Hi JMC, Here's an analysis of the bond proposed for the November ballot from John Holtzclaw. I can't forward it to the TWG from my yahoo account. Sue

SB 1266 Transportation Bond, November 2006 ballot

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General Problem: Primary beneficiaries who could pay do not pay. More highways and less direct pricing increase congestion, air pollution, global warming, fossil fuel dependency, and foreign oil dependency. Other nations have more real wealth with less oil consumption using direct pricing, restricted road capacity, land use, and transit.

Funding Category                         Amount ($m) Percent of total Corridor Mobility Selected by the California Transportation Commission and subject to the north/south split, pursuant to Section 188 of the Streets and Highways Code.     $   4,500 State Route 99     $   1,000 State Transportation Improvement Program (some transit)    $   2,000 Local Streets and Roads     $   2,000 State Highway Operation and Protection Program     $      500 Local Streets and Road ITS     $      250 State-Local Partnership Program     $   1,000 Goods Movement [Truck %?]     $   2,000 Highway-Railroad Grade Separations     $      250 Local Match for Bridge Seismic Retrofit     $      125 Total     $ 13,625    68%      The above primarily subsidize personal travel, trucking, gasoline consumption and congestion; should be paid for by fuel tax and bridge tolls

Air Quality - Goods movement     $   1,000 Air Quality - School Bus Diesel Retrofit     $      200 Total    $   1,200    6%     These may be justified by reduced pollution, but probably could be paid for by fuel tax.

Public Transportation Modernization, Improvement and Service Enhancement distributed according to the State Transit Assistance formula     $   3,600 Intercity Rail     $      400 Total    $   4,000    20%     We need evidence on cost-effectiveness, ridership, cost per new rider, income of riders served, fare recovery, coordination with land use, signalization, drive-alone traffic, and parking policies.

Transit Security    $   1,000    5%     We need evidence of security effectiveness as compared to paranoia based spending. Funds might be better spent on helping schools deal with gangs.

Port Security     $     100     0.5%     Some high tech equipment seems worth getting, but shippers should pay for it.

Total     $ 19,925    100%

-- Sherman Lewis, Professor Emeritus, California State University, Hayward 510-538-3692; sherman.lewis@csueastbay.edu; www.quarryvillage.org

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