From: bm@bike2work.Eng.Sun.COM (Bill Michel)
Newsgroups: ba.transportation,ca.environment,alt.activism
Subject: Measure A : Transportation solution?
Date: 21 Jul 92 17:51:24 GMT
Reply-To: bm@bike2work.Eng.Sun.COM (Bill Michel)
Distribution: ba
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.  Mt. View, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: bike2work

There will be a ballot measure on the November ballot called
Measure A, which is a sales tax measure to finish the road
projects that the existing Measure A sales tax will not have
done by the time it expires in 1994.

There is quite a lot of money in the new measure A for transit,
and that is the bone that is being used to get people to vote
for the measure. While there are, I believe, some good arguments
in favor of the measure, I'd like to present the following
arguments *against* the measure, since these are not getting much
airplay in the mainstream media, and many of the groups who
might otherwise have opposed such a measure have been given
their individual "bones" in exchange for their support.

Bill


REASONS FOR OPPOSING MEASURE A+

1. The use of a sales tax to fund transit or road construction
is regressive. It is widely recognized that the only way to
reduce congestion and its attendant pollution problems is the
adoption of a market based transportation system which
correlates cost with use. A reasonable first step in this
direction is to fund transportation infrastructure through fuel
taxes and other user fees.

2. The Measure A+ transit plan is based on politics, not good
planning.  The expenditure plan in the measure identifies
specific corridors in which rail transit will be constructed.
The corridors listed were originally part of the County's T2010
transportation plan, created by politicians from the various
cities of the County. No professional transportation planners
were involved in the selection of corridors. The reports own
projections indicate the poor quality of the plan; predicting
that only 5% of all trips in the County will be made by transit
by the year 2010! We should build a transit system with a
minimum target of 25% of all trips.

3. The impact of the road projects in the measure are greatly
underestimated.  The completion of Highways 85 and 87 will
trigger new growth in South San Jose, and will encourage people
to drive, because "it is free", versus transit, for which you
must pay both parking, and fares. Decreases in air quality, and
increases in congestion, both on the freeways and on the surface
streets will be the ultimate result of these construction
projects.

4. Public (Transportation) Policy should be formulated in
public, not behind closed doors. The Santa Clara County
Manufacturing Group, the leading player in the so called
"citizens' coalition" which formulated Measure A+, has held all
of its meetings in private, inviting only select members of the
public. By formulating policy using such a "citizens' group",
the parties involved hoped to avoid the 2/3 majority vote
normally required to pass a tax measure (intitiatives require
only a simple majority).

Many of us were given the strong impression agreement with the
final measure was a precondition for attendance at these
meetings, despite recent protestations by SCCMG to the contrary.
One of the biggest problems with the development of
transportation policy is that it is very difficult for the
public to understand. Such an understanding is crucial, in order
that the public be enfranchised in the planning process, so that
the systems which are developed meet the public's needs. By
developing this measure in private, the public was not exposed
to all the issues affecting transportation policy, and is
therefore, unable to make intelligent & informed decisions.
Judging from the system we have in place today, transportation
policy is not something that can be left up to the politicians
(and/or local corporate "citizens").

The intention of the Brown Act is to prevent public policy from
being conducted behind closed doors. Representatives from the
cities, and the County were all encouraged to attend, yet the
public was not. While it may be that by not having a majority of
any one of these bodies present, the "citizens' coalition" may
have complied with the letter of the Brown Act, but the spirit
of the law has most certainly been compromised.

5. The Citizens' Oversight Committee, as set up in Measure A+
has extremely limited powers. The only explicit power given to
the Oversight Committee (on which the Sierra Club has one seat)
is the power to approve or veto amendments to the expenditure
plan, which first must be initiated by the Transportation
Authority (5 local elected officials). This so called "veto
power" that the "Citizens' Coalition" touts so highly has
absolutely no power to influence selection of staff, purchase of
equipment, influence routing decisions, etc. These powers are
granted solely to the Transportation Authority. Even the yearly
audit that the Citizens' Oversight Committee may perform must
first be approved by the Transportation Authority.

7. The Measure A+ sales tax will last for a period of 20 years.
Considering that the original Measure A lasted only 10 years,
and the Santa Clara County Transit District has only been in
existence for 18 years, we feel the magnitude & duration of this
Measure to be too great.

8. Details, Details. There has yet to be a full accounting of
how money will be spent, and on what schedule. There is no
guarantee, for example, that the road projects will not be
pursued first, leaving the funding of the transit projects to be
stretched out over a longer period, resulting in higher costs.

9. The transit section of Measure A+ will be operated by the
Santa Clara County Transportation Agency. This same county
agency has had significant problems operating existing
services.  It is questionable whether the SCCTA could operate
the proposed new systems on budget, again here accounting is
lacking. A competetive bid processs should be used to select the
operator of future rail lines.  Efficiency of operation might
only be achieved by such a public/private partnership.

10. The Measure includes no subvention of funds to local
jurisdictions. Unlike most other transportation measures,
Measure A+ fails to pass funds back to local juridictions
(cities and county) to support local projects. Typically such
local funds could be use to repair crumbling roads, operate
shuttle vehicles and fund bicycle and pedestrian improvements.

11. The Measure includes no commitment to corresponding land use
changes. Transit will not succeed without making corresponding
land use changes. Will cities allow clustered housing around
transit stations? Are developers willing to reduce the amount of
parking which currently surrounds office buildings? These and
other fundamental questions should be examined before the County
commits billions of dollars to a new transit system.

12. No provisions exist in the Measure to examine current
systems and implement improvements based  on feedback from
transit system users, and data collected in operating those
systems.
--
Bill Michel			
bm@eng.sun.com		These views are my own, not Sun's.
Newsgroups: ba.transportation