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Agenda Item # 8

BOARD MEMORANDUM

BACKGROUND:

VTA is currently updating the countywide long-range transportation plan by developing Valley Transportation Plan 2030 (VTP 2030).  VTP 2030 will be based on 25-year projected transportation revenues prepared by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) for the 2005 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).

MTC is responsible for developing and adopting the nine-county Bay Areas RTP.  The plan is updated every three to four years to reflect new planning priorities and changing projections of growth and travel demand.  The RTP must be based on a realistic forecast of future transportation revenues.

MTC recently began updating the RTP for 2005.  It will be called Transportation Plan 2030 (T2030) and is expected to be adopted in January 2005.  As part of the T2030 process, MTC projects transportation revenues for 25 years.  MTC then allocates the revenues to various programs based on input from the public, local countywide transportation plans, congestion management agencies and transit operators. 

MTCs T2030 is important to VTA for several reasons:

• It sets policies and program direction for the regions transportation investments, including the degree of emphasis for differing investments;
• It serves as a gatekeeper: projects must be in the RTP in order to be eligible for federal environmental review and approval, and to receive state and federal funding;
• It suggests how funds available for programming will be divided.

DISCUSSION:

On December 17, 2003 MTC adopted regional investment policies for the Transportation 2030 Plan.  These policies determine what VTA has available for future programming in Santa Clara County.  VTA, as the Congestion Management Agency for Santa Clara County and as a major transit operator in the region, has participated at the MTC Partnership level to help guide the definition of the policies.

For its 2005 RTP, MTC has estimated total revenues of $108 billion (2004 $):

• $85.8 billion (79 percent) are for operations and maintenance of the existing transit and local streets and roads system.  These revenues include gas tax subventions to cities and counties and dedicated transit revenues such as Transit Development Act (TDA) funds and Federal Transit Formula funds. 
• $13.8 billion (13 percent) cover existing commitments as defined by MTC.  It is a limited set of projects meeting specified criteria.
• $200 million (< 1%) is for regional operations projects, including Translink, TravInfo, 511, Freeway Incident Management, Regional Rideshare, Arterial Signal Timing, Technical Assistance programs and Congestion Management Agency Land Use Planning efforts.
• The balance of $8.8 billion (8 percent) is available for discretionary investments.  These consist mainly of future Federal Flexible Program funds such as the Surface Transportation Program (STP), Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and revenues from the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).

Attachment A includes more detail on each of these categories.  The following chart graphically presents the breakdown of the T2030 fund estimates and the limited amount of funding available for discretionary investments.

Of the $8.8 billion in discretionary funding, $1.462 billion is available for the VTA Board to allocate to projects in Santa Clara County.  Of this $1.462 billion, MTCs policies restrict $381.3 million to transit capital replacement, road rehabilitation, and the countys share of the Transportation Livable Communities/Housing Incentive Program (TLC/HIP) as shown below.  

  The Transit Capital Shortfall amount shown in the above table consists of Santa Clara Countys share of the $1.07 billion BART capital shortfall.  This share is calculated based on the population of Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara, and the BART extension becoming operational in 2015.

The remaining amount available for the VTA Board of Directors to allocate to VTP 2030 program areas at its discretion is $1.081 billion.  Of this $1.081 billion, $426 million comes from the Proposition 42 (Prop 42) increment to the STIP.  For comparison, the Board had $1.157 billion available for distribution to the VTP 2020 program areas in the 2001 RTP.  The 2001 RTP did not include Prop 42 monies since Prop 42 was passed by the voters after adoption of the 2001 RTP.

The TLC/HIP program and the Local Streets and Roads Shortfall correspond to programs that the VTA Board of Directors established in VTP 2020.  The TLC/HIP program is VTP 2020s Livable Communities and Pedestrian Program.  The Local Streets and Roads Rehabilitation shortfall will be part of the VTP 2020 Pavement Management program.  The remaining $1.081 billion is what the Board has available to distribute to the other VTP 2020 programs such as the Freeways, Expressways, Local Streets and Roads, Bicycles, Sound Barriers, and Landscaping/Graffiti abatement and to potentially allocate additionally to the Livable Communities and Pedestrian program or the Pavement Management program.

While the Board can also use part of the $1.081 billion to increase the VTP 2030 commitment to Livable Communities, Pavement Management and Bicycles beyond MTCs requirements, a 2001 Measure passed by Santa Clara County voters does not allow the VTA Board to program discretionary funds to transit projects.  Funds generated by Prop 42 could be considered to be exempt from this limitation.  The current Prop 42 estimate of $426 million is approximately 40% of the unrestricted discretionary funding available to the VTA Board of Directors.   

VTP 2030 will include planning for the sales tax funds that will be collected by 2000 Measure A.  These are currently projected at $4.232 billion (2003 $).  These funds are restricted to the transit projects and activities specified in the 2000 Measure.

CONTACT THE BOARD SECRETARY'S OFFICE FOR CHART AND ATTACHMENT.

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