There's still time to comment on the Bay Area's Transportation Improvement Program, or TIP, a federally required document listing all Bay Area surface transportation projects that have a federal interest (meaning they involve federal funding and/or approvals), and/or that are large-scale, regionally significant projects.

The draft 2011 TIP currently up for public review lists $11.1 billion worth of proposed transportation investments for the Bay Area through fiscal year 2014. Included are approximately 1,000 mass transit, highway, local road, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

At 1,700-plus pages, it's a lot to absorb, so we have just published A Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area's Transportation Improvement Program, or TIP. This handy pocket guide includes an explanation of how a project becomes qualified for inclusion in the TIP, a list of projects that each cost over $200 million, and tips for keeping informed about projects in your community and getting involved in the decision-making process.

Go to MTC's website to view the full contents of the Draft 2011 TIP, including the Draft Air Quality Conformity Analysis and the 2011 TIP Investment Analysis: Focus on Low-Income and Minority Communities, as well as our Guide to the TIP.

A public hearing to receive testimony on the TIP is scheduled at MTC's offices at the Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter, 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, Calif., during MTC's Commission meeting on September 22, 2010, at 9:45 a.m. in the Dahms Auditorium (or immediately following the prior meeting, whichever occurs later).

The deadline for written comments is 5 p.m. on September 30, 2010. Submit comments via e-mail to info@mtc.ca.gov; mail to MTC Public Information Office, 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, CA 94607; or fax to 510.817.5848. The TIP is scheduled for adoption on October 27, 2010.

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Call it the one-two-three punch. At the stroke of midnight on Friday, August 6, the doors shut permanently on the historic but outdated and seismically unsafe Transbay Terminal in San Francisco. Early the next morning, the new Transbay Temporary Terminal opened for business a couple of blocks away. And four days after that milestone, an impressive line-up of local, regional, state and federal officials gathered at the site of the closed old terminal to break ground for a gleaming new Transbay Transit Center.

MTC is providing $350 million in bridge tolls for this ambitious, $4.2 billion project; these toll funds are paying for the full $22 million cost of the temporary terminal, among other aspects of the project. Federal stimulus funds are covering $400 million of the cost.

Visit our website to see a farewell photo gallery for the old Transbay Terminal and to experience the excitement of the planned new Transbay Transit Center, with its curvy glass facade and rooftop garden. We also feature photos of the Transbay Temporary Terminal, which is distinctive in its own right and designed to be completely recycled once the new terminal is opened.

 Do You Have Memories of the Transbay Terminal?

A view of the old terminal just days before it closed. (Photo by Noah Berger)

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which is overseeing construction of the new terminal, is collecting and posting to its website memories of the now-closed old Transbay Terminal. Send yours to memories@transbaycenter.org, and go to the project website to see stories submitted so far.

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in Southern California and elsewhere across the country.

On I-680, the toll will vary depending on the level of congestion -- higher
when the roadway is crowded, and lower when traffic is light. This dynamic pricing plan will help to ensure a reliable trip for all users of the lane. Carpools (defined as two or more people), motorcycles, transit vehicles and eligible hybrids will continue to use the I-680 Express Lane for free.

While FasTrak is well-established as the speedy and convenient way to pay tolls on the Bay Area's eight toll bridges, this is the Bay Area's first non-bridge application of the system, which is operated by MTC's Bay Area Toll Authority. The existing carpool lane is being outfitted with electronic toll collection equipment and new double solid striping to keep violators from cutting in and out (eligible drivers will be able to enter the lane at three specific access points, and exit at three other points). The Express Lane will operate from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, and will be open to everyone free of charge nights and weekends.
 
Drivers who travel this stretch regularly are advised to sign up for FasTrak as soon as possible. FasTrak transponders are available at select Costco, Walgreens and Safeway locations, as well as at www.bayareafastrak.org. Anyone signing up for FasTrak now through October 20, 2010, will get $10 in free toll credits on the I-680 Express Lane. More express lanes are coming to the Bay Area in 2011, and a full network of express lanes is planned over the next 20 years. For more information, go to

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If you care about sustainability, you will want to bookmark OneBayArea.org, our new website dedicated to fostering a more livable, climate-friendly region. Sign up for project updates under the site's Get Involved navigation bar button, and we'll send you the handsome One Bay Area poster -- while supplies last.

MTC is spearheading the One Bay Area initiative along with three sister regional agencies: the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. This coalition will be developing a Sustainable Communities Strategy to curb sprawl and lower greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from cars and light trucks -- a three-year planning effort that will involve substantial public outreach and collaboration with Bay Area cities, counties and other stakeholders.

The eyes of the coalition members are currently on Sacramento, where the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is in the process of defining GHG targets for each metro region in the state. In a staff proposal released August 9, the state agency recommended that the Bay Area reduce GHG levels by 7 percent in 2020, and 15 percent by 2035 (compared to 2005 levels). These targets are consistent with the Bay Area Principles for Establishing Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets (Resolution 3970), approved by MTC's Commission at a meeting on July 28, 2010. CARB's staff report is scheduled to be considered by the CARB board members on September 23; under state law, CARB must adopt its final targets no later than September 30, 2010.

Once the GHG targets are defined, the One Bay Area coalition will begin developing the Sustainable Communities Strategy in earnest. Stay tuned to OneBayArea.org for news about outreach meetings in the coming months.

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Sustainable, automated transportation for all is a lofty goal...but can it happen in the Bay Area? Yes, according to Silicon Valley enthusiasts such as Chuck Reed, mayor of San Jose. Save the date to attend the fourth international Podcar City Conference on October 27-29, 2010, at San Jose City Hall, 200 East Santa Clara Street.

Conference presenters are the International Institute for Sustainable Transportation, the city of San Jose, the Mineta Transportation Institute and Kompass, a network for local authorities interested in Podcars.

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