SCAG’S REGIONAL COUNCIL CONSIDERS RTP/SCS “PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE” ON OCTOBER 20

SCAG (the Southern California Association of Governments) will unveil the preferred scenario for the “2012 RTP/SCS” on Thursday, October 20 — a $450 billion plan for population and job growth and transportation projects in the six-county region through 2035. The preferred alternative shows:
• a tripling of funding for bike and pedestrian projects, from $1.8 billion to $6 billion
• a big shift in the housing mix, from a majority of single family homes to a significant majority of multifamily housing units
• a vastly improved jobs-housing balance across the 6 counties
• significantly more transit and more walkable, bikeable neighborhoods near transit
• shifts in growth and density away from outlying areas and into downtowns and around transit stations
• a prioritization of transportation system preservation projects over new projects.

While the plan is good and seemingly signals that a new era is dawning in Southern California — one which could result in more housing and transportation choices for residents — the question is whether SCAG’s Regional Council will endorse it. We urge you to attend and let council members know how important it is that we plan for land use policies and transportation investments that improve public health, reduce the cost of living by reducing housing and transportation costs, make it easier and safer to walk and bike, and create jobs in places that don’t require long commutes.

SCAG, the metropolitan planning organization that governs the six-county Southern California region, develops a regional transportation plan or RTP every four years, but this is the first that also includes a sustainable communities strategy or SCS. The SCS was mandated by SB 375, the state law that requires regions to plan for transportation investments and land use strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The GHG reduction targets in Southern California have been set at 8 percent in 2020 and 13 percent in 2035.

SB 375 has given SCAG new authority to promote more focused growth, transit, pedestrian and bicycle projects with the goal of reducing driving, which will reduce GHG emissions. The plan calls for more transit-oriented development in LA County and around all 55 stations on the Metrolink system (which serves LA, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties) and calls for “transit-ready development” — compact, mixed use — in places that don’t have transit yet.

Normally an agency that has not had much public involvement, SCAG has seen a significant increase in the number of people — including advocates for affordable homes, public health, better air quality, and bike and pedestrian projects, as well as developers and environmentalists — weighing in on this planning process.

SCAG has developed three alternatives besides the preferred alternative. There have been two emerging issues with the RTP. The first is a funding shortfall of $125 to $155 billion due to the economy, the continuing decline in gas tax revenues as cars become more fuel efficient, and decreasing state and federal transportation funding — also because of the economy, California’s recent budget crisis, and the failure of Congress to pass a new federal transportation bill.

The second emerging issue has been concerns about the deteriorating condition of Southern California’s transportation system, and the need to spend more money on repairs. A study was released by the national nonprofit Transportation for America on October 19 that showed that the LA metro region has 91 of the most heavily traveled structurally deficient bridges in the U.S. — and that every second 396 drivers in the region cross over them. The Transportation for America study is available at http://t4america.org/resources/bridges/

AT THE CORNER OF CICLAVIA & OCCUPY LA

Move LA intern Kiran Rishi put the focus on “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Thousands of Jobs!” when she hung Move LA’s banner at the corner of Ciclavia and Occupy LA last Sunday — that’s 210,000 jobs, to be more specific, as a result of the Measure R-funded construction of 12 new rail lines! The crowd at CicLAvia — LA’s 10-mile-long block party for pedestrians and bicyclists — drew a crowd estimated at more than 130,000. This was LA’s third CicLAvia, modeled after an event held weekly in Bogota, Colombia. The point, say CicLAvia’s organizers, is to promote public health, green transportation, open space, economic development and community building. Meantime, the number of tents at Occupy LA, currently occupying the lawn at City Hall downtown.

30-10 MOVES SEVERAL BIG STEPS CLOSER TO REALITY

House Transportation Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) has apparently received authorization from Republican leaders to include additional funding in his transportation bill, which had provided about 30 percent less than the Senate version. This suggests that both House and Senate bills will be funded at similar levels and moves the America Fast Forward/30-10 vision — of completing all 12 Measure R funded transit lines within the decade — several big steps closer to reality. Both House and Senate versions of the transportation bill contain provisions for low-interest loans to regions wanting to build out their transit systems.

There are also rumors that there is renewed interest in the QTIB (Qualified Transportation Improvement Bonds) program — another key component of the America Fast Forward/30-10 plan. The QTIBS would provide tax credits to investors who write down interest rates on private loans to transportation agencies.

The Streetsblog story about John Mica is here.

HOW BAD ARE LA COMMUTES?

In the LA Times, Denny Zane tells reporter Ari Bloomekatz that new rail lines and improved public transportation will address congestion problems, but that we also need transit-supportive land use policies and other incentives to get drivers out of their cars. His comments were made in response to a new report that shows, according to the LA Times headline, that “Los Angeles Commutes Aren’t That Bad,” and that many of the cities with the worst congestion are those with robust rail systems.

"You must also have other strategies in place," Zane told the Times, adding that the benefits of public transportation cannot be measured only by commute times. He said transit pays dividends in other areas: Commutes are "more affordable … there's less air pollution, compact development is a more efficient use of land and therefore makes housing more affordable."

The mean commute time in the L.A.-Long Beach-Santa Ana area has stayed relatively flat since 2006, peaking at 28.6 minutes in 2007, according to the American Community Survey.

The story, which was in the Times on Thursday, is here:

Los Angeles Commutes Aren't That Bad

NRDC APPLAUDS MOVE LA, ZANE, FORTE

Morgan Wyenn of NRDC thanks Move LA Executive Director Denny Zane and Diane Forte of Forte Green Strategies for their role in moving forward LA Metro’s new renewable energy policy. She also cites the agency’s new green construction policy. 

LA's Transportation Agency Adopts Another Great Environmental Policy, Implementing Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

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)