Regional Solutions to Traffic Congestion
Traffic congestion is bad for business, especially hospitality businesses. There is nothing hospitable about traffic jams, gridlock, and vehicle exhaust.
When tourists are stuck in traffic, they have less time to spend in local stores, restaurants, and destinations. Much of the serendipity of travel is lost when tourists are isolated from local people and local businesses by the isolating bubble of a car.
The hospitality industry has a large stake in the regional transportation plan for the San Francisco Bay Area, which the Metropolitan Transportation Commission is currently updating, as it does every four years. The plan will direct $122 billion in investments over the next 25 years, and for the first time, it will attempt to address climate change, smart growth, and transportation options, as well as gridlock.
The transportation commission, the MTC, adopted a vision statement in March 2008, to guide its work. Dubbed, Transportation 2035: Change in Motion, the commissioners set priorities based on the equivalent of the business triple-bottom line: “Economy, environment and equity . . that will transform not only the way we invest in our transportation but the very way the Bay Area travels.”
“Where we have a viable choice to leave our autos at home and take advantage of a seamless network of accessible pedestrian and bicycle paths that connect to nearby bus, rail and ferry services that can carry us to work, school, shopping, services, or recreation; and
Where our transportation investments and travel behaviors are driven by the need to reduce our impact on the earth’s natural habitats. . .”
Carli Paine of the nonprofit Transportation and Land Use Coalition, TALC, does not believe there will be a major shift in funding priorities this time around. “The process was less than ideal,” says Paine. Each of the nine bay area counties had to submit their proposals for funding before knowing the criteria the commission would use to evaluate these proposals.
Paine says the hospitality industry has not been engaged in the debate over transportation policy. “Some businesses provide their own shuttles,” circumventing the Bay Area’s ailing public transit systems. She notes that small businesses often oppose improvements to public transit, such as bus rapid transit projects, “that can dramatically improve our current transit system,” because it might result less street parking.
The commission began the process to update its transportation blueprint in 2007. The commission adopted its vision for the plan in February 2008. The nine counties of the Bay Area–Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma–submitted their proposed funding plans in March.
John Goodwin, public information officer for MTC, says $92 billion of the $122 billion pool of transportation funds are already committed to projects, leaving $30 billion in discretionary money over the next 25 years. The commission will judge transportation projects proposed by the nine Bay Area counties based on five categories:
- Maintaining the region’s roads, highways and transit systems;
- Relieving congestion;
- Encouraging focused–or smart–growth;
- Providing access to mobility to all area residents; and
- Reducing emissions and greenhouse gases.
The commission then held a series of public hearings throughout the region in April and May. MTC staff will work over the summer to develop a draft regional transportation plan by October. The commission is expected to adopt the final revised plan in February 2009.
More information about California’s four regional transportation plans and Metropolitan Planning Organizations.
Contact:
Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Transportation 2035 Plan
Transportation and Land Use Coalition’s regional transportation proposal
Bay Area Council, Transportation Committee
California’s four