CaliforniaCityNews.org

National League of Cities Working for Transportation Dollars

The chair of NLC’s Transportation Infrastructure and Service policy committee spoke last month at the National Transportation Summit in Washington, D.C., about the logistics behind NLC’s “Surface Transportation Funding and Reauthorization” initiative.  According to a report on NLC's website, they are requesting that that Congress provide full funding for federal transportation programs that support bridges, roads, highways and other transit priorities. 

NLC is further seeking support for funding that goes directly to local governments, such as funding for transit, transportation enhancements and the Congestion Management Air Quality Program that helps reduce congestion and protect the environment.  Read more on the NLC website here.

Cities in Stanislaus County Look To November 2008 For Countywide Transportation Tax

Taking note of the successes in various cities throughout the state in Tuesdays elections, the cities in the central valley county of Stanislaus have agreed to unite a previously fractured coalition to press for monies for transportation.

One of the key factors for county trabsportation commissions and COG's (Councils of Governments) looking to pass a county transportation tax is whether or not each of the cities in the county supports the proposed tax. Previously, Stanislaus county was not unanimous and some felt the dissension was, in part, reason for the measures failure. Take a look at the Modesto Bee article that shows reasons for the change in direction and what each city is hoping to get out of it.

Get Those Prop 1B Dollars!

The Department of Finance has released a template and all information necessary for cities to access their Prop. 1B funds.  Read the Letter of instruction for the template here, then you can download the excel template here or simply view your city's allocation in this pdf.

Prop 1B Local Streets and Road Funds Available Jan. 15

The California Department of Finance earlier this week announced that instructions and forms for allocating Proposition 1B local street and road funds would be sent to cities and counties by Jan. 15, 2008.

This long awaited announcement was delivered via letter on Dec. 10 to Sens. Mike Machado, Bob Dutton, Christine Kehoe.  The letter (available at the League of Cities' website) was written in response to questions raised by the senators as to the specific reasons for the delays in a special hearing on December 3.

Taking The Initiative On Traffic - A New Twist On Stopping Growth

Ventura County, home of the SOAR (Save Our Agricultural Resources) measure and slow growth politics may be trailblazing for a new political tool designed to further limit growth -- Ballot measures restricting growth by tying development to traffic congestion.

This is an interesting development for the key reason that Ventura County is recognized as a bellweather county in state politics.  It is largely a "quality of life" Republican swing county (we used to call them "country club" Republicans). It's a coastal county that typically votes for the winner of Gubernatorial and Presidential contests -- whether Democrat or Republican. As such, this county is an unusually good barometer of how well an initiative will fare across the state.  Ventura votes for environmentally friendly issues, is largely slow growth, anti-tax and elects a mix of centrists and conservatives at most levels of government. In other words, if you want to pass an initiative in California -- poll it in Ventura County first.

That may be what proponents of two new measures are doing for next November -- and it's curiously reminiscent of tactics tried in the past...

Toll Roads - Another Open Road and Possible Sign of the Future

By Mike Madrid

San Diego opens another toll road to great expectations of eased traffic congestion and lower levels of blood pressure amongst commuters. Private toll roads are increasingly being considered as the best way of getting roadways built in California.

While some private roads have been met with success and others less so, its clear that there are a number of lessons that can be learned from the experiment that has taken hold largely in southern California. While the pathway to quicker commutes is frought with many obstacles, and while toll roads arent necessarily a panacea - theres no question that the option has to be on the table for a rapidly growing state.

Read more in todays LA Times

The Road Ahead for Funding City Infrastructure Needs

By Michael Coleman

In the coming months, cities will see the first substantial influx of all locations of street and road, housing and other infrastructure funds from the November 2006 bond measures. With this, California's much needed public works improvements will be under way. In FY 2008-09, it is likely these allocations will continue. Voters have responded to pleas for infrastructure funding, and the state is making good on the commitment to fund local projects. Local governments now have a great responsibility to produce results and, down the road, cities will be asked for greater action and participation in meeting California's infrastructure needs.

Click here to link to the November 2007 Issue of Western City Magazine where this article appeared.

Regional Transportation Summit Rallies for Prop 1B Dollars

The LA Metro Chamber hosted the annual “Mobility 21” conference yesterday at the Ontario Convention Center.  The conference brings together representatives of public and private interests in five SoCal counties - Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura – to discuss regional transportation issues and allocation of state and federal transportation dollars.  The event was a cornucopia of panels and speakers and awards presentations, including everyone from Curt Pringle to Dale Bonner. 

Senate Pro Tem Don Perata backed out of the conference due to ‘illness’ at the last minute, so Senator Bob Dutton filled in as the keynote speaker.  Dutton, who said he planned to call Perata and offer to fill in as Pro Tem as well, should the ailing Oakland Democrat desire, urged the elected officials and other stakeholders in attendance to work together.  Dutton, whose own district encompasses several counties represented at the conference, said choosing between communities is like “choosing between your brother and sister,” and reinforced the regional theme of the conference.

Dale Bonner, secretary of the state's Business, Transportation and Housing Authority, also spoke and highlighted the many reasons Southern California is deserving of bond monies, though he acknowledged “we can’t fund everything.”  No kidding.   

Prop 1B and You

Prop 1B allocated approximately $20 billion for improvement to the states transportation infrastructure. Will your city be seeing any of those dollars? A city by city breakdown is available here.