TRANSDEF Seeks RTP Alternatives

TRANSDEF Seeks RTP Alternatives

06/15/16 Filed in:


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.

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