Bay Area
Transportation and Land Use Coalition
REGIONAL
MEETING
MINUTES
Wednesday, July 17, 2002
Sierra Club, 85 Second St., 3rd
Floor, San Francisco
*
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, August 21, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Sierra Club
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1)
Introductions/Announcements/Revisions to Agenda
·
BayRail Alliance is hosting a High-Speed Rail meeting, September 25
·
RideNow, a ridesharing program developed by
Environmental Defense, will be starting soon at the Dublin BART station
·
City Car Share is now operating in Palo Alto
·
Coalition will release Housing
Shortage/Parking Surplus: Silicon Valley’s Opportunity to Address Housing Needs and Transportation Problems with
Innovative Parking Policies report on July 30
* Coalition will contact Member Groups to request authorized proxies for absent reps.
Reminder: any Member Group may designate an authorized proxy to vote on the group's behalf at Coalition meetings. Coalition
staff will contact Member Group representatives to ask if they want to designate a proxy. People who frequently attend
Coalition meetings may contact the Coalition office or individual Member Groups to inquire about serving as a proxy.
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2)
Campaign Discussions
a) BART
Parking Recap – Seth thanked all the volunteers who helped with the Smart Parking Campaign, the Coalition led a strong
campaign and got 5 out of 9 members to support our proposal for daily fees instead of fare increases.
Unfortunately 6 votes was needed. The compromise reached was for
·
Fare increase smaller than expected – just 5%
·
Some small Service cuts and, unfortunately, 70+
layoffs
·
The BART Board resolved to address issue of fare
inequities
·
Up to 30% Reserved parking at many stations.
This has some downsides opens the door for daily charges in the next few years. Also noted that the new SFO
extension stations are likely to have a $2 daily charge, so that will create implementation mechanisms.
b) Bay
Crossing Study results
·
Express Bus is major focus
·
Increase BART frequency during peak hours, and
number of doors to three per car.
·
Support Dumbarton Bridge Rail
·
Policy Advisory Committee rejected a mid-bay
bridge 4-3, but MTC may still support it as a potential in the long range “blueprint”
* Suggestion from the floor – endorse suggestions from Policy Committee; support near-term measures, urge not to
include mid-bay crossing, highlight Smart Growth as the solution
Action: Coalition endorses the near-term
measures recommend in the Bay Crossings study, including express buses and Dumbarton Rail, highlights Smart Growth as the
most effective solution to transbay congestion, and specifically opposes the inclusion of a Mid-Bay Bridge in MTC's
Blueprint
Vote: Resolution passed unanimously.
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3)
Transportation for a Livable Region: Starting with a Vision
The
conversation focused on participants’ vision of the future, and appropriate indicators to measure progress toward those
visions. For now, TLR will not be holding a regular working group meeting, but groups will form in the future to help
develop specific project and program recommendations.
The brainstorming session gave participants a chance to voice their own personal vision for the Bay Area’s future, in
four categories: Transportation, Land Use, Environment, and Social Equity. A challenge was given to also come up with an
indicator for each vision. Suggested visions focused on creating livable places, assuring there is enough housing at all
price levels, changing the way that the private automobile is priced, and building an affordable, convenient, and
accessible pallet of transportation choices (including buses, rail, ferries, bikes, peds, and trails).
The
complete results of the brainstorming session are in the process of being transcribed, and they will be available on the
website soon, linked next to the copy of these regional meeting minutes. Please feel free to send any additional visions
or indicators to Amber, the Transportation for a Livable Region coordinator at amber@transcoalition.org
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*
New agenda item added, at request of Irvin Dawid:
Bay
Area Transportation Initiative
News article was handed out, describing Bay Area Council’s ‘gridlock plan’.
NOTE: in follow-up conversations with the BAC, we learned that the news article misrepresented the issue and they
are not planning an initiative for 2004.
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4)
State Legislation!
Kristi Kimball of STPP to tell you what’s
hot, and legislation for endorsement.
a)
SB 1555 - Torlakson - Traffic
safety fund. Should Coalition endorse bicycling amendment adding trail-use education?
Action:
Coalition endorses amendment to SB1555, proposed by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, adding trail-use education as an
allowable expenditure.
Vote:
Resolution passed unanimously.
b)
SB 1243 - MTC/ABAG merger - After detailed discussion, vote was put
to the floor - should Coalition endorse this bill? Five key points were raised as qualifiers for endorsement:
1. Support Torlakson’s intent
2. Support codification of the Smart Growth
process
3. Comprehensive regional plan development
with specific, explicit goals
4. Creation of an institutional framework to
implement the comprehensive plan
5. Enable MTC to flex funding to give
incentives for Smart Growth alternatives
Action:
Coalition endorses SB1243 with five amendments listed above.
Vote: Resolution passed unanimously
* Coalition will email notice and sign-on
letter to membership ASAP
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5)
Adjourn/ “Save Our Land, Save Our Towns” video shown (with popcorn!)
