TRANSDEF Seeks RTP Alternatives
06/15/16 Filed in: Transportation
Planning | Climate
Change
TRANSDEF today filed its
scoping comments
for the
2017 Regional
Transportation Plan.
The letter asks MTC to study a regional plan
alternative in which there is no money for highway
widenings or BART extensions. Instead, available
funding would be spent on cost-effective transit
projects and service. The intent is to maximize
the reduction of GHGs by shifting travel away from
solo driving.
The alternative proposes a test of the long-running MTC assertion that “transportation investments don’t move the needle” by which they mean that the investments don’t make a difference with GHG emissions or Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). TRANSDEF has always agreed that MTC’s investments don’t move the needle. However, TRANSDEF has long contended that this is the result of a highly politicized project selection process, rather than an Ultimate Truth of transportation planning. An alternative created by TRANSDEF was studied for the 2005 RTP, and it performed better than the MTC alternative, because its projects were selected to respond to a strategic analysis of the problems.
The alternative proposes a test of the long-running MTC assertion that “transportation investments don’t move the needle” by which they mean that the investments don’t make a difference with GHG emissions or Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). TRANSDEF has always agreed that MTC’s investments don’t move the needle. However, TRANSDEF has long contended that this is the result of a highly politicized project selection process, rather than an Ultimate Truth of transportation planning. An alternative created by TRANSDEF was studied for the 2005 RTP, and it performed better than the MTC alternative, because its projects were selected to respond to a strategic analysis of the problems.