May 14, 2009
Under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi, the New Direction Congress has created unprecedented rules for transparency of community funding requests by Members of Congress.
As part of this commitment to accountability and transparency, Chairman Oberstar of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has established stringent new requirements for Members’ transportation priorities. The new requirements will demonstrate that the transportation initiatives have strong local and state support, and are completed in a timely manner.
Members are required to provide comprehensive information on each transportation priority request. All transportation priority requests must:
Members are required to certify that neither the Member nor his or her spouse has a financial interest in the requested transportation priority, and Members are required to post their transportation priority funding requests on their websites.
In order to ensure the highest level of transparency and accountability, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will provide the US Department of Transportation at least 20 days to review all transportation priority requests to ensure that they meet program eligibility criteria, and will post a list of all Member transportation priority requests on the committee website, along with all Member letters certifying that they do not have a financial interest in the initiative.
Below are Speaker Pelosi's funding requests for the new surface transportation legislation that will replace the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). Twelve of the 15 transportation priority requests were submitted by the Mayor of San Francisco to meet high priority local needs.
Curb Ramps for Pedestrian and Disability Access
Recipient: San Francisco Department of Public Works
Address: 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, City Hall Room 348, San Francisco, CA 94102
Amount: $7,000,000
This initiative will improve pedestrian safety by constructing new curb ramps and replacing hazardous or damaged curb ramps at pedestrian crosswalks. Many San Francisco street corners have no curb ramps at all, and many corners have curb ramps that are too steep or too narrow. These physical barriers segregate and isolate people with disabilities, inhibiting their potential to participate in and contribute to the broader community. Without curb ramps, many wheelchair users resort to using the street, risking significant injury. New curb ramps will include detectable warnings surfaces that alert Blind and Low-Vision pedestrians that they are entering an area with vehicular traffic. This request is for a specific segment of a twenty-year program to construct new curb ramps around the city; covering seven percent of the 20,541 corners in San Francisco that need new ramps.
Doyle Drive Replacement—South Access to Golden Gate Bridge
Recipient: San Francisco County Transportation Authority
Address: 100 Van Ness Avenue, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102
Amount: $49,000,000
The Federal Highway Administration ranks Doyle Drive as the fifth worst bridge in the nation and the worst in California for structural sufficiency. Built in 1936 to provide southern access to the Golden Gate Bridge, Doyle Drive is reaching the end of its useful life. The lack of shoulders and the absence of a dividing median create dangerous operating conditions that often result in serious accidents. In addition, Doyle Drive is the only link between the San Francisco peninsula and northern California counties, and is therefore designated as a Post Disaster Recovery Route. The proposed new south access will eliminate these dangerous conditions for the 100,000 drivers and 18,000 transit riders who use Doyle Drive every day. This initiative will replace this aging structure with a new parkway connecting San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Presidio, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Design began in 2007. FHA issued a Record of Decision in December 2008. Construction is expected to begin in 2010 and be completed by 2014.
Geary Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit
Recipient: San Francisco County Transportation Authority
Address:100 Van Ness Avenue, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102
Amount: Renewal of “New Starts” authorization
Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a quick and relatively inexpensive way to speed up buses and make service more reliable and comfortable. This initiative will include bus-only lanes, passenger shelters with signs giving real-time bus arrival information, fare machines, and priority for buses at traffic signals. The request is for renewal of the New Starts authorization obtained for the Transportation Priority in SAFETEA-LU, which will allow for future funding to be obtained through the appropriations process. The New Starts program provides funding for capital investments in fixed-guideway transit systems, including rail and BRT. Geary Boulevard, a key east-west transportation corridor in the heart of San Francisco, serves as a major multimodal thoroughfare, with over 55,000 transit riders daily, over 30,000-65,000 daily auto trips depending on the location within the corridor, and thousands of pedestrian and bicycle trips. BRT will improve travel times and reliability in the portion of Geary Boulevard between the Transbay Transit Center in the east (at First and Mission Streets) and 33rd Avenue in the west. Special focus will be on the segment located west of Van Ness Avenue, which is the most congested portion of the corridor. Final design is expected in the fall of 2012, with completion in 2013 or 2014.
Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit
Recipient: Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, and Transportation District
Address: P.O. Box 9000, Presidio Station, San Francisco, CA 94129
Amount:$115,000,000
Since opening in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge has served as a critical link in California’s highway system and an engine of economic vitality for the San Francisco Bay Area. This dramatic suspension bridge is also one of the best-known landmarks in the United States, visited by millions of people from around the world each year. The span is crossed by more than 39 million vehicles annually, as well as by bicyclists and pedestrians. The seismic retrofit is being constructed in three phases; the first two phases have been completed. This request is for Phase 3B, which includes retrofit of the 4,200 foot-long main span, the two 746 foot-tall towers, and the south tower pier. The retrofit design maintains the aesthetic and historic integrity of the bridge while strengthening the structure to withstand a major nearby earthquake or terrorist attack. Currently, the bridge could fail during an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or greater on the San Andreas or Hayward faults. Once completed, the span will be able to withstand a nearby earthquake of 8.3 magnitude.
Golden Gate National Parks Trails, Bikeways, and Transit Connections at the Presidio
Recipient: Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Address: Building 201, Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 94123
Amount: $1,500,000
Parks Conservancy programs engage more than a million visitors, 20,000 volunteers and 16,000 school children annually. "Trails Forever" is a long-term, park-wide initiative, done in partnership with the Presidio Trust and the National Park Service, to revitalize, realign, enhance, and maintain the 150 miles of trails in the Golden Gate National Parks. By dramatically improving trails, bikeways, trailheads, transit connections, and park amenities, Trails Forever is making the parks more accessible and sustainable. This initiative will realign and rehabilitate the California Coastal Trail and connectors at the Presidio. It will also enhance active links between public transit and these park sites, improving accessibility for urban and underserved communities.
Hunters Point Shipyard/Candlestick Point Roadway Improvement
Recipient: San Francisco Department of Public Works
Address: 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, City Hall Room 348, San Francisco, CA 94102
Amount: $20,000,000
Since its closure by the US Navy in 1974, the Hunters Point Shipyard has been a neglected and contaminated neighbor to the Bayview/Hunters Point community. The City and County of San Francisco has been working for more than 15 years to transform the former Hunters Point Shipyard into a source of jobs and economic development, parks and affordable housing for the community. Hunters Point Shipyard-Candlestick Point development covers approximately 700 acres along the southeastern waterfront of San Francisco. The development will create new high-density, mixed-use neighborhoods, including more than 10,000 new residential homes, 30 percent at below market rates, and millions of square feet of commercial and retail space, including 2,500,000 sq. ft. of “green” office, research and development uses on the Shipyard oriented around a life science and technology campus. This initiative will construct roadways and related new infrastructure from US 101 through Candlestick Point to Hunters Point Shipyard from the north and south, providing access to the new neighborhoods and also relieving congestion within existing southeastern neighborhoods of San Francisco.
Hunters Point Shipyard/Candlestick Point Transit Corridor
Recipient: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Address: 1 South Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110
Amount: $4,500,000
Since its closure by the US Navy in 1974, the Hunters Point Shipyard has been a neglected and contaminated neighbor to the Bayview/Hunters Point community. The City and County of San Francisco has been working for more than 15 years to transform the former Hunters Point Shipyard into a source of jobs and economic development, parks and affordable housing for the community. The Hunters Point Shipyard-Candlestick Point development covers approximately 700 acres along the southeastern waterfront of San Francisco. The development will create new high-density, mixed-use neighborhoods, including more than 10,000 new residential homes, 30 percent at below market rates, and millions of square feet of commercial and retail space, including 2,500,000 sq. ft. of “green” office, research and development uses on the Shipyard oriented around a life science and technology campus.
This request is for designing and constructing the primary transit corridor to serve Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard, the Geneva Harney Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Corridor, which will include bus lanes, passenger shelters, real-time bus arrival information, right-of-ways that could be used for rail transit in the future, and intermodal station facilities to improve linkages to BART, T-Third light rail, Caltrain and several local Muni and SamTrans bus lines. This initiative will increase transit access to the economically-challenged neighborhoods of Visitacion Valley and the Bayview, providing direct access to BART, Caltrain and ferry service.
San Francisco Ferry Terminal Improvements
Recipient: San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Agency
Address: Pier 9, Suite 111, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111
Amount: $15,000,000
WETA is a regional agency authorized by the State of California to develop and operate a comprehensive San Francisco Bay Area public water transit system. A state-approved plan requires WETA to add eight new routes plus improve service on the Bay Area's existing ferry systems. Expansion of the regional ferry service will triple ridership from 4 million to 12 million commuters per year by 2025. The overall effort includes construction of three new ferry berthing facilities to serve Treasure Island and other new WETA routes. The requested funding is for one new ferry berth and related landside improvements at the San Francisco Terminal Building, including a fixed pier, gangway and float for vessel to tie up to; the landside improvements include a covered walkway, waiting area, signage, bus waiting area, and ticketing facilities.
SFgo Transportation Management System for Technology and Safety Improvements
Recipient: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Address: 1 South Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110
Amount: $20,000,000
A large percentage of the City's traffic signal infrastructure is obsolete and in decay. SFgo is the City's new Integrated Transportation Management System. Travelers can expect signals that respond to the actual volume of traffic and presence of transit vehicles on a roadway, increased safety by faster response of City personnel clearing an incident and emergency vehicle preemption signals, real-time information on travel conditions and improved coordination between all modes of transportation. Funds are requested to install new traffic signal controllers and transit priority technology designed to minimize transit delays. Specifically, new signal controllers will be installed at 70 percent of the intersections that need them, replacing traffic signal controllers and cabinets at 800 intersections. This investment will avoid potential service degradations resulting from traffic signal failures and advance the City's "Transit First" policy by always providing green signals to transit.
SFMTA Central Control and Communications Radio Interoperability
Recipient: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Address: 1 South Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110
Amount: $10,000,000
The Central Control and Communications Radio Interoperability initiative will upgrade and improve radio communications throughout the Municipal Railway (Muni) system by replacing severely outdated technology with a modern and efficient communications system. The Transportation Priority request will improve communications among Muni, the Department of Parking and Traffic along with first responders (fire, police and public safety personnel) and the City’s critical infrastructure entities, including the Port of San Francisco, Public Works, Public Utilities Commission, and Public Health. This request is for the cost to connect the city-wide emergency radio system to the Muni system to provide interoperability amongst all City departments.
Third Street Light Rail – Central Subway
Recipient: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Address: 1 South Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94110
Amount: $20,000,000 and renewal of “New Starts” authorization
Adding light rail service to the southeastern portion of San Francisco is critical to reconnecting communities that for many years could only rely on bus service. This effort is being constructed in two phases. Phase 1, a surface light rail line with 18 stops, was funded almost exclusively with state and local funds and began service in April 2007. Phase 2 will extend this light rail line through San Francisco's South of Market area and the downtown-Union Square shopping district into the heart of Chinatown. Once complete, the line is projected to carry over 78,000 riders per day. A Record of Decision was received from FTA on November 26, 2008. Funds are requested for continued preliminary engineering and design work now underway. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency anticipates requesting entry into Final Design in November 2009. The request is also for renewal of the New Starts authorization obtained for the Third Street Light Rail-Central Subway in SAFETEA-LU. The New Starts program provides funding for capital investments in fixed-guideway transit systems.
Transbay Bus-Rail Transit Center and Caltrain Downtown Extension (Phase 1)
Recipient: Transbay Joint Powers Authority
Address: 201 Mission Street, Suite 2100, San Francisco, CA 94105
Amount: $75,000,000
The Transbay Transit Center/Caltrain Downtown Extension is headed by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA), a public entity. The purpose of the TJPA is to design, build, operate and maintain the new Transbay Transit Center and associated facilities in downtown San Francisco, including the extension of the Caltrain commuter rail 1.3 miles into the new Transit Center and accommodations for future California High-Speed Rail. The joint bus-rail facility will link eight Bay Area counties through service from nine different transit systems, making transit connections between all points in the Bay Area faster and more convenient. Once completed, the Transbay Transit Center/Caltrain Downtown Extension Program will serve 29 million passengers a year, making it a national model for multi-modal hubs and transit-oriented development (TOD). Phase 1 will replace the current San Francisco Transbay Terminal and construct a new, modern, green, multi-modal, regional Transbay Transit Center on the site of the present Transbay Terminal. The project broke ground in November 2008, with Phase 1 completion scheduled in 2014.
Transbay Bus-Rail Transit Center and Caltrain Downtown Extension (Phase 2)
Recipient: Transbay Joint Powers Authority
Address: 201 Mission Street, Suite 2100, San Francisco, CA 94105
Amount: Renewal of “New Starts” authorization
The Transbay Transit Center/Caltrain Downtown Extension is headed by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA), a public entity. The purpose of the TJPA is to design, build, operate and maintain the new Transbay Transit Center and associated facilities in downtown San Francisco, including the extension of the Caltrain commuter rail 1.3 miles into the new Transit Center and accommodations for future California High-Speed Rail. The joint bus-rail facility will link eight Bay Area counties through service from nine different transit systems, making transit connections between all points in the Bay Area faster and more convenient. Once completed, the Transbay Transit Center/Caltrain Downtown Extension Program will serve 29 million passengers a year, making it a national model for multi-modal hubs and transit-oriented development (TOD). Phase 2 of the Transbay Transit Center will accommodate the San Francisco terminus of high speed rail, as well as extending Caltrain commuter rail service from its current San Francisco terminus at Fourth and King Streets to a new underground terminus underneath the new Transbay Transit Center. Construction is scheduled to start in 2011.
Van Ness Avenue Bus Rapid Transit
Recipient: San Francisco County Transportation Authority
Address: 100 Van Ness Avenue, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102
Amount: “Small Starts” authorization
Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a quick and relatively inexpensive way to speed up buses and make service more reliable and comfortable. Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit will include dedicated transit lanes, sheltered passenger stations, and traffic management systems to reduce delays at traffic signals. The Small Starts program allows for future funding to be obtained through the appropriations process for capital investments in rail transit or bus rapid transit systems that are smaller than New Starts, using a simplified evaluation process. Van Ness Avenue is State Route 101, connecting the North Bay to central San Francisco on a two-mile stretch of dense, mixed-use areas. This route supports transit operation for local (Muni) and regional (Golden Gate Transit) transit services. Bus rapid transit will operate along the two-mile stretch of Van Ness Avenue between Mission and Lombard Streets, then continue to major institutional destinations and regional connections. Completion of final design is expected in December of 2011, with construction completed December 2012.
Yerba Buena—Treasure Island Highway Ramps
Recipient: San Francisco County Transportation Agency
Address: 100 Van Ness Avenue, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102
Amount: $30,000,000
Yerba Buena Island, which is part of the City and County of San Francisco, connects the western and eastern spans of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Treasure Island, lying adjacent to Yerba Buena, is an artificial island that was created in the 1930s for an international exposition and later became part of a naval base. It was decommissioned in 1996 and is slated for environmental cleanup and development. Currently, the on- and off-ramps connecting Yerba Buena Island to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge/Interstate 80 have accident rates that exceed state averages by 2-3 times. The improvements to the ramps will provide safe and reliable connections for the traveling public. Additionally, the Yerba Buena Island bridges require rehabilitation to be appropriate connections to the structure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. This specific funding request is for Phase One of safety improvements to the interchange on Interstate 80 at Yerba Buena Island that would make improvements to the ramp structures connecting the island to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Eastern Span Seismic Safety Project and two to three of the eight bridge structures connecting Interstate 80 to Treasure Island Road.