TransForm’s 2009 Regional Transportation Plan Platform
Fighting Climate Change...& Winning a Better Bay Area
download the full RTP Platform (3 MB PDF file)
For ten years, organizations from across the Bay Area have come together with one voice to advocate for a Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) that supports exceptional, affordable public transit and healthy, walkable communities. As the Metropolitan Transportation Commission embarks on an 18-month process to develop the 2009 RTP, we again present a unified voice. Member and affiliate organizations of TransForm have spent several months analyzing the projects and programs needed in the RTP to improve our quality of life and reduce global warming pollution.
For this RTP, the stakes for the Bay Area are higher than ever. Sea levels are already rising in the Bay Area and around the world. The climate is in crisis. Transportation is responsible for half of all global warming pollution in the Bay Area, mostly from private cars and trucks. Total emissions are anticipated to rise in California through 2030 even with cleaner fuels and more efficient cars, as we drive more and more each year. And, congestion in the region is the second worst in the nation.
The RTP’s $100+ billion worth of future transportation investments presents our best opportunity to understand which investments will help create a better Bay Area while reducing global warming pollution. The RTP also offers a chance to identify important new policies and programs that can help guide investments. TransForm’s platform presents details on how the RTP can:
- support a world-class regional transit system that is affordable and accessible for everyone, especially youth, elderly and low-income residents who depend on it most;
- promote vibrant, walkable communities near rail, ferry, and bus service;
- maximize the efficiency of our roads with pricing that reduces congestion and global warming gases; and
- make walking and bicycling safe and easy for many more trips.
Many of the same strategies that reduce global warming emissions will also make the Bay Area a better place for all of us to live. For example, over 20% of morning trips in the Bay Area are getting children to school. Through a focused effort, to get more drivers to walk, bike, and carpool, Marin County showed us that we can dramatically reduce congestion and global warming pollution, while freeing up time for parents and encouraging exercise among our youth. By making smarter choices about how we invest our region’s transportation funds, we will waste less time in traffic, breathe cleaner air, enjoy safer streets, and live in more active, thriving communities.
The ten recommendations in this platform are ambitious; but, clear thinking and bold leadership can help us see the climate crisis and our transportation challenges as what they really are: “a series of great opportunities disguised as insoluble problems.” The rest of the country is looking to California for leadership on climate change. It’s time to lead the way.
TransForm’s recommendations are outlined in the full report.
