8E Consent 2012 0305 - Laserfiche WebLink

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This Transportation Expenditure Plan describes a program anticipated to generate $7.7 billion in the first 30 years designed to sustainably, reliably and effectively move people and goods within the county and to connect Alameda County with the rest of the Bay Area. The projects and programs that follow describe the plan for investments between the approval of the tax in 2012 and its subsequent collections pursuant to comprehensive updates, at least once before the end of 2042 and every 20 years thereafter. These improvements are necessary to address current and projected transportation needs in Alameda County, current legislative mandates, and reflect the best efforts to achieve consensus among varied interests and communities in Alameda County. The linkage between sustainable transportation and development has never been clearer. Recent legislation, including SB 375, requires transportation planning agencies to focus on connecting transportation with development policies to ensure that communities develop in a way that supports biking, walking and transit while maximizing accessibility for all modes. Transportation planning must also find ways to reduce the number of miles driven, reducing the production of greenhouse gases. The projects and programs in this plan are designed to strengthen the economy and improve quality of life in Alameda County, and reduce traffic congestion. They include maintenance of existing infrastructure, targeted investments to improve highway safety, remove bottlenecks on major commute corridors, enhance rail, bus and ferry transit systems, and make it safer and easier to bike and walk throughout the county. Two types of investments are funded in this plan: capital investments which are allocated specific dollar amounts in the plan, and programmatic investments which are allocated a percentage of net revenues to be distributed to program recipients on a monthly or periodic basis. Capital investments will be made based upon clearly defined project descriptions and limits resulting from the outcomes of environmental TRANSPORTATIO INVESTMENT analyses, as applicable. Examples of programmatic investments include local road maintenance and transit operations which provide funds to local jurisdictions to complete on-going operations and maintenance tasks. The following summarizes total expenditures by mode including both capital and programmatic investments. PUBLIC TRANSIT AND SPECIALIZED TRANSIT (48%) Increasing the number of people that can be served by high capacity public transit is critical to all residents of Alameda County to provide transportation choices, relieve congestion and support a vibrant economy. The investments identified for public transit in this plan were guided by the principles of enhancing safety, convenience and reliability to maximize the number of people who can make use of the transit system. By more than doubling the amount of local sales tax funds available to transit operations and maintenance, this plan represents a major investment in Alameda County's transit system to increase transit services and expand access to transit throughout the County, and to help avoid further service cuts and preserve affordability of transit. LOCAL STREETS AND ROADS (30%) Local streets and roads are the essential building blocks of Alameda County's transportation system. Virtually every trip begins or ends on a local road. Alameda County has more than 3,400 road miles of aging streets and roads, many of which are in need of repair: intersections need to be reconfigured, traffic lights need to be synchronized and potholes need to be filled. Most important, these roads are essential to every mode of transportation from cars and trucks, to buses, bikes and pedestrians. HIGHWAY EFFICIENCY, FREIGHT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (9%) Aging highway systems continue to operate under substantial pressure as travel patterns become more