questions or concerns (415) 637-6488 Marty@saferoutespartnership.org, or Manolo González-Estay from TransForm at (510) 740-3150 x315 mgonzalezestay@transformca.org.

Your phone
at your desk
California

Transit Sustainability Study

The Bay Area’s transit operators, transportation funding and policy agencies, and stakeholders like TransForm are coming together to address the dire reality facing public transit—there’s not enough funding to sustain the system that exists, not to mention expand service to meet growing demands or support regional goals of providing more choices for more people.

The MTC-led Transit Sustainability Study is possibly the best opportunity to move forward on making the existing system work better and identifying ways to stabilize costs and service. TransForm is one of six public interest organizations that MTC invited to sit on their Transit Sustainability Steering Committee.

TransForm is working with partners from the social justice, business, and labor community to shape the Transit Sustainability Study so that it provides a useful, implementable plan that will significantly improve Bay Area transit service, making it more reliable, cost-effective, and will stabilize costs and service. 

The outcomes of the Transit Sustainability Study will feed into the Bay Area’s 2013 Sustainable Communities Strategy and Regional Transportation Plan.

Resources:

MTC's page on the Transit Sustainability Study.

Muni's Transit Effectiveness Program and VTA's Transit Sustainability Policy provide some approaches to transit sustainability.

MTC’s Transit Connectivity Plan identified a host of strategies to improve transit riders’ experience in using multiple transit systems.

For more information, contact Jeff Hobson.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

Bus Rapid Transit

An Affordable Way to Make Buses Faster and More Reliable

TransForm is shaping model Bus Rapid Transit lines in the Bay Area--we want to achieve local demonstrations of world-class public transportation that's cost-effective, reliable, and convenient.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is revolutionizing public transportation service around the world by emulating the best features of rail through its use of dedicated bus lanes, traffic signal priority, state-of-the-art buses, and proof-of-payment systems. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is essentially light rail without the tracks - and at a fraction of the cost.

And, because BRT can serve more people in less time, it also reduces operating costs for transit agencies, allowing them to put savings into preserving affordable service.

Several Bus Rapid Transit routes are now in the works in the Bay Area, and TransForm is working to engage local communities including chambers of commerce, neighborhood associations, students, and others in shaping these routes in the East Bay and South Bay. 

Read on to learn more about Bus Rapid Transit, or learn about and get involved TransForm's specific BRT work in the East Bay and South Bay.

Resources

Read TransForm's report Revolutionizing Bay Area Transit... on a Budget, which outlines our vision of BRT in the Bay Area.

Watch these video clips of successful BRT projects in cities across the globe, plus examples of cities that are planning for BRT to become and integral part of their vision for a more sustainable future.

For more information you can review our summary slides below or contact Chris Lepe (for South Bay efforts) or Joel Ramos (for East Bay and San Francisco efforts).

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a revolutionary new approach to public transit that delivers reliable, comfortable and affordable service for a fraction of the cost of other transit strategies. BRT lines are now being planned for San Francisco, the East Bay, and the South Bay.
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East Bay Bus Rapid Transit

NEW! AC Transit Releases the Final Environmental Impact Report for their East Bay Bus Rapid Transit Project!

In compliance with CEQA guidelines, AC Transit has worked with community stakeholders to address comments made to them about the East Bay BRT project as defined in the DRAFT Environmental Impact Report, released around this time last year.

The Final Environmental Impact Report (or FEIR) includes a project that runs from Oakland to San Leandro BART, bringing bike lanes, new stations with lower impacts to parking, more landscaped median and other changes that we feel are for the better for local stakeholders, and which reduces the total cost of the project to reflect the funding that is currently available.

The next steps for BRT will be for a series of community meetings to be held, which we will list here on this page as soon as they become available. If you are interested in the upcoming community meetings let Joél know at JRamos@TransFormCA.org

After the community meetings, AC Transit will take the project before several committees, commissions and city councils and the AC Transit Board of Directors over the next several months, seeking their approval to continue on with the final engineering of the project.

Bringing Bus Rapid Transit to Life

For the past six years, TransForm has worked in Berkeley, Oakland and San Leandro to build community awareness of AC Transit's proposed East Bay Bus Rapid Transit project with the goal of supporting the cities and AC Transit in ensuring that the east bay gets a model BRT that delivers great service and meets the community's needs.

Traveling along Telegraph Avenue, International Boulevard, and East 14th Street, BRT is proposed to reduce current trip times along this corridor by 39%, and will attract over 9,000 new daily passengers.  AC Transit's BRT service will also reduce operating costs while increasing ridership, enabling the transit agency to better support the rest of the system!

Establishing model Bus Rapid Transit service in the Bay Area is an essential part of TransForm's strategy to create a reliable, frequent, affordable, comfortable, safe, efficient and interconnected regional public transportation network.

Stay tuned for more information!

East Bay BRT Status: City by City

In May 2010, San Leandro and Oakland supported the study of creating dedicated BRT lanes.  This gave the green light for AC Transit to move forward in looking at the impacts and benefits of a full BRT system with dedicated lanes, stations, proof-of-payment system, and other amenities that will greatly improve service along the heavily used 1/1R line.

Center-running dedicated lanes would keep BRT out of traffic, allowing for reliability that current "Rapid" buses cannot deliver, while still allowing for the creation of bike lanes, and preserving most of the parking that some merchants have expressed concerns over.

TransForm applauds Oakland and San Leandro's City Councils for their efforts to help find a way to improve the comfort, safety, frequency, reliability, and affordability of bus service.

Check out the details on the decisions made in each city:

AC Transit has also recently announced that they will be purchasing state-of-art BRT vehicles that would have doors on both-sides (like BART), allowing for left-side door boarding. By allowing north and southbound passengers to board from the same platform, dual-side door BRT vehicles minimize the amount of parking that would need to be relocated to accommodate BRT platformed stations.

Ongoing Community Planning

TransForm is currently reaching out to community groups, residents, businesses and other stakeholders in an effort to ensure that their concerns about BRT are being addressed by AC Transit by time the final proposal. So far, our efforts have resulted in better parking mitigations, station location, and pedestrian infrastructure improvements.

Resources:

Learn more about the project during this three-minute AC Transit video and at AC Transit's BRT website.

Questions about TransForm's work to shape and win Bus Rapid Transit in the East Bay?  Want to get involved?  Contact Joel Ramos.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

East Bay BRT illustrations courtesy of FMG Architects and Cambridge Systematics.

Berkeley Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

City Council Bullied By Mis-informed Opponents into Killing Dedicated Lanes and BRT in Berkeley

Despite endorsements from the Sierra Club, TransForm, the Building Trades Council, UNITE-HERE Local 2850, Livable Berkeley, and others to study a Full-Build BRT alternative, Councilmembers Jesse Arreguin, Gordon Wozniak, Susan Wengraff, and Kris Worthington would only vote to study an alternative that had not yet been considered.

The alternative that was approved would be like existing 1R service service, but with bulb-outs, proof-of-payment systems, and traffic signal priority but no dedicated lanes as the build alternative.

A genuine interest on the part of Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmembers Linda Maio, Laurie Capitelli and Daryl Moore to study dedicated lanes as part of a "Full-Build" alternative could not win a fifth vote.

Councilmember Max Anderson was away on a pre-planned vacation.

This is an unfortunate turn of events for "progressive" Berkeley, which seems to have been supportive of the project up until now. The approved alternative is not expected to deliver the same amount of reliability that dedicated lanes would give, and to run BRT outside of dedicated lanes for long stretches could cause a delay in the overall system, reducing the overall capacity for higher frequencies.

It's not clear if this alernative would even be worthwhile for AC Transit to pursue, as oppossed to simply leaving Berkeley out of the future project altogether. If Oakland, upon study of the impacts of a full-build BRT system in an Final Environmental Impact Report, decides to move forward with a full-build BRT system, AC Transit could decide to have BRT "turn around" before going to Berkeley (i.e. at Broadway, the Uptown Transit Center, Macarthur BART, or at Alcatraz Ave.). 

Please check back here again soon for more updates, once we learn of what this means for the overall East Bay BRT project.

For more information, contact Joel Ramos.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

Oakland Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

Oakland takes a step closer towards World-Class Transit Service!

In April 2010, Oakland's City Council voted unanimously in support of  BRT. The next step is moving forward with a Final Environmental Impact Statement.  Over a dozen Oakland residents spoke in favor of the project.  Most of the councilmembers on the committee voiced their enthusiasm for the project to be studied with dedicated lanes and stations.

TransForm would like to thank the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Urban Habitat, The Sierra Club (Northern Alameda County Chapter), UNITE-HERE Local 2850, The Alameda County Building Trades Council, the East Bay Asian Youth Center, The East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Walk-Oakland / Bike Oakland (WOBO), Oakland Community Organizations (OCO), and the Oakland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee for joining us in supporting BRT and helping to win this important victory!

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) could dramatically improve bus service for the 20,000 current daily riders on AC Transit’s 1/1R routes, giving better access to 1/3 of all the housing and 1/2 of all the jobs in Oakland.  BRT (with dedicated lanes, state-of-the-art buses, and other key features) is an affordable way to make bus service much faster and more reliable.

In late 2010 / early 2011,  we will need your support when the Oakland City Council votes one last time to adopt the final project as proposed by AC Transit. Until then, TransForm will continue to do outreach to the community, helping AC Transit and the City of Oakland to identify solutions to the impacts anticipated on parking, traffic, and bus stop consolidation. We're confident we will find a way to make transit faster, more reliable, and more frequent, while helping the communities along the corridor to become safer for bicyclsts, pedestrians, transit riders, and car drivers alike.

Resources

To see a short, 3 minute video-simulation of how this would look in Oakland, go to our BRT page.

Learn more about the proposal for BRT in Oakland that will be studied in a Final Environmental Impact Report over the summer and released within the next 6-8 months

If you would like to learn more about TransForm's role in advocating for Bus Rapid Transit in the East Bay, contact Joel Ramos.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

San Leandro Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL VOTES 6-1 IN FAVOR OF STUDYING BRT WITH DEDICATED LANES

Thanks to public input on the draft environmental document and comments made during recent community meetings, the City of San Leandro has refined AC Transit's BRT plan to run BRT to San Leandro BART, create new traffic signals, and to even implement "queue jump lanes" that would reduce the delays to BRT caused by traffic at intersections. 

Speakers were about evenly divided at the last City Council meeting were BRT was discussed, which resulted in the council voting in favor of the newly revised proposal. While Councilmember Bill Stephens was the only one to conclude that he was not "for" dedicated lanes (with or without a study), most of the councilmembers all agreed that it would be a better idea to at least study them first, before making a decision in the Fall. Councilmember Jim Prola stated that he had recieved dozens of letters about the project, and even read one from a San Leandro resident that had previously oppossed the project, but was now in favor.

For questions about BRT in the East Bay, contact TransForm staff Joel Ramos.

Sign up to receive e-updates and be aware of the next steps needed to win BRT in San Leandro!

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

South Bay Bus Rapid Transit

Faster, more convenient and frequent bus service is coming to Santa Clara County

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is revolutionizing bus service around the world with its dedicated lanes, state-of-the-art buses, and frequent service.

Now, Bus Rapid Transit is coming to Santa Clara County, with over 30 miles of BRT projects  planned along the Valley's most heavily utilized transit corridors.

TransForm is engaging community leaders and other stakeholders to ensure that BRT in the Valley is truly world-class; however some cities are wavering in their commitment to exclusive bus lanes for BRT.  That's why we need you to email your elected officials if you live in Santa Clara County.

Our goal is that BRT in Santa Clara County serve as a model for other projects around the nation by providing high quality public transit service while meeting community needs and improving safety for all users, including bicyclists and pedestrians.

For more information and to get involved, contact Chris Lepe.

Benefits Bus Rapid Transit can bring to Santa Clara County 

  • Faster and more frequent transit service: Each BRT line will operate at ten minute frequencies and run at least 30% faster service than local buses. BRT vehicles will have traffic signal priority, and cities will get to decide whether they want faster transit service by incorporating dedicated bus lanes.
  • Fewer cars on the road and a lower carbon footprint: Local bus service running along the planned BRT corridors already serves one out of every five VTA bus riders, and BRT will attract over 40% more transit riders. 4,555 metric tons of greenhouse gases will be removed annually just along the El Camino corridor if bus-only lanes are adopted due to a reduction in over 5,000 vehicles miles travelled per year.
  • Safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists: In areas where bus-only lanes are adopted, VTA can include pedestrian improvements such as bulb-outs (sidewalk extensions), additional signalized intersections, and bicycle safety improvements such as painted bike lanes.
  • Economic benefits: BRT has been shown to spur economic development and job growth, and VTA estimates that the El Camino Rapid could generate 4,780 jobs if exclusive bus lanes are pursued. Furthermore, BRT will speed up the commute for VTA’s existing transit riders, 60% of whom make less than $35,000 a year, resulting in greater access to economic opportunity for low-income families and students. 
  • Modern and innovative transit facilities: BRT will include more functional transit stations with real-time bus arrival information and ticket vending machines. New low-floor vehicles with diesel-electric hybrid technology with wireless internet access and comfortable seating configurations will give BRT a sleeker look and greater functionality and comfort than the typical bus.

What we're doing to shape Bus Rapid Transit in Santa Clara County

  • TransForm is engaging businesses, neighborhood groups, and other stakeholders so that VTA's Bus Rapid Transit plans are truly rapid and integrate community preferences and priorities. 
  • We are also partnering with pedestrian and bicycle advocates such as local schools and neighborhood associations to ensure that BRT plans integrate best practices in bicycle and pedestrian safety and that safe routes to the future BRT stations are planned for and financed.  Read our analysis of pedestrian and bicycle safety on the Alum Rock corridor.

Learn more and get engaged

Alum Rock Corridor

Currently the Alum Rock Bus Rapid Transit project is being designed without bike lanes and with minimal pedestrian safety improvements.  Email your elected officials to encourage a greater emphasis on pedestrians, cyclists, and transit.   

For more information and to get involved, contact Chris Lepe.

The Alum Rock corridor Bus Rapid Transit project (VTA line 522) will bring improved transit service to the most heavily utilized bus line in Santa Clara County and connect important destinations such as the Mexican Heritage Plaza, Five Wounds Church, Roosevelt Park and Community Center, San Jose State University, San Jose City Hall, and the Diridon Caltrain Station. TransForm is working with community leaders to ensure the Alum Rock BRT project reflects neighborhood preferences and to advocate for a design that meets the needs of all users, including bicyclists and pedestrians. For example:

  • In 2005, TransForm conducted a Safe Routes to Transit Study in the Mayfair Community, which is located along the planned Alum Rock BRT project.The survey found that the vast majority of residents want rapid transit service and would like slower auto traffic speeds, and more crosswalks, lighting, and bike paths.
  • In 2010, TransForm conducted a survey of merchants along the Alum Rock corridor and found that most merchants support the planned BRT project with certain assumptions, including the potential of BRT to draw more foot traffic to the corridor. Merchants also want a safer and more comfortable street for pedestrians; however there are also some concerns about changes to the streetscape that may affect how merchants do business.
  • In 2011, TransForm conducted an Alum Rock Corridor BRT pedestrian and bicycle injury analysis and found that more than 3,000 bicycle and pedestrian injuries took place in the City of San Jose over a five year period. A disproportionate amount of those injuries were located on the seven-mile Alum Rock corridor, and youth and Latinos were much more likely to be injured on foot and on bike compared to other groups.

Costs, timeline, & funding

With service expected to begin by early 2014, the Alum Rock Corridor BRT project will be the first BRT line in the San Francisco Bay Area. The planning, engineering, design, and construction of the Alum Rock corridor project will cost approximately $129 million, with an additional $17.2 million for 15 new BRT vehicles. Funding for the project will come from Santa Clara County’s Measure A sales tax and Prop 1B state funds.

Learn more and get engaged

El Camino Corridor

Email your elected representatives now.  Several cities have yet to commit to a "complete streets" approach to the El Camino Bus Rapid Transit project, which would meets the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders.

For more information and to get involved, contact Chris Lepe.

The El Camino corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project will introduce rapid transit service between HP Pavilion in Downtown San Jose to the Palo Alto Intermodal Center along The Alameda and El Camino Real. The corridor is currently served by bus lines 22 and 522 which together carry one fifth of the bus riders in Santa Clara County. The El Camino corridor BRT project will serve important destinations such as Santa Clara and Stanford Universities, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale’s government offices, downtown Mountain View and Palo Alto, and Stanford Shopping Center.

The extent to which BRT is effective, to a large degree rests on how much of the project has its own exclusive lanes so that buses can bypass traffic. Exclusive bus lanes will become even more critical in the future as our population is expected to grow considerably over the coming decades. Cities along the corridor will have an opportunity to decide whether to incorporate exclusive bus lanes, bike lanes, and pedestrian improvements within their boundaries in 2012. A more complete-street will help pave the way for the vision of The Grand Boulevard Initiative, help reduce traffic, decrease our dependence on foreign oil, help curb climate change, and reduce household transportation costs.  

TransForm has formed the El Camino For All Coalition with South Bay organizations, community groups, and community leaders to ensure that the proposed El Camino BRT project meets local community needs while improving conditions for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users.

Costs, timeline, and funding

Planning, engineering, design, and construction for the El Camino Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project is expected to cost $216 million. BRT service along the corridor is planned to start in 2016, and funding is expected to come from a combination of Santa Clara County’s Measure A sales tax, Prop 1B state funds, and a portion of funds designated for the Palo Alto Intermodal Center.

Learn more and get engaged

Stevens Creek Corridor

Email your elected representatives now so the Stevens Creek Corrior Bus Rapid Transit project is designed with key bicycle, pedestrian, and transit improvements. 

For more information and to get involved, contact Chris Lepe.

The Stevens Creek corridor Bus Rapid Transit project (523) will travel along the current bus line 23 route from east San Jose and downtown San Jose to DeAnza College in Cupertino along San Carlos Street and Stevens Creek Boulevard.

The 523 will bring rapid transit service to an area that is only served by local bus service yet carries one out of every ten bus riders in Santa Clara County. The Stevens Creek Rapid will serve important destinations such as Valley Fair and Cupertino Square malls, Santana Row, DeAnza College, and the City of Cupertino’s government offices.

Costs, timeline, & funding

The construction of the Stevens Creek Rapid (De Anza College to Downtown San Jose) is estimated to cost between $145 million to $232 million, depending on whether a single reversible lane or a viaduct is built near Valley Fair Mall. Additionally, the corridor will require 17 new BRT vehicles that will cost an estimated $18.7 million. BRT service along the corridor is expected to start in 2018 with the majority of the funding for the project expected to come from Santa Clara County’s Measure A sales tax and Prop 1B state funds.

Learn more and get engaged

A Map of Proposed South Bay BRT


View Santa Clara County Proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Corridors in a larger map

Merchant Perspectives on Bus Rapid Transit

Survey results from San Jose’s Alum Rock Corridor
Resource Type: 
Reports
Year Published: 
2010
Author: 
Chris Lepe
In the spring of 2010, TransForm surveyed 217 merchants along the Alum Rock corridor about the proposed BRT service. This report summarizes our findings.
Archived: 
Archived

Download the Executive Summary

Download the full report

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a set of improvements that allow buses to achieve the speed, reliability, and convenience of rail but at a much lower cost. One of the first BRT projects in the Bay Area is being planned along the Alum Rock corridor in San Jose.

In the spring of 2010, TransForm surveyed 217 merchants along the corridor about the proposed BRT service. TransForm strongly believes that merchants are critical stakeholders to involve in the planning of BRT because they have a deep understanding of the communities in which they do business, and the way that the project is designed will directly impact their businesses. TransForm’s survey examined perceived parking availability, desired corridor improvements, perspectives regarding bicycle and pedestrian safety and the proposed BRT project, preferences related to BRT station design, and other topics. The following are the key survey findings and TransForm’s recommendations to the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and the City of San Jose.

Bay Area Land Use Advocacy

For the past 50 years, poorly planned growth has led to an almost complete reliance on cars and the loss of some of the region’s best farmland and most beautiful landscapes. The long distances between housing, services, and workplaces have left many people living in areas with grinding commutes, polluted air, and untenable transportation costs.

Walkable communities near transit, with a mix of housing for all income levels, shops, offices, community facilities, and parks can make a world of difference for our health, quality of life, and environment.

To achieve great walkable neighborhoods around transit TransForm's land use advocacy focuses on two key strategies:

Through the Great Communities Collaborative, TransForm is engaging people in planning for and creating great communities near transit throughout the region.

Our cutting-edge Green TRIP certification program works with developers and cities to support residential in-fill development projects that integrate comprehensive strategies to reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information, contact Sandra Padilla.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

California and Federal Advocacy

California and Federal Advocacy

To create world class transportation and walkable communities in the Bay Area and beyond, we need state and federal policies to support these goals. To unlock some of the barriers to success facing California, TransForm:

Leads efforts to increase funding for public transportation.

Helps to lead ClimatePlan, a partnership of California's leading non-profit organizations that we co-founded that is advancing policies and programs to address the relationship between land use policy and climate change at the state level.

Shapes and advocates for state legislation that supports world-class public transportation and walkable communities, and to oppose efforts that work against these goals.

Coordinates California partners as part of the Transportation for America campaign to reform federal transportation funding policy.

For more information, contact Graham Brownstein.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

State Transit Funding

SAVE the DATE!

1st Annual Transportation Choices Summit - May 1-2, 2012 - Sacramento

The State of Transit, Walking and Biking in the Governor's Proposed Budget

Governor Brown recently released his proposed 2012/13 budget. Below is a summary of key items from the budget proposal related to TransForm’s legislative agenda.

Cap and Trade Revenues Best Hope in 2012 for Expanded Transit Funding

For 2012, the mechanism that appears to hold the greatest potential for bringing significant new dollars to transit is the nascent Cap and Trade Program developed by the Air Resources Board under AB 32 to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Initial estimates are that the program could bring in up to $1 billion the first year and then ultimately many billions of dollars each year over time as the program expands.

In his recently released 2012/13 state budget, Governor Brown proposes allocating cap-and-trade revenues to: clean and efficient energy programs; natural resource protection; low-carbon transportation, including transit; and sustainable infrastructure development, including transportation and housing.

TransForm applauds the governor’s proposal.  The only way to guarantee lower GHG emissions from the transportation sector is to reduce overall driving -- and that means giving people real travel options and linking mixed income housing and other development with enhanced transit, bicycle and pedestrian facilities.  As the reduction of GHG emissions from the land use and transportation sector demands long-term investments in expanded and improved transit, housing and other major infrastructure, TransForm agrees with the governor that these types of investments should be a priority in the allocation of cap-and-trade revenues.

We are working aggressively in the capitol to ensure that transit receives its fair share of funding from the cap and trade revenues.

Governor Projects Small Increase in State Transit Assistance and More Bond Funds for Transit in 2012/13

Governor Brown’s 2012/13 budget proposal shows State Transit Assistance (STA) funding for local transit agencies, derived from the sales tax levied on diesel fuel, as being projected to increase from about $400 million for fiscal year 2011/12 to a little more than $420 million for 2012/13.

This should provide a small amount of additional operations and maintenance support for agencies that are extremely cash-starved after many years of cutbacks.  But this small uptick won’t make a dent in restoring the billions in transit cuts over the last decade and will not help transit agencies meet increased demand.

With regard to Prop 1A and 1B bond funds approved by the voters and available for transit, the governor is proposing potentially significant increases for the 2012/13 cycle.  Unfortunately, these monies are not available for most operations and maintenance expenses, the most acute need.

 

Governor Proposes More Funds for Bike and Ped Facilities; Much More Needed

The governor proposes a significant increase in funding for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, from approximately $7.2 million dollars in 2011/12 to almost $12 million in 2012/13.  While we appreciate that the percentage increase is significant, the actual dollar amounts being proposed are still woefully inadequate to the need.  And the governor has not justified why his budget proposal leaves unspent an additional $5 million in reserves that is currently sitting in the Bicycle Transportation Account.

As more Californians are walking and biking, there is a huge demand across the state for improved sidewalks and bike lanes.  There is also a huge safety need for these improvements: pedestrians and bicyclists are injured and killed at higher rates per accident than automobile drivers. 

Investments in bike lanes and sidewalks are the most cost-effective transportation improvements.  They are relatively inexpensive (compared to other types of transportation investments) and they provide tremendous positive returns: improved safety, better public health, and even higher property values. 

TransForm is working to get all available funds allocated to bicycle and pedestrian investments in this budget cycle and also to set up year-over-year increases in allocations to speed up the transformation of local streets and roads across California to accommodate all users.

 

CA Transportation Commission Releases "Needs Assessment" - $142 Billion Needed to Preserve Transit for Next Decade

The California Transportation Commission recently released a Statewide Transportation Needs Assessment and the findings are sobering to say the least.  Public transportation is facing a whopping $142 billion in repairs and maintenance over the next 10 years - but revenues are projected to fall far short of the need.

Increased funds are necessary to ensure that transit agencies can fully cover their costs going forward -- most urgently for operations and maintenance but also for targeted expansions to meet increased demand.  It is going to take a series of challenging, major policy reforms to ensure that transit funding is fully adequate to meet the need in California for the next many decades.

TransForm's Invest in Transit Campaign

Invest in Transit is a statewide campaign targeted at California's leaders to make public transportation fast, frequent and affordable.  It was launched in response to crippling shortfalls for public transportation, continued state funding cuts, and a recognition that our economy, environment, and quality of life truly ride on whether or not we invest in transit now.  Since 2000, billions of dollars in state transit funding have been redirected to help balance the state budget.

Invest in Transit seeks to show our leaders that individuals, businesses, and organizations across the state want to get public transportation back on track.  Please sign the campaign petition today to show your support for fully funding California's transit systems.

Get More Involved

TransForm's Sacramento office is busy with activity as we ramp up our efforts to convince state leaders to support significant policy reforms to fully fund transit.  Visit our Invest in Transit campaign site or contact our State Policy Director, Graham Brownstein, for more information.

In recent years we've experienced repeated cuts to transit funding and service.  Meanwhile ridership keeps increasing dramatically, leaving transit agencies struggling to meet the demand.  And we won't be able to grow our economy or meet greenhouse gas reduction goals without expanded and improved transit service.  We need long-term solutions to the transit funding crisis.  TransForm's Invest in Transit campaign aims to help clean up the mess.

state-budget
Active

Transportation Choices Summit

05/01/2012 10:30 am
America/Los Angeles
Regional Meeting: 
No
Location: 
Tsakopoulos Library Galleria 828 I Street, Sacramento, CA
Google Map URL: 
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=828+I+Street+Sacramento+CA
REGISTER TODAY
DOWNLOAD FLYER

Californians need real transportation choices: safe, abundant and affordable options for walking, biking and transit.  Our economy, environment and quality of life depend on it!

Diverse organizations and advocates across this state are speaking out locally for transportation choices.  We need to channel some of this energy into Sacramento to win state investments and policies that are critical to achieving our common vision.

May 1, 2012

Be part of in-depth conversations aimed at maximizing the impact of our smart and active transportation movement at the state level this year and ongoing.

Share and learn about recent developments in:

  • state transportation policy
  • land use issues
  • funding options and priorities

Together we will strategize how we can be most effective this year and going forward.

May 2

Spend the day visiting members of the state legislature and representatives for the governor.

Engage state leaders on the urgency of passing key reforms starting this year.

Collectively we will advance our state policy priorities.

Let's come together this May 1 and 2 in Sacramento to learn, develop common strategies, and send a powerful message: California must support real transportation choices that are sustainable and equitable ... NOW!

Reduced or free registration available for community advocates (sliding scale registration is available on the registration page).

A limited number of scholarships for travel and lodging are also available.

REGISTER TODAY
There are also sponsorship opportunities for the Summit.  CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR

Steering Committee
American Lung Association in California
California Bicycle Coalition 
California Council for the Blind
California League of Conservation Voters
California Pan Ethnic Health Network
California Transit Association 
ClimatePlan
Move LA
Move San Diego
NRDC 
PolicyLink
Safe Routes To School National Partnership
Transportation for America

Coordinated by
TransForm

Questions?
Contact Ahmad Chapman at 916-441-0204 x301, achapman@transformca.org

Download the event flyer.

TransForm’s state work is supported by: The California Endowment, Ford Foundation, Irvine Foundation, and Resources Legacy Fund.

Location Title: 
Tsakopoulos Library Galleria
828 I Street
Sacramento
California

State Climate Policy & ClimatePlan

SB 375's Potential for Reforming Transportation and Land Use

For the past 50 years, poorly planned growth has led to an almost complete reliance on cars and  transportation is now the largest and fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in California. 

California's groundbreaking 2008 law, SB 375, has created an incredible window of opportunity to reduce emissions, clean our air, reduce traffic and save families money.  

In September 2010, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets from transportation for each of the state's 18 major regions.  These targets are emissions reductions per capita.

TARGETS    
Region 2020 2035
SCAG (Southern CA) 8% 13% (or more)
MTC (Bay Area) 7% 15%
SANDAG (San Diego) 7% 13%
SACOG (Sacramento) 7% 16%
San Joaquin Valley 5%

10% (to be revisited in 2012)

Now, each region is working on their strategy to implement meet these targets through Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS's). Under SB 375, a region should achieve an SCS by aligning long-term land use blueprints, regional plans for housing all residents of all incomes, and transportation investment plans.

The first region to complete an SCS was San Diego (available as part of their SANDAG 2050 Regional Transportation Plan). TransForm's Executive Director provided strategic policy support for non-profit groups in the region, and submitted his detailed commnets to the agency: Recommendations for Improving SANDAG’s 2050 RTP and for Post-RTP Actions.   While several were accepted, such as $700 million for a Safe Routes to Transit program, the plan had a host of weaknesses. For a full assessment of San Diego's SCS please download the report, San Diego and SB 375: Lessons from California's First Sustainable Communities Strategy, by TransForm and ClimatePlan.  It includes great lessons for stakeholders in any region.

TransForm is also helping lead efforts to make the Bay Area's SCS a model for sustainability and equity.

Learn more about SB 375 and how regions throughout the state are implementing it by visiting ClimatePlan, a collaboration of environmental, social equity, health and other organizations.   TransForm co-founded, fiscally sponsors and provides programmatic support for ClimatePlan.

Resources

Download TransForm's SB 375 fact sheet.

Read TransForm's Windfall for All  report that outlines how the policies that SB 375 calls for can dramatically reduce households' costs and reduce expenses for strapped local governments at the same time as they promote healthier neighborhoods and protect our climate.

Read CARB's full report on the targets: Regional Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Targets for Automobiles and Light Trucks Pursuant to Senate Bill 375

Find out about TransForm's work to make the Bay Area's Sustainable Communities Strategy a model for the state. 

For more information, contact Stuart Cohen.

SB 375 provides an historic opportunity to create sustainable communities that reduce the amount we have to drive, clean our air and reduce costs to families.
climate-land-use
Active

State Legislation

TransForm takes positions on certain important pieces of legislation related to transportation and land use.  Please fill out this form if you'd like to request TransForm take a position.

SAVE the DATE!

1st Annual Transportation Choices Summit - May 1-2, 2012 - Sacramento

2012 Policy Priority: More Transit Funding

In recent months, TransForm has engaged diverse stakeholders — environmental, equity, health and other advocates as well as transit agencies, labor, business, etc. — regarding which state transportation funding reforms we should collectively prioritize.  We found significant general agreement on the importance of securing as much new state-level funding as possible as soon as possible — with a strong focus on transit, bike and pedestrian facilities and also improved road, highway and bridge maintenance.

We also found that even though there is significant general agreement regarding what to prioritize, there is a serious lack of trust among many of the groups that will need to work together to have the political muscle to push through and win needed reforms.  In 2012, TransForm is redoubling our efforts to build and support a cohesive statewide network that can sustain coordination over a period of many years.

Cap and Trade Revenues Best Hope for 2012

The most likely path to increased transit funding this year is through the new Cap and Trade program being developed by the Air Resources Board.  The initial estimate coming out of the Governor’s budget proposal is that Cap and Trade could bring in $1 billion even the first year (other estimates are lower, perhaps only in the hundreds of millions the first year).  Over time, the program should generate many billions of dollars each year as the program is expanded and emissions allowances sold by the state become more expensive.

In his budget, Governor Brown proposes allocating cap-and-trade revenues to: clean and efficient energy programs; natural resource protection; low-carbon transportation, including transit; and sustainable infrastructure development, including transportation and housing.  TransForm applauds the governor's proposal.  We have been engaging our allies and other stakeholders as well as key legislative offices to advance specific policy proposals to ensure that our priorities are front and center as the legislature and governor flesh out and refine the cap and trade revenue allocations.

Need More Information?

For the most up-to-date information on the status of these bills go to http://legislature.ca.gov/

Have questions? Contact Graham Brownstein, State Policy Director.

Want to submit a piece of legislation for TransForm to take a position on? Fill out the request form.

Federal Transportation Funding

Pictured in the photo: Ryan Wiggins, Transportation For America Southern California Field Organizer; Elyse Lowe, Move San Diego Executive Director; Jeremy Madsen, Greenbelt Alliance Executive Director; Shannon Tracey, Transportation For America Northern California (and TransFormer!); and Stuart Cohen, TransForm Executive Director.

Working with Transportation For America to Fix Our Transportation System

America's transportation system is broken.  Bridges are crumbling, commute times are longer than ever, and too few people have access to good options.  It's time to fix it!

Right now, Congress is deciding how to reform our federal transportation program.  Traditionally, they've spent billions of dollars each year expanding highways - but the result is increased congestion, roads in disrepair, air pollution, and unsafe and unhealthy neighborhoods.  So TransForm and over 500 other advocacy groups, businesses, and elected leaders have banded together in the Transportation For America coalition, working together in Washington to fix our broken transportation system and bring the nation into the 21st century.

TransForm is coordinating the Transportation For America campaign here in California so the next federal transportation bill increases accountability and invests in public transportation, smart growth, and keeping our existing transportation infrastructure in great shape.

We can make transportation funding a way to fight climate change and win energy independence, plus support economic development and create new green jobs.

The Bay Area and California are positioned to play a key role in the next federal transportation bill. TransForm is working to ensure that:

  • The Bay Area's innovations serve as models for the rest of the country.
  • We look at current funding allocations and grown transportation funding sources.
  • Our local Congressional leaders are partners in these efforts

Read Transportation for America's platform for the federal transportation authorization.

Check out the Fix It For America website for California transportation news and ways to get involved right now!

To learn more about how to get involved in TransForm's work to impact federal transportation policy, contact Shannon Tracey. 

Pictured in the photo: Ryan Wiggins, Transportation For America Southern California Field Organizer; Elyse Lowe, Move San Diego Executive Director; Jeremy Madsen, Greenbelt Alliance Executive Director; Shannon Tracey, Transportation For America Northern California; and Stuart Cohen, TransForm Executive Director.

America's transportation system is broken. Bridges are crumbling, commute times are longer than ever, and too few people have access to good options. It's time to fix it!  TransForm and other groups from across California are working with the Transportation for America campaign to push for a transformative federal transportation bill that will increase accountability and provide a modern transportation system with more options for everyone.

federal-transportation-bill
Active

Tell Congress to Make Commuter Benefits Permanent

Email Your Congress Members Now
Importance: 
High

We Must Give Transit and Bike Commuters an Equal Tax Benefit to Car Commuters 

Congress more than doubled the amount employees can deduct from their paychecks (before taxes) to apply towards public transportation commuting costs in 2009. The benefit went from $120 to $230 per month to match the deduction car commuters get for parking.

Thanks to a huge outcry this benefit was continued through 2011 and commuters saved about $1,000 over the course of this year as a result.

But as of January 1, 2012 this benefit went down to $125 -- while car commuters' tax benefit went up to $240!  Read all the details at http://bit.ly/tRgdnZ.

There is an opportunity to win back full commuter benefits for transit riders in early 2012, though.

Tell your Congress Members to extend the benefit for public transportation commuters and pass the "Commuter Benefits Equity Act" (H.R. 2412, S. 1034), which would establish permanent parity between the parking and commuter benefit.


 

San Francisco Region Second In Nation For Deficient Bridges

On the heels of the sudden closure of a major commuting bridge in Louisville, KY, a new report shows that more than 18,000 of the nation’s busiest bridges, clustered in the nation’s metro areas, are rated as “structurally deficient,” according to a new report from Transportation for America.

According to The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Metro-Area Bridges, the San Francisco metro area is second in the nation in percentage of bridges needing repair, for metro areas above 2 million people. Only Pittsburgh, PA had a higher percentage of structurally deficient bridges.

Every minute, over 10,000 vehicles cross one of the San Francisco metro area’s structurally deficient bridges.

“The dangerous state of our bridges is a problem that is getting worse by the year,” said Stuart Cohen, Executive Director of TransForm. “Most of the nation’s bridges were designed to last 50 years.  Today the average age of California’s bridges is just five years short of that.  We need to move on this issue now.”

“There are more deficient bridges in our metropolitan areas than there are McDonald’s restaurants in the entire country,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America, "18,239 versus roughly 14,000 McDonald’s. These metropolitan-area bridges are most costly and difficult to fix, but they also are the most urgent, because they carry such a large share of the nation’s people and goods.” 

Nearly 70,000 bridges nationwide are rated “structurally deficient” and are in need of substantial repair or replacement, according to federal data. Metropolitan-area bridges carry 75 percent of the trips that are made on structurally deficient bridges, he noted.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates that the backlog of potentially dangerous bridges would cost $70.9 billion to eliminate, while the federal outlay for bridges amounts to slightly more than $5 billion per year.

“The recent shutdown of the Sherman-Minton Bridge between Kentucky and Indiana was yet another reminder of the urgent need to repair our nation’s bridges,” Corless said. “A sincere initiative to fix these bridges would put thousands of people to work while ensuring that these critical links continue to carry people safely to work and that goods can make it to market, now and well into the future.”

“For the Bay Area, bridge safety is even more critical due to the risk of earthquakes,” added Cohen.  “Monday, October 17, marked the 22nd anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which felled the Cypress Freeway in Oakland and damaged the Bay Bridge.  For safety’s sake, we need to keep ahead of bridge repairs and minimize earthquake dangers.”

Congress has repeatedly declared the condition and safety of America’s bridges to be of national significance. However, the current federal program falls short of the need, even as it allows states to shift funds from maintenance toward new construction, whether or not they can show progress toward rehabilitating deficient bridges.

Some states have worked hard to address the problem and have seen their backlog of deficient bridges shrink in number. However, two problems continue to persist: Existing federal programs offer no real incentives or assurances that aging bridges will actually get fixed; and the current level of investment is nowhere near what is needed to keep up with our rapidly growing backlog of aging bridges.

Last month, President Obama introduced his jobs bill before the Brent Spencer bridge in Cincinnati, OH, just weeks after engineers shutdown the Sherman-Minton Bridge due to cracks in the bridge supports, and also identified potential faults in the nearby Kennedy Bridge. Since then, the President has regularly highlighted the poor state of our nation’s bridges and the need to pass a jobs bill that will put construction workers and engineers back to work repairing our bridges and highways.

In order to prevent future catastrophes on our nation’s roads and bridges, the report recommends that Congress should:

·       Provide states with increased resources to repair and rebuild. States need federal support to back their efforts to prioritize repair and maintenance.

·       Ensure that funds sent to states for bridge repair are used only for that purpose, unless a state can show it has addressed its repair needs. 

·       Require that new or rehabilitated be built so that they are safe for everyone who uses them, whether they are in vehicles, on foot or bicycle, or using public transit.

The full report can be downloaded at http://t4america.org/docs/bridgereport/bridgereport-metros.pdf.

Take action now: tell Congress to fix deficient bridges!

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The President's Proposal for Transportation Funding

In February 2011, President Obama released his annual budget along with an aggressive outline for a $556 billion, six-year transportation bill to to provide badly needed rail, road, transit and aviation improvements, create millions of new jobs, and make it easier to fund innovative projects to help bring America’s transportation network into the 21st century.

In addition to investing $50 billion up front, the plan calls for the creation of a new National Infrastructure Bank, which would leverage private capital to finance selected public projects.  Other specifics that would help set America's transportation system on the right course include:

  • More than doubling the investment in public transportation to a total of $119 billion
  • Creating a new "livability" program to fund sustainable communities, walking, and biking projects
  • Committing to prioritize repair and maintainence over new construction, aka "Fix-it-First"
  • Investing $53 billion in a national high-speed rail system
  • Consolidating programs to simplify funding streams and save money on administrative costs

This proposal is a long way from becoming law, but it's a great starting place for Congress this year.  You can help get California moving again by letting Senator Boxer know you like the Administration's proposal - and urging her to model the Senate draft of the transportation bill on this plan.  Click here to take action.

The Administration's Past Statements on Transportation

The budget proposal provided more detail on the infrastructure investment plan that the White House announced last fall.  An accompanying report, “An Economic Analysis of Infrastructure Investment,” outlining the proposal, was issued by the Department of the Treasury with the Council of Economic Advisers. The plan is great news for several reasons:

  1. Immediate Results: The initial $50 billion investment would fund the construction or rehabilitation of 150,000 miles of roads, 4,000 miles of passenger rail, and 150 miles of runways.
  2. Job creation: The proposal would create an estimated 7.2 million jobs—that’s about half a million more than the current policy. About 90 percent of the jobs in the three sectors most affected by infrastructure spending (construction, maintenance, and retail) would be middle class jobs.
  3. Return on Investment: Smart infrastructure investments “can raise economic growth, productivity, and land values, while also providing significant positive spillovers to areas such as economic development, energy efficiency, public health and manufacturing.”
  4. Rewarding good projects: The plan acknowledges that not all transportation projects are created equal. The National Infrastructure Bank would incentivize innovation by prioritizing projects by performing rigorous analysis to find out which projects provide the greatest benefit to society and promote the most long-term economic gain.

90% of American families spend more on transportation than on food. By providing more choices for consumers, an expanded and diversified transportation network could increase productivity by reducing time spent in traffic and free up money to go to other sectors of the economy.

To read the full economic analysis from the White House, click here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/infrastructure_investment_report.pdf

For news and updates on federal transportation policy, visit http://t4america.org.

Priority: Strategic Planning

Overview of Strategic Planning

Setting Common Goals and Using Resources Efficiently

Over the past five years, over 80 cities and towns across the U.S. have engaged in visioning processes to chart a future for their communities. The strategic planning process connects growth with transportation investments and the environment on a regional basis. Strategic planning looks at things like land use patterns, density, and urban form to find innovative solutions to challenges like housing, carbon emissions reductions, agriculture preservation, and regional economic development.

Strategic planning uses a community's own values to establish common ground and common vision and develops goals and implements strategies to achieve it.

Communities greatly benefit from strategic planning because:

  • Strategic planning provides a framework and process for understanding the many complex issues that surround regional growth.
  • Strategic planning builds regional consensus by giving communities and the public the capacity and opportunity to actively participate in the planning process.
  • Strategic planning uses data tools and techniques to assess the impact of transportation and other public policy choices on a community, and visually maps the results, making the effects of potential scenarios easy to comprehend.
  • Strategic planning recognizes the impact of tradeoffs among achieving competing goals in a fiscally constrained environment.

Click here to download a whitepaper on strategic planning from Transportation For America

Click here to see MTC director Steve Heminger's presentation from a Washington, DC briefing on strategic planning (March 16, 2011)

Strategic planning Case Study: Sacramento

The Sacramento regional blueprint is the product of a three-year public involvement effort and partnership between the regional Council of Governments (SACOG) and a local non-profit. Over 35 public workshops were held, and over 5,000 people used the project’s interactive technology to consider the best land use scenario for the region.

The Preferred Performance-based Scenario, approved in 2006, uses performance measures based on smart growth principles like offering a variety of housing types for different households and income levels, natural resource stewardship, and compact development. The plan is part of SACOG's transportation plan, and will be the framework to guide local governments in growth and transportation planning through 2050.

Sacramento is expected to save big by implementing their strategic plan:

  • $9.4 Billion less for public infrastructure costs (e.g. transportation, water supply, utilities)
  • 14% fewer carbon dioxide emissions
  • $655 million less for residents’ annual fuel costs
  • $8.4 Billion less for land purchases to mitigate the environmental harm of development
  • 300% increase in public transit use
  • 6% to 13% growth in number of residents who walk or bike

Priority: Increase Transit Funding

Map of Transit Cuts in California

Public transportation is being cut just when it’s used—and needed—most

Last year, Americans took more than 10.7 billion trips on transit, the highest level in over fifty years. Public transportation use has increased 38 percent since 1995 — nearly triple the growth rate of the population.

Yet only 17.7% of federal transportation funding dollars go to public transportation, as opposed to highways, and those funds are largely restricted to capital expenses (buying new buses), not operating expenses (paying bus drivers). At the same time California’s public transit agencies are working to serve their increasing ridership, they face shortfalls in state and local revenues brought on by the recession and the contentious state budget.

Due to these factors, transit agencies nationwide are being forced to cut service, raise fares, and lay off workers. The Bay Area is not alone. See the national map of service cuts at: t4america.org/resources/transitfundingcrisis/

The solution: More money for transit, with increased flexibility for operations

1. Increase public transportation funding in the next federal transportation bill

  • According to a national poll, four in five Americans - 82% - believe that the United States would benefit from an expanded and improved public transportation system. We won’t be able to meet this need if we continue to allocate the lion’s share of federal transportation funds to highway expansion. Transit access make a difference to our economy, environment, and quality of life:
  • Transit creates more jobs than highway spending. The 2009 ARRA Stimulus Act saw twice as many jobs result from a dollar spent on transit as compared to highways.
  • Transit helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and clean the air. Nearly 40% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. Transit enables people to get out of their cars and lower tailpipe emissions and pollution.
  • Transit saves families money. If everyone had access to transit, the average household in California would save over $5,000 annually on transportation expenses – a huge windfall, particularly in this down economy.

2. Increase flexibility for transit funding to be spent on operations

  • Under current law, transit systems in areas above 200,000 in population cannot use their federal transit funds for operating assistance, putting a huge strain on their ability to maintain service. Increasing flexibility would create more jobs, faster, greener and with broader benefits:
  • Operational spending gets people to jobs.
  • Operational spending creates more jobs than capital. The vast majority of operational spending goes into payroll.
  • Operational spending benefits a cross-section of America. Economic models, like that run by the Economic Policy Institute, show operations especially benefits those hardest hit by the recession. These investments would also create more jobs per dollar for African-Americans and Hispanics relative to their employment levels in the overall economy.

Senator Coburn lets bike/ped funds live... but only temporarily

September 15, 2011 - Last night, the Senate passed a six-month extension of the current federal transportation bill.  The President is expected to sign it today.

Without an extension, the bill’s expiration would have resulted in a national shutdown of funding for transportation at the end of this month.  

Senator Coburn was using this potential disaster as leverage to try to force an amendment to cut “Transportation Enhancements” funding.  This funding has been the primary funding source for sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, and trails for 20 years!

California’s own Senator Boxer stood strong for bike/ped funding, and Senator Coburn ultimately relented.  But Senator Coburn did so with the understanding that bike/ped funding is up for debate when the new, longer-term federal transportation bill is passed.

Keeping bike/ped funds safe for now is something to celebrate.  But we’ll need to be even more vigilant in the debate over the new federal transportation bill – especially when some Congress members have been talking about a 30% cut to public transportation funding.

Stuart Cohen, TransForm’s executive director, met with Senator Boxer’s staff in Washington, DC today.  He learned firsthand that the huge outcry from people like you helped embolden Senator Boxer to defend bike/ped and transit funding – so let’s keep showing her how urgent this is!

Email Senator Boxer right now to thank her for her leadership and to ask her to find solutions for six months from now.

Seniors Access to Transit

Baby Boomers Face Shrinking Mobility Options as They “Age in Place”

  • According to the new report released by Transportation for America, Aging in Place: Stuck without Options, roughly four in five members of the largest ever generation of Americans, with the longest life expectancies ever, are expecting to “age in place” in suburban and exurban neighborhoods where the ability to operate a car is central to daily life.
  • The report explores the question: What happens when people in this largest, oldest generation outlive their ability to drive for everything?
  • By 2015, 15.5 million Americans ages 65 and older will live in communities with poor options for people who do not drive, according to the report.

Visit the Transportation for America website for the full report.

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Oakland - Maps & Data1.89 MB

Past Campaigns

Since TransForm’s founding in 1997, we’ve made incredible strides in winning billions of dollars and groundbreaking policies that together have moved the region forward.

Learn more about our past campaigns:

County Vehicle Registration Fees (2010): TransForm helped shape and win new funding in counties across the region that will support a range of transportation needs.

Oakland Airport Connector (2009-2010): TransForm’s epic battle against the bloated $500 million airport connector highlighted significant issues with how regional planning is done and kicked off a call for fundamental change in how we plan transportation.

Regional Climate Initiative (2007-2010): TransForm’s regional coalition conceived of and won the creation of and funding for a host of innovative programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. This program is now funding a host of innovations such as Safe Routes to Schools, bike sharing, employer-based transportation incentives, and more.

Past Regional Transportation Plans (1998, 2001, 2005. 2009): After decades of tenacious advocacy by TransForm’s regional coalition, the Bay Area’s Regional Transportation Plan now supports many projects and programs that will make the region a better place for us all to live.

Prop 1a: High-Speed Rail (2008): TransForm worked with California's environmental community to shape the project and helped get voter approval for a downpayment on the high-speed rail network.

Measure VV: AC Transit Parcel Tax (2008): page coming soon: TransForm, along with environmental and social justice partners, crafted and helped to pass a parcel tax to help protect senior and youth fares in the AC Transit District.

Regional Measure 2 Bridge Toll Increase (2004) page coming soon: TransForm's regional coalition played a leading role in developing and helping pass Regional Measure 2, the one-dollar bridge toll increase to fund public transit.

Contra Costa Measure J Transportation Sales Tax (2002-2004) page coming soon: TransForm brought together 39 groups around the passage of Contra Costa County's transportation sales tax proposal, winning significant funds for a smart growth and affordable housing incentive program (the first of its kind!), plus a Safe Transportation for Children program.

Alameda County Measure B Transportation Sales Tax (1998-2000) page coming soon: TransForm brought together partners in Alameda County and won a transportation sales tax that dedicates 80% of funds to public transit, paratransit, and bicycle/pedestrian safety, and we helped pass the sales tax with an 81% vote of approval.

See a detailed history of TransForm's work since 1997.

For more information, contact Jeff Hobson.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

2010 County Vehicle Registration Fees

Voters Support User Fees for Transportation

In November 2010, voters in five Bay Area counties - Alameda, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara County approved a $10 vehicle registration fee to help pay for a range of transportation purposes.  TransForm supported all of these measures, which will support a range of purposes from transit to repaving.

  • Alameda County Measure F: Yes, passed with 62% of the vote
  • Marin Measure B:Yes, passed with 62%
  • Santa Clara Measure B: Yes, passed with 52%
  • San Mateo County Measure M: Yes, passed with 54%
  • San Francisco Measure AA: Yes, passed with 59%

Similar measures failed in Sonoma and Contra Costa counties.  Sonoma County Measure W only received 42% of the vote and Measure O in Contra Costa received only 46% of the vote. 

TransForm Strongly Supports User Fees Like Vehicle Registration Fees

TransForm endorsed each of these measures and supported the passage of SB 83 in 2009, which gave counties across the state the ability to levy a $10 vehicle registration fee (VRF) to fund transportation with voter approval.  TransForm has long supported user fees, such as VRFs, as ways to pay for transportation.  In this case, vehicle owners are being asked to pay for use of and impacts on the transportation system (as compared with other mechanisms such as sales taxes).

Fees Are Likely to Withstand Legal Challenges from Proposition 26

Bay Area Vehicle Registration Fee Measures aim to create new transportation funding despite Prop 26

With regard to the Vehicle Registration Fee (VRF) initiatives supported by TransForm and passed by voters in five Bay Area counties on November 2 to fund a range of local transportation needs, it appears likely that at least some of these measures will survive potential challenges based on Prop 26.

There is no language in Prop 26 specifically regarding local fee increases enacted the same day as Prop 26.  As the courts tend to narrowly construe initiatives, it seems unlikely that a judge would read into the initiative language that voids local measures enacted on the same day.  Further, the retroactivity language in Prop 26 only appears in the section dealing with state-level fees.  Again, a court would probably be unlikely to construe the retroactivity provision as also having effect in the section of the initiative where it does not appear that deals with requirements for enacting local fees.

At least one and possibly several of the counties that ran VRF add-on initiatives included language intended to give their measure effect immediately upon the certification of the vote on November 2, whereas the default is that initiatives passed by voters are not certified and thus do not become operative until several days after the vote has been certified.  Whether this creative language inserted into one or more of the local initiatives will ultimately protect them from challenges based on Prop 26 is not certain but it at least appears to be the case that the local measures would have a decent chance of surviving potential challenges.

More Resources

Click here for a matrix that outlines how the revenues from these funds will be used in each county, and how much revenue is anticipated to be raised.

For more information, contact Carli Paine.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

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Oakland Airport Connector

Boondoggle moves forward, regional planning changing for the better

Imagine a world, where convenient, sustainable transportation was the norm, instead of the exception. If the Bay Area is going to simultaneously combat global-warming, create an equitable transportation system, and provide more convenient, easier to use transit, something has to change. And the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) is a shining example of the problems our region faces.

The OAC is a $500 million dollar people mover that will average 23mph between the Oakland Coliseum BART and the Oakland Airport. It will require luggage toting passengers to navigate more escalators and walk further than the current AirBART shuttle. All while paying a likely $6 fee, on top of the regular BART fare, for the privilege. The system will require BART to take on more than $110 million in new debt, a serious risk to the core-system financial stability at BART.

While the OAC boondoggle is moving forward at a cost of over half-a-billion dollars, and growing, transit advocates changed the conversation about how planning in our region takes place. The OAC may very well stand as a monument to the balkanized transportation planning of the past. As TransForm's pivotal report shows, airport travelers and East Oakland residents would all benefit from a cheaper, quicker alternative that frees up money for other priority regional projects.

It wasn't just TransForm and our allies saying so, Steve Kinsey, Chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)'s Programs and Allocations Committee, and took a strong stand against our region's status quo planning efforts: 

“We’re going to have to understand the greenhouse gas, the land use, the social equity and the transportation efficiency aspects of our investments. …(the OAC) was backward technology, not forward technology, was the loss of an economic development opportunity to a lifeline community because the stops were eliminated, and had high operating subsidies and high cost fares. All in all, over time, this is going to be a continuing challenge for BART….. we (at MTC) are going to have a harder time making decisions going forward.  We aren’t going to be able to just say it’s too big, it’s been in the pipeline so long. We’re going to have to really evaluate those things.... we cannot afford to be cost-inefficient as we go forward.”

For more information contact John Knox White.

BART and MTC are pushing forward with the Oakland Airport Connector, a project that could end up causing fare increases and/or service cuts for the rest of BART riders due to its exorbitant cost and reliance on BART accruing $150 million in new debt.

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Oakland Airport Connector Options Analysis

Resource Type: 
Reports
Author: 
TransForm with Kittelson & Associates, Inc.
Year Published: 
2010
This report provides an updated and expanded analysis of options for the Oakland Airport Connector. The intent of this report is to inform current discussions on the Oakland Airport Connector through a valid comparison of the four key modal options.
Archived: 
Archived

Download Final Report (6.5MB)
Download the four-page summary (900K)

This report providers an updated and expanded analysis of options for the Oakland Airport Connector. The options studied consist of No Action (retain existing AirBART service), Rapid Bus, Full Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), and Automated Guideway Transit (AGT). The Rapid Bus and Full BRT configurations analyzed in this report have not been studied previously and incorporate information about BRT service that was not available at the time the Final Environmental Impact Report/Final Environment Impact Statement (FEIR/FEIS) for the Oakland Airport Connector was completed in 2002. In addition, the report updates information for the No Action and AGT options based on the most up-to-date data available.

The intent of this report is to inform current discussions on the Oakland Airport Connector through a valid comparison of the four key modal options. Subsequent to the certification of the FEIR/FEIS, there has been a considerable drop in airline passenger volumes at Oakland International Airport, the shift of some flights to San Francisco International Airport, a significant reduction in projections of future airline passenger volumes at the airport, and other factors. This report uses BART's most recent passenger volume forecasts for 2013 (assumed year of project opening) and 2030, and also looks at ridership under conditions when the airport has reached the maximum number of annual passengers it can serve (approximately 30 million annual passengers). The report also uses the most up-to-date information on road conditions and analysis using BART's selected AGT option. Compared to the AGT option in the 2002 FEIR/FEIS, the AGT Project selected by BART has a top speed of 31 MPH instead of 45 MPH, has longer walk distances, and does not include the two intermediate stops.

MEDIA: Image Library

Click on any image to download print-ready art. Credit: Kittelson & Associates, Inc./TransForm




Regional Climate Initiative

First-in-the-Nation Regional Grants Program Will Fight Climate Change by Funding Innovative Strategies to Reduce Driving

After more than two years of advocacy by TransForm and our coalition partners, the Bay Area's 2009 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) included a number of our top recommendations, including: the creation of a regional program to fund innovative ways to reduce emissions from transportation. 

In December 2009, MTC allocated $80 million to this program for the next three years.  A portion of these funds will support Safe Routes to Schools programs in all nine counties, SFgo transit priority pilot project, education and outreach, and evalution of all programs. Also included in MTC's Transportation Climate Action Campaign is an innovative grant program.

MTC awarded initial funds for the Innovative Climate Grants program in October 2010. Grants will support:

  • New Safe Routes to Schools innovations including mobile bike repair in Alameda County, route mapping in Solano County, social marketing for the program in Marin County, and new curriculum and incentives across multiple counties.
  • A bike-sharing pilot project between San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties.
  • A shore power initiative to reduce emissions from boats serving the Port of Oakland.
  • Parking management in Berkeley commercial districts that combines pricing, GreenTRIP certification, enforcement and incentives.
  • Transportation demand management programs including dynamic ridesharing in Marin, Sonoma, and Contra Costa counties, an employer group to manage parking cash-out and Muni shuttles in San Francisco, and TDM strategies along Grand Boulevard and in Santa Rosa.
  • Clean electric vehicles for car-sharing and taxis and infrastructure to support electric vehicles.

Investing in these types of efforts is imperative so we can quickly understand what is effective at reducing vehicle travel and therefore fighting climate change.  By 2012 we will be looking to take successful approaches to scale in order to achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions as called for by California's new law, SB 375.

This program funds demonstraions that curb global warming and improve our quality of life at the same time.

Resources

Learn more about the projects funded and MTC's process.

Read more about TransForm's work to shape the Bay Area's Regional Transportation Plan.

For more information, contact Carli Paine.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

Our History in Shaping Regional Transportation Plans

Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Shifted Towards World-Class Public Transportation and Walkable Communities

Since TransForm's founding, we have worked tenaciously with our regional coalition to shape the Bay Area's Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which is updated about every four years. Because the RTP is a $200+ billion, 25-year transportation plan it is a huge opportunity to shape the future of the nine-country region and our quality of life.

TransForm has had a dramatic impact on the Regional Transportation Plan since our founding (RTP's are updated every three to four years). We have shifted hundreds of millions of dollars towards transit services that connect low-income communities with jobs and healthcare, programs and projects that make it safer to walk and bike, and assistance to cities that focus new housing near transit.

The chart below illustrates key wins over the past five RTPs.

It All Began in 1998, When TransForm Brought Together an Unstoppable Coalition

In 1998, soon after TransForm's founding, the Bay Area's new transportation plan was proposing $10 billion in funding for highways, leaving four public transportation agencies deep in the red.

TransForm brought together diverse groups to identify solutions that would yield social, environmental, and economic benefits. Packed public hearings for the plan had testimonies from moms on welfare, long-time Sierra Club leaders, and labor union representatives all united in asking for full funding for public transportation. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission rejected their staff's proposed plan and, for the first time ever, voted unanimously for the alternative TransForm had brought together. 

Resources

Learn about our 2009 RTP campaign and wins.

Learn about our plan for the 2013 RTP and Sustainable Communities Strategy.

 

For more information, contact Carli Paine.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

The 2009 Regional Transportation Plan

Results of the 2009 Regional Transportation Plan Campaign

After more than two years of advocacy by TransForm and the work of a wide range of organizations and activists, MTC took a number of important steps towards creating a region of walkable communities and world-class public transportation when they adopted the 2009 RTP. Yet, in many ways, it also came up short.

On the bright side, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission adopted specific goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing transportation affordability, and improving public health.

The 2009 RTP also included unprecedented levels of funding from uncommitted sources for: maintaining public transit; creating better transit connections between low-income communities and key destinations; walking and bicycling safety and infrastructure; promoting smart growth; and fighting climate change.

TransForm's coalition successfully won the following exciting investments:

  • Doubling funding for MTC's smart growth program: the Transportation for Livable Communities program will grow from $27 million/year to $60 million/year.
  • Doubling funding for Lifeline, MTC's program that provides improved transit for low-income communities from $300 million to $700 million.
  • Dramatically more funding for the Safe Routes to Transit program, which funds projects improving the safety and convenience of walking and bicycling to transit. MTC committed an additional $10 million/year (over and above the current $2 million/year).
  • $10 million/year for a new Safe Routes to Schools grant program. See TransForm's Bringing Safe Routes to Scale report, which was key in building support for these funds.
  • A new climate protection grant program, which includes funding for transit efficiency and public education.
  • Full funding - $1 billion - to complete the Regional Bicycle Network (with the exception of the bridges)!

But the RTP is still not what it needs to be: an outcomes-based plan. TransForm continues to watchdog MTC's allocation process to ensure that funding actually flows to the RTP's priorities. And, looking forward, even MTC recognizes that these investments, once you consider the long list of "committed" projects, are not enough to meet their adopted goals.

We deeply thank our activists and regional coalition member organizations, especially Greenbelt Alliance, the Sierra Club, Urban Habitat and the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition for their efforts. More than 100 activists and organizations helped develop the RTP platform, Fighting Climate Change and Winning a Better Bay Area, that guided our campaign.

Review a comparison of what we asked for in the platform versus what we won.

For more information, contact Carli Paine.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

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High-Speed Rail

TransForm was deeply involved in shaping the proposal for a high-speed rail system in California that voters supported in November 2008. We worked with California's environmental community to identify key improvements to be incorporated into the project. As result of our work, the California High-Speed Rail Authority voted to pursue running the train on carbon-free, renewable energy!

TransForm believes that high-speed rail is a critical component of supporting focused growth and integrated transit systems for communities throughout California.

Read on for more on:

The Status of High-Speed Rail in California

President Obama recently released a national high-speed passenger rail plan, along with $8 billion in economic recovery funding to help make this a reality.


President Obama talks about the need to invest in high-speed rail and California's leadership with the recent passage of Prop 1A.

The passage of Proposition 1A in November 2008 provides $9.95 billion dollars to catalyze the development of the 800 mile high-speed rail system; this combined with economic recovery funds gets California much closer to bringing high-speed rail to life.

The fully completed high-speed train system will run between San Diego and Sacramento, with connections to the Bay Area. View the system map on the California High-Speed Rail Authority website. Like high-speed trains in Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world, California's high-speed train would run at speeds of over 220 miles per hour, making the trip between San Francisco's Transbay Terminal and Los Angeles' Union Station in two and a half hours.

TransForm will continue bringing together partners to make sure the project is well-designed and has the funding it needs to be built.

 

The Many Benefits of High-Speed Rail

Climate Protection

California is the twelfth largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, and nearly 40% of the state's emissions come from the transportation sector. California's landmark legislation, AB 32, requires greenhouse gases to return to 1990 levels by 2020 and to achieve levels that are 80% lower than 1990 levels by 2050.

High-speed rail (HSR) will help to achieve the state's greenhouse gas reduction goals by replacing car and airplane trips with rail trips. The California Air Resources Board has included the HSR project in the draft AB 32 Scoping Plan. By 2030, when the whole system is in place, HSR travel is anticipated to reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions by up to 12 billion pounds of CO2 per year.

At their September 2008 meeting, the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board approved a goal of using 100% renewable, carbon-free electricity to run the system. Doing so would ensure the emission reduction benefits are not reduced by the consumption of electrical power. Read the feasibility study.

A report by the Center for Clean Air Policy, a non-profit based in Washington DC, and the Center for Neighborhood Technology analyzed proposals for high-speed train systems across the United States. They concluded that the emissions savings in California were equal to the savings in all of the other 11 corridors they studied -- combined. That is due to the high population densities (which will be much higher in 2030) and the significant air travel that will be replaced. The other systems were generally slower too, more similar to Amtrak's Acela system used on the East Coast.

Smarter Land Use

In a major victory for the environmental community, the California High-Speed Rail Authority committed a few years ago to rejecting the easier I-5 Alignment through farms and open space and to focusing new stations in downtowns and at existing transit hubs. The development of a high-speed train linking California's major cities to each other could help retain existing downtowns as the primary economic centers of California. But as was learned from BART's early years, good land use does not automatically follow new transit; policies must be in place to link investments in the high-speed train with supportive land use.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority has adopted land use guidelines that call for a mix of uses, compact development patterns, limited, market-rate parking, and bicycle and pedestrian access to ensure that the neighborhoods around stations will support livability and higher transit use.

The Authority has hired a world-class team led by Prof. Elizabeth Deakin at UC Berkeley to help develop a plan for Central Valley stations. It is now bringing world-renowned Peter Calthorpe on board to build a vision for land use along the whole HSR corridor.

Read TransForm's 2007 article in SPUR's newsletter on the potential for smarter land use, and a great overview of the California High-Speed Train.

It should be noted that Proposition 1A specifically prohibited the development of a station between Gilroy and Merced, addressing a concern about the potential to induce sprawl if a station was built in Los Banos.

California's high-speed trains will use state-of the-art electrified vehicles capable of speeds of up to 220 mph, similar to those currently operating in Europe and Asia. The line will consist of new infrastructure often in or alongside existing transportation corridors. The entire HSR system will be grade-separated from parallel and crossing roads. Designed in coordination with the state's existing public transit network, the trains have the potential to share tracks at reduced speeds with conventional trains such as Caltrain and will act as a strong feeder system to urban transit systems.

Video: California High-Speed Rail Authority

Improved Transit

The high-speed rail bond helps fund upgrades to local and regional rail lines including grade separations, electrification of rail lines, and station improvements. It will also support local transit by infusing thousands of riders into transit hubs every day.

A Better Alternative to More Highways and Airports

California is going to reach a population of 50 to 60 million people over the next 25 to 45 years. There is going to be a growing need to accommodate the growing travel demand. When we don't provide access to effective transit, the demand for highways and airports intensifies greatly.

The environmental footprint of new highways is tremendous; widening existing roads requires large new interchanges and expanded feeder roads. In contrast, a HSR system will largely rely on existing rail corridors.

When we consider spending public dollars on the high-speed rail system, we must weigh this project against the costs of alternatives. For example:

  • Caltrans estimates it will cost about $6 billion (2006 dollars) to widen Highway 99 from four lanes to six. Meeting interstate requirements and widening to eight lanes is estimated to cost $20-25 billion. [Caltrans (2005). Route 99 Corridor Enhancement Plan: Unifying the Aesthetic Treatment of Highway Improvement.] Demand for this project is intense; it was the only project earmarked in the recent transportation bond.
  • The California Transportation Commission identified $28.5 billion in high priority highway expansion projects for a 10-year period. Over two-thirds of these dollars are needed for projects in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Riverside -- all areas that would be served by HSR. [California Transportation Commission (1999). Inventory Of Ten Year Funding Needs for California's Transportation System. Total cost adjusted to reflect 2007 dollar value.]
  • The cost of all construction in the LAX Master Plan is estimated to total $11 billion. [Master Plan LAX. About the Program: Frequently Asked Questions.]

 

About Proposition 1A, the High-Speed Rail Bond that Passed in November 2008

TransForm and many members of the Regional Coalition had a significant impact on the proposal for a high-speed train system in California that culminated in Proposition 1A. TransForm led the effort to have the California High-Speed Rail Authority agree to power the train entirely with renewable energy. The Authority also agreed to fund community-based plans near future train stations, require bicycle and pedestrian access and supportive land uses, and protect important wetlands.

After a five-month process with significant input from TransForm's regional coalition, TransForm's Board of Directors voted to support Proposition 1A: the High-Speed Rail ballot measure. Passage of Proposition 1A provides $9.95 billion dollars to catalyze the development of the 800 mile high-speed rail system, and make improvements to existing rail networks. Read the announcement by Stuart Cohen, TransForm's Executive Director, in November 2008.

In November 2008, Californians voted to support Proposition 1A, a large down payment to make high-speed rail a reality in California.

For more information, contact Stuart Cohen.

You can make TransForm an even stronger advocate in 2011 by donating now.

TransForm helped shape elements of the California High-Speed Rail proposal, which voters supported in a November 2008 ballot measure.
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