Tonight, Mountain View City Council will weigh in on the spending plan for the Santa Clara County transportation tax measure. Mountain View has been working with Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, and other cities in North and West County to have a stronger voice in what goes into the tax.

Good news – the staff recommendation includes a good package of Caltrain capacity improvements and grade separation funding, and caps funding for BART expansion at 20% (compared to 80% of the previous measures). However, the proposal includes $1.5Billion for expanding highways and expressways, and doesn’t allow the money to be spent to reduce corridor congestion by reducing solo driving and carbon emissions.

Here are some recommendations to adjust the proposal to better meet the needs of Mountain View and partner cities.

Expressways/highways – enable funding to be used to reduce congestion by reducing solo driving and carbon emissions
Expressways/highway expansion – reduce total amount
Local streets and roads – allow cities with good pavement conditions (including Mountain View) to use funding for other local projects
Congestion relief/transit/mode shift – increase total amount
Caltrain state of good repair – add back funding commitment
Bicycle/pedestrian – increase total amount

Reasoning for the proposed changes

Expressway/highways – flexible congestion reduction. During the discussion of the ballot measure, cities including Palo Alto and San Jose have expressed a desire to be able to reduce congestion on Expressway corridors through TDM measures. Unfortunately, the County Expressway plan currently allows only one tool – vehicle capacity expansion – to reduce congestion. This should be changed, allowing a variety of tools to be used for congestion relief, as appropriate for the specific corridor, prioritizing carbon reduction

Expressways/highway expansion – reduce total amount. State and regional policies are now discouraging highway expansion because research shows that increases vehicle capacity attracts drivers, so congestion relief is short-term; and carbon emissions are increased. County policies should follow state and regional policies rather than heading in the opposite direction.

Local streets and roads – return to source. While some cities, especially San Jose, have a deep backlog in street repaving, other cities including Mountain View and Palo Alto have local streets in good condition. Cities with well-maintained streets should be able to use the funding proportionately for other priorities

Congestion relief/transit/mode shift – increase. Increases in this category could support high-capacity transit to North Bayshore, 85/237 corridor congestion relief improvements recommended by studies, and increased transit frequency. VTA service levels today are 15% lower than they were in 2000 despite population growth. VTA is starting a major project to re-engineer its transit network, with the expert whose upgrade to Houston’s network increased ridership by 10% in the first 3 months. This program is likely to address valid North County concerns that poor network design underserves residents and commuters

Caltrain state of good repair – add back. VTA and Caltrain’s two other county partners decide every year whether to pay the maintenance bill. Some years they don’t, and trains break down more often. Support Caltrain’s recommendation that funding be used for a VTA commitment to pay the maintenance bill.

Share your thoughts with the Council

Come if you can to Mountain View City Hall, 500 Castro.. The meeting starts at 6:30pm, this agenda item will start at 7:30pm or later.

Or send comments in writing to the City Council:

“City Council, Mountain View” <citycouncil@mountainview.gov>
Pat Showalter <patshow4mv@gmail.com>,
“Clark, Chris” <chris.clark@mountainview.gov>,
Michael Kasperzak <mkasperzak@mediates.com>,
Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>,
John Inks <john.inks@mountainview.gov>,
john.mcalister@mountainview.gov,
Ken Rosenberg <mountainviewken@gmail.com>