LA METRO BOARD UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTS RENEWABLE ENERGY POLICY

LA Metro’s Board of Directors unanimously approved a policy Thursday that makes it a matter of course for the agency to consider renewable sources of energy for the construction and operation of Metro facilities, including existing and new transit lines. Metro staff will come back to the board in 18 months with recommendations on setting a goal for how much of Metro’s energy should come from renewable sources.

California law already requires that 33 percent of all the power that electrical utilities supply be from renewable sources by 2020, which means that 33 percent of LA Metro’s energy will also be from renewable sources. Currently, 18 percent of the energy that the utilities supply to Metro comes from renewable sources, and another 2 percent comes from solar panels Metro has installed on its facilities.

“Metro uses approximately $26 million in electricity each year. It is only natural, then, for Metro to lead in developing renewable energy sources. Metro can maximize the use of its many tracks, stations and facility locations and make the most of its dollars by exploring solar, wind and even train and bus-braking energy

as new sources of electric power,” said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. The supervisor had introduced the motion together with Metro board member and Santa Monica City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor.

Move LA applauds the board’s decision. "We support this policy because it is a good way to reduce the long-term operating costs associated with energy consumption,” said Move LA Executive Director Denny Zane. “We congratulate Metro on leading the way again."

"This is an opportunity to save green, be green and get green,” added Diane Forte of Forte Green Strategies, which has worked with Move LA and LA Metro on building support for the policy. She noted that the policy also provides opportunities for the agency to partner and pursue joint development opportunities for renewable energy-related projects both with local utilities that supply power as well as private investors and businesses.

LA Metro will need to buy more energy to construct and operate the expanded transit system funded by the Measure R sales tax. Because energy costs are expected to rise, the agency is eager to ensure it has alternative energy options.

The energy policy is supported by environmental and transportation advocates including the Coalition for Clean Air, the Sierra Club, Breathe LA, FAST (Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic), Environment California, Greenpeace, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.

SCAG ENTERS THE BUSY SEASON

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is entering its busy season, with a draft regional transportation plan (RTP) and sustainable communities strategy (SCS) scheduled for release this December and a final RTP/SCS to be adopted in April of 2012. This is the first RTP at SCAG that will include an SCS — a key element of the state law known as SB 375, which mandates that the state reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions (by reducing driving) through transportation and land use strategies.

The SCS requires SCAG to identify land uses, densities and building intensities, and the transportation investments that will support them — and this new focus on land use has drawn the attention of many more advocates and public interest groups than ever before. These include advocates for improved public health, affordable housing and bike/pedestrian/transit investments, as well as environmentalists, developers and architects.

There is increased attention on adding performance metrics to the RTP/SCS that identify the impacts of policies and investments on public health and safety, on the affordability of housing and transportation, on environmental outcomes, and on “location efficiency” — a measure of whether locations are proximate enough that people can walk, bike and use transit to take care of daily needs and not have to drive. There’s increased interest in the bike, pedestrian and transit investments that will support compact, walkable neighborhoods — regional investments in bike and pedestrian projects are increasing by 50 percent over the 2008 RTP to $4 billion (about 1 percent of total RTP expenditures, while walk trips total 11.7 percent of all trips and bike trips total 0.9 percent).

Moreover, there are negotiations with cities in “strategic locations” near transit to take on more density, and talks with cities on the exurban fringes about downzoning. And Regional Council members and agency staff are grappling with a $45 billion shortfall in the RTP that has them talking about new revenue sources including cordon pricing in downtown Los Angeles (as in London) and transportation system user fees (such as a 2.7 cent fee for every mile driven) to help make up for the shortfall in gas tax revenues caused by more fuel-efficient cars.

The City and County of Los Angeles, with its large and growing transit system (12 new transit corridors funded by Measure R) and enough density and jobs to make it possible for people to walk and bike and ride transit — and not have to drive — is key to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the RTP/SCS. Move LA’s top five priorities in our work with SCAG are:

·      promoting walkable, mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhoods near stations and along high-frequency transit corridors;

·      working with Regional Council members, elected officials and agency staff to promote regionally significant investments in transit;

·      building support for new revenue sources for SCAG and the county transportation commissions;

·      encouraging the adoption of TOD guidelines that ensure existing affordable housing will be preserved and new affordable housing will be built so that new lines and TOD don't displace current residents;

·      supporting transit and TOD with increased investments in bike and pedestrian projects and complete streets policies to create healthy, active environments around stations.

Move LA convenes an SB 375 Southern California Working Group that meets once every 4-6 weeks to discuss emerging issues at SCAG and opportunities to weigh in. Contact Beth Steckler, sbsteckler@gmail.com, if you are interested in joining us.

For an excellent graphic depiction of some of the issues at stake, download the 2012 RTP/SCS Outreach Workshop Guide, which shows the opportunity for enormous cost savings and improvements around affordability, public health, the environment, and other issues, at:

2012 Regional Transportation Plan (2012 RTP)

METRO COMMITTEE APPROVES RENEWABLE ENERGY POLICY

LA Metro’s Ad Hoc Sustainability Committee unanimously approved a renewable energy policy Wednesday that would increase Metro’s commitment to using renewable sources of energy for the construction and operation of Metro facilities, including existing and new transit lines. LA Metro spends an average of $26 million annually and will need to buy more energy to construct and operate the expanded transit system funded by the Measure R sales tax. Because energy costs are expected to rise, the agency is eager to ensure it has alternative energy options.

California law already requires that 33 percent of all the power that electrical utilities supply be from renewable sources by 2020, which means that 33 percent of LA Metro’s energy will also be from renewable sources. Currently, 18 percent of the energy that the utilities supply to Metro comes from renewable sources, and another 2 percent comes from solar panels Metro has installed on its facilities. Staff will come back to the committee in 18 months and recommend a renewable energy use goal for the year 2020.

The energy policy will make it official that the agency will as a matter of course consider the use of renewable energy sources in all of its projects going forward. For example, Metro will install more solar panels on stations, in maintenance facilities and along rights of way, consider installing wind turbines in the subway tunnels, the purchase of electric vehicles, and other emerging technologies. The policy will be revisited in 5 years.

A study for the Ad Hoc Sustainability Committee stated that: “We believe that in the volatile and costly energy market, embracing sustainability, energy efficiency, conservation, and implementation of renewable energy sources is a primary pathway towards gaining control of, and reducing our energy usage and costs and gaining energy independence.”

Because renewable energy project development and deployment requires higher up-front capital investment than conventional sources, Metro will also be seeking to use creative financing mechanisms including public-private partnerships.

The energy policy is supported by environmental and transportation advocates including the Coalition for Clean Air, the Sierra Club, Breathe LA, FAST (Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic), Environment California, Greenpeace, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies. The policy was developed in response to a motion by LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Santa Monica Councilmember and Ad Hoc Sustainability Committee Chair Pam O’Connor.

BILL WOULD ALLOW MAJORITY VOTER APPROVAL FOR CONGESTION FIGHTING FEES

SACRAMENTO — Amendments to a bill have been proposed allowing metropolitan planning organizations and, in Southern California, county transportation commissions including LA Metro to put on the ballot regional anti-congestion fees that could be passed by a simple majority of voters instead of by the two-thirds “super-majority” required for all new taxes.

The amendments to Senate Bill 791 were proposed Monday by California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). The anti-congestion charge, in the form of per gallon fees on fuel paid at the pump, could be used to fund transit, bike and pedestrian projects, toll lanes, and the safety and maintenance of state highways and bridges. The charge would be levied on the sale of gasoline and diesel fuel and, for electric cars, on vehicle registration, and could be implemented for up to 30 years.

Passage of Proposition 26 in 2010 required a two-thirds vote for most new fees, levies and other charges, which under the state’s previous rules could be passed by a simple majority vote. But Proposition 26 exempted from the two-thirds requirement those fees that directly benefit the people who pay them — in this case, motorists. The projects and programs funded by the charge would be required to specifically benefit motorists by reducing congestion.

 “In 2008 voters in LA County miraculously voted to support the Measure R sales tax for transportation by a two-thirds vote in the throes of a collapsing economy.  But, it should not require a miracle to ensure the future of our transportation system and our economy,” said Denny Zane, executive director of Move LA. “This bill provides the opportunity for congestion reduction strategies that can be approved by a sensible majority vote, including expanded transit services or highway improvements.”

Revenues could pay for transit capital, operations and maintenance; bicycle and pedestrian programs and projects; programs and projects that would demonstrably reduce the growth in vehicle miles traveled (VMT); conversion of carpool lanes to toll lanes; and improvements “relative to the maintenance, safety and rehabilitation of state highways and bridges.”

In the Southern California region, each county has an independent transportation commission, such as LA Metro in Los Angeles County, that prepares a county-specific transportation plan. In addition, the metropolitan planning organization, which is called the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), prepares a regional transportation plan for the six-county area that includes Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside and Imperial counties. Each commission as well as SCAG would be enabled to seek voter approval for anti-congestion charges, but only with projects and programs specified and strict accountability provisions.

Court decisions in the aftermath of Proposition 13 held that voter approval of new taxes for transportation required a two-thirds vote. This very steep standard has made it very difficult for transportation agencies to keep up with badly needed transportation system maintenance and expansion projects. Proposition 26 made it doubly difficult to raise additional revenue, at the very same time that other federal, state and local sources of revenue and funding for transportation are declining in part because of the bad economy as well as to the increased fuel efficiency of new cars, which has reduced gas tax revenues.  

SB 791 enables transportation agencies around the state to seek majority voter approval for a congestion fee under circumstances allowed by both Propositions 13 and 26. It is supported by a coalition of leading business, labor and environmental organizations, including the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, the Los Angeles Business Council, and the California League of Conservation Voters.

While traffic congestion plagues many cities, Los Angeles and other cities in Southern California are hardest hit. The Texas Transportation Institute, which tracks congestion statistics in the US, routinely ranks LA first for total congestion delays as well as per-capita delays. Considering the value of wasted time and fuel, TTI estimates the annual cost of traffic congestion in greater Los Angeles area is close to $10 billion

MOVE LA MENTIONED IN LA TIMES OP-ED

In an LA Times op-ed Monday entitled "More freeways won't end LA's traffic woes," NRDC Senior Attorney Joel Reynolds takes issue with the proposed extension of the 710 Freeway through Pasadena and South Pasadena and with the Foothill South toll road in Orange County. A better idea, he says, is a multimodal approach involving transit and congestion management on existing roads or — better yet — implementation of 30/10:

"Instead of wasting limited transportation dollars on projects like these that inevitably sabotage mobility by perpetuating traffic congestion," he writes, "we need to demand strategies that will actually address the problem. There is no better example anywhere in the country than the 30/10 initiative advanced by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa — who last week became MTA board chairman — and the Move LA coalition of community organizations to leverage federal loans to accelerate funding for 12 key public transit projects in Los Angeles."

Reynolds argues that we can no longer afford the luxury of wasting public funding on costly projects that won't address the traffic problem and that persist more because of politics or bureaucratic momentum. Read the article here:

50 LA ORGS URGE FEINSTEIN TO HELP WIN NEW STARTS FOR 2 UNDERGROUND RAIL LINES

More than 50 organizations have signed on to Move LA’s letter (on the right) urging Senator Dianne Feinstein to help win New Starts funding for the Westside Subway Extension and the downtown LA Regional Connector in 2012. Both projects are critical pieces of LA’s transit infrastructure: The Regional Connector is an 2-mile-long underground light rail line downtown that will link up the Gold, Blue and Expo lines (Expo to Culver City opens in November with 10 stations) to provide a “one-seat ride” across the region. The 9-mile Westside Subway Extension extends the Purple Line from Vermont and Wilshire, providing a high-speed transit alternative to the Miracle Mile, Beverly Hills, Century City, Westwood, and UCLA.

Metro’s subway system transports 8,846 passengers per route mile — more riders than travel on either BART in the Bay Area or Chicago’s “L.” Both projects could receive funding through America Fast Forward, the national rebranding of the “30-10” plan to build all 12 Measure R fixed-guideway transit lines in 10 years. Key elements of America Fast Forward have been incorporated into both the Senate and House federal transportation reauthorization bills. America Fast Forward and New Starts funding would together ensure that both projects are built within 10 years.

Move LA’s sign-on letter notes these projects would provide green jobs to the building construction trades, noting that while unemployment in LA County stands at 12 percent, unemployment for construction workers is more than 40 percent. The letter is signed by business, labor, environmental and community groups.

LA Metro One Step Closer to Extending Purple Line Subway to West LA

U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein issued a joint press release Wednesday announcing that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) was taking a major step toward approval of a $640.8 Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan for the Westside Subway Extension. The expansion of the TIFIA program is a centerpiece of Metro’s America Fast Forward initiative, which also calls for the creation of a Qualified Transportation Improvement Bond (QTIBs) program.

"Today's announcement is a critical step towards creating an ambitious, multi-faceted transit network and putting Angelenos back to work,” Mayor and Chair of the MTA Antonio Villaraigosa said. “With this latest, generous loan commitment from the federal government, we will extend the Metro Purple Line from Koreatown to Century City all the way into Westwood, better serving the 300,000 commuters that pour into these job centers every day and putting approximately 40,000 Angelenos back to work.”

“As Mayor and Chair of the MTA, I will continue to push Congress and the Administration to provide Los Angeles and cities across the country with the innovative financing tools we need to accelerate construction of transportation projects and create nearly 1 million jobs nationwide when we need them most,”  Mayor Villaraigosa said.

TIFIA loans, when paired with the suggested bond program, hold the promise, as outlined in the America Fast Forward initiative, of dramatically accelerating the construction of Metro highway and transit projects.

On March 1, 2011, Metro had written a letter of interest to the USDOT outlining our interest in a TIFIA loan for the Westside Subway Extension and the Regional Connector. What occurred today is that the USDOT selected the Westside Subway Extension [and seven other projects] from a pool of 34 project sponsors that were seeking a total of over $14 billion in TIFIA loans to help finance some $48 billion of new capital investments. Metro must now submit a final TIFIA application with USDOT and await formal approval of our Westside Subway Extension loan over the next several months.

 The TIFIA program is designed to fill market gaps and leverage substantial private and other non-federal co-investment by providing supplemental and subordinate capital to projects. The TIFIA program offers project sponsors the following advantages:

·      Long-term loans at the comparable U.S. Treasury yield.

·      Ability to lock in the interest rate several years in advance of a drawdown, without any additional cost.

·      Right to prepay loan draw downs in whole or in part at any time, without penalty.

·      Potential willingness of USDOT to accept more flexible terms, such as back-loading debt service to reflect anticipated growth in the pledged revenue stream, and thinner debt service coverage margins than required to obtain an investment-grade rating in the capital markets.

·      Diversified source of debt capital (U.S. Treasury as lender), reducing market saturation.

·      Lower transaction costs.

Metro staff (finance and construction) will work to specifically outline the impact of this TIFIA loan on the Westside Subway Extension project. This effort will include how the TIFIA funds will be spent and the impact the loan will have, when paired with New Starts funds and a prospective low-interest federal bond program, on the timeline for building the subway to its terminus at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Westwood.