Transbay Blog
California
Squeezing the Sponge Dry
In the last two budget cycles, California’s leaders elected to redirect some $3 billion away from transit agencies. But a proposed budget deal would now finish off the job and take the rest of what little remains: $230 million of State Transit Assistance funds due from the 2008-09 September budget, and the full $306 million … Continue reading
CEQA Terminator
Courtesy of the Guardian. Two weeks ago, legislature Democrats approved a plan to address California’s budget woes through June 2010, accounting for $18 billion of the anticipated $41.6 billion shortfall. The plan included $7.3 billion of cuts and and $9.3 billion of general fund revenue — but $5.7 billion of that would be sourced from … Continue reading
November 2008 Election: Yes on Proposition 1A (High-Speed Rail)
If transit routes can be analogized to the networks of nerves that are spread throughout the human body, then one might say transit planning in California has been almost entirely occupied with the peripheral nervous system. But a crucial link has been missing — the spinal cord. The notion of building a high-speed rail system … Continue reading
Can MTC Take the Heat? Redux
Remember this past summer, when we ruminated about the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s ongoing update to the Regional Transportation Plan (Transportation 2035)? Remember when we were peeved by MTC’s unwillingness to heed the sage advice of the Advisory Council, the body that encouraged MTC to reevaluate $191 billion worth of “committed” projects, including several billion dollars … Continue reading
SB 375 and AB 1358: Victory for Livability Legislation
September 30 at midnight is the deadline for the Governor to sign bills into law, and in light of the record-late budget, legislation has been stacking up. Amidst all the signed and vetoed bills, I am happy to report that SB 375 and AB 1358, two important pieces of “livability legislation” that we have been … Continue reading
The Mismatch of California Planning
At long last, a record 84 days into the fiscal year, California state leaders are settling into a budget, albeit one that is far from ideal. Par for the course, transit funding is taking a big hit: $952 million diverted, and possibly $100 million more, which would leave just $306-$406 million of transit funds. We … Continue reading
Getting Somewhere on Land Use
Downtown Oakland, Courtesy Flickr user joshua aaron. Earlier this week, we spent some time delving into SB 375, the landmark Senate Bill that recently passed through the legislature and, at the time of writing this post, awaits only the Governor’s signature. The bill unifies transportation and land use planning, housing, and global warming into one … Continue reading
SB 375 and AB 1358 Are on the Governor’s Desk
UPDATE (30 September 2008): Both SB 375 and AB 1358 have been signed by the Governor into law. Remember AB 1358, the Complete Streets Act that we talked about several weeks ago? Well, it finally passed through the California legislature last week and is awaiting the Governor’s signature. SB 375, the major bill on land … Continue reading
Planning for Climate Change
Mt. Diablo, courtesy Flickr user qf8. In August 2006, the California legislature passed the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), and the Governor approved it one month later, on September 27, 2006. AB 32 aims to transform California into a global leader in the climate change battle, requiring that greenhouse gas emissions levels be reduced … Continue reading
Governor to Sign High-Speed Rail Bill
Apologies for the dearth of updates — the posts I have promised previously are in progress, but free time has been in short supply lately. But I did want to post a new update from just today on AB 3034, the high-speed rail bill. The Senate’s amendments to AB 3034 passed through the Assembly earlier … Continue reading
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