TRANSDEF

Bay Area transit ridership down despite subsidies, enticements

February 9, 2015 January 24, 2019

Bay Area transit ridership down despite subsidies, enticements 02/09/15 Filed in: Transportation Planning | MTC In today’s Chronicle, Matier & Ross write about how regional transit ridership in the Bay Area has been down for decades despite the many billions of dollars MTC has put into construction projects. This begs the question “Why?” For us, the answer is simple: MTC’s unique combination of indifference, incompetence and unwillingess to do the hard work of policy development has created a politicized unaccountable system that works great for contractors, but does little for Bay Area residents and commuters. See related several posts on this site: Bay Area Basics; a case study we did on MTC called Politics Trumps Outcomes; and a…

TRANSDEF Files STB Challenge

February 9, 2015 September 14, 2018

TRANSDEF Files STB Challenge 02/09/15 Filed in: High-Speed Rail In the second of two lawsuits filed today, TRANSDEF joined a coalition of non-profits and Central Valley county governments to challenge the decision of the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) preempting the application of CEQA to California’s HSR project. In what we consider to be a shocking use of state power, the California Attorney General has previously sought to eliminate the application of CEQA to the state’s HSR project. On October 9, 2014 the CHSRA petitioned the STB to block California courts from issuing injunctions that could stop construction of the…

Cap and Trade Guidelines for Transit

February 6, 2015 January 26, 2019

Cap and Trade Guidelines for Transit 02/06/15 Filed in: Climate Change | Transportation Planning TRANSDEF filed comments on January 30, 2014 on the draft Guidelines for the State Transportation Agency’s distribution of cap and trade funds to transit and intercity rail. The program, called the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, will receive an ongoing 10% of cap and trade auction revenues. The final Guidelines were adopted today, and differed from the draft in the areas highlighted in yellow. None of the changes responded to our comments. Our comments addressed the ongoing problem with large transportation projects: they promise too much and deliver too little, at a vastly higher price than initially promised. We wrote up…

Left-Right Alliances

October 21, 2014 September 14, 2018

Left-Right Alliances 10/21/14 Much of our work in transportation is done in coalition. Ralph Nader recently put out a book “Unstoppable–The Emerging Left-Right Alliance” that recognized the unexpectedly large amount of common ground that exists, especially on local issues, between advocates on the left and right. TRANSDEF’s President participated in a discussion program about his work, which included the topic of left-right alliances.

It’s Time to Get Serious, ARB

October 19, 2014 January 22, 2019

It’s Time to Get Serious, ARB 10/19/14 Filed in: Climate Change TRANSDEF submitted comments to the Air Resources Board today on the need for an update to the regional GHG emissions reduction targets that were assigned by ARB back in 2010. These targets tell regional boards like MTC how much they must reduce their GHG emissions. Currently, GHG emissions continue to grow, as the regions continue to support solo driving. The letter states that the current targets aren’t working, and that tougher ones are needed to send a message to transportation agencies that they must play an active role in protecting the climate. The ARB staff report is here. These comments are…

Contra Costa Stuck in the Past

October 15, 2014 June 12, 2020

Contra Costa Stuck in the Past 10/15/14 Filed in: Transportation Planning | Climate Change Contra Costa County’s Transportation Authority has released a draft 2014 Countywide Comprehensive Transportation Plan. It is a classic suburban plan that ignores the fundamental challenges posed by climate change and congestion. TRANSDEF submitted comments that attempt to identify a different, more realistic pathway. We believe these comments are widely applicable to suburbia. The EIR for this Plan was a bizarre concoction. TRANSDEF’s comments identified it as “the most legally inadequate CEQA document TRANSDEF has ever seen.” Tags: CEQA, Contra Costa

Supreme Court Turns Us Down

October 15, 2014 January 29, 2019

Supreme Court Turns Us Down 10/15/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail In a very disappointing decision, the California Supreme Court today denied the Petitions for Review by the Tos petitioners, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the First Free Will Baptist Church on the Third Circuit High Speed Rail rulings in a case titled California High-Speed Rail Authority v. Superior Court. Stuart Flashman, counsel for the Tos petitioners, said, “My clients are obviously extremely disappointed in this decision. The Court of Appeal’s decision, which the Supreme Court has now let stand, means voters can no longer trust promises made in bond measures or tax measures.” Michael Brady, lead counsel for the Tos petitioners, said “The Court…

Opponents of BB Hold Press Conference

October 14, 2014 January 23, 2019

Opponents of BB Hold Press Conference 10/14/14 Filed in: Climate Change | Transportation Planning Opponents of Alameda County’s Measure BB transportation sales tax held a press conference today at the Asian Cultural Center in Oakland. It was covered by three TV crews and print press, including the Chinese language press. TRANSDEF’s President made these remarks: The Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) has engaged in flagrant greenwashing. They call this an environmentally sustainable plan. It is true that our environmental colleagues have endorsed this measure. However they didn’t look closely enough at its long-term consequences, because they were overly focused on the short-term. The tax and the related transportation plan are a rejection of responsibility to deal…

Putting More Action Into Marin Climate Action Plan

October 10, 2014 September 22, 2018

Putting More Action Into Marin Climate Action Plan 10/10/14 Filed in: Climate Change | Transportation Planning TRANSDEF submitted a set of comments on the Draft Marin Climate Action Plan. They focused on reprioritizing Marin’s transportation funding to support alternatives to driving alone, rather than continuing to focus resources on supporting solo driving. Tags: Marin

CHSRA Declares Independence from CEQA

October 9, 2014 January 25, 2019

CHSRA Declares Independence from CEQA 10/09/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail In a move that screams desperation, the California High-Speed Rail Authority filed a petition with the federal Surface Transportation Board for a declaratory order that would prevent any California court from issuing an injunction to stop the construction of the Fresno-Bakersfield portion of the project. CHSRA wants to hide behind federal preemption. See this page. By running to the feds for protection, CHSRA has told the world it cannot and will not play by California rules. In an earlier move seeking to protect its claim to federal preemption of environmental laws, CHSRA asked the Supreme Court to depublish the appellate decision in Town of Atherton…