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June 11, 2013 The Honorable Federal D. Glover Chair, Programming and Allocations Committee Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors 315 E. Leland Road Pittsburg, CA 94565 dist5@bos.cccounty.us

The Honorable Amy Rein Worth Chair, Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Councilmember, City of Orinda 22 Orinda Way Orinda, CA 94563 aworth@cityoforinda.org

Re: Opposition to eliminating TDA-3 Bicycle Advisory Committee Requirement Dear Chairs Glover and Worth: We the undersigned seventeen organizations are writing to express deep concern regarding the recent Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) staff proposal to eliminate the requirement that local jurisdictions that receive TDA-3 funds for bicycle projects maintain a Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) to review the proposed projects.

W A L K S A N F R A N C I S C O

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We strongly believe that bicycling as well as walking need to be promoted by MTC to achieve our region’s climate and health goals. Maintaining jurisdictional Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees (BPAC’s) is an important strategy for institutionalizing non-motorized transportation at the local level and we ask that this requirement be retained for the TDA-3 guidelines. As part of the Plan Bay Area process, in 2011 MTC adopted as goals the following Healthy and Safe Communities targets:

• Reduce by 50 percent the number of injuries and fatalities from all collisions (including bicycle and pedestrian), and

• Increase the average daily time walking or bicycling per person for transportation by 70 percent (for an average of 15 minutes per person per day).

These are strong goals, and we applaud MTC for adopting them. However, as just evidenced by the Draft Environmental Impact Report, under all of the scenarios being considered for Plan Bay Area, there will be a significant increase in the number of injuries and fatalities from collisions (between +16 percent and +35 percent). In addition, under each of the scenarios/EIR alternatives examined, there was increased daily walking or bicycling, but only between 10 percent and 20 percent. This is well short of MTC’s 70 percent goal, and far less than what is needed to achieve the region’s climate protection and health goals.

Several studies of urban areas have shown that significant investments in active transportation networks could achieve between 8-14.5 percent reductions in GHG emissions, as well as significant co-benefits to public health.1 2 We need much greater investments in creating a built environment that encourages walking and bicycling. A requirement for retaining BPAC’s for jurisdictions to receive TDA-3 funds is one way of helping the region to support non-motorized transportation safety and GHG reduction. Removing the existing requirement is moving us backward on both these important fronts.

BPAC’s roles in Bay Area communities can support infrastructure improvements that are particularly vital for low-income communities that rely on walking and biking as fundamental means of transportation. Low-income communities often lack basic infrastructure and can have greater safety hazards. Maintaining a BPAC requirement is particularly important to support safety for walking and biking in such communities.

MTC must support strengthening Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees! BAC’s and BPAC’s serve a very important role in local cities and towns. BPAC’s do far more than review TDA-3 funding requests. BPAC’s help to create and implement bicycle plans, comment on proposals for Complete Streets, and are often the primary eyes and ears in local municipalities regarding problems and helping to create improvements for bicycle/pedestrian safety. The work of BPAC’s ultimately supports increasing bicycle/pedestrian transportation mode share, which strongly supports AB32 and SB375. BPAC’s work to make the roads safer for all users and help to increase physical activity, providing health benefits to members of local communities. The current proposal removes a

1 City of Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment, “Technical Advisory Group Recommendations for the Seattle Climate Action Plan Update - Transportation and Land Use Sectors Final Summary Report,” Nelson Nygard 2009. Accessed at: http://www.seattle.gov/environment/documents/TAG_Transp&LandUse_Report.pdf

2 Neil Maizlish, PhD. “Health Co-Benefits and Transportation Related Reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Bay Area.” California Department of Public Health, November 2011.

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critically important incentive for having BPAC’s. MTC should not be removing this valuable incentive. In fact, MTC should work to make our region’s BPAC’s stronger. We strongly support requiring pedestrian projects funded under TDA-3 to undergo a committee review similar to that currently required for bicycling projects. MTC should work with communities who have expressed difficulty maintaining BPAC’s, providing them with technical assistance and other tools as necessary to sustain BPAC’s. MTC should also work with CMA’s and local jurisdictions to ensure strong and diverse representation from all communities, including low-income communities. The current TDA-3 requirement is one of very few incentives to encourage a jurisdiction to form a BPAC. We strongly oppose any changes that would eliminate the requirement that a BAC or BPAC be in place for jurisdictions seeking TDA-3 funds. We ask instead that MTC will commit itself to making the Bay Area a friendlier place for active transportation, and put in place policies that strengthen commitments to active transportation, including requiring BPAC’s for all jurisdictions that receive TDA-3 funding. Thank you for considering our concerns. We look forward to working with MTC to do everything we can to meet the needs of safety and climate protection in the Bay Area; this has become even more important with the recent news that carbon content in the atmosphere has reach 400ppm, for the first time in more than 3 million years. A greater focus on active transportation is key to climate protection. Sincerely, Marty Martinez, MPP Bay Area Policy Manager Safe Routes to School National Partnership marty@saferoutespartnership.org Kit Hodge Deputy Director San Francisco Bicycle Coalition kit@sfbike.org Tony Dang State Network Coordinator California WALKS tony@californiawalks.org Bob Planthold Chair SF Bay Walks bob@californiawalks.org Nancy Holland Founder Walk&Roll Berkeley

Andy Peri Advocacy Director Marin Bicycle Coalition andy@marinbike.org Michael Costanzo Executive Director Napa County Bicycle Coalition mike@napabike.org Laura Cohen Director, Western Region Rails-to-Trails Conservancy laura@railstotrails.org Dave Snyder Executive Director California Bicycle Coalition dave@calbike.org Arnell Hinkle Executive Director CANFIT ahinkle@canfit.org

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Sara Zimmerman Senior Staff Attorney and Program Director National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity ChangeLab Solutions szimmerman@changelabsolutions.org Shannon Kuleto Operations Director Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition shannon@vinetrail.org Colin Heyne Deputy Director Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition colin@bikesiliconvalley.org

Gladwyn d'Souza Project Director Green Youth Alliance godsouza@mac.com Gary Helfrich Executive Director Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition gary@bikesonoma.org Dave Campbell Advocacy Director East Bay Bicycle Coalition dave@ebbc.org Elizabeth Stampe Executive Director Walk San Francisco elizabeth@walksf.org

CC: MTC Programming and Allocations Committee members

Steve Heminger, MTC Executive Director, sheminger@mtc.ca.gov Alix Bockelman, Director, Programming and Allocations, abockelman@mtc.ca.gov Anne Richman, Programming and Allocations, ARichman@mtc.ca.gov Theresa Romell, Principal, Programming and Allocations, tromell@mtc.ca.gov Sean Co, Transportation Planner, sco@mtc.ca.gov Cheryl Chi, Transit Analyst, cchi@mtc.ca.gov