Round One Public Outreach Workshops

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Round One Public Outreach Workshops
Presented to Womens Transportation Seminar2007
Annual Conference May 2, 2007

• Fall 2005

Presented byTherese McMillanDeputy Executive
Director, PolicyMetropolitan Transportation
Commission
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Regional Measure 2

• Approved by voters in March 2004
• Increased bridge toll by 1, raising 125
  million annually
• Allocated total of 4.5 million for Regional
  Rail Plan

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Need for Regional RailPopulation Boom

• Bay Area population will grow to 10 million
  people by 2050, a 48 increase from 2000
• Sacramento will grow by 132
• San Joaquin will grow by 201

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Need for Regional RailIncreased Travel
Fastest Growing Corridors by 2030

• Transbay San Francisco to Oakland (204,000
  trips)
• Peninsula San Mateo Co. to Santa Clara Co.
  (156,000 trips)
• East Bay Alameda Co. to Santa Clara Co.
  (152,000 trips)
• I-680 Alameda Co. to NW Contra Costa Co.
  (141,000 trips)
• I-680 Alameda Co. to Contra Costa Co. East
  (104,000 trips)

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Need for Regional RailPersistent Congestion
Counties with Highest Increase in Vehicle Hours
of Delay by 2030

1. Solano 498
2. Alameda 267
3. Napa 223
4. San Francisco 189
5. Santa Clara 133

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Need for Regional RailIncreased Freight Traffic

• Trucks currently carry largest share of Bay Area
  domestic trade (80), followed by rail (6)
• By 2050, freight traffic will grow in excess of
  350

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Need for Regional RailHigh Cost to Economy
Environment

• Lack of action to address Bay Area transportation
  woes threatens our economic vitality and
  environmental quality

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Study Purpose

• To create a safe, fast, reliable and integrated
  passenger and freight rail network
• To establish a consistent framework for regional
  rail investment decisions
• To sustain and enhance economic vitality of
  Northern California, while minimizing
  environmental impacts and providing excellent
  transit service to downtowns and economic centers

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Planning Process A Team Effort

• Study Partners
• MTC, BART, Caltrain, CHSRA
• Regional Rail Steering Committee
• Passenger and freight railroad operators, county
  congestion management agencies other local
  partners
• Neighboring regional agencies
• Advisory Group
• Community

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Rail Plan Step-by-Step

• Phase 1 Vision
• Define rail vision, purpose and need, and
  brainstorm on key issues and conceptual system
  alternatives
• Phase 2 Technical Analysis
• Refine study alternatives and perform technical
  analysis
• Phase 3 Draft/Final Plan
• Examine support strategies, make study findings,
  and prepare draft plan identifying regional and
  high-speed rail extensions and services for
  near-, mid-, and long-terms

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Key Study IssuesBART

• Focus on Core Capacity by simplifying operations
  plan and increasing system throughput
• Extend in corridors where BART-type technology
  could potentially address regional trip needs
• Serve as Mass Transit system with infill
  stations, possible skip-stop and/or express
  trackage

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Key Study IssuesRailroad Services

• Develop separate regional passenger rail network
  to ultimately provide 115 mph service with
  lightweight equipment operating throughout the
  region
• Coordinate existing passenger services shared
  with freight rail (railroad companies interest?)
• Establish hybrid system corridor-by-corridor
  using the most appropriate technologies and
  rights of way (also consider speed and FRA or UIC
  Compatibility)

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Key Study IssuesHigh-Speed Rail

• Approach from the South through San Jose links
  are added for service to San Francisco and
  Oakland?
• Approach from the East via the Tri-Valley area
  (Livermore / Pleasanton) links are added to
  connect to San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco?
• Expand regional passenger services to serve
  regional markets assuming no high-speed rail?

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Key Study IssuesFreight

• Improve existing freight operations practices
  (wherein freight movements are dispatched by the
  railroads) to accommodate traffic growth
• Optimize freight dispatching to fully utilize
  rail infrastructure and future improvements
• Consolidate select regional rail lines and
  improve under public ownership with centralized
  dispatching and develop freight by-pass routes
  to route goods traffic away from city centers

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Key Study IssuesGovernance

• Potential Benefits
• Improve customer service and experience, and
  streamline administration and overhead
• Economies of scale through shared facilities,
  procurement and contracting, regional
  coordination, and railroad negotiations
• Centralized operations dispatch for service
  coordination and incident response
• Single entity to conduct all negotiations with
  the freight railroads.

• Potential Risks
• Less autonomy reduced local authority
• Loss of accountability, whether perceived or real
• Potential for higher labor costs

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Phase 1 - VisionKey Public Comments Heard

• Connectivity between modes is critical
• Resolve freight and passenger rail conflicts
• Allow freight on high-speed rail
• Need new Bay crossing for rail
• Preserve purchase rights-of-way
• Explore advanced rail technologies
• One System, One Ticket
• Must foster supportive land uses
• Must minimize impacts on low-income areas
• Must have safe and secure rail system

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Phase 2Technical Analysis(in progress)
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Base Network

• MTC Resolution 3434 rail extensions
• BART/Oakland Airport Connector
• BART/East Contra Costa Rail (eBART)
• BART/Fremont-Warm Springs Extension
• BART/Warm Springs-San Jose
• MUNI/Third Street Corridor Central Subway
• Caltrain/Downtown San Francisco Extension
  Transbay Transit Center
• VTA/Downtown-East Valley
• Sonoma-Marin Rail (SMART)
• Dumbarton Bridge Rail Svc.

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Base Network

• Adopted rail projects from neighboring regions

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12 Study Alternatives

• 3 Regional Rail withoutHigh-Speed Rail
  Alternatives
• 9 Regional Rail with High-Speed Rail
  Alternatives
• 3 options entering from the South via San Jose
• 6 options entering from the East via Tri Valley

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Refinements to Alternatives

• Narrowed 3 Regional Rail without HSR
  alternativesdown to 2
• Alternatives represent most promising stations,
  alignments and service options for BART, regional
  rail, and freight-by pass options
• Awaiting CHSRA to identify most promising HSR
  stations and alignments
• Bay Area to Central Valley EIR/EIS underway

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Project Schedule Highlights
Technical Analysis In progress Ridership Forecasts, Engineering Feasibility, Capital/Operating Costs, Environmental Screening Spring 2007
Draft Plan Release Summer 2007
Agency/Public Outreach Late Summer 2007
MTC Final Plan Adoption Fall 2007
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Therese McMillanDeputy Executive Director,
PolicyMetropolitan Transportation
Commission510.817.5830tmcmillan_at_mtc.ca.govwww.
mtc.ca.gov