Transportation Planning Archives - Page 8 of 16

League of Women Voters Holds Debate on RM3

May 7, 2018 January 17, 2019

The debate at Berkeley City College on Tuesday, May 8 was sponsored by the League of Women Voters. On the Pro side were Dave Campbell of Bike East Bay and Josh Huber of the East Bay Leadership Council. On the Con side were David Schonbrunn of TRANSDEF and Joe Grcar, “a pissed off citizen.” The overall debate lasted 1 hour. Highlights: Opening Statement by Joe Grcar Money grab by Silicon Valley Business–Unfair RM3 is an unconstitutional tax Reduce congestion by eliminating Express Lanes and encouraging ridesharing Closing Statement by David Schonbrunn

TRANSDEF on NBC Bay Area on RM3

May 7, 2018 January 17, 2019

TRANSDEF’s President David Schonbrunn was interviewed by NBC Bay Area reporter Jodi Hernandez. The piece on RM3 aired Monday night.

East Bay Times Publishes RM3 Pro-Con

May 6, 2018 January 17, 2019

TRANSDEF covered the Con side in the East Bay Times’ coverage of the arguments for and against Regional Measure 3. The arguments against the measure focused on the long-term failure of MTC’s transportation planning to produce any desirable results, leading to the expectation that plan for RM3 will similarly fail to improve transportation.

East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club Opposes RM3

May 6, 2018 January 17, 2019

The East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club held a debate on Regional Measure 3 Thursday night. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin debated TRANSDEF President David Schonbrunn. TRANSDEF’s 10-minute argument segment starts at 7:.30. The official endorsement opposing RM3 came out Monday.

Supervisor Canepa Opposes Toll Lanes

May 4, 2018 January 17, 2019

San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa published an opinion piece Toll lanes good for the rich, bad for the environment today. What’s especially significant about the piece is that he is saying that MTC’s priorities are heading in the wrong direction: If we are really serious about combating climate change, encouraging solo drivers to use toll lanes during peak commute hours is not the answer. … Toll lanes will not reduce traffic in the long term and will not reduce GHG emissions. The second largest expenditure allocation in Regional Measure 3 is $300 million dollars for “Bay Area Corridor Express Lanes,” the…

Cupertino City Council Votes to Oppose RM3

May 3, 2018 January 17, 2019

In a highly unusual agenda item, the Cupertino City Council discussed the flaws in Regional Measure 3 and voted to oppose it. They will send a letter to other elected officials, informing them of their reasons for doing so. The item starts with public testimony on the measure, led off by TRANSDEF. Councilmember Steven Scharf offered a striking slide presentation. Vice-Mayor Rod Sinks presented a passionate and thorough recounting of the promises to Cupertino that have been broken by VTA. Councilmember Barry Chang urged the Council to take a leadership role in opposing the measure. Finally, the Council formulated its final…

New Opinion Piece Opposes RM3

May 2, 2018 January 25, 2019

Zelda Bronstein, famous for her long-form reporting on MTC, had her opinion piece on RM3 published in Berkeleyside. Her best quote: Regional Measure 3 is bold all right: it’s a massive con that dedicates $4.5 billion to a hodgepodge of disconnected projects that will bring the Bay Area little traffic relief. The piece captures the highlights of comments made by elected officials opposed to the measure.

Massachusetts Learns from Seattle

April 30, 2018 May 23, 2019

In an interesting article, representatives from Massachusetts visited Seattle and found useful lessons. The contrast between Seattle and California are instructive. One striking takeaway: Plan for growth. The Seattle area has enormous demand for housing, and, like Boston, struggles to ensure affordability. We learned that the State of Washington’s Growth Management Act (in law since 1990) compels a forward-looking plan at every level of government, so that the region’s housing, transportation, land use and service delivery have a framework for success. Does that sound anything like the Bay Area? Lots of taxpayer money is going into transit projects that enable people to leave…

South Bay Leaders Refuse to Follow the Pack

April 24, 2018 January 17, 2019

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Joe Simitian of Palo Alto and Mountain View Mayor Lenny Siegel were described in the Palo Alto Daily Post as not supporting Regional Measure 3. Mayor Siegel appears to have agreed with TRANSDEF’s position, expressed in a recent Mercury News opinion piece: Siegel said that the tech company lobbyist Guardino’s support of the measure shows that big employers are trying to “externalize their transportation costs” by passing them on to the general population. “Some of us believe that the right way to pay for transit is to tax the employers bringing traffic…

VTA–A Study in Massive, Multi-Year Failure

April 23, 2018 September 14, 2018

The Silicon Valley Transit Users has posted a superb analysis of the performance of VTA, with historic data on service levels and ridership. This is in preparation for yet another effort by San Jose’s wrong-headed leadership to cut back on transit service levels. Here’s a quote by David Foote that best summarizes the problem: Our elected representatives at city, county, state and federal levels are doing an absolutely detestable job addressing real 21st Century transportation issues across our entire region. They delight in squabbling among themselves, kicking the can down the road, passing the buck, blaming others, and when in doubt, dreaming up confusing…

Category: Transportation Planning