• Ped safety task force study in West Portal neighborhood. Mon 9/22 Dan Burton will present his recommendations for pedestrian safety in the neighborhood (see Howard Strassner for details).
• A powerful neighborhood group in Palo Alto is advocating a 35-ft. height limit as “smart growth” (contact Irvin Dawid for details).
• PCL is having a CEQA workshop, Saturday 9/28, in Berkeley. See www.pcl.org for registration.
• High Speed Rail Conference, San Jose State University, Wed 9/25, Morris-Daley auditorium (contact Irvin Dawid for details).
• LWV-BA is having a “Know Your League” Day in Palo Alto, Sat 9/28. See http://www.lwvba-ca.org/
  for details.
  
  Report from Board Initiative Positions
  At its meeting on September 11, the TALC Board took positions on the following initiatives:
• Yes on AC Transit Parcel Tax (Measure AA in “District 1” of AC Transit’s district). AC Transit’s Deputy General Manager Jim Gleich presented the reasons behind the parcel tax. TALC will appear on the ballot signing the “Yes” argument for Measure AA.
• Yes on BART Seismic Retrofit (Measure BB in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco Counties). The Board felt it was important to take a position early to make it clear that the Coalition supports good BART efforts (such as BART seismic). Campaign consultant (and TALC member) Doug Linney presented the need for the seismic retrofit (noting that “BART was designed when the Beatles were hot” and that securing independent revenue for BART seismic will lessen competition for transportation funds).
• Yes on Prop. 52/Election Day Voter Registration. Chris from the campaign gave a presentation, noting that California is 47^th in the country for voter turnout. The states that have EDVR are among states with the highest turnout, and higher turnout often benefits many of the issues TALC supports.
• No on Berkeley Height Initiative (Measure P). The initiative would limit buildings to 28’ on many of Berkeley’s major transit corridors.
  
  Bridge Toll Increase
• An important Coalition victory today for better planning at MTC meeting. MTC had made a move to make sure that BART extensions were allowed to be considered for the bridge toll expenditure plan. The current planning process is focusing on many of the themes TALC has stood for: cost-effectiveness, connectivity, 50-50 split for capital and operating expenses.
• There was a huge turnout from people who have supported the existing process for developing the expenditure plan. Sen. Perata stated clearly that he will not include any BART extensions in the expenditure plan. All commissioners supported , with the exception of Scott Haggerty from Alameda County and Sharon Wright from Sonoma County.
  
  Ferry Plan
• Veronica Sanchez from the Water Transit Authority (WTA) made a presentation on the WTA plan. See www.watertransit.org for details on the ferry plan as was presented. The proposed 31-boat plan is much reduced from the original 120-boat plan put forward by the Bay Area Council. The Coalition and others had strongly criticized the original plan as overly ambitious, initiating too many ferries in locations where ridership would not be high enough and raising the threat of siphoning away much-needed transit operating funds. WTA's scaled-back plan responds to many of those concerns, focusing on upgrades to existing routes and new routes only in places with high ridership projections. Some notable features from Veronica's presentation included:

-  several proposed routes were eliminated from the original Bay Area Council plan either because of environmental concerns at proposed ferry terminals (for example: Port Sonoma, Moffett Field) or because of low ridership projections (East Bay to Peninsula, SFO-Oakland Airport)

-  25% of operating budget will be dedicated to support buses (run by existing operators, not by WTA) to bring people to ferry terminals

-  the plan assumes $2/day parking charges at all terminals

-  the total expected subsidy per passenger is $12.

-  WTA has invented a new acronym - Water-Transit Oriented Development (WaTOD), is committed to encouraging development at ferry terminals, and has already received significant interest from developers interested in mixed-use terminals.

-  WTA will encourage developers of new terminals to provide priority for bicycle and pedestrian access, supporting an overall goal of attracting riders within a few miles of the terminal.

• Teri Shore of Bluewater Network, which has been the most consistent environmental watchdog of the development of the ferry plan, gave a brief presentation on environmental concerns. Teri noted that WTA has been very responsive to environmental concerns, such as:

-  the proposed low-emissions ferries standard will make these the cleanest passenger ferries around;

-  WTA is looking into hybrid and fuel-cell ferries for the future;

-  WTA has taken a variety of steps to prevent whale strikes: slower speeds, sonar, and fewer boats overall.

• Overall, Teri says Bluewater is mostly happy with the new plan, with the exception of some remaining concerns about the need for some more studies and mitigations. She says ferries on balance are probably a mixed bag for air quality, noting that the EIR suggests that PM and NOx may go down, but SO and others may increase. Teri requests that TALC and transit advocates take a closer look at the passenger numbers to see if the proposed routes really make sense.
• The Coalition did not take a position on the ferry plan. Significant discussion resulted in the suggestion that staff work with some volunteers to review the plan for land-use and station area issues: parking, TOD, access, what happens to failing routes, whether all the environmental tradeoffs are worth it, and whether support for individual terminal sites should be conditional on local jurisdictions doing appropriate zoning. Teri specifically suggested that TALC review the land use section of the EIR for land use and environmental justice issues. TALC staff will be looking for knowledgeable volunteers to help review the ferry plan.

Regional Smart Growth Strategy: TALC Best and Worst Report

• Oct 17, 8:30am, ABAG General Assembly will review Smart Growth projections developed over past few years. There is still a movement afoot by sprawl developers to undermine the process.
• To try to rally support for the Smart Growth process, TALC is developing a “Best and Worst Developments in the Bay Area Counties” report. Report will be limited to planned or developed projects, and goal would be to release it a few days before the ABAG meeting.  The project nominees were handed out.
  Comments from participants:
• Several meeting participants made specific suggestions on projects that should or should not be included in the report. Several people suggested that we should make sure the "Best" projects are not just good from a land-use perspective, but are also attractive developments. Coalition staff will send the proposed "Best" & "Worst" projects for each county around to our email lists for each county to ask for feedback.
• The report will also include a platform of policy recommendations. Several participants added suggested recommendations, such as a regional transportation impact fee.
  
  
  

Legislative update handed out.  See www.calfutures.org for a full legislative update.

Next meeting: October 16.

• Next meeting: October 16. 5:30-7:30pm, 85 Second St, 3rd floor, San Francisco (Sierra Club offices)