Transportation Funding

Oakland Airport Connector Options Analysis

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.

Download Final Report (6.5MB)

Windfall for All

How Connected, Convenient Neighborhoods Can Protect Our Climate and Safeguard California's Economy
How Connected, Convenient Neighborhoods Can Protect Our Climate and Safeguard California's Economy

Regional Measure 2: the $1 Toll Increase for Transit

We Did It!

On March 2nd, 2004, Bay Area voters approved Regional Measure 2, the $1 bridge toll increase for transit. The toll increase now raises $125 million annually for transportation improvements designed to get commuters onto transit, thereby decreasing bridge traffic.

As a coalition, TransForm proposed or strongly supported many of the projects that now receive funding through the new bridge toll - a massively expanded express bus system, seismic retrofit of the BART tube, new All Nighter bus service, Caltrain downtown extension to a new Transbay terminal, Bus Rapid Transit service in the East Bay, and a new Safe Routes to Transit program.

Update: Threat to Measure 2 Funds is Resolved 

In August 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger had proposed to use the proceeds of Regional Measure 2 to pay for the cost overruns on the east span of the Bay Bridge. Thanks to all of our calls to the Governor, he withdrew his proposal.

On March 2nd, 2004, Bay Area voters approved Regional Measure 2, the $1 bridge toll increase for transit. The toll increase will raise $125 million annually for transportation improvements designed to get commuters onto transit, thereby decreasing bridge traffic.

Regional Funding: Bay Area

Fighting for Funds to Improve Our Quality of Life and Climate

 

TransForm is the Bay Area's Watchdog on Regional Transportation Spending

Since TransForm's founding, we have been the leading advocate for a better use of the nine-county Bay Area's transportation funds. 

Our work focuses on the Bay Area's Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which is developed and approved every 3 - 4 years by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and is the blueprint for how $200+ billion in transportation funding will be spent over 25-years.  This makes the RTP a huge opportunity to determine 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. We have shifted hundreds of millions of dollars towards transit routes that connect low-income communities with jobs and healthcare; bicycle/pedestrian safety programs and projects; and rewards for cities that build additional housing near transit.

Recent Victory for Fighting Climate Change

We recently won a major victory when $80 million in funding was designated for a first-in-the-nation regional grants program that will fight climate change by funding innovative strategies to reduce driving.

Learn More

Contact Carli Paine, TransForm's Transportation Program Director, with any questions about our work on regional transportation funding. 

Learn more about the 2009 Regional Transportation Plan and the next Regional Transportation Plan. 

The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) is the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's 25-year, $200+ billion blueprint for how transportation funding will be spent in the Bay Area - and a huge opportunity to shape how the Bay Area grows.

Cutting Transit, Terminating the Economy

<p> This report quantified the economic and social impacts of Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed 2004 transit cuts. Contains a useful methodology for future funding battles. </p>
download the full report (168k PDF file)

Executive Summary

Governor Schwarzenegger's May Revise of his 2004-05 Budget included a $350 million, twoyear property tax shift for from the state's special districts. Historically, the transit operators in California were exempt from property tax shifts since they were considered "essential services" that could not easily pass on their fare increases without a significant loss of

Cleaning the Air, Growing Smarter

Transportation and Land Use Changes to Improve Public Health in Contra Costa County
Contra Costa County residents are being exposed to a dangerous - and growing - air pollution threat: particulate matter. This report describes how the only way to reduce reentrained road dust is to reduce driving.
download the full report (1.1 MB PDF file)

Executive Summary

Programs to reduce air pollution in the Bay Area have often focused on whether the region meets or exceeds maximum levels of ozone (smog) set by the state and federal regulators. But Contra Costa County residents are being exposed to another dangerous - and growing - air pollution threat: particulate matter. These tiny pieces of dust get lodged deep in people's lungs and cause an array of health problems.

Access Now: A Guide to Help Your Community

Jobs out of reach, missed health appointments, students unable to get to night classes. These problems all have a common cause: transportation barriers. Often these are the result of decades of transportation and growth decisions that failed to adequately involve the people with the greatest needs. In study after study - whether trying to assess why low-income parents cannot reach childcare or get to job interviews - inadequate transportation is identifi ed as one of the top obstacles to self-sufficiency and a better life.

And for many, with recent state transit cuts, the situation is getting worse. When transit budgets get tight, the first services to go are often night and weekend services. Buses may not be full then, but they are a critical lifeline for everyone on them.

Transportation and city planning agencies have also done too little to make the streets safe. When they pay more attention to moving cars than to providing safe places to walk or bicycle, the cost is people's lives. Low-income residents, African-Americans, and Latinos walk more than whites and higher-income residents, so they are more likely to be hit by a car and killed or hospitalized.

Access Now!

How can we get many more communities actively involved? How can we win a better life for families and communities across the Bay Area? 

These are the questions that motivated TransForm (previously known as the Transportation and Land Use Coalition) to write this guide.  The Access Now! guide and tools are designed to help low-income communities of color get more involved in transportation decisions. and flex untapped political power.

You can also contact Carli Paine to see what initiatives at the regional level can help your cause.  TransForm also works closely with Urban Habitat's transportation justice program.

Not all campaigns are state and regional. This guide helps you win transportation for your community - whether it is safer streets, better bus stops, or affordable fares.

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.

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