State fails to adequately address transit fiscal cliff

Terrifying tales of transit agency layoffs and service cuts, known as the fiscal cliff, loom as the consequences of the pandemic and the drop in ridership from the shift to working at home. The Legislature and Governor have responded to the frantic lobbying by kicking the can down the road. The East Bay Times responded with a powerful editorial, Why Newsom’s Bay Area transit bailout will likely fail.  Excerpts: Rather than directly address these problems, the new bailout plan from Sacramento doubles down on an oversight commission [MTC] that has failed since its establishment in 1970 to fulfill its state-mandated…

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MTC’s new Executive Director

Local figures in the Bay Area transportation scene expressed their pleasure at the promotion of Andrew Fremier to MTC’s Executive Director, following the retirement of Therese McMillan. TRANSDEF got its comments into the story: David Schonbrunn, president of the Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund in San Anselmo, has been critical of the commission’s planning efforts through the years, which he said have resulted in the existing congestion and transit issues. He said he does not expect much to change under Fremier’s leadership.   “After spending many billions of dollars on transportation projects over the past four decades, all MTC…

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NewsGroup papers call for an end to California’s HSR project

The Mercury News and East Bay Times published an editorial today entitled “California should cut its losses on high-speed rail.” The key parts: The reality is that the project has never been realistic. Fifteen years after it was put before voters, there’s still no path to completion. Costs keep rising, and now ridership projections for the system, if it ever opens, are declining sharply.   It’s time for state and federal officials to cut their losses, to stop throwing money at a project that probably will never be finished. The following letter was published February 27th in the Times: Thank…

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Press Coverage on the Valley Link lawsuit

The Tracy Press carried a front page article on the Valley Link lawsuit on Friday, May 27. Another version is available here. The story covered the key contention being asserted: The project goes far beyond what the Legislature authorized. In addition, it covered the Tracy-specific issue of the Authority going to the Legislature to overrule the voters of Tracy.

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Non-profits sue to stop the Valley Link rail project

On Monday, May 23, two non-profit organizations filed an amended taxpayer lawsuit against the Valley Link project, which proposes to build a $3.6 billion dollar rail line connecting the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station and North Lathrop in San Joaquin County. The largest project cost element is the demolition and relocation of the I-580 freeway to make room for the tracks. Over a billion dollars would be wasted tearing up eleven miles of recently built freeway, adding no transportation capacity in itself. David Schonbrunn, President of the Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund (TRANSDEF) stated that “We want to nip this in…

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Challenge to MTC’s funding of parking garage

In 2016, BART was under pressure from local residents to build another parking garage at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. TRANSDEF responded with a 2017 letter, challenging the environmental review.  BART decided in 2017 to not proceed with the project. Republican Assemblywoman Catharine Baker then cut a deal with the Brown Administration (reportedly in exchange for her vote on the Cap and Trade bill) to give a $20 million grant to the garage project. A grant was then dutifully made by the State Transportation Agency, CalSTA, from its Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, which is funded by the GHG Cap…

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Santa Cruz County produces biased report prior to June ballot measure calling for removing the rail line

A small group of homeowners, bankrolled by a former Apple executive, has qualified their Greenway Initiative for the June ballot in Santa Cruz County. This group, whose motivation appears to be preventing trains from running near their homes, are seeking the public’s support for a measure that would eliminate the County’s policies calling for building a commuter rail system on the Santa Cruz Branch Line. It would instead tear out the tracks to build an extra-wide multi-use pathway they call the Greenway. TRANSDEF is committed to rail as the low-carbon approach to organizing transportation and land use in the era…

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Supreme Court passes on reviewing Tos decision

On March 16, 2022, the California Supreme Court denied the Tos appellants’ Petition for Review. This marks the end of a very long fight–one that started back in 2011. The tenacious litigants (John Tos, Quentin Kopp, the Town of Atherton,  Patricia Hogan-Giorni, Anthony Wynne, Community Coalition on High-Speed Rail, Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund, and California Rail Foundation) persevered despite the unlimited legal resources available to the other side.  The Petition for Review The Answer by the State of California and California High-Speed Rail Authority The Reply to Answer

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Court of Appeal issues disappointing Opinion

On November 30, 2021, the Court released its Opinion in Tos v. California High-Speed Rail Authority affirming the lower court ruling. This was a tremendous disappointment, given the ten years of litigation leading up to this moment. Here’s the background: On December 13, 2016, the California High-Speed Rail Authority, CHSRA, met and gave preliminary approval to submit funding plans seeking $3.2 billion in HSR bond funding for the San Francisco to San Jose Peninsula Corridor project (the Caltrain Electrification project) and Central Valley HSR project. The same day, four individuals, three non-profit organizations, the Town of Atherton and Kings County filed a lawsuit,…

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