Read Executive Director Andrew T. Chesley's most recent Board updates.

Update for September 5, 2008

Federal Highway Trust Fund In Trouble:  
The predicted wall has been hit in the Highway Trust Fund.  On Monday Secretary Peters will announce that the Trust Fund will be short about $3 billion in revenue.  She will authorize the Dept. to cut back on reimbursements to State DOTs.  from the normal 80 - 90 % to 60 - 70 %.  The effect on California will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  SJCOG staff is quickly looking to see what projects will be effected and once again the pressure will be on Measure K to pick up the shortfall.  The real hit of this decision will be on Caltrans.  The Department's maintenance program is federally funded and will take the biggest hit of all.  Of course it will be California's drivers who will experience the increased number of unfilled bumps in the road.  I was at an event with Caltrans Director Will Kempton and you would have thought he had taken a physical blow.   
Presidential Campaigns and their treatment of Transportation:  
Neither campaign appears to have given transportation a very high policy profile.  The Obama campaign has a statement on transportation policies and programs that is very broad in its perspective.  The McCain campaign does not appear to have any policy statement.  The Republican Party platform (http://www.gopplatform2008.com/2008Platform.pdf, pg. 18-19) has an even more broad statement on infrastructure.  On the eve of the reauthorization of the federal transportation act it is disappointing to see such little talk of transportation infrastructure in the two campaigns. 

I-580 Groundbreaking in Alameda County:  
Today, a host of transportation dignitaries attended the ground breaking for the High Occupancy Vehicle Lane widening of I-580 in the Tri-Valley.  The project will prove a traffic management challenge but every effort is being made to complete the median widening in just over a year's time.  This is one of the first bond projects to break ground.  The project may very well morph into a HOT lane project in the next year and open as a carpool lane/toll lane for single occupant drivers.  Supervisor Haggerty hosted the event.   I informed him this morning I would be at the event.  He seemed surprised, but I told him "I-580 is San Joaquin County's driveway".  He used that in his introduction of the project.  Probably 45,000 San Joaquin residents use I-580 each day in their commute.   

San Joaquin HOT Lane Study:  
We have been informed that we have been awarded $100,000 to study under what conditions and how we would implement the development of HOT lanes in San Joaquin County in the near future.  This will involve a range of policy questions for the COG Board.  By the way, Caltrans has also begun a statewide analysis of HOT lane development throughout the state.  

SJCOG Discussion of Measure K Revenue Shortfalls:  
In late Sept. the Board of Equalization will issue a new update on revenue forecasts for sales tax revenues.  The report will show that we can expect less transportation sales tax revenue than we had estimated in San Joaquin County.  The recent downturn over the past two years has hurt our chances of making the $735 million projected revenue for the life of the program.  In fact our most recent estimate was $695 million.  We are sharing with our Technical Advisory Committee and particularly our transit providers the challenging numbers.   

SJCOG Board Habitat Committee will meet at noon on Sept. 15.  
SJCOG Project Delivery Committee has not yet set a date and time to meet. 

The Big Four:  
In terms of metropolitan planning organizations this refers to the four largest regional agencies in the state, MTC (Bay Area), SACOG (Sacramento region), San DAG (San Diego region) and SCAG (Southern California (LA, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial and Ventura Counties)).  These are the regional transportation agencies with the largest budget and staff.  At a recent meeting at the Air Resources Board I was invited to represent the San Joaquin Valley.  It was unusual for this to happen.  And in fact I really could not claim to represent every agency in the Valley or the Valley as a whole.  As a Valley we have the second largest land area of any region in the state, we have the third largest population, and the third largest congressional delegation.  However, as individual agencies in the Valley our modeling tools and data resources are well behind the four larger regional agencies.  We have a greater challenge in recruiting personnel, and we generally don't have the same in house specialization.  On the other hand we have exhibited an almost miraculous ability to cooperate among one another and master a labyrinthian regulatory process when it comes to air quality.  The Valley COG Directors are examining the question of if and how we could transform this into the Big Five so that smaller metropolitan areas could participate in the development of statewide policy matters.  

October 1 through 3, Valley Fall Policy Forum:  
I would encourage board members to see if they can find time in their schedule.  The Blueprint, Transportation Financing, and Working together as a Valley will be big topics.  The forum will be held in Visalia and the active working days will be Thursday and through lunch on Friday. 

Update for August 27, 2008

House Passes Transportation Finance Bill:  
The House passed 387-37, a bill to transfer just over $8 billion from the General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund to keep the program solvent next year.  (Congressman McNerney is a co-sponsor of the bill.)  The bill now goes to the Senate where it is unlikely to be taken up before the end of the summer.  President Bush has threatened to veto the bill.  For more on the impending and long expected Highway Trust Fund crisis you can read the following.  The situation has often been described as the Trust Fund going bankrupt.  This is not an accurate depiction.  What will happen is that as receipts of gas tax revenue fails to keep up with the commitments for highway construction and repair the program will just slow down.  The decline in gas tax receipts is only exacerbating what has been a long projected problem in federal transportation finances.  http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-highway21-2008jul21,0,1945553.story   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121686199194679555.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_leftbox   By way of a commentary, the amount of money in the bill, $8 billion is comparatively small.  It points to the declining role of the federal government in shaping transportation policy and investments in today's environment.   

SB 375:   This is Senator Steinberg's bill to outline a process for transportation and land use decisions to take into account greenhouse gas emissions on a regional basis.  The bill has come under much suspicion because of a concern it threatens local government land use control.  The author however has worked with CSAC, the League and the California Councils of Governments to make the language over local government land use control as unambiguous as possible.  Other issues such as protecting transportation projects in development and allowing programmatic review of greenhouse gas emissions under specified conditions have been strengthened.  The League and CSAC have taken support positions on the bill after much wrestling with the issue.  CalCOG has taken a support position.  The Regional Policy Council will review this on Friday and consider joining the groups, taking a neutral position or sticking with the position adopted at the start of the legislative year as opposed.   Greenhouse Gas Emissions:   The Air Resources Board (ARB) has released its draft scoping plan for implementing AB 32 http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/scopingplan/document/draftscopingplan.pdf . I was invited to a meeting of the ARB staff and staff from the transportation planning agencies in Sacramento, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego.  A few items popped to the forefront.  Our tools are not adapted for the kind of analysis ARB will be looking for.  They will need to be upgraded.  ARB will need to measure vehicle miles of travel (VMT) better as opposed to just estimating them.  ARB is generally taking an incentive based approach and this was applauded.  ARB is getting a lot of pressure to set a VMT reduction target of greater than 2%.  Bay Area and Sacramento thought they might meet it under good circumstances.  San Diego thought it was a very outside possibility.  Los Angeles and I said no way for our regions.   

AB 3034:  
This bill's saga continues.  By now you all know the Governor has agreed to sign the bill.  This is not the end though.  The Assembly needs to release the bill.  The Assembly responded to the Governor's threat of vetoing any bill by voting not to send him any bill.  They must make an exception.......  Also the legislature needs to pass a bill suspending or shortening the minimal 20 review time for any change in ballot language. It is good news that the bill has been passed and the Governor willing to sign.  Assemblymembers Aghazarian, Galgiani, and Senator Cogdill all played key roles in giving the Altamont a chance to continue to compete for High Speed Rail funding.  

Silicon Valley Leadership Group Clean and Green Conference: http://svlg.net/events/projections2009/ is the site for what looks to be a very interesting conference sponsored by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group at Santa Clara University. This is a top notch organization with some very good programs.  I encourage  you to take a look.  

Grade Separation Program:
Congratulations to the City of Stockton and the Port of Stockton for landing three and one project respectively on the California Transportation Commission's discretionary Grade Separation Program funding list.  The requirements of the program are that the project be underway in the next two years so the City and the Port have much work to do, but the first hurdle has been passed.  

Hats off to Caltrans Local Assistance:
The San Joaquin Regional Transit District has been working for a number of years on the a Mall Transfer project that required negotiating with the mall owners.  It was not easy.  When an agreement was reached, there was very little time for the Caltrans Local Assistance approval.  The Caltrans folk came through expediting the effort and keeping us on a timeline to get final approval from the CTC. 

Some Staff Modifications:
Just to let you know that effective October 1, Anthony Zepeda will be working on our Commute Connection program.  Anthony has great people skills and will do a great job for us in promoting shared ride alternatives.  Kim Anderson will move from the Habitat Program to the Transportation Planning Program where she will be working on the Blueprint.  Kim worked on this program during her internship.  Kim is also on the last semester for her Masters in Public Administration at Stanislaus State.  Anne Marie Poggio Castillou is being promoted from Planning Technician to Regional Planner in our Habitat Program.  Annie has been great at learning a complex program and working smoothly with local staff and the development community.  We will be leaving the Habitat Planning Technician position vacant for awhile.  With revenues down in the program we can not keep three positions funded.      

Update for July 24, 2008

State Budget and Possible Transportation Borrowing:
Our website article on the home page should lead you to any additional
information you would like on the subject.  Another source for information is   http://www.cacities.org/index.jsp?displaytype=11&zone=locc&section=&sub_
sec=&tert=&story=27342 The effort does seem to be paying off as the Sacramento Bee reported today on dueling press releases in the Legislature from both parties saying that borrowing from local government and transportation is
 not the solution.

Central Valley Congressional Districts Among Last In "Well Being":
See the following article from the Fresno Bee picturing the San Joaquin Valley congressional districts as among the worst places for "well being".  http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/735060.html .  An additional article describes the report itself. http://www.fresnobee.com/556/story/733744.html .  For more on the American Human Development Project go to their website at http://www.measureofamerica.org/ .   The 11th Congressional District that takes in a large part of the East Bay to Morgan Hill and is about 60% San Joaquin County is 81st in the nation. 

AB 3034 Not Dead Yet:
AB 3034 would allow the High Speed Rail Authority, once it makes certain
findings to fund rail improvements in the Altamont Pass.  Without the bill, the High Speed Rail Authority is precluded from expending any funds in the Altamont Pass corridor.  The bill is hardly perfect, but is our only bet for getting the Altamont
Pass in the upcoming High Speed Rail bond (Proposition 1).  The bill needs a
2/3rds vote to pass and that means Ms. Galgiani needs Republican votes, and
they are not there yet.  The Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley is leading a
contingent to Sacramento the week of August 4 to advocate for AB 3034.   

Measure K Revenue:
After reviewing the 2007-08 revenue amounts for Measure K, our Deputy
Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer has revised upwards estimates of revenue for the remainder of the Measure K program.  Last year's revenue was    -3.2% from the previous year.  This was better than his estimate of a 5.6% drop
in revenue.  He will continue to monitor this closely.  We are hardly out of the woods yet. 

Airport Land Use Plan Open Houses:
Monday July 28 at the Tracy City Hall (6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.) there will be a
presentation of the Airport Land Use Plan.  The next night, July 29 (5:00 p.m.
to 6:30 p.m.) will be the presentation at the Lodi Public Library Community Room. 
These two meetings are moving forward, but the Stockton public meeting will
have to await more progress on the Stockton Airport Master Plan. 

Interns at SJCOG:
Conner Gritsch and Andrew Dasso are two new interns. Conner is a graduate
 of St. Mary's who will be attending University of the Pacific in the fall as an engineering major.  Andrew is a third year student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
and a graduate of Linden High School.  Both have been great at pitching in to
help us get through Blueprint, website, Measure K and other activities.

Update for July 15, 2008  

Transit Ridership Increases:  
Sam Kaur (SJCOG staff) collected the following data from information available through June 20th.  
Increase in Ridership in last three months:
             Altamont Commuter Express ridership increased 13.86%
             San Joaquin Regional Transit District ridership increased 18.56%
             Amtrak San Joaquin ridership increased 21.9%
             People signing up for carpool through Commute Connection increased
             43.8%

State Legislation SB 375:
One of the most talked about pieces of legislation effecting government agencies
is SB 375 by Steinberg.  The bill is meant to create a process linking local,
regional and state funding decisions on transportation and specified land use planning activities.  The bill has been opposed unless amended by the League of California Cities, support if amended by CSAC and flat out opposed by the San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Council and the California Councils of Governments Association (CalCOG).  The League's issue has been concern over local government land use decision making authority.  While the bill specifically states that there this no change in the authority of local jurisdictions to control land use
in their jurisdictions, the bill does seek to influence land use decision making to an extent that the League finds 
at this time unacceptable.    http://www.westerncity.com/index.jsp?displaytype=11&zone=locc&section=&sub_sec=&tert=
&story=27329
 is the website address for the most recent statement from the League on negotiations on the bill.  The League has been supportive of portions of the bill such as the provision providing CEQA relief.  To learn more about the bill:  http://ct2k2.capitoltrack.com/BillInfo.asp?ss=536lcc-search1.xsl&org=all&measure=sb%20375&zone=locc&section=util&app=billsearch The bill has implications for regional agencies like San Joaquin COG regarding state transportation
funding, Blueprint decision making, regional housing needs assessments, air quality determinations and projections for employment and population.  Those implications are far from clear at this time however.  Regional agencies are all
over the map on this bill.  The Metropolitan Transportation Commission supports
 the bill.  The Sacramento Area Council of Governments has supported the bill
with amendments.  Agencies like the Orange County Transportation Authority
have opposed unless amended, and the San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Council representing the eight COGs in the Valley has opposed the bill. 

HOV/HOT Session in Sacramento:
Director of Transportation Will Kempton called transportation leaders throughout the state to discuss High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes and High Occupancy Toll Lanes.  It was an interesting session and focused mostly on HOT lane development in the state of California with the clear message that the administration wants to encourage more.  Presentations were given by San 
Diego, Orange and Riverside Counties which have operating High Occupancy Toll lanes on I-15 and SR 91.  HOT lanes under development are Alameda 680 beginning operation in 2010, Alameda 580 which could be in operation by 2010, Santa Clara 85/101 connection maybe as early as 2010 and San Diego I-15 extension which may be on the same timeline.  Riverside County is also working
on an extension of the HOT lane on I-15.  Along with the Alameda projects, of interest to us should be the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's (MTC) interest in expediting a network of HOT lanes throughout the Bay Area by the
year 2015.  This would be almost 800 lane miles of HOT lane facilities on
Highways 101, I-80, I-680, Route 4, I-580, I 880, I-780, and Highways 85 and 87.  Among the most interesting discussions has been the controversy over the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority's decision to utilize federal congestion reduction demonstration dollars that New York City lapsed on to convert HOV lanes on I-10, I-110, and I-210 to HOT lanes.  For San Joaquin
County we are only now in a very real discussion about having our first High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on I-5 through Stockton, but if HOT lanes become
more than just a fad (and I think we will see a rapid growth in them in California) then our HOV Lane study coming to the Board will have the possibility of developing HOT in our region.

Airport Land Use Plan Update:
Nothing is every easy and Mike Swearingen and Laura Brunn are having to make adjustments in our schedule and product to adjust for the Stockton Airport's delay in getting their master plan underway.  Our schedules (the ALUP Update and the Master Plan) were supposed to mesh so that we were working with just one set of noise related data at the Stockton airport.  However, with Steve Hicks leaving as Airport director and a new director not likely to come on board until September at the earliest, well we are likely going to have to delay the Stockton segment, but move forward with the Tracy and Lodi segments of the plan.

AB 3034:
This is the High Speed Rail bill by Assemblymember Galgiani.  After heroic perseverance by Cathleen to save this bill from deadly amendments in the
Senate, Cathleen has hit a wall with Senate Republicans concerned that there
 is not enough oversight of the High Speed Rail Authority and that it should be gutted.  Also Assembly Republicans are concerned with the total amount of bonding on the November ballot and have voted to have the high speed rail bond put off till 2010.  Without 3034, we will likely oppose a 2008 High Speed Rail
bond.  3034 makes the Altamont Pass eligible for funding in the high speed rail program.  The High Speed Rail Authority's plan for building high speed rail on the adopted alignment from S.F. to L.A. along the San Andreas fault alignment would miss serving San Diego, the Inland Empire, the norther San Joaquin Valley, and
the Sacramento region.  It would do miss these areas in favor of potentially
serving such hot spots as Gilroy and Los Banos. 

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