With the Bay Area’s fleet of ferries, buses and railcars rapidly aging, local streets increasingly pockmarked by potholes and congestion at the region’s most notorious freeway bottlenecks going from bad to worse,
The transportation infrastructure bond on the November ballot could deliver billions to improve port security, and upgrade transit systems throughout California.
By John Goodwin
Published: August, 2006
With the Bay Area’s fleet of ferries, buses and railcars rapidly aging, local streets increasingly pockmarked by potholes and congestion at the region’s most notorious freeway bottlenecks going from bad to worse, the upcoming November statewide election — and its nearly $20 billion transportation infrastructure bond measure — certainly comes at an opportune time.
If approved by a majority of California voters, Proposition 1B — the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality and Port Security Act of 2006 — could deliver more than $4 billion worth of transportation improvements in the nine-county Bay Area. While this is far short of the amount needed to restore the region’s transit, road and highway systems to mint condition, it would begin to reverse a decades-long trend toward underinvestment that has badly tarnished the Golden State’s transportation network.
Based on established funding formulas, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) estimates the Bay Area would receive $1.3 billion for public transportation modernization and improvement, $375 million for local streets and roads and $348 million for highway improvements and other projects specified in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).
Bay Area projects also would be eligible to compete for billions of additional dollars through several other programs identified in the bond measure:
• Corridor Mobility Program ($4.5 billion statewide);
• Trade Corridors ($2 billion statewide);
• State-Local Partnership Program ($1 billion statewide); and
• Transit Security ($1 billion statewide).
The Bay Area will have to compete with the rest of the state for dollars from these programs, and most of the funding decisions will be made by the California Transportation Commission, explained MTC Chair Jon Rubin. So, we can’t predict exactly how much the Bay Area would get. But given the amount of congestion we have, I expect the region to compete very strongly. If the Bay Area were to receive funding in proportion to its 20 percent share of the state population, that would translate into more than $2 billion.
MTC’s estimates for dollars potentially flowing to the Bay Area also incorporate a share of several other competitive programs that would be funded, including:
• $100 million for a Port Security Program, through which the State Office of Emergency Services would fund grants for ports, harbors, ferryboat operators and ferry terminal operators around the state;
• $1 billion for projects to reduce vehicle emissions related to freight movement along California’s trade corridors;
• $200 million to retrofit or replace school buses to reduce children’s exposure to diesel exhaust;
• $500 million for rehabilitation of the state highway system;
• $250 million to fund local signal-light synchronization and other intelligent transportation system improvements;
• $400 million (including $150 million for rolling stock) to improve intercity rail travel around the state;
• $250 million for high-priority grade separation and railroad crossing improvements; and
• $125 million to match federal funds for seismic work on local bridges, ramps and overpasses.
Funding for all programs supported by the bond measure would be provided over 10 years, subject to annual appropriation by the Legislature.
Companion Measures Offer More Help for Transportation, Housing
By John Goodwin
Two companion measures to the transportation infrastructure bond measure, Propositions 1A and 1C, will appear on the November ballot as well. If approved by a majority of voters, Proposition 1A would largely close the loophole that has allowed the governor and Legislature to divert voter-approved Proposition 42 funds away from transportation to plug holes in the state’s General Fund. Overwhelmingly approved by California voters in 2002, Proposition 42 was intended to ensure that all the taxes motorists pay at the pump would go to transportation. But it included provisions that allowed the Legislature — by a two-thirds vote — to suspend the measure if the governor issued a proclamation declaring that transferring the funds to transportation would negatively affect the General Fund. The governor and legislators took advantage of these provisions for three consecutive years.
Beginning June 30, 2007, Proposition 1A would permit the state to borrow Proposition 42 funds only twice in any 10-year period; and then only on the condition that the funds would be repaid with interest and within three years. A second loan of Proposition 42 funds would not be allowed until the first loan was fully repaid. MTC analysts estimate that approval of Proposition 1A would provide about $270 million in additional transportation funding to the Bay Area each year, including $113 million for local street and road maintenance.
Proposition 1C is a $2.8 billion bond measure focused on affordable housing that includes $850 million for regional planning, housing and infill incentives that would be administered by the state Department of Housing and Community Development. This money could be used for anything from traffic mitigation to parkland acquisition, though follow-up legislation is expected to provide more definition of project eligibility. Voter approval of Proposition 1C also would provide $300 million to fund grants for cities, counties or transit agencies for infrastructure to make transit-oriented development (TOD) feasible and loans for transit-oriented housing developments within a quarter-mile of a transit station. For a project to be eligible for funding, at least 15 percent of the housing development’s units must be affordable for at least 55 years.
