MTC’s Regional Measure 3
A letter to the Vallejo Times-Herald announced that “The United Democrats of Southern Solano County voted to oppose Regional Measure 3.” This suggests a significant class division between elected and rank-and-file Democrats.
Today’s Marin Independent Journal published TRANSDEF’s opinion piece explaining how suburban development leads to solo driving, which leads to congestion. This problem is the result of our governance structure: Suburbanization is a piecemeal process, governed by local government. What’s been missed for the past 80 years is the cumulative effect of many thousands of subdivisions in dozens of jurisdictions on the region’s transportation network. That kind of analysis requires regional governance with the power and will to enforce consequences on development that has negative impacts on the region. The editorials opposing Regional Measure 3 by the Mountain View Voice and Palo…
The Mountain View Voice published a strong editorial yesterday opposing Regional Measure 3. Its key statement: RM3’s toll increases, along with the implementation of inflation escalators, ask for too much and attempt to leverage the public’s frustration over bad traffic to disproportionately penalize bridge commuters, a small fraction of voters and therefore an easy target. Bay Area business leaders and their advocacy organizations such as Silicon Valley Leadership Group need to work more on the root cause of our transportation problems — the continued approvals of new commercial development on the Peninsula without the housing needed to accommodate the employees. The…
Today’s Press Democrat carries an opinion piece by TRANSDEF that characterizes Sonoma County’s push for highway widening as no longer appropriate: What the supporters of Regional Measure 3 on the June 5 ballot are missing is that the world has changed in two critical ways. Highway widening, the go-to solution of the past, is now recognized as only a short-term fix. … More than 60 percent of Sonoma County’s greenhouse gases come from motor vehicles. Instead, it suggests that the Sonoma County Transportation Authority needs to make shared travel its top priority, replacing solo driving as the default commute mode.
In editorial positions that strikingly diverge from the larger newspapers, the San Mateo Daily Journal and Palo Alto Daily Post came out with editorials yesterday opposed to Regional Measure 3. The Daily Journal captured the heart of the equity issue: A small group of commuters should not be burdened with the cost of transportation improvements that only have a rough connection to the bridges they cross. The rationale reveals a certain amount of creep from the original intent of the tolls, and also a political tactic to get those who do not use the bridges to stick the cost of congestion relief…
In a nicely balanced article, the San Mateo Daily Journal presented view from all sides of the Regional Measure 3 debate. TRANSDEF’s views came at the end.
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’s President David Schonbrunn was interviewed by NBC Bay Area reporter Jodi Hernandez. The piece on RM3 aired Monday night.
TRANSDEF’s President David Schonbrunn was paired with the Bay Area Council’s President Jim Wonderman on the Tuesday, May 8 broadcast of KQED Forum, 88.5 FM. Forum is the Bay Area’s premiere public affairs show. (Press the red Listen button) In his 4-minute opening statement, Schonbrunn asserts that because the MTC, Bay Area Council, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and SPUR, the sponsors of RM3, have been heading in the wrong direction, the toll increase won’t reduce traffic: In this short segment, Schonbrunn discusses the solution to congestion as eliminating so-called Express Lanes (High-Occupancy Toll lanes) and heavily promoting ridesharing:
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.