On November 7, Alameda County voters will, for the first time, have an opportunity to vote on a transportation funding measure that has received the unanimous endorsement of environmentalists, social justice advocates, organized labor, and other public interest groups in the Coalition.
The result of a multi-year public process, the new Measure B is a balanced plan that supports the transit alternatives Alameda County residents need to get to work, school, shopping, and their other daily needs. The new measure adds an additional $186 million for sustainable transportation programs, including funding for transit-oriented development and an unprecedented level of support for bicycle and pedestrian programs.
Members are now following up on the Coalition’s successful negotiations over the Measure B expenditure plan with a grassroots campaign to pass it in November: "Thousands of voters have taken YES on B literature at street fairs and festivals all summer, and we’ll be pounding the pavement every weekend from now to election day," said ATU Local 192 representative Anthony Rodgers.
Although there is no organized opposition, and proponents plan a $1 million campaign to get the measure passed, Alameda County will only reap the benefits of Measure B if voters pass it by a two-thirds majority in November. The stakes are high: with the county’s existing half-cent transportation sales tax set to expire in March 2002, AC Transit faces the real risk of severe service cuts if the measure does not pass. In short, the new Measure B represents the last opportunity to reauthorize this crucial funding stream.
"We’re calling on Coalition members throughout Alameda County to volunteer for the YES on B campaign: hand out flyers, speak to community groups, put together mailings, and help out in the campaign office," said Jeff Hobson, Coordinator of the Coalition’s Alameda County Chapter.
After years of coaxing and encouragement by Coalition members, a regional Smart Growth planning process--principally coordinated by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)--is set to launch this fall.
While MTC plays an important regional role as it plans and invests transportation dollars, politicians, residents, and advocacy groups across the region are now aware that land use policies must complement investments in transportation alternatives. This Smart Growth initiative will identify strategies that can be implemented by cities and counties to strengthen the link between land use, transportation, community vitality, social equity, and environmental preservation.
The initiative will involve local officials in the development of alternative growth scenarios. Based on these scenarios, ABAG may, for the first time, choose a more sustainable model for their 2002 projections. As these projections serve as the base-level assumptions for MTC’s twenty-year Regional Transportation Plan, there is a real potential for broad, systemic change. In short, a more compact land-use scenario may increase the efficacy of a host of transit and livable community initiatives.
The planning process will operate at both the regional and county levels, with input solicited in all nine Bay Area counties. The value of the process will depend greatly on a high level of informed public participation. As the regional process gets underway, the Coalition will work to mobilize grassroots support for it. We will also help lead efforts to turn local Smart Growth goals resulting from the process into viable legislation supported by regional investments.
Over the next few weeks, the initiative will begin a series of reconnaissance meetings and workshops in each of the nine Bay Area counties. If you would like to be involved in the process, please contact the Coalition at (510) 740-3150 or info@transcoalition.org for more information.
Across the Bay Area, housing activists are organizing to ensure that their cities meet the new Regional Housing Needs Determination that the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) announced in June.
ABAG’s new numbers shift housing allocations towards job-producing areas. With this bold decision, urbanized areas are expected to accommodate the majority of the region’s growth, and counties to produce much less. For example, since the first round of allocations, the number of units San Francisco must build shifted from 14,396 to 20,372, and unincorporated Contra Costa County shifted from 10,083 to 5,160. ABAG’s numbers translate into less sprawl and more transit-oriented development. To see the numbers for your city and county, visit: www.abag.ca.gov/planning/housingneeds/99rhnd.htm.
On Thursday, November 16, ABAG’s Executive Committee will give final approval to the Housing Needs numbers. Please join other Coalition members in support of ABAG’s smarter-growth housing direction! For more information, contact Kate White at Urban Ecology: (510) 251-6332 or k_white@urbanecology.org.
A number of Coalition members are working with ABAG to produce a "Blueprint for Bay Area Housing" which will outline dozens of tools local cities can use to meet their housing need. The guide puts special emphasis on Smart Growth and transit-oriented development. To order a copy when it is complete, please contact Alex Amoroso, ABAG Senior Planner, at (510) 464-7955 or by email at AlexA@abag.ca.gov.
Starting in January 2001, every city must update the housing element of their general plan to match ABAG’s numbers. Coalition members should be central to the process, because the housing element informs where, and how, development will take place. To get involved with tracking your city, contact your local housing coalition:
Sonoma Housing Advocacy Group:
David Grabill
(707) 528-6811
Marin Housing Council:
Betty Pagett
(415) 258-1800
bpagett@eah.org
Napa Valley Housing Committee:
Sue Dee Shenk
(707) 253-6202
Alameda County East Bay Housing Org.:
Sean Heron
(510) 663-3831
Oakland Housing Coalition:
Kate White
(510) 251-6332
k_white@urbanecology.org
Tri-Valley Housing Action Coalition:
John Chapman
(925) 820-0339
JohnEBCF@aol.com
San Francisco Housing Action Coalition:
Gabriel Metcalf
(415) 781-8726 x113
gmetcalf@spur.org
Housing Leadership of San Mateo Cnty.:
Marsha Rea
(650) 598-4700
Santa Clara Housing Action Coalition:
Laura Stuchinsky
(408) 299-2521 x234
Contra Costa County:
Evelyn Stivers
(925) 932-7776
estivers@greenbelt.org
A historic package of bills that would provide tens of millions in new funding for bicycle and pedestrian facilities won several key legislative votes in August. They are now heading to the Governor for approval. SB1629, SB1772, SB1809 and AB2522 would collectively provide over $35 million a year for walking and bicycling improvements along with requiring proper accommodations for both modes in all future road expansion projects throughout the state. Each bill suffered major setbacks towards the end of the session, but all ultimately benefited from a well-coordinated grassroots campaign, helped a great deal by Coalition members, as well as bicycle and pedestrian advocates, in the wake of being shut out of the Governor’s transportation plan earlier in the year.
"California needs a balanced portfolio of transportation investments," explained Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Policy Director Laura Cohen, sponsor of SB1809 that will funnel an additional $20 million into the state transportation enhancements program. Yet whether the Governor will sign or veto the bills--which could happen anytime up until the mandated September 31st deadline--is still unclear.
Only a fraction of a larger slate of Smart Growth, transportation and affordable housing bills were heading to the Governor’s desk after the legislature adjourned their two-year session in the early morning hours of September 1. AB2140--sponsored by STPP, supported by the Coalition, and aimed at requiring regional agencies to produce Smart Growth land use and transportation scenarios as part of their twenty-year plans--is one of the few Smart Growth bills to survive the session. However, the legislative mandate was removed at the last minute, resulting in merely a permissive statute unless funding can be secured in next year’s state budget.
For a full update of bill progress in the state legislature’s 2000 session visit www.calfutures.org, www.pcl.org or search by bill number at www.sen.ca.gov.
Every Silicon Valley resident knows there is a transportation crisis. Housing costs are skyrocketing, the county is ranked second worst in the state for pedestrian injuries and fatalities, and a huge number of people depend on a public transit system that doesn’t adequately meet their needs. This crisis has led to a hastily assembled measure on the November ballot, which the Coalition is opposing.
The rush to the ballot began with Governor Davis’ recent transportation plan, which included $725 million that could be used as a down payment for a BART-to-San Jose extension. Mayor Ron Gonzales and the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group used this funding as justification to lead a charge to renew Santa Clara County’s half-cent transportation sales tax--six years before it expires.
Throughout the numerous permutations that the proposed sales tax extension has undergone, the Coalition has steadfastly expressed serious reservations about moving ahead without sufficient public input, and with key studies and financing plans still absent. The Coalition generated two policy papers about the tax. What’s the Rush? released July 11, served as a key primer on the issue and delineated the benefits of waiting to renew the tax. No Justice, No Tax outlined how the proposed advisory measure would have short changed transit-dependent people--particularly low-income people and communities of color. The report, released at a July 31 press conference, drew seven TV stations and major radio and print media.
Coalition members, joining forces with South Bay social justice, community and environmental organizations, have conducted an extensive campaign to persuade the Board of Supervisors not to put the proposal on November’s ballot. And our hard work paid off! On August 8, the Supervisors rejected the advisory measure in favor of a community-based planning process--proposed by Supervisors Alvarado and Beall--that would culminate in a new measure being placed on the ballot during the next two years.
The additional time would allow for studies that would permit an informed choice of projects that would provide the most traffic relief and best transportation choices, and dedicate funds to affordable transit-oriented housing. More importantly, the time would permit broad community input.
While the Coalition strongly supports the Supervisors in this effort, on August 9, one day after the Supervisors’ meeting, the Valley Transportation Authority Board decided to rush a thirty-year tax onto the November ballot. "Measure A" would program funds until 2036 but run out of operating funds by 2014, has no funding for transit-oriented development, and jeopardizes the already-small bike/ped program. The Coalition opposes this measure in favor of an "A+" measure in 2001 or 2002.
For more info., contact Kim Strickland at kim@transcoalition.org or (408) 984-2285, or visit www.transcoalition.org/measurea.html.
The Coalition’s Silicon Valley Community Transportation Symposium on September 9th drew a diverse group of transit, economic justice, bicycle/pedestrian, housing, and environmental activists.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado delivered a rousing keynote speech which urged Coalition members to maintain a grassroots presence in all transportation and land use decisions, which she considers central for the maintenance of democratic governance. As she stated, "The only way to make VTA [the Valley Transportation Authority] more representative is to strengthen the grassroots activism that this coalition represents."
Participants then split into working groups which brainstormed key problems and solutions in three areas: affordable housing and transit- oriented development, creating a world-class transit system for the South Bay, and making streets safe for bicyclists and pedestrians. The Coalition is compiling participants’ recommendations for use in guiding future advocacy efforts. To request a copy of the report, please contact Kim Strickland, Silicon Valley Coordinator, at (408) 984-2285 or kim@transcoalition.org.
As the Coalition grows, the need for a stronger structure grows even faster. Please join us October 14 to review recommendations from our consultants. We’ll cover topics such as steering committee membership, membership options and decision-making structures. We want your ideas about how to make the Coalition more inclusive, transparent, and more effective than ever.
Please RSVP to Rachel Zamore at (510) 740-3103 or rachel@transcoalition.org if you plan to attend this important event.
October 14, 10 am - 12:30 pm
Sierra Club, San Francisco
85 2nd Street, 3rd Floor
followed by a picnic
in nearby Yerba Buena Park
The Coalition is grateful to the following volunteers and donors who have recently lent their support: Peggy Havey and Ian Johnson, for technical assistance with our website, and efforts to attract new visitors; Laura Balderree, Dan Gildea, Norma and Peter Lydon, and Jason Meggs, for collating 700 copies of our World Class Transit report; Richard Mlynarik for considerable assistance with document production and creating the web version of World Class Transit; and Lincoln & Mary Lou Moses, for their generous donation.