Regional and Local Governments

MTC Isn’t Giving Transportation Attention it Deserves

admin 2015, Regional and Local Governments

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is a troubled organization. Dan Borenstein’s excellent column (Opinion, Nov. 1) exposed some of the issues, but there’s more:

As Borenstein indicated, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) carves out a piece of the assets that pass through its hands to fund its own extensive administrative operation. But how do 200 MTC staff members occupy their time? Certainly it’s not to plan regionally. If it were, the Bay Area wouldn’t have the unenviable distinction of being the third-most congested metropolitan area in the country. Nor would its per-capita public transit ridership be declining as its per-capita automotive travel rises.
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MTC’s Hostile Takeover of ABAG – Update​

admin 2015, Regional and Local Governments

MTC, the Region’s transportation planning agency, is now well along in its campaign to take over ABAG, the Region’s land use planning agency. This, despite the fact that MTC has long failed to carry out its regional transportation planning responsibilities in an effective manner. For more information about MTC’s failures to take advantage of important improvement opportunities and its habit of wasting billions of dollars on over-priced, ill-conceived pet projects of little or no benefit to the Region, go to this report and scroll down to Page 6 “3. Legacy of Wasteful and Counter-Productive Projects”.
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Missed Opportunities

admin 2014, Regional and Local Governments

Here are some of the projects of potential that MTC either blocked or killed by inattention and a lack of interest:

Neglected Project: The ACE branch to San Francisco – The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) rail line to San Jose is being upgraded. To ease crowding on BART’s transbay section and reduce the traffic backups on I-580, I-680, I-238, I-880 and Highway 92, there has long been a plan to extend a branch of the upgraded ACE service via a rebuilt Dumbarton rail bridge and the Caltrain right-of-way to downtown San Francisco. Instead of giving this clearly-needed second transbay rail connection the priority it deserves, MTC appears to regard the San Francisco branch as nothing but a cash cow to help pay for favored projects of lesser importance.

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