The Infrastructure Bill and the SFMTA

The Infrastructure Bill and the SFMTA
By

What the infrastructure bill means for the SFMTA

On December 20, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi joined Mayor London Breed and US Representative Mark DeSaulnier to promote the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was signed into law in November. They held an event at the corner of Second and Howard Streets to explain how the bill will benefit California and show the type of street improvements it can pay for to improve pedestrian safety. These include things like wider sidewalks, protected bike lanes, transit boarding islands and ADA-compliant curb ramps. It’s through these types of improvements that San Francisco will be able to reach its goal of eliminating traffic fatalities.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), which coordinates Bay Area transportation financing, estimates that the infrastructure bill will provide about $4.5 billion in funding to the region over the next five years via formula funds that the MTC allocates. This is $1.1 billion more than was available than during the last five-year funding cycle.

The MTC will decide how to divide up the infrastructure bill formula funds among Bay Area transit agencies. It can go toward State of Good Repair needs such as fleet replacement and rehabilitating cable cars and historic streetcars. It can also be used to fund “guideway” needs like replacing rails and overhead cables. If the MTC follows its historic pattern of formula funding distribution, the SFMTA can expect 27% more in additional funds for Fleet Replacement and 49% more in additional funds for Fixed Guideways than during the last funding period.

The infrastructure bill also includes about $140 billion in competitive grant funding that will be administered throughout the country by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The SFMTA is in a good position to compete for these funds, which are available for capital investments; low-emission and no-emission vehicles and infrastructure; and safe streets projects like the one that was highlighted at Speaker Pelosi’s Dec. 20 event. But, since these funds are available through a competitive process, nothing is guaranteed. For example, the safe streets funding is the first nationally competitive program of its size, so we anticipate that competition for it will be strong.

As great as it is that the SFMTA and other transit agencies will receive extra funding through the infrastructure bill, it’s not enough money to eliminate all the agency’s financial needs. The infrastructure bill doesn’t provide any funding at all for operating expenses, which increase every year because the cost of parts, labor, fuel and living in the Bay Area just keep going up. It also doesn’t make a sizeable dent in our State of Good Repair needs and our funding needs for major capital projects.

Additionally, almost every source of federal funding requires a match of 20% from local sources, and in many cases, it requires more than that. The federal government wants to see that local policymakers prioritize the transportation needs the feds are being asked to support. This is where the Muni Reliability and Street Safety General Obligation Bond proposed for the ballot in June 2022 comes in. It could be a source of local matching funds for some of the federal funding the SFMTA is going to apply for. GO Bond funding could also support projects that the infrastructure bill is less likely to fully fund, such as facility replacement.

While funding facilities may not be as exciting as funding zero-emissions buses, the two are inextricably linked. Several SFMTA facilities will need to be fully replaced to be able to store and charge the new buses once we transition completely to battery-electric buses. Upgrading our facilities is also essential to providing a safe and healthy working environment to our staff. Some of our facilities are so old that they don’t have heat and aren’t ready for a major earthquake. Providing our staff with safe working conditions is crucial for the functioning of transportation in San Francisco.

Published December 30, 2021 at 10:00PM
https://ift.tt/3mHFUM0

Comments

New top story from Time: U.S. Donates 500,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses to Moldova

https://ift.tt/3xs4Uud BUCHAREST — Moldova is set to receive half a million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the United States to help the small nation combat the coronavirus pandemic. The first 150,000 doses of J&J are to arrive in Moldova — a country of 3.5 million, Europe’s poorest sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine — on July 12, the U.S. Embassy officials in Moldova said.. Moldovan President Maia Sandu thanked the U.S. for the vaccines and said that they will “help save lives, preserve the health of our citizens and reduce the force of the pandemic.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Now, we must mobilize ourselves and, in solidarity, get vaccinated,” Sandu, a former World Bank official, wrote online. The announcement came days ahead of an early) parliamentary election in Moldova that pits pro-Western reformists against a Russia-friendly bloc of Socialists and Communists, with recent polls giving a lead to the former. “This donation could not come...

New top story from Time: Actor Farhan Akhtar Pays Tribute to Legendary Sprinter Milkha Singh, India’s ‘Flying Sikh’

https://ift.tt/3gTcTuw I played Milkha Singh—the Indian sporting legend who died on June 18 of COVID-19 complications at age 91—in the 2013 biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. ( The title translates to Run Milkha Run. ) Singh was a child of partition, and who came from poverty, but he had a lot of faith in himself and the belief that if you work hard, you will be remembered. That, to me, is his legacy. Back in my school days, I remember how my physical education teacher would often point to Singh as an example when we would slack off on our training. Many of us were told that growing up: if you want to be successful in sports, you have to train like this guy. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] And the first time we met was at a running track in Mumbai where I was training for the film. Singh had spent time serving in the army before his athletic career; I expected him to be concise and terse in his demeanor. But he quickly put me at ease. He arrived dressed in a tracksuit, and tol...

New top story from Time: What to Know About the Real-Life Inspiration Behind Netflix’s Things Heard & Seen

https://ift.tt/3t2nRRk Within the first few minutes of the new Netflix film Things Heard & Seen , it’s clear something has gone very wrong. A man (James Norton) is seen pulling into the garage of an old home in the countryside. As he cuts the ignition on his car, a red droplet appears from above, falling onto his dashboard. He exits the car, looks up, sees liquid seeping through the floorboards and rushes inside the house, where a young girl is expectantly waiting for him. He scoops her up in his arms, and begins to run. What happened in that house? That question is at the center of Things Heard & Seen , which then rewinds to the previous spring and unpacks all that led up to this mysterious moment. The ‘80s-set thriller, which drops on the streaming platform on April 29, follows a young family—Catherine Clare ( Amanda Seyfried ), her husband George (Norton) and their daughter Franny (Ana Sophia Heger)—as they relocate from Manhattan to the Hudson Valley north of...

FOX NEWS: Boredom prompts half of Americans to start holiday shopping early, study claims It’s always such a relief to have Christmas shopping done before Halloween.

Boredom prompts half of Americans to start holiday shopping early, study claims It’s always such a relief to have Christmas shopping done before Halloween. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/2EATDBx

New top story from Time: How Liberal White America Turned Its Back on James Baldwin in the 1960s

https://ift.tt/2QBsNzv In discussions about race relations today, the works of James Baldwin continue to speak to the present, even decades after they were written. So it is worth remembering that, at the very height of his influence, Baldwin experienced the same frustration that some Black activists, particularly on campus, feel about white liberals today: their refusal to acknowledge their complicity in the regime of white supremacy. In Baldwin’s case, the liberal backlash was widespread, and effectively marginalized him for a time. The very first piece on the front page of the very first issue of The New York Review of Books , Feb. 1, 1963, was a review of Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time by F. W. Dupee of the Columbia English department. Dupee (a former Communist Party organizer) took exception to Baldwin’s apocalyptic tone. “Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?” Baldwin had written. The answer, Dupee wrote, is that “[s]ince you have no other, yes; and t...

Sunday Streets Returns October 17, with Phoenix Day

Sunday Streets Returns October 17, with Phoenix Day By Pamela Johnson For 13 years, the SFMTA and Livable City have brought "Sunday Streets" to San Francisco neighborhoods. Sunday Streets encourages communities to transform miles of car-congested streets into car-free spaces for neighbors to gather, kids to play, and for organizations and businesses to connect. On October 17, 2021, after more than 18 months of Covid-related shutdowns, Sunday Streets Phoenix Day will again bring free recreational activities, resources, and fun to the streets for tens of thousands of San Franciscans to enjoy. While Sunday Streets was celebrated in one neighborhood at a time in the past, this year's Phoenix Day spans various districts in the City for a simultaneous celebration of community, health, and resilience. This year's theme is "One City. One day. Rising together.” Highlights this year include historic Sunday Streets SF routes, a 20+ mile community bike ride, three neighb...

In-Person Bike and Roll Returns

In-Person Bike and Roll Returns By Christine Osorio The SFMTA is pleased to announce that for the first time since 2019, the San Francisco Safe Routes to School program’s annual Bike & Roll to School Week is back as an in-person event! Whether they’re on a bike, scooter, wheelchair, or skateboard, Bike & Roll to School Week (or BR2SW) celebrates all students using healthy, sustainable transportation to get to school. This year’s celebration is April 18-22, at schools citywide. Biking, rolling, and walking provides people of all ages with a sense of freedom and connection to their city. BR2SW encourages SF students to experience that through sustainable and joyful ways of getting around. With more people walking, biking, and rolling to school, pick-up and drop-off times are less congested with car traffic, and therefore safer and easier for everyone. San Francisco Safe Routes to School is a partnership of city agencies and nonprofits, led by the SFMTA, that helps make wal...

Govt offices in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack to function with 75 pc strength of employees in December https://ift.tt/2HQxXmI

All subordinate offices and departments in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack will function with 75 per cent strength of employees next month, the Odisha government said on Saturday. The directions cover entire staff including Group-A officers. The General Administration and Public Grievance Department on Saturday issued an official order in this regard and said that also said that all state government offices throughout the state will remain closed on Saturdays.

Breaking News LIVE: Top Headlines This Hour https://ift.tt/2GdhEPL

The total number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed 32 million, including more than 992,000 fatalities. More than 24,167,990 patients are reported to have recovered. Follow this breaking news blog for live updates on the coronavirus pandemic as it continues to pose a challenge for health workers and scientists who are in a race against time to produce a vaccine/medicine.

New top story from Time: Sara Menker, CEO of Gro Intelligence, Believes Big Data Can Save Our Climate and Food Supply

https://ift.tt/3aAUWxz (Miss this week’s Leadership Brief? This interview below was delivered to the inbox of Leadership Brief subscribers on Sunday morning, Feb. 21; to receive weekly emails of conversations with the world’s top CEOs and business decisionmakers, click here .) Even by startup standards, the mission of Gro Intelligence is lofty. Sara Menker, the company’s founder and CEO, says its goal is to provide tools to help confront “two of the biggest challenges we face as humanity: food security and climate change.” Gro Intelligence uses AI and machine learning to provide thousands of clients, ranging from big food companies like Unilever and Yum! Brands to financial institutions including BNP Paribas and Wells Fargo, with a host of data and analysis on the global agricultural ecosystem. In all, Gro computers hoover up 650 trillion data points from more than 40,000 data sets—crop forecasts, satellite images, topography, reports on precipitation, soil moisture, evapotr...

My precise view

Search This Blog