Major new figure emerges in Bay Area Transportation Reporting 11/15/09 Filed in: MTC | Transportation Planning TRANSDEF was exceedingly pleased to discover the blog of Guy Span, available at Examiner.com. He wrote an in-depth multi-part series on MTC decisionmaking that was, in our opinion, the very best analysis we’ve seen. Check out his List of Articles. Tags: Guy Span, BART
Statewide CEQA Guidelines Revisions 11/15/09 Filed in: Climate Change In response to SB 97 and AB 32, the California Resources Agency has been revising the Guidelines under which the California Environmental Quality Act is implemented. These revisions call for the analysis of greenhouse gas emissions as part of standard environmental review under CEQA, including the analysis of the impacts of the emissions and their mitigation. Check out their website. Tags: CEQA
Central Subway–Vigorous Radio Debate 08/20/09 Filed in: Transportation Planning TRANSDEF’s President David Schonbrunn debated the Central Subway Project Manager on KALW Radio’s City Vision’s program. Check out the podcast. David argued that the subway is so deep that the time it will take to access it will eliminate the travel time savings over the current bus. Also, the route is so badly designed that a transfer to BART and Muni lines will require over a 1000 ft. walk. Residents of Bayview/Hunters Point, who now have a convenient transfer to all the Market Street trains, will lose that connection when the…
Jeff Tumlin Leads the Way! 07/28/09 Filed in: Climate Change |Transportation Planning Jeff Tumlin of Nelson-Nygaard gave a rousing presentation at the Joint Policy Committee. He made it clear that managing parking is a key strategy for reducing GHG emissions. Check out his report and Powerpoint. Tags: Parking
The BART Oakland Airport Connector 06/22/09 Filed in: MTC | Transportation Planning TRANSDEF’s statement to the BART Board of Directors on Thursday May 12: I’m David Schonbrunn, President of TRANSDEF, a Bay Area environmental non-profit focused on regional transportation, and BART extensions in particular. This is a historic decision that will tell the world what your Board is really all about. The start is not promising, in that one of your employees is organizing a campaign for this project while on the job, using a BART.gov email address. We believe this is certainly unethical and likely to be illegal. Today’s…
Comments Filed on Sonoma Transportation Plan 06/22/09 Filed in: Climate Change | Transportation Planning TRANSDEF filed comments on the Draft EIR for the Sonoma County Transportation Authority’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan. Despite the innovative aspects of the Plan, the fact that it projects a 26% increase in Vehicle Miles Travelled indicates that it is still an auto-oriented Business-As-Usual plan. The comment letter provides a comprehensive approach to reducing VMT and GHGs. Tags: Sonoma, CEQA
Caltrans Introduces Smart Mobility 06/22/09 Filed in: Climate Change | Transportation Planning Caltrans offered a workshop last week in Sacramento on their new Smart Mobility Framework. This is a program that Caltrans has developed in association with EPA. It takes Smart Growth principles and integrates them into transportation in a manner that environmental activists will find both familiar and heartening. There is a draft document available on the website below that is open for comment through June 30. This document is good enough to serve as the rallying point for future activism. It discusses induced demand and reducing vehicle miles–we never thought we would see that coming from Caltrans. Check it out on Caltrans…
Palo Alto files amicus brief 05/08/09 Filed in: High-Speed Rail The City of Palo Alto filed an amicus curiae brief in our case against the High Speed Rail Authority. Tags: HSR Litigation
Comments on the DEIS for BART to San Jose 05/08/09 Filed in: Transportation Planning TRANSDEF filed comments today on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for BART to San Jose and the alternative project, BART to Berryessa. Tags: CEQA, BART
MTC threatens TRANSDEF with sanctions 05/02/09 Filed in: MTC On April 10, MTC sent TRANSDEF a threatening letter, demanding that TRANSDEF dismiss its lawsuit against MTC and ACTIA, or face a motion asking the Court to force TRANSDEF to pay MTC’s attorneys’ fees. Given how MTC typically spends money, this could easily run to over $100,000. ACTIA later sent TRANSDEF a copycat letter, threatening to join MTC’s suit.