BOARD MEETING DATE: February 1, 2008
AGENDA NO. 31
PROPOSAL:
Approve Comment Letter on Southern California Association of Governments 2008 Draft Regional Transportation Plan
SYNOPSIS:
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has released for review and comment the Draft 2008 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The $569 billion, multi-modal plan outlines the transportation action plan policies, strategies, and projects to occur in the SCAG region over the next 30 years. The 2008 RTP will form the basis that the next AQMP revision will rely on. Staff has prepared a draft comment letter on the RTP focusing on air quality related transportation issues.
COMMITTEE:
Mobile Source, January 18, 2008; Recommend Letter to be Reviewed by Governing Board
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Approve comment letter to the Draft 2008 Regional Transportation Plan, and direct staff to submit the comment letter to SCAG.
Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer
Background
The Southern California Association of Governments’ Draft 2008 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) is a $569 billion multi-modal 30-year plan for transportation investments in the SCAG region. The RTP is a required document for the region to qualify for future federal, state, and local funding projects. The topics included in the document are as follows:
- Aviation and Ground Access Improvements
- Environmental Mitigation
- Goods Movement System
- High-Speed Regional Transport
- Highways and Arterials
- Land Use/Growth Forecast
- Non-Motorized Transportation
- Public Transit
- Transportation Finance
- Transportation Safety and Security
The Draft RTP consists of two sections: a financially constrained plan and a strategic plan. The constrained plan includes strategies that have been committed, are available, or have reasonable available revenue sources; while the strategic plan identifies additional needs that require further study and consensus to be built in order to commit funds for these needs to be included as projects in a future RTP constrained plan. The constrained plan must show that it meets “transportation conformity”. Conformity, as it relates to the State Implementation Plan (SIP), means that transportation activities will not cause new air quality violations, worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of the relevant National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). To meet the requirements for a positive conformity finding the RTP must pass tests and analyses for the following:
- Regional Emission Analysis
- Timely Implementation of Transportation Control Measures (TCMs) Analysis
- Financial Constraint Analysis
- Interagency Consultation and Public Involvement Analysis
Challenges identified in the plan include population increases, air quality, energy, congestion, aging infrastructure, growth in goods movement, aviation capacity constraints and financing. The SCAG region continues to have the worst air quality in the nation. Significant emission reductions, on all pollutants, but especially of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), will be needed to meet the federal annual and 24-hour PM2.5 and 8-hour ozone standards, necessitating an aggressive retrofit and fleet turnover effort toward ultra-low and zero emission mobile source technologies. Specifically, to meet the ozone standard in the South Coast Air Basin, in addition to the sizeable emission reductions called for by the defined control resources, the 2007 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) includes undefined long-term “black box” measures for additional reductions of approximately 200 tons per day of nitrogen oxides (NOx). The Air Resources Board (ARB), AQMD, and SCAG are collaborating on a white paper that will identify strategies to address the shortfall issues.
Transportation strategies in the Draft RTP propose to make the most of the existing system, reduce VMT, concentrate new development along existing and planned transportation corridors and offer alternatives to solo occupancy commutes. The Draft RTP includes HOV lane and connector projects, mixed flow lane additions, toll and HOT Lane facilities, transit expansion, commuter rail, increased rail track capacity, grade separation projects, dedicated truck lanes, airport decentralization, high speed rail, and a freight component.
The Draft RTP expenditures are primarily directed to capital projects (52% or $294 billion) and operation and maintenance for transit (29% or $164 billion). The leading revenue source is from local funds (51% or $288 billion). New revenue sources (27% or $156 billion) have been identified and include value capture strategies, local option sales tax extensions, user fees, state and federal gas excise tax adjustments, and private equity participation. Overall, the Draft RTP is to achieve an 8% increase in vehicle travel speeds, an 18% reduction in delays, reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, and help meet air quality mandates.
Summary of AQMD Comment Letter to the Draft 2008 Regional Transportation Plan
AQMD’s comment letter to SCAG applauds the draft RTP’s focus on achievement of air quality and transportation goals for our region. The letter surfaces issues pertaining to Tier 4 locomotives, High Speed Regional Transport and Strategic Land Use/Growth Vision. In summary, the comment letter strongly recommends further consideration of rail electrification as a supplement to deployment of Tier 4 engines for locomotives. While the existence of High Speed Regional Transport (HSRT) for goods, aviation and passengers would provide the throughput needed by our region, it is a longer term strategy that is not clearly presented relative to its implementation (i.e., funding mechanism, schedule, and air quality impacts). Our comments also highlight concerns regarding impacts of the draft Plan’s proposed projects in Environmental Justice and other residential areas that may be disproportionately impacted by well intentioned land use and rail enhancement strategies. In the broader perspective, the letter speaks to ensuring consistency between the draft Plan and the 2007 AQMP and a stronger emphasis for electrification on other zero and near-zero emission technologies as to be reflected in the upcoming white paper addressing long term “black box” strategies for our region’s attainment demonstration. A stronger emphasis on reducing global climate change pollutants is also encouraged consistent with AB 32.
Proposal
The AQMD staff recommends that the Board approve the comment letter to the Draft 2008 Regional Transportation Plan, and direct AQMD staff to submit the comment letter to SCAG. Please note that AQMD staff will be meeting with SCAG staff prior to the end of the public comment period to discuss the draft RTP.
Attachments (EXE 570kb)
- AQMD Comment Letter on Southern California Association of Governments Draft 2008 Regional Transportation Plan
- 2008 Regional Transportation Plan Executive Summary