Mark your calendar for TALC's next regional meeting -- July 20
TALC's next regional meeting will include a presentation on "the high cost of free parking," along with a discussion on potential action steps. Wednesday, July 20, 5:30-7:30 pm. (Orientation for new attendees from 5:00-5:30.) Sierra Club, 85 2nd Street, San Francisco.

View our calendar of events at: www.transcoalition.org/calendar.html

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Volunteer or intern with TALC this summer
Volunteers play an important role in helping us accomplish our work to create a sustainable and socially just Bay Area. We have a number of ways you can get involved this summer, with a variety of time commitments. Check the website for details.

Get involved: www.transcoalition.org/about/about_intern_vol.html

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Urge MTC to promote a strong transit villages policy
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is now considering a policy that requires cities to plan and zone for homes and jobs within a half-mile radius of new transit stations. This policy will apply to almost $9 billion in new transit expansion projects. Through this policy we can ensure good investment of our regional transit dollars by increasing the number of riders and reducing traffic, and we can accommodate the region’s growth within existing towns rather than sprawling onto open space. However, the entire policy could be undermined if cities are required to plan for too little growth around stations. Call your MTC representative to say you support the proposed TOD policy, but believe a higher housing/jobs threshold is needed to meet the goals of the Smart Growth Vision. Contact information is on the website.

Get the action alert flyer at: www.transcoalition.org/c/landuse/landuse_home.html

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Urgent action alert on San Francisco Muni budget
from Transportation for a Livable City

Tell the Board of Supervisors "NO!" to an anti-poor, anti-environment, anti-transit MTA budget. Last week the Board of Supervisors could have taken the $16 million in newly found MTA revenue and completely eliminated all Muni fare increases and the worst of the Muni service cuts. Instead, most of the Board voted to use much of this money to reduce parking meter fees and fines for illegal parking.

To learn more: www.transcoalition.org/c/sf_mta_alert_20050602.html

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Call for projects for Safe Routes to Transit
Funded through Regional Measure 2, the $20 million Safe Routes to Transit program is pleased to announce its first Call for Projects. The program is intended to reduce congestion on Bay Area bridge corridors by improving access and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians to and from regional transit stations. TALC and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition are coordinating this new program with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Project applications are due no later than July 29, 2005 and must have a public agency sponsor.

To learn more: www.transcoalition.org/c/bikeped/bikeped_saferoutes.html

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Working group on reinstating the vehicle license fee -- June 15
Participants who strategized at TALC's Annual Summit on raising new, reliable transportation funding recommended that the Coalition focus on reinstating a regional Vehicle License Fee. At the earliest, a license fee measure may go on the ballot in 2008. To start the initial research and coalition-building for this effort, a lunchtime working group is being formed. The first meeting will be Wednesday June 15, 12:30-1:30pm at TALC's offices, but participants can also call in by phone. If you’re interested, please RSVP to Stuart at stuart@transcoalition.org and request the teleconference number.

To learn more: www.transcoalition.org/cal/summit05/summit_results.html

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Report on this year's Summit
TALC's 8th annual Summit was our largest ever. Participants helped shape new campaigns and donated $13,000 ($10,000 more than last year!) to help launch our new initiatives. This was the first year that we had two rounds of breakout groups, which were well received, with most attendees staying for the afternoon trainings.

Brief outcomes of the strategy sessions are online at:
www.transcoalition.org/cal/summit05/summit_results.html

Materials from the training sessions are online at: www.transcoalition.org/cal/summit05/summit_training_materials.html

Photos from the Summit are online at:
www.transcoalition.org/cal/summit05/summit_photos.html

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Envisioning a brighter future for El Camino Real -- June 7
“Grand Visions/Grand Boulevard”: Prophetic local architect Dan Ionescu envisions a brighter future for El Camino Real. Part of Affordable Housing Week in San Mateo County. Tuesday, June 7, 7:00 PM, at the SamTrans Auditorium in San Carlos. The building is located at 1250 San Carlos Avenue, about two blocks west of the San Carlos Caltrain station. For questions, contact the Housing Leadership Council at (650) 364-4576. No RSVP needed.

For more details: www.hlcsmc.org/site/hlcsmc/section.php?id=48

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HOMES' Alameda Point Community Workshop -- June 8
The Alameda advocacy group, HOMES, announces that the final community workshop to discuss preliminary concepts for the Alameda Point redevelopment site will take place on Wednesday, June 8, 2005 at the Mastick Center, 1155 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda, from 6:30-9:30 pm.

Alameda Point is at the site of the former Alameda Naval Station. It represents one of the largest urban infill development projects in the entire Bay Area. At issue is Alameda’s 1973 charter amendment, Measure A, which prevents the building of any type of multi-unit dwellings. The consequence of this constraint is that only single-family homes that cost upwards of $800,000, or subsidized affordable units, can be built.

HOMES is advocating for the inclusion of a non-Measure A compliant plan for Alameda Point to enable the building of homes that more people can afford, support a sustainable transportation system, provide for meaningful open space and successful retail development, and create vibrant neighborhoods. June 8th is the last meeting in the planning process for the development concept for Alameda Point. It is critical that citizens attend to advocate for inclusion of a non-Measure A compliant plan and ensure optimum development at Alameda Point.

To learn more: www.homesalameda.org or homesalameda@comcast.net

New project will study transforming office parks into transit villages
Cities21 and Hacienda Business Park won a 26-month Environmental Protection Agency grant to study "Transforming Office Parks into Transit Villages." Researchers will apply a methodology to reduce driving, provide alternative transportation to workers and the community, and reclaim parking areas for critically needed housing. This will apply the resources of an impressive project team to an idea TALC promoted in our Housing Shortage/Parking Surplus report.

To learn more: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/cns/news.html

Artists: CITY|SPACE seeks submissions for Get On the Bus
CITY|SPACE is seeking submissions for Get on the Bus, an interdisciplinary exhibition to be held in the San Francisco Bay Area in Fall 2005. Get on the Bus will consider the experience, culture, and meaning of our nation's least-loved urban transit mode. Stigmatized as the transit of last resort -- the realm of the poor and the elderly -- the bus nonetheless moves millions of people every day. On the cutting edge in some cities, marginalized in others, the bus evokes a surprising range of emotions for riders, planners, artists, and ordinary people. Existing or new work accepted in the disciplines of: fine art, documentary work, design schemes, narrative or experiential investigations, and projects exploring bus history, planning, or technology. Submissions must be received by July 15, 2005.

For more details and the call for submissions: www.city-space.org