February 16, 2005

 

1)      Announcements

·         Safe Routes to Transit Kick-Off Meeting: Friday, February 25, 2005, registration at 12:30pm, program 1-5. At MTC MetroCenter, first floor auditorium, 101 8th Street, Oakland (at Lake Merritt BART). For questions, contact Amber at TALC (510-740-3105 or sr2t@transcoalition.org) or see http://www.transcoalition.org/c/bikeped/bikeped_saferoutes.html

·         Marin County Bicycle Coalition is opposing the proposal to charge people to walk or bicycle across the Golden Gate Bridge. For details, see www.marinbike.org or contact Eric Anderson at 415-456-3469, ext 4#.

2)      Bay Bridge Fiasco and West Span Pathway 6:45

Josh Hart of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to gave an update on efforts and to construct a shore to shore bicycle/pedestrian/maintenance pathway on the Bay Bridge. Caltrans has made repeated reassurances that the East Span pathway will be included, regardless of the final design. TALC's board voted to actively support the effort, including the West Span path. For more information, go to: http://www.sfbike.org/?baybridge

3)      Developing a Position on High Occupancy Toll Lanes

Stuart Cohen introduced the situation: High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes are being touted across the country as a way to raise new funding for transportation and to introduce road pricing as a way of managing congestion. While many TALC groups generally support using pricing, environmental and equity groups have also expressed concerns about the concept and individual applications. The purpose of tonight’s discussion is to get more information to lead towards developing a brief position statement on HOT lanes in TALC’s platform and educate ourselves to prepare for a workgroup to develop specific positions HOT-lane proposals on specific highways. 

Steve Heminger, MTC's Executive Director, discussed MTC's vision for HOT lanes and presented their rationale:

·         There are dwindling opportunities to raise money to expand the transportation system, both roads and transit.

·         HOT lanes would be a good start towards pricing the highway system to manage congestion.

·         Express buses could get revenue for operations and fully-developed network of high-occupancy lanes, paid for by drivers instead of sales taxes.

·         As HOV lanes become congested, and some already are, a combination of pricing and increasing occupancy requirements can keep them free-flowing (HOT lanes can buffer the political pain of transforming from HOV-2 to HOV-3).

·         In response to equity concerns, he cites existing examples as demonstrating that low-income drivers do use the lanes, although he concedes that this does represent a larger impact on their budgets than on higher-income drivers.

·         Distributing revenue equitably (through transit operating revenues) could redress regressive impact.

·         Consider the alternatives: sales and gas taxes are more economically regressive than HOT lanes, and do not allow low-income users to choose not to pay.

Information is available on MTC’s website at http://mtc.ca.gov/news/info/HOT_lanes.htm

Asha Weinsten, Associate Professor at San Jose State University, presented results of a study she recently completed for VTA, assessing equity concerns with HOT lanes and potential solutions. Her main points were:

·         Look at every project individually

·         Pay attention to equity throughout the process: have community participation early, assess likely impact stirrings planning phases, and continue equity evaluations once a project is in place.

·         Consider potential equity benefits: transit operating revenues, larger HOV network.

·         Make sure to address access to transponders (don’t require high start-up fees or link to credit card/bank account) and consider low-income drivers’ ability to pay the toll.

·         Compare equity impacts to politically realistic alternatives (such as sales or gas taxes).

Asha’s handout and a full version of her report are available from her by e-mail: Asha.Weinstein@sjsu.edu

Meeting participants had extensive questions and conversation. Some main points that emerged:

·         Concern that HOT lanes will continue to encourage people to think of cars as the only mobility solution.

·         Concern that HOT lanes will continue to encourage suburban sprawl.

·         Some support for the idea that HOT lanes could be a first step towards more general road pricing

·         A suggestion that initial HOT lanes should focus on gateways to the Bay area (such as the Altamont Pass) and links between counties.

·         Concern that freight needs to be considered as part of the mix.

·         Strong support for using HOT revenues to pay for transit operations, but...

·         Concern that hoped-for operating revenues will never materialize.

·         Support for including a lifeline discount as part of the pricing.

·         Concern that federal restrictions on use of toll funds could stop revenues from being used for transit operations (Note: Steve Heminger confirmed this concern and suggested people pay attention to federal legislation on the issue).

·         John Holtzclaw reported that the Sierra Club’s national policy on HOT lanes is that the club only supports conversion of existing lanes (no new lanes for any reason), that toll revenues must subsidize use by low-income drivers and provide other transit options, and that they support other pricing.

Stuart noted some clear areas of agreement and need for more discussion:

·         In regard to where TALC members would support HOT lanes, it appears that:

o        Converting existing mixed flow or HOV lanes to HOT lanes has general support.

o        Adding new lanes that were not otherwise planned has general opposition.

o        We clearly need more discussion about whether TALC would support HOT lanes on highway expansions that are already planned and partially funded.

·         Using toll revenues to support mass transit appears to have general support and HOT lanes should consider how to mitigate impacts on low-income drivers.

TALC will use the results of this conversation to develop a draft position statement for TALC’s platform and strategic plan, and will initiate a workgroup to delve into the issue more deeply. If you are interested in participating, contact Stuart at 510-740-3150 or stuart@transcoalition.org.

4)      Transit Villages Campaign  --  7:00

Kate O’Hara of Greenbelt Alliance gave an update on efforts by MTC and the MTC-ABAG “Joint Policy Committee” to develop a policy that will require cities and counties to plan for housing in station areas before releasing funds for new transit expansion projects. TALC, Greenbelt, and NPH have been working to make sure this policy is effective, that it will ensure that communities are walkable and not overrun by big box stores and parking lots. Some of the most important points to make are that the policy needs to:

·         Include a high threshold for housing, separate from jobs.

·         Promote affordable housing incentives.

·         Require station area plans to look at: minimizing parking, bicycle and pedestrian plans for safe routes, block length of no more than 500ft.

For the latest campaign update, see http://www.transcoalition.org/c/landuse/landuse_home.html. Right now, people can:

-          Write a letter to the JPC or contact an elected official on the JPC (see Sample letters on Greenbelt and TALC websites)

-          Attend next JPC meeting: Friday, February 25th, 10-12 at MTC.

For more information, contact Kate O’Hara at 415-543-6771 x319 or kohara@greenbelt.org or Rachel Kraai at 510-740-3100 or rachel@transcoalition.org.

5)      Developing TALC's Priorities for the Next Three Years – 7:15

Stuart passed out the draft Strategic Plan, including a number of exciting new initiatives. We are looking for feedback on all of it, including which initiatives should be the highest priorities. The TALC Board will have a long prioritizing session on March 2nd, so get your comments in before then.

For a copy of the latest draft, e-mail Brian Stanke at brian@transcoalition.org.

Next Meeting:

For more information please see www.transcoalition.org or call 510-740-3150. To suggest items for future agendas please contact Stuart Cohen at stuart@transcoalition.org or call the number above.
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