Authority Board March 26, 2013

Transcription

1 Memorandum Authority Board March 26, 2013 Authority Board: Commissioners Avalos (Chair), Wiener (Vice Chair), Breed, Campos, Chiu, Cohen, Farrell, Kim, Mar, Tang and Yee Maria Lombardo Interim Executive Director Executive Director s Report On March 1, 2013, the automatic across-the-board-federal budget cuts known as the sequester went into effect. As a result of the sequester, spending cuts of approximately 5% are now going into effect for all domestic discretionary programs, including transportation programs funded through the General Fund. The sequester does not apply to the grant programs that are funded through the Federal Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which covers the bulk of the transportation programs. On March 21, 2013, Congress passed a second federal budget continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through the end of federal Fiscal Year 2013 on September 30, The CR left intact the sequester spending cuts to non-htf programs, meaning that programs such the Federal Transit Administration s New/Small Starts program will receive 5%, or $100 million, less than originally expected under the federal surface transportation act, MAP-21 (the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act). How the cuts to the New/Small Starts program will impact specific projects such as the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency s (SFMTA s) Central Subway project is unknown. We continue to work closely with the SFMTA to advocate to protect funding for the project and to identify mechanisms for providing bridge funding for the project to keep it on schedule in the event federal funds are delayed, whether this year due to the sequester or in future years related to the annual budget appropriation process. Congress will be on recess until early April when it must continue to develop a federal Fiscal Year 2014 budget. It remains to be seen if Congress will restore funding for discretionary transportation programs to pre-sequester levels or if MAP-21 s established funding levels for non-htf programs will be sidelined next fiscal year as well. Last Friday, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) released the Draft Plan Bay Area document (the Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy or RTP/SCS) for a 55-day comment period. The Draft Environmental Impact Report is scheduled for release on March 28 for a 45-day comment period. The Plan should reflect the Preferred Land Use and Transportation Investment Strategy approved by MTC and ABAG in July Authority staff will be coordinating with other City agencies and regional transit operators serving San Francisco to review and provide comments. Additionally, MTC/ABAG have planned outreach events in each county. In San Francisco, an open house and public hearing is planned on Thursday, April 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Hotel Whitcomb, 1231 Market Street. We also are working with MTC/ABAG staff to arrange a hearing, potentially at the Authority Board meeting on April 23. Finally, MTC/ABAG have contracted with community-based organizations representing M:\Board\Board Meetings\Direct Memos to Board\2013\03 Mar 26\EDR MEL.docx Page 1 of 5

2 Communities of Concern throughout the region, including the Chinatown Community Development Center and POWER in San Francisco. Authority and Planning Department staff are joining these meetings to describe how Plan Bay Area relates to local planning efforts in San Francisco, such as the San Francisco Transportation Plan. Last year the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) adopted a Blended System for the Peninsula corridor under which Caltrain and High-Speed- Rail would coordinate services and share infrastructure. The High Speed Rail Authority identified Caltrain Electrification as one of its early investment projects. On April 2012, this Board authorized the Executive Director to enter into a nine-party Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which established the funding agreement for the project. On January 31, Caltrain issued the Notice of Preparation for the Environmental Impact Report under the California Environmental Quality Act. Public scoping meetings were held at various locations in the Peninsula, including San Francisco. The San Francisco HSR Stakeholders Group, chaired by Authority staff, drafted a joint comment letter which was submitted to Caltrain by the Mayor s office. The letter included comments in the areas of land use and land use planning, transportation and circulation, air quality, utilities and service systems, and compatibility. Staff also met with Caltrain staff and consultants to discuss the comments. We are also coordinating with the Mayor s Office on a joint response to a MTC request that San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara funding partners clarify their approach to fulfilling each partner s $60 million local match contribution toward the electrification and positive train control projects as agreed to in the MOU. Of San Francisco s $60 million share, the Authority has already committed $19.96 million (a combination of Prop K sales tax and previously allocated Regional Improvement Program funds), leaving $40.04 million. Of that amount, about $7 million needs to be identified this spring to complete San Francisco s share of the positive train control project. Caltrain anticipates that the balance will need to be identified by Fiscal Year 2016/17 for electrification. We are working with the Mayor s Office on identifying the balance of San Francisco s commitment through the combined efforts of the San Francisco Transportation Plan and the Mayor s 2030 Transportation Task Force. I am very proud to report that in the past few weeks, the Presidio Parkway Project has received several awards to add to its growing list of awards recognizing its success in innovative project delivery. The project was awarded the Innovative Project of the Year award by the Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS) local San Francisco chapter as well as its parent international organization, where the award will be presented at the national WTS conference taking place in Philadelphia this May. The Presidio Parkway project also was awarded the Bay Area Real Estate Deal of the Year by the San Francisco Business Times. The project received these awards in recognition of its innovative approach to delivering a project that improves the quality of life for the project users as well as the community within which it is located. The Presidio Parkway project has already been recognized by many other organizations and received numerous awards. I want to recognize that this project, while still under construction (Phase 1 will be substantially completed in June 2013 and Phase 2 is anticipated to be open for use by February 2016) is already a success due to the dedicated and top-notch work not only of our past Executive Director José Luis Moscovich and staff, such as Lee Saage, Deputy Director for Capital Projects, but also because of the collaborative efforts of Caltrans, the project s consultant teams, our funding partners, Golden Link Concessionaire (the Phase II public private partnership concessionaire), and other agency and public stakeholders. The SFTP s development continues to move forward on multiple fronts. The team provided the Plans and Programs Committee with the results of the Project and Program Performance Evaluation. In response to Board

3 interest in boosting project delivery, the team has undertaken research on project delivery to examine best practices at other self-help regions in the state. Our consultant has also conducted interviews with several Board members, agency staff, advocates and civic groups on this topic. At the March SFTP Technical and Community Advisory Committees (TAC/CAC), the team presented a methodology for evaluating the equity performance of SFTP scenarios, as well as alternative frameworks for several financially constrained investment scenarios. Other components of the plan include the Core Network Circulation Study, which has developed draft recommendations for managing demand and improving transportation options in the SoMa, and development of strategic initiatives on Local-to-Regional Connections and Transportation Demand Management. These items will be presented at the next SFTP TAC and CAC meetings and ultimately incorporated into the SFTP investment and policy recommendations. Finally, the SFTP team is also working with the San Francisco Planning Department on a land use/transportation strategy (see following item) to guide local decision-making in connection with the RTP/SCS update. We will present these as well as draft SFTP Investment Strategy recommendations at a special SFTP Board workshop, anticipated in May. We continue to hold ongoing outreach events. This month, the SFTP team partnered with Chris Waddling, Authority CAC representative from District 10, to host an SFTP Forum in the Bayview on March 21. More information is available at As required as a part of the OneBayArea Grant program (OBAG), we have been working with the Planning Department and other partners to develop a strategy to identify ways to support the transformation of San Francisco s Priority Development Areas (PDAs) into complete communities through transportation infrastructure planning and investment. A particular focus will be on delivering transportation infrastructure to support approved land development projects and identifying transportation gaps in PDAs where needs are not yet known or not fully documented. This work will help guide future fund programming cycles of OBAG and the use of $2.38 million in PDA Planning funds that will be administered by the Planning Department. Authority and Planning Department staff will provide an update on the Transportation Investment and Growth Strategy at the April Plans and Programs Committee, and plan to submit the draft strategy to MTC by its May 1 deadline for its review and comment. We anticipate bringing a final revised strategy to the Plans and Programs Committee in June. In October 2001, the Authority and TIDA Boards recommended that the Authority serve as the Treasure Island Mobility Management Agency, with the responsibility of implementing the Transportation Plan, including the congestion pricing components. The goal of the Treasure Island Mobility Management Study (Study) is to complete the planning work necessary to set up the congestion pricing program system design and operating agreements, leading to the implementation of the Transportation Plan on Treasure Island concurrently with the occupation of the first 1,000 new housing units on Treasure Island. We released a Request for Proposals for technical consultant services for this effort and held a pre-bid meeting in February. Proposals were received March 12 with a recommendation expected to be presented to the Board in April. The Study is funded by a MTC Priority Development Area Planning grant. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District) announced earlier this month that it has secured a contractor to launch and operate a pilot regional bikesharing system along the Caltrain corridor in San Francisco, Redwood City, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San Jose. The Air District anticipates the 700 bike-, 70 kiosk-system to be launched by August The pilot is a partnership among local agencies including the Air District, the SFMTA, SamTrans, Caltrain, San Mateo County, Redwood City, and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. In October 2010, MTC awarded the Air District $4.29 million in grant funds from the Bay Area Climate Initiatives Program to administer the Regional Bicycle Sharing Pilot project. In addition to

4 $1.4 million in Air District funds, local partners are providing $1.3 million for the pilot. This includes over $600,000 from the Authority comprised of Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA) ($401,250) and Prop K ($200,000) funds allocated to the SFMTA for San Francisco s local share of initial capital costs, installation of bicycles and stations, operation and maintenance of the system, and SFMTA project management. Despite some significant delays related to the procurement process, we remain confident that bike sharing has great potential in San Francisco, particularly to bridge the last mile between transit and travelers ultimate destinations. Additional information on the project can be found on the SFMTA s website at The 19 th Avenue Transit Study team has continued public outreach this month on this feasibility-stage planning effort, including making presentations at both the Ocean View and Merced branches of the public library. The Authority is leading the study in close cooperation with the SFMTA, OEWD and Planning Department as well as private sponsors Parkmerced, SF State University and Stonestown Mall. The goals of the outreach were to share the Study s goals and objectives, share existing and future conditions findings, and to receive feedback on several draft conceptual alternatives for shifting the M-Ocean View to the west-side of 19 th Avenue by making two crossings above or below the street near Eucalyptus Drive and near Junipero Serra Boulevard. These improvements would address existing deficiencies (including slow and unreliable transit travel time, the need for pedestrian safety improvements, and motorist congestion) and support future transit-oriented land use plans at San Francisco State University (SF State) and Parkmerced. The Study has garnered significant attention from corridor stakeholders, and a draft outreach summary of input received is available for download from the Study website at The Study team is now embarking on a comprehensive alternatives evaluation that will be the focus of a second round of outreach expected in late summer. The Bayview Hunters Point Community Transportation Working Group convened its final meeting this month at the Bayview YMCA. The Working Group was facilitated by the Authority as part of the Bayview Hunters Point Mobility Study, in collaboration with the Department of Public Health-led Bayview Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Zone initiative. The draft Business Plan recommended adopting a shared-vehicle pilot which can be used by community-based organizations needing to provide transportation for their programs and clients. The Working Group is currently transitioning into a Community Advisory Board in order to oversee the implementation of this exciting project. The Authority presented the results of the Study during the March Plans and Programs Committee meeting and we anticipate Authority Board adoption of the final Study and Business Plan in May. In an effort to improve transparency and accountability, and encourage greater public awareness of and input into the Prop K sales tax program, we have developed a Google Map application that will provide the public, the Authority Board, and project sponsors with the ability to search for information regarding all projects currently underway that are funded by, or prioritized for funding by, the Authority. We ve received valuable input from project sponsors and legislative aides who have previewed the map, which will be on on-line at by the end of March Users will be able to search for projects through various search options including location, supervisorial district, project type (e.g., bicycle, pedestrian safety, transit enhancement), and project sponsor. Each project location on the map provides key project information such as a brief scope, schedule, cost, current project phase (e.g. design or construction), and funding source(s). Users can also link to directly the project s website, if applicable, or the project sponsor s main page. We will update project information on a quarterly basis, focusing on

5 project status and drawing on information provided by project sponsors through quarterly progress reports submitted to the Authority through our online grants management system. This is just the first phase of the map development. We are working to add to the map Prop K projects that have already been delivered and adding other search function features such as identifying all projects under construction. I want to acknowledge Ben Stupka, Principal Planner; Lisa Zorn, Transportation Planner; Anthony Adams, former intern; and Jonique Green, one of our new interns who has picked up when Anthony left off for their efforts in envisioning and making the map a reality. As reported at last week s Personnel Committee meeting, on February 20, 2013, we issued an Informal Request for Proposals (IRFP) for executive recruitment services with a budget for the contract not to exceed $60,000. We received seven responsive proposals by the due date of March 6. A review panel comprised of staff from the Authority evaluated the proposals based on qualifications, cost, and other criteria identified in the IRFP. Based on this competitive selection process, and following Authority Board approval of the process for selection of a permanent Executive Director, we awarded a consultant contract to the top-ranked firm of The Hawkins Company for a total amount not to exceed $51,250. The Hawkins team attended the March 18 Personnel Committee meeting to introduce themselves to the Committee, and presented a draft recruitment strategy for review and input. By the next meeting of the Personnel Committee, scheduled for April 1, the Hawkins team will develop for the Personnel Committee s approval the recruitment profile and a finalized work plan and time schedule. In the meantime, the recruiter has been conducting interviews with Board members and stakeholders. Erika Cheng, Clerk of the Authority, can assist with scheduling interviews with the recruiter. Ms. Cheng can be reached at