↵In developing transportation related legislative issues and proposals to bring forward for consideration by TWIC, staff receives input from the Board of Supervisors (BOS), references the County's adopted Legislative Platforms, coordinates with our legislative advocates, partner agencies and organizations, and consults with the Committee itself.
Recommendations are summarized in the Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s) section at the end of this report. Specific recommendations, if provided, are underlined in the report below. This report typically includes three sections, 1) LOCAL, 2) STATE, and 3) FEDERAL.
1) LOCAL
Measure X: In 2015 and 2016 the Committee monitored the development of Measure X and provided direction to staff and recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. As the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) develops post-mortem information regarding the failure of the Measure staff will bring that information forward. At the time this report was submitted no substantial, formal discussion has taken place regarding the Measure at CCTA.
Attached are the results from the Measure X vote, DraftSummary - Measure X Results.
The following Measure X issues continue in to 2017:
Measure X: Accessible Transit Issues: The Board of Supervisors was outspoken on this issue during the development of the Transportation Expenditure Plan (TEP). The TEP included an "Accessible Transit Strategic Plan". There is a certain expectation among staff and the advocacy community that the study will proceed in the absence of Measure X.
Please see the attached letter from the Advisory Council on Aging. The letter appeared in the CCTA Authority Board Meeting packet in January but was not discussed.
Staff will discuss options for making progress on this issue at the February TWIC meeting.
Measure X: Transportation Maintenance Funding: Similar to the Accessible Transit issue discussed above, the Board was active on this topic during the Measure X process. This topic is often included as a subset to the TWIC standing transportation report. However, this month the issue is being presented to TWIC as a standalone item given that the impacts of the funding shortfall are growing more acute. See Agenda Item 7.
RECOMMENDATION: DISCUSS any local issues of note and take ACTION as appropriate.
2) STATE
Legislative Report
The legislative report from the County's legislative advocate, Mark Watts, is attached, February 2017 TWIC Report (Mark Watts). Mr. Watts will be present at the February meeting to issues of interest to the Committee.
Also attached is the table, Positions on Legislation of Interest - 2017, which staff will use to track legislation of potential interest to the Committee during the legislative session.
School Safety & Siting: This issue is a longstanding concern for the County largely due to the siting of schools in East Contra Costa County. A substantial amount of time and effort from both staff and the Board of Supervisors have been invested in this issue over the past decade. For a variety of reasons the problem appears to be intractable which have spurred other, related efforts to increase safety around schools.
One such effort was the County sponsoring Senate Bill 632 which intended to reform how school zones are addressed in the vehicle code. While the bill died in 2016 the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing referred the bill to the California Traffic Control Devices Committee for assistance with the technical aspects of the bill. The Board of Supervisors went on record as opposing the CTCDC's input in January. Communication from the Board to the Senate Committee on the topic is referenced in the Communication section of this packet as: 01-10-17 SIGNED - BOS to Sen TransHousing Chair reCTCDC-SB632.
Despite the lack of progress on this issue in the past there may be a good chance to see movement in 2017. The California Department of Education (CDE) has recently initiated a formal effort to revise Title 5. Title 5 contains the language that addresses school site selection and design. Staff will engage in this process during 2017 and keep the Committee apprised of activities.
In addition and perhaps more critically, the Governor has directed the Office of Planning and Research and the Strategic Growth Council to address this longstanding problem. It is rare that the school siting problem gets attention from higher level decision makers. Apparently the Governors attention came about due to the passage of Proposition 51, the Public School Facility Bonds, which he publicly opposed.
RECOMMENDATION: DISCUSS any state issues of note and take ACTION as appropriate.
3) FEDERAL
No written report in February.
Attached is a document, "Federal Issues" which includes documents related to: 1) Committee assignments, 2) Potential direction of the new administration on numerous issues - summary supplied by our federal lobbyist, and 3) an article regarding the new Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao.
RECOMMENDATION: DISCUSS any federal issues of note and take ACTION as appropriate.
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