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Agenda Item # 8

BOARD MEMORANDUM

RECOMMENDATION:

Review and comment on the Valley Transportation Plan 2030 (VTP 2030) as Santa Clara County’s long-range countywide transportation plan for adoption by the Board of Directors.

BACKGROUND:

As the Congestion Management Agency for Santa Clara County, VTA has developed a long-range countywide transportation plan called Valley Transportation Plan (VTP) 2030. This is an update to VTP 2020 adopted by the VTA Board of Directors in December 2000.   VTP 2030 provides policies and programs for roadways, transit, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)/Systems Operations Management (SOM), bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and land use/transportation integration.  VTP 2030 projects serve as VTA’s recommendations for the regional transportation plan (RTP), called Transportation Plan 2030 (T2030), scheduled for adoption by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) in early 2005.

At its April 2004 meeting, the VTA Board adopted the VTP 2030 Program Area Allocations and projects lists contained in the plan.   This action followed a six-month outreach and education program that included Board Workshops, open house meetings throughout the County, and an interactive Web site. Since May 2004, staff has been working with MTC to ensure that the appropriate VTP 2030 project assumptions and model information are included in the development of the RTP, to be released in early 2005.   In addition, staff has been developing a new VTP 2030 Transportation Model that includes the projects contained in the RTP and VTP 2030 project lists and preparing the draft VTP 2030 document. 

VTP 2030 is not a programming document. It does not set priorities or schedules for when projects will be implemented, or make assumptions regarding financing costs that may be needed to implement specific projects at specific times.

Since August 2004, VTA staff has been developing and presenting to the VTA Board various scenarios for implementing the 2000 Measure A Transit Program. The outcome of this process will provide guidance for future Board actions that may include seeking an additional source of funding for transit or the re-evaluation of current Board project priorities. In addition, some projects in the Measure A Transit Program are jointly funded by VTA and its partners (such as Caltrain), and the cost and timing of these projects is dependent on the readiness of all partners to provide their shares.

Ultimately, the VTA Board and its partners will determine an expenditure program to guide project implementation schedules and priorities, and affirm them in short-range programming documents.   Project costs are shown in year 2003 dollars to be consistent with the project lists and allocations adopted by the VTA Board in April 2004.

DISCUSSION:

VTP 2030 provides a framework for making key transportation decisions, a plan for investing in our transportation system, and strategic direction for VTA’s involvement in land use and other livability issues. VTP 2030 goals are to establish priorities that will:

• Improve the relationship between land use and transportation decisions,
• Upgrade regional roadways, strengthen and expand the transit system,
• Implement new technologies for transportation management, and
• Improve conditions of local streets, bike routes, and pedestrian facilities.

VTP 2030 includes 10 Program Areas: Highway/Freeway, Expressway, Local Streets and County Roads, Transit, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)/Transportation Systems Operations and Management (SOM), Soundwalls, Pavement Management, Bicycle Projects, Landscape Restoration and Graffiti Removal, and Livable Communities and Pedestrians.   Initial recommendations for Program Area allocations and project lists were presented to the VTA Board at its January 2004 meeting, and final recommendations were approved by the VTA Board at its April 2004 meeting.

Input from Board Workshops, member and other agencies, public open house meetings, and the Web Site were incorporated in the preparation of the program area allocations, projects lists, and this plan. In addition, each of the Advisory and Standing VTA Committees is receiving a staff presentation on VTP 2030 in November 2004.   Staff will evaluate input received from that process incorporate it into the final document as appropriate.  Staff will also include a list of any recommended changes for the Board’s consideration at its December 2004 meeting.  

The Draft VTP 2030 document contains the results of this work, including:

• Plan vision, goals and objectives
• Fund projections from existing sources consistent with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Regional Transportation Plan (RTP)
• A description of the capital investments and services to be pursued
• Land Use and Partnership programs to continue and expand VTA’s involvement in land/ use and livability initiatives and better link transportation and land use decision-making
• Near-term implementation tasks and future transportation studies to be undertaken

VTP 2030 is not a programming document, and does not set priorities or schedules for when projects are implemented.   The VTA Board and its partners will determine an expenditure program to guide project priorities and schedules, and affirm them in short-range programming documents. 

ALTERNATIVES:

The Board may recommend modifications to the VTP 2030 document.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There is no direct fiscal impact from the adoption of VTP 2030.

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