"Should we use tax money" ..of course...start with some highway money...don't need more hiways with peak oil.
WTF do I know from BART? They are probably 10 bridges too far for me. Maybe 7. I'll think about it.* OTH, I do know my google.
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Increasing Job Losses in Orange County
...
Orange County joins the entire nation in rolling up our sleeves to help turn around the economy. We have shovel-ready transportation projects that qualify for the economic stimulus package’s No. 1 priority – creating jobs.
Unfortunately, the latest bill by Congress does not include sufficient funding for most of Orange County’s shovel-ready projects. That’s why we need your voice today to share with leaders in Washington, D.C. Fill out a comment online and send a letter to Congress. It will take just five minutes of your time, but may make a difference in delivering a lasting transportation solution for you and the rest of Orange County.
octa.net
FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION
FY 2003 SECTION 5309 NEW STARTS ALLOCATIONS
Orange County, California, Centerline Light Rail Project 1,475,374
fta.dot.gov
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whoops.. prolly a misuse of my money for a private venture...no wonder the roads are so good.
Orange County, Calif., Sierra Club Blasts Federal Funds for Toll Interchange.
Publication: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Date: Saturday, April 26 2003
By Nancy Luna, The Orange County Register, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Apr. 26--ALISO VIEJO, Calif.--The bulk of a new $8.5 million interchange on the San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road was paid for by federal grants typically used to pay for county and city road repairs, not toll projects.
BART Expansion Measure Still Too Close To Call
Friday, November 7, 2008
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Campaigners on both sides of San Jose's Measure B, which if passed would bring Bay Area Rapid Transit to the South Bay, remained hopeful Friday as Tuesday's election results were still too close to call and more than 150,000 ballots remained to be counted.
The 16.1-mile BART expansion project would run from Fremont to Santa Clara and add six stops to the line. The $6.1 billion project would also connect BART with Caltrain, the Altamont Commuter Express, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority lines and Amtrak.
Measure B proposes a one-eighth-cent sales tax increase to fund the expansion, which comes out to around $13 a year per resident, proponents said.
If the measure passes, the tax will only be collected if state and federal funding is in place. The tax would be in effect for 30 years and construction would begin in 2013 and end in 2017, according to the county.
Measure B Campaign spokesman Phil Yost said Thursday that votes in support of the measure, which requires two-thirds approval to pass, have been coming in more favorably as ballot counting continues.
"We have crept up a little bit each time they have released a new count," he said.
Yost said initial returns indicated about 65.6 percent of absentee voters voted in favor of Measure B. When more results were released Wednesday morning, about 67.7 percent of voters had approved the measure, bumping the average percentage to about 66.27, according to Yost.
Continued elections returns have bumped the percent of voters in favor of Measure B up to about 66.3 percent, where the results stood Thursday afternoon.
"There is an indication that these ballots that remain to be counted will be slightly more positive than the previous ones," Yost said. "They don't have to be wildly more positive for us, but we think if they are 67.9 percent for us we will get to our two-thirds."
Measure B campaigners expected the race to be tight, according to Yost.
"We knew that in this economy we were unlikely to have that kind of margin," he said. "We always figured it would be pretty close."
Michelle McGurk, a spokeswoman for San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, who co-chaired the campaign for Measure B, said the current trajectory of votes being counted in favor of Measure B is a positive sign for proponents.
"If that trajectory continues with the remaining ballots to be counted, Measure B has a great chance of passing," she said.
Reed has said the project would expand the county economy by $4.4 billion to $6.9 billion and add up to 5,700 permanent jobs.
McGurk said the expansion is already 80 percent funded and Measure B would mainly provide operating costs and ensure federal funding.
"We need Measure B to ensure that we can get the remaining 20 percent from the federal government," she said.
With more than 150,000 ballots uncounted, the mayor's office has remained hopeful but also kept in mind a backup plan to expand BART to the South Bay in increments.
"We will see how it plays out when all the votes are counted," McGurk said.
Opponents of Measure B have argued that the BART expansion will cost more than released estimates and the projected sales tax revenue will not cover costs.
Opponents organized in the group Citizens for Sensible Transportation: No on Measures B, C and D, have also remained hopeful, said Margaret Okuzumi of the No on B campaign said on Thursday.
"It's going to be close," Okuzumi said. "Since most of the votes have been counted ... it would have to swing very favorably toward them for them to change the outcome."
Okuzumi said problems with the BART expansion and other public transportation will continue despite election results.
"There is a real question for the (Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority) Board as it puts together a long range plan how to make the numbers work out in a realistic way," she said. "So whether we win or lose, VTA still faces some big decisions."
Copyright 2008 by KTVU.com and Bay City News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
ktvu.com
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BART has developed a System Expansion Policy that states goals and strategies for expanding the system including criteria for evaluating expansion opportunities.
The Planning Department at BART assesses strategic opportunities for system expansion by conducting corridor studies for future BART services, assessing alternative methods for expanding transit services in the region, completing assessments of environmental impacts of proposed projects, and analyzing opportunities for new stations on the existing system (infill stations).
Find out more about ongoing expansion planning projects in the following counties:
Alameda County
Contra Costa County
San Francisco City and County
San Mateo County
Santa Clara County
bart.gov
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Here's the map of da road to BART. I'll let you figure it out.
youtube.com
We're equal opportunity; Black Bart is between a couple of the bridges.
books.google.com |
