Welcome to the Plan Bay Area 2050 newsletter!
Here’s what is coming up this month...
Special Note: Long-Range Planning Continues Despite COVID-19
While the Bay Area continues to deal with COVID-19 along with the rest of the country and world, Gov. Newsom’s March 4 Safer at Home, Stay at Home order provided guidance as California continues to prepare for its future. Just as much of the business of government continues, the Order did not waive key deadlines established by federal and state laws for either Plan Bay Area 2050 or for the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process required by state law to take place every eight years. Addressing the Bay Area’s long-term housing, transportation, economic, and environmental challenges will remain a top priority after the current health emergency is over. MTC/ABAG work continues, and the agencies are engaging in remote participation in stakeholder meetings, as well as public engagement.
Still Time Remaining... Make Your Voice Heard on the Draft Blueprint through August 10!
As the Bay Area continues to contend with the coronavirus pandemic that requires residents to maintain physical distancing, MTC/ABAG is offering digital workshops to provide the public the ability to give input on the Plan Bay Area 2050 Draft Blueprint. The public is urged to weigh in by the end of the public comment period, Monday, August 10.
Released in early July, the Draft Blueprint serves as the “first draft” of Plan Bay Area 2050, weaving together strategies and an expanded set of growth geographies to advance critical climate and equity goals.
Designed to accommodate the 1.5 million new homes necessary to house future growth and address overcrowding, as well as 1.4 million new jobs, the Draft Blueprint integrates much-needed strategies to address our severe and longstanding housing crisis. The Draft Blueprint also features bold new strategies to reduce roadway fatalities and carbon emissions, while integrating a suite of investments on our region’s shorelines to protect from rising sea levels.
Seven virtual workshops and three telephone town halls were held in July, with three events remaining during the first week of August:
Commission Identifies Additional Transportation Strategies for Final Blueprint
At its July meeting, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission approved a set of expanded transportation strategies for the Plan Bay Area 2050 Final Blueprint. New and notable strategies being advanced via the Final Blueprint phase include:
Accelerate Restoration of Transit Operations to 2019 Levels.
Improve Interchanges and Address Highway Bottlenecks.
Enhance Local Transit Frequency, Capacity, and Reliability.
Expand and Modernize the Regional Rail Network.
Build an Integrated Regional Express Lane and Express Bus Network.
Notably, many of these investments rely upon an accelerated regional “megameasure” for transportation, as well as pricing strategies on key freeway corridors in the years ahead. Among other projects, these strategies enable the advancement of Valley Link between Dublin/Pleasanton and the Central Valley and the construction of the Caltrain Downtown Extension as part of a broader investment in a New Transbay Rail Crossing.
What’s Next – Final Blueprint and Implementation Plan
Input from this round of public engagement will inform strategy revisions for the Plan Bay Area 2050 Final Blueprint, which is slated to be presented for approval to the Commission and ABAG Executive Board in September 2020.
Before the Plan is adopted in 2021, MTC and ABAG, along with partner organizations, will also create the Plan Bay Area 2050 Implementation Plan that will advance the strategies outlined in the Final Blueprint. Upcoming RAWG meetings in fall 2020 and winter 2021 will focus on this next step of the planning process.
The Implementation Plan, which is an expanded version of the Action Plan pioneered in Plan Bay Area 2040, will not rest on ABAG’s and MTC’s shoulders alone, as many of the steps that will need to be taken will be outside the realm of the two agencies’ responsibilities. The Implementation Plan will require a shared commitment and sense of partnership among regional policymakers, local governments, partnership agencies and civic organizations. MORE INFO ▸
Receive the e-newsletter. Keep current on all that’s going on with MTC and ABAG’s ambitious planning initiative and sign up for updates.
