Executive Director Steve Heminger's Report to the Commission Meeting of December 17, 2014
BART OAC Ribbon-Cutting
November 21
A horde of dignitaries – including Chair Worth and Commissioner Haggerty – spoke at the grand opening of BART’s cable car line connecting the Coliseum Station to the Oakland International Airport. The project was many years in the making, and involved a prominent role for the Commission in identifying the last dollop of funding to be secured before it moved into construction. For those keeping score, that’s now two Bay Area international airports with rail connections, and one to go. Thanks to Commission funding, SMART also will be providing rail service to the Sonoma County Airport when it debuts in 2017.
SANDAG Loses Appeal
November 24, San Diego
A divided three-judge panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal handed the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) its second straight loss over the validity of its environmental review of the state’s first Sustainable Communities Strategy. On December 5th, SANDAG decided to appeal this adverse decision to the California Supreme Court. MTC joined an amicus brief during the appellate stage, and we expect to file another on SANDAG’s behalf before the Supreme Court.
State Route 37 Corridor Tour
November 25
Andy Fremier and I joined the congestion management agency directors from Sonoma and Solano counties in touring the State Route 37 corridor and discussing various improvement plans that have been proposed.
BATA Investor Presentations
December 3-5, New York
Andy Fremier and I joined Brian Mayhew and our financing team in New York to make presentations to potential investors in the next round of BATA bond offerings. A total of $815 million in refunding and new money bonds were priced and sold last week, with a robust $2.4 billion in orders received.
Kempton to Head CTC
December 10, Sacramento
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has announced that former Caltrans Director Will Kempton will become its next executive director in January 2015. This also means that Will will be rejoining me as a member of the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC). As the French like to say: Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.
Caltrans Reorganizes Toll Bridge Program
December 12, Sacramento
Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty announced a reorganization of the Toll Bridge Program that has been in place since the passage of AB 144 (Hancock) and the creation of the TBPOC in 2005. In brief, the structure in place until now involved an overall Program Director (Tony Anziano) who reported directly to the Caltrans Director in Sacramento. In its place, the new structure will assign the remaining demolition work on the old East Span to the regular Caltrans District 4 organization, with Chief Deputy Dan McElhinney taking on the role of interfacing with the TBPOC oversight group. We wish both Tony and Dan well in their new responsibilities.
Silicon Valley Briefing
December 16, Santa Clara University
At the invitation of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, I briefed a group of corporate officials and state legislators on the upcoming first round of funding under the state’s new Cap & Trade programs. [Presentation]
Map of the Month
This map visualizes the 2013 pavement condition for local streets within each jurisdiction in the San Francisco Bay Area, as retrieved from MTC’s StreetSaver® database. Pavement condition is represented by the Pavement Condition Index, which was developed by the US Army Corps of Engineers, and ranges from a like-new condition of 100 to a failed condition of 0.
The average PCI in the San Francisco Bay Area is 66. Pavement deterioration is primarily caused by distress from vehicle weight and aggravated by weather conditions. Local funding priorities also play a significant role in the condition of a road network.
MTC Operational Statistics
The monthly report on the performance of MTC’s operating programs: