MTC approves ground-breaking policy connecting land use and transportation!

On July 27 the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) approved a ground-breaking policy relating transportation and land use.

MTC, which distributes most federal and state transportation funding in the Bay Area, will not fund construction of new transit projects until cities along the transit corridor plan and zone for housing around new stations, including pedestrian- and bike-oriented design. Such requirements can improve the cost-effectiveness of our regional transit investments by increasing the number of riders and reducing traffic growth. They can lead to vibrant communities that accommodate growth without sprawling onto open space.

Thanks to the 2,100 readers who sent in the Sierra Club post card to MTC enclosed in the January-February Yodeler! MTC included many suggestions from the environmental community on limiting parking, promoting affordable housing, and funding processes to involve the community in planning station areas. The Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC) spearheaded a coalition of many environmental and community organizations that sent a strong message to MTC.

The thresholds in this policy are a major step forward, but not nearly enough. They will require an average of 3,850 housing units (existing as well as new) within a half mile of each new BART station. These relatively low housing levels around extension stations would accommodate just 11% of the region's projected population growth in the next 25 years. An additional 22% of growth is expected to take place in parts of the Bay Area near existing transit such as Caltrain. Unfortunately MTC projects 50% of the region's growth to be more than half a mile from transit, and leaves 16% of anticipated population growth unaccounted for.

WhatYouCanDo

If you live in San Francisco; in Berkeley, Oakland, or San Leandro - near the proposed Bus Rapid Transit corridor; in Marin County areas near the proposed SMART line; or in Union City, Fremont, Antioch, Brentwood, or Oakley, you will have the chance to participate in station-area planning processes as projects advance. To get involved, contact your Sierra Club regional group, or get involved with the Chapter Transportation and Compact Growth Committee. We meet at 7 pm on the third Monday of each month in Oakland at 1428 Alice St., Conference Room A. For more information on the committee, contact one of its co-chairs:

Andy Katz at andykatz -at- cal.berkeley.edu or
Bob Piper at (510) 848-4134 or piperrr -at- alum.mit.edu

For more information about MTC's new policy visit www.transcoalition.org/c/landuse/landuse_home.html

Stuart Cohen, executive director, TALC; and Andy Katz, co-chair, Sierra Club Bay Chapter Transportation and Compact Growth Committee