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Introducing...One Bay Area
A quartet of regional
agencies have come together to launch "One Bay Area," an ambitious campaign to
lower the region's carbon footprint and create more sustainable communities.
MTC is spearheading "One Bay Area" together with the Association of Bay Area Governments
(ABAG), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and the Bay
Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). The campaign was unveiled at a
regional Summit held in Oakland and timed to coincide with the 40th
anniversary of Earth Day. Representatives of the region's nine counties and 101
cities were on hand at the Summit, along with other stakeholders, to begin
the dialogue on how to craft the state-required Sustainable Communities
Strategy that is at the heart of landmark climate change legislation, Senate
Bill 375, passed by the California Legislature in 2008.
Missed the Summit? You can tune in to the proceedings and view background materials at: www.OneBayArea.org/spotlight.htm. Back to top
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If It's May, It's Time to Tune Up Your Bike
Sign Up for Team Bike Challenge by May 6
 There's still time to sign up for
Bike to Work Day (which falls on Thursday, May 13) and Team Bike Challenge (which lasts all month long during May). And now participants have a cool new tool to track their two-wheeled trips - a free iPhone app unveiled just in time for the events (see below).
In the case of Bike to Work Day, just go to YouCanBikeThere.com, plug in your contact info, and you'll be eligible for a range of prizes. You'll also find locations of Energizer Stations where you can fuel up on Bike to Work Day. To participate in Team Bike Challenge, gather together up to five friends and coworkers, think up a clever team name, take a photo (or just use one that symbolizes your team) and go to the Team Bike Challenge tab at YouCanBikeThere.com by May 6 to register (you must first register for Bike to Work Day).
If you have lots of pedal power at your company, with
several registered teams, you also can sign up for the Company Bike Challenge,
in which companies compete against each other to log the most points during the
month of May; see the bottom of the Team Bike Challenge registration form for
sign-up information.
Cool New Tool for Tracking Rides
 While Team Bike Challenge is in its third year, the friendly competition has a
high-tech new twist this year: iBikeChallenge, a free application for the
iPhone that uses the iPhone's built-in GPS to record your trips for the Team
Bike Challenge. Learn more
about the iBikeChallenge and download it for your iPhone at YouCanBikeThere.com/iBikeChallenge or at the iTunes Store.
Team Bike Challenge Strikes a Humorous Note
For a bit of comic relief, and inspiration, tune into the humorous video, "Are You Ready?" The five episodes, posted one per week during Team Bike Challenge, track a rather unusual crew; enough said. Watch it yourself at YouCanBikeThere.com.
Blood, Sweat and Tears -- On Camera
Also new this year is a Video Diary feature, in which Team Bike Challenge participants are encouraged to post short videos as they struggle to stay ahead of the competition. To post and play videos, bookmark youcanbikethere.com/TBCdiaries.
Bike Commuters of the Year
They do it daily, and they go far. They are the 2010 Bike Commuters of the Year. Read their inspiring stories at: http://youcanbikethere.com/bcoy2010
Bike to Work Day and Team Bike Challenge are sponsored by the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition, MTC's 511 Traveler Information Service, Kaiser Permanente and a number of other public and private entities.
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Dazzling Photos of Daring New Bridge
© 2010 Barrie Rokeach  | Deck piece by deck piece, a new Bay Area landmark is taking shape: the self-anchored suspension span that is the crowning piece of the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Fabricated in China, the steel, wing-shaped deck pieces weigh anywhere from 500 to 1,000 metric tons each. The spring issue of our Transactions newsletter explains in words and photos the tricky lift-and-slide process for placing the massive pieces. See the bonus online, web-only gallery of images accompanying the story at:
http://mtc.ca.gov/news/transactions/ta_spring_2010/
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Two New Ways to Get 511 Info: On the Go, and in the "Twitterverse"
 Need transit or traffic information on the go? You can now
access several of 511.org's most popular features on your iPhone, BlackBerry or other smart phone with browsing capabilities. Launched in early April, 511 Mobile is a new website customized for mobile
devices that provides access to streamlined versions of the 511 Transit Trip
Planner, the 511 Traffic Map and the Popular 511 Driving Times. You can now
plan your public transit trip home while you're out running errands, or check
real-time traffic conditions on the live traffic map before you leave the
parking lot.
To get started, just go to m.511.org from your mobile device,
and click through to the information you need. Other 511 features, such as
real-time transit departure times and transit schedules, will be added in the
future. 511 Mobile covers the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. Now you also can use Twitter to track traffic developments
and receive alerts about major incidents at http://twitter.com/511SFBay. When you start following 511 on Twitter, there is an option
to have updates sent (via SMS text) to your mobile phone. Twitter updates from
511 and Bay Area transportation partners are also available for viewing on the
511.org home page, below the traffic map. The list of "Regional Transportation
Tweets" shown on 511.org is also available through 511's Twitter page at http://twitter.com/511sfbay/lists/sfbaytransportation.
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Join Us for June Gateway Park Public Workshop
Right now it's a ragged and underused patch of waterfront. But over the next few years, the area will begin the transformation into Gateway Park, a landscaped and amenity-rich urban oasis gracing the Oakland touchdown of the new Bay Bridge East Span. Members of the surrounding community and other stakeholders are encouraged to attend the second of two public workshops to envision the park. It will take place on Wednesday, June 2, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Caltrans Auditorium, 111 Grand Avenue, Oakland. MTC's Bay Area Toll Authority is one of nine regional agencies forming the Gateway Park Working Group. For more information, go to www.BayBridgeGatewayPark.org. Back to top
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2010 Excellence in Motion
Transportation Awards
Deadline for Nominations Extended to May 14, 2010
 Do you know a transportation worker who has gone out of his
or her way to brighten your daily commute? Or an organization that has done an
extraordinary job of improving a neighborhood or stretch of road? Are you aware
of an innovative project to encourage climate-friendly behaviors? These are the types of people, organizations and
programs recognized by MTC's biennial Excellence in Motion Transportation Awards
Program. Nominees must have been active or under way during the
two-year timeframe from June 2008 to April 2010, and may be honored under
certain award categories as determined by a panel of jurors. Submit your nomination online for the 2010 awards by May 14, or call 510-817-5757 to request a nomination form. Back to top
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Up to $33 Million Available for
Climate Initiatives Grants
MTC has issued a call for projects for up to
$33 million
in grant funding to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions
under the Innovative Grant and Safe
Routes
to Schools Creative Grant Programs.
Deadline for submitting Letters of Interest is June 1, 2010. See program guidelines and upcoming regional workshops for prospective applicants at http://www.mtc.ca.gov/planning/climate/climate_grant
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Annual Report and Survey: "Transit in Transition"
 Now available online, the 2009
Annual Report examines the funding crisis confronting the region's more
than two dozen public transit operators, and unveils MTC's new Transit
Sustainability Project. Limited hard copies are available from the MTC Library:
510-817-5836, or by e-mailing your contact info to library@mtc.ca.gov (while
supplies last). Share your views on the report by taking our online survey.
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Spare the Air Smog Season Begins in May
The 2010 summer ozone season in the Bay Area officially started on May 3. During the summer months, when ground-level ozone ("smog") becomes a pollution problem, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issues Spare the Air Smog Alerts on days when air quality is forecast to be unhealthy. For more information, visit www.sparetheair.org. Back to top
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MTC Public Information
Metropolitan Transportation Commission
info@mtc.ca.gov
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