Title
Adoption of Resolution Supporting Regional Measure 3 (RM 3), the Bay Area Traffic Relief Plan; and
Adoption of Resolution Supporting Proposition 69 and Opposing Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) Repeal, to Protect Local Transportation Improvements in SB 1. (Transportation 4227287)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Acting City Manager
Re: Adoption of Resolution Supporting Regional Measure 3 (RM 3), the Bay Area Traffic Relief Plan; and Adoption of Resolution Supporting Proposition 69 and Opposing Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) Repeal, to Protect Local Transportation Improvements in SB 1
BACKGROUND
Transportation funding measures Regional Measure 3 (RM3) and Senate Bill 1 (SB1) will help alleviate the San Francisco Bay Area’s growing congestion that has occurred due to the region’s success in attracting jobs and being an international powerhouse with both Silicon Valley and San Francisco, all of which is in reach to Alamedans for world class employment, resources and culture. The region’s transportation infrastructure and transit services have struggled to keep up with the continued growth. Just over 75 years ago, the Bay Area only had a population of 1.7 million, and now it is over 7 million. By 2040, the Bay Area’s population is expected to increase to over 9 million people, which will be an increase of over 7 million people in 100 years.
As an island community in the San Francisco Bay, Alameda is impacted by this regional growth making it difficult for Alamedans to commute to jobs and to travel around the Bay Area on both weekdays and weekends. Many of these transportation issues are regional in nature, and these additional transportation monies derive from regional bridges, which target users of these pinch points with additional tolls, and from gas tax increases, which target motorists who use the transportation system. These additional transportation revenues will help ensure that the region not only maintains but also grows its transportation infrastructure to meet current and expected demand, and will help increase public transit operational revenues so service can be more frequent, reliable and attractive for further congestion relief.
Alameda is not in a position to fund its regional transportation needs on its own - such as improved ferry, BART and Transbay bus services, seismic lifeline structures, a second Transbay BART tube, bay trail expansion and enhancements - and must rely on these RM 3 and SB 1 transportation monies to keep our community viable and connected to the region.
For these reasons, the City of Alameda sent letters of support to Senator Jim Beall for SB 1 in March and April 2017. The City of Alameda sent letters of support for Regional Measure 3 and Senate Bill 595, the expenditure plan, to Assemblymember Rob Bonta in July 2017, Senator Jim Frazier in July 2017, and to the Governor in September 2017.
Regional Measure 3 (RM 3)
What is RM 3?
RM 3 will appear on the June 5, 2018 ballot in each of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. If approved by a majority of voters, this measure would fund major roadway and public transit improvements in the bridge corridors and their approaches via an increase in tolls on the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges. RM 3 specifies a toll increase of $1 on January 1, 2019, $1 in January 2022 and $1 in January 2025.
What projects and programs would RM 3 fund?
A summary of Regional Measure 3 projects and programs is as follows:
• Improving transit operations totaling $60 million annually - transbay terminal ($5 million annually), ferries ($35 million annually) and regional express buses ($20 million annually);
• Providing $4.45 billion in capital projects for both highway and transit improvements in the toll bridge corridors and their approach routes, which could include some of Alameda’s streets;
o Regional programs: BART cars ($500 million), Bay Area express lanes ($300 million), ferry enhancements ($300 million), goods movement ($160 million), Bay Trail/Safe Routes to Transit ($150 million), Capitol Corridor ($90 million) and Clipper card improvements ($50 million);
o Bay Bridge corridor: Core Capacity transit ($140 million), AC Transit corridor ($100 million), second Transbay rail crossing ($50 million), I-80 ($25 million) and SF Caltrain and Muni ($465 million);
o South: BART to San Jose/Diridon Station ($475 million), bus access improvements ($230 million), Dumbarton corridor ($130 million), interchange/freeway connectors ($150 million); and
o North: interchange/freeway/state route connectors ($915 million), transit access ($195 million) and Byron Highway/Vasco Road ($25 million).
Since the majority of Alamedans commuting on the Bay Bridge corridor - totaling 78 percent - travel by modes other than driving alone, RM 3 is expected to benefit more commuters than impact them negatively from the increased toll.
SB 1 - Supporting Proposition 69 and Opposing the SB 1 Repeal
In April 2017, the California legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 1 (Beall 2017), which also is known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. SB 1 increases transportation funding, and provides the first significant stable and on-going increase in state transportation funding in more than two decades totaling over $5 billion annually statewide. SB 1 provides these additional transportation revenues by increasing the motor vehicle fuel - gasoline - tax, the diesel excise tax and vehicle license fees and by charging a new vehicle registration fee for zero-emission vehicles. Furthermore, SB 1 creates measures to hold transportation agencies more accountable, and reforms and streamlines how transportation projects are delivered.
While fuel tax and certain diesel sales tax revenues are restricted to roadway and public transit improvements, registration fees also may be spent on state administration and enforcement of laws regulating the use, operation or registration of vehicles. As part of SB 1, the California legislature enacted Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 5 (Frazier) to expand constitutional protection to revenue generated by the new Transportation Improvement Fee assessed on vehicles and all of the diesel sales tax, so that 100 percent of SB 1 revenue will be protected against loans or diversions for non-transportation purposes. As a constitutional amendment, the measure is subject to a statewide, majority vote, was designated Proposition 69 by the Secretary of State, and is on the June 5, 2018 ballot. Protecting these additional monies will ensure Alamedans have increased revenues for the projects and programs listed in the Transportation Choices Plan for capital infrastructure improvements and maintenance as well as transit operations.
DISUCSSION
City staff requests City Council approval of the resolutions in support of RM 3 and Proposition 69 and in opposition to the repeal of SB 1. RM 3 and SB 1 are consistent with the City’s adopted 2018 Legislative Agenda, which support “Measures that reduce or help alleviate on- and off-island traffic concerns and safety.” Specifically, these measures will provide stable and reliable transportation revenue streams for both infrastructure and transit operations, will help the City implement its citywide Transportation Choices Plan, will improve island access/egress, and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Proposition 69 and the opposition to the repeal of SB 1 speak to the City’s legislative agenda item that calls out the need to “Support the League of California Cities strategic priority to protect existing transportation funding for local priorities and oppose efforts that would reduce or eliminate funding for cities.”
Benefits to Alameda
Regional Measure 3
Alameda County would benefit from 32 percent of the capital and operating funds, which is the largest for any county. The share of bridge trips by Alameda County is 29 percent so Alameda County is expected to obtain slightly more projects/programs than it pays out in bridge tolls. Plus, RM 3 monies would help alleviate congestion in Alameda County, which has half of the Bay Area’s top ten most congested freeway corridors in the region.
The City of Alameda is expected to gain more from RM 3 than most cities in the region since it has two ferry terminals and is constructing a third one. The ferry capital monies in RM 3 total $300 million, and ferry operation monies in RM 3 represent over one-half the transit operations monies, and the remaining transit operations monies are for the transbay terminal and regional express buses to San Francisco. Twenty one percent of Alameda’s commuters work in San Francisco. Out of the 7,189 Alameda commuters to San Francisco, 78 percent do not drive alone meaning that the majority of Alameda commuters to San Francisco will not pay the additional bridge toll. The breakdown is as follows:
• Drive alone Alameda commuters to San Francisco who would pay the additional bridge tolls: 22 percent or 1,582 Alamedans; and
• Non-drive alone Alameda commuters to San Francisco who would benefit from the additional bridge tolls without having to pay: 78 percent or 5,607 Alamedans.
o Harbor Bay ferry riders: 750
o Main Street ferry riders: 800
o Transbay bus riders: 830
o BART riders: 2,395
o Carpooling: 832
Protecting SB 1 Transportation Funding (Proposition 69)
SB 1 provides the City of Alameda with an additional stable source of transportation monies and several additional discretionary and competitive funding programs. For example, the City receives $1.9 million annually in state gas tax revenues and $1.3 million annually in SB 1 revenues as dedicated sources, which totals an expected $3.2 million annually. The City of Alameda mainly uses these funds for pavement resurfacing, which frees up less restrictive dedicated source Measure B/BB revenues. If SB 1 were to be repealed, the City would lose out on $1.3 million annually in dedicated sources and many more millions in competitive funds that the City is well equipped to receive due to its recent citywide planning efforts from the Transportation Choices Plan.
ACA 5 was an important companion bill to SB 1 providing long-term certainty that the new revenue from SB 1 will be spent reinvesting in California’s aging local roads and state highways, restoring the state’s transit system to a state of good repair, providing high quality public transit service, improving congested corridors, and enhancing active transportation infrastructure. California voters have shown support for constitutionally protecting transportation funding sources. Voter approval of Proposition 69 also will provide an important defense against the SB 1 repeal effort, should it qualify for the November 2018 ballot. The deadline to submit the required signatures is May 21, 2018.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There are no direct fiscal impacts associated with this action. Nevertheless, these additional transportation monies are intended to promote the City’s financial stability and alleviate congestion by providing improved transportation options. If RM 3 does not pass and SB 1 is repealed, the City is unlikely to see in the near future seismic lifeline structure replacements, bay trail enhancements, bus operations to the Main Street ferry terminal, BART studies for a second transbay tube, or increased frequencies on the ferry service or Transbay buses, which already have standing room only on many bus runs and close to capacity on the ferries. If SB 1 were to be repealed, the City would lose out on $1.3 million annually in dedicated sources and many more millions in competitive funds.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with the City’s approved legislative agenda and has no impact on the Alameda Municipal Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a “project” under Section 15378(b)(5) of CEQA Guidelines. The action involves an organizational or administrative activity of government that will not result in the direct or indirect physical change to the environment.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution supporting RM 3, the Bay Area Traffic Relief Plan; and adopt a resolution supporting Proposition 69 and opposing SB 1 repeal, to protect local transportation improvements in SB 1.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Ott, Director of Base Reuse and Transportation Planning
By,
Gail Payne, Senior Transportation Coordinator
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Edwin Gato, Acting Finance Director