Mark your calendar for TALC's 2006 regional meetings
TALC's regional meetings focus on a given topic and feature expert speakers and informative discussion. If you'd like to suggest a topic or a speaker, please contact Jeff Hobson at jeff@transcoalition.org.

You're invited to attend our 2006 meetings, which are scheduled for the following Wednesdays: February 15, May 17, July 19, September 20, and November 15. Meetings are held from 5:30-7:30 pm, with an optional orientation from 5:00-5:30, at the Sierra Club's San Francisco offices at 85 2nd Street (between Market and Mission).

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Highlights of 2005
Happy New Year! 2005 was a year of intense work by TALC's Member Groups, activists, staff, and Board. We want to take a moment to recap some of the great work and accomplishments.

On the Road to Victory: 2005 witnessed some important victories.

• In July, MTC approved a ground-breaking policy that establishes that new transit projects will not be funded until cities plan and zone for a minimum threshold of homes around new stations, including pedestrian- and bike-oriented design. TALC spearheaded the campaign for the policy along with Greenbelt Alliance and the Non-Profit Housing Association.

• MTC has provided funding for Community-Based Transportation Plans (CBTPs) in 25 low-income communities and communities of color around the region in order to improve mobility. Eight communities have already begun or completed CBTPs, including three that TALC has worked with. TALC will continue to provide technical assistance to CBTP communities to ensure they get effective projects tailored to improve their access.

• From 2004 through 2005, MTC allocated nearly $140 million in Regional Measure 2 funding to projects that TALC has supported. TALC played a leading role in developing the expenditure plan for RM2 and in building grassroots and media support for the measure. Recent allocations went to a number of projects, in many cases providing well-timed funding to move projects forward through the engineering phase.

• New express bus service on most transbay bridges: $7.2 M (for operations), $5.3 M (for new buses)

• Transbay Terminal/Downtown S.F. Caltrain Extension: $44.5 M

• New AC Transit enhanced bus service on International/Telegraph: $2.9 M (for operations), $16.9 M (for capital)

• Regional Rail Plan study: $6 M

• Real-time transit information in San Francisco, Berkeley, Emeryville: $12.3 M

• Seismic retrofit of the BART Transbay Tube: $44.8 M

• In June, thanks to work by TALC and numerous other groups, an appeals court rescued the Transbay Terminal/Downtown Caltrain Extension project from a lower court ruling on the EIR that would have halted all work on the project.

Charting a Course for the Future: TALC's 2005-2008 Strategic Plan identified new opportunities for the years ahead and launched the Great Communities Initiative (GCI) and TravelChoice program. If you didn't already know that TALC sets its sights high, then you haven't heard about GCI. The initiative aims to ensure that half of all new homes built in the Bay Area by 2030 are in walkable communities located near transit, at a range of prices affordable to families of all income levels. The multi-year initiative is actively being developed and has several regional partners. TALC, partnering with BART, AC Transit, and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency, received funding for a spring 2006 rollout of the new TravelChoice program, which will use personalized marketing in two East Bay pilot communities to reduce auto trips. Keep an eye out for developments in both of these exciting new ventures.

New TALC Publications: TALC released a Spanish version of the Access Now! guide, which helps communities win the transportation they need. The Safe Routes for the Mayfair Community report laid out specific projects that will increase bicycle and pedestrian safety in San Jose's Mayfair neighborhood and detailed amenities and services that community members want at and near future transit stations.

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The Safe Routes to Transit winners are in!
It’s official: MTC has approved the list of bike and pedestrian projects recommended for the $4 million of funding in the first round of the Safe Routes to Transit Grant Program. After a thorough and very competitive selection process administered by TALC and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, we believe these twelve projects represent the best of the 39 applications we received from the 2005 Call for Projects. Included among the dozen winners are:

• a pilot program to install new space for bicycles on BART cars
• a comprehensive bicycle parking plan for AC Transit
• pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements on San Francisco's Market Street
• a plan to provide a safe pedestrian and bicycle crossing at the Santa Clara Transit Center
• safety and access improvements along the Ohlone Greenway, which parallels BART from Berkeley to El Cerrito

Safe Routes to Transit was sponsored by TALC and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition as part of Regional Measure 2. We are excited to work with MTC and the project sponsors to move these projects from concept to reality. And in early 2007 we will gear up for the next SR2T Grant Cycle. For more information contact Amber Crabbe, Program Director, at amber@transcoalition.org or 510-740-3105. The full list of winning projects is on the TALC website.

Learn more: www.transcoalition.org/c/bikeped/bikeped_saferoutes.html

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Is your organization a TALC Member?
As a coalition of over 90 organizations, Member Groups are critical to TALC's success, and help determine our policies and leadership. Organizations that agree with the principles in the Platform and who would like to join TALC's efforts for a sustainable and socially just Bay Area are encouraged to join, or renew their membership, for 2006. Additional information is available by calling the TALC office at 510-740-3150 or by clicking the link below.

Learn more: www.transcoalition.org/members.html

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New Lifeline Transportation program gears up to improve mobility
The new regional Lifeline Transportation Program will improve mobility for low-income residents. The program will fund nearly $20 million of projects over three years in each of the nine Bay Area counties. The counties are gearing up to release their Call for Projects for these Lifeline funds in March and MTC is coordinating local kick-off meetings with each county in February. The meetings will be an important opportunity for community representatives and agency staff to discuss the details of the program and what types of projects can and should be funded.

TALC is working with the Transportation Justice Working Group to spread the word and help our members prepare to participate in these meetings. Contact Amber Crabbe, Program Director, at amber@transcoalition.org or 510-740-3105 if you would like to get more information or meet up with other Coalition members before the meetings.

For dates and locations, see TALC’s calendar webpage, at www.transcoalition.org/calendar.html, which will be updated as the meeting dates are announced.

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TALC is hiring
TALC’s TravelChoice program is hiring a Project Coordinator. TravelChoice, a one-to-one educational outreach program, seeks to increase walking and biking trips by 60-100% and transit usage by over 25% by encouraging the use of transportation modes other than solo driving in Oakland's Fruitvale district and eastern Alameda. We seek an experienced, highly organized individual to coordinate the production and procurement of all educational materials, initiate a program awareness/PR campaign, and coordinate the educational outreach campaign. The Project Coordinator will also assist in writing grant proposals. This is a full-time, temporary position that is funded through June 2006.

Learn more: www.transcoalition.org/about/about_jobs.html#job

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Are you the volunteer we're looking for?
Volunteers play an important role in helping TALC accomplish as much as we do. Here are some of our current volunteer opportunities, please visit the website for the complete list.

• Are you web savvy? You can help improve the online collaboration tools for our new Great Communities Initiative so advocates around the region can become aware of and involved in the dozens of station area planning processes taking place. The Initiative has other volunteer and internship opportunities for you, even if you're not web savvy.
• TALC's Regional Transportation Funding Initiative is seeking one or more interns to do community outreach and/or policy research.
• We're also looking for someone to help cull and organize our growing library of books and reports.

Learn more: www.transcoalition.org/about/about_intern_vol.html

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Members in Action

Redefining Progress launches Scenarios for Sustainability
At the city and regional scale, debates over what, how much, and where to develop, along with what form development should take, are highly politicized. To meet a need for impartial analysis, Redefining Progress developed a Scenarios for Sustainability (S2) toolkit, which adapts its signature Ecological Footprint and Genuine Progress Indicators down to the local level. S2 provides decision makers with quantitative information about the degree to which alternative planning and policy options achieve environmental, economic, and social sustainability objectives.

Coyote Valley is a mostly undeveloped tract of agricultural land just south of San José, and the site of the Bay Area’s largest development proposal: a projected 80,000 people, 50,000 jobs and 25,000 homes. Redefining Progress just released an S2 analysis comparing two preliminary development scenarios: the City of San José’s Specific Plan with the Getting it Right vision advanced by Greenbelt Alliance. The report demonstrated GIR to be more sustainable in terms of six indicators: the ecological footprint, the economic costs of lost farmland, carbon dioxide damage costs, export of income needed to pay for imported oil, equity in the distribution of housing types, and equitable access to open space.

For more information on S2 or to receive an electronic copy of Setting the Standard in Coyote Valley, please call or email Connie Galambos, Regional Sustainability Initiative Coordinator at Redefining Progress: 510-444-3041 x322, or galambos@rprogress.org.