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| Saturday, February 21, 06:20:13pm | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: Lawmakers make push for transit billCALIFORNIA STANDS TO GET $25 BILLION OVER SIX YEARS | |
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Date Posted: Thursday, May 29, 06:11:51am In reply to: Visa Cash Solution for Public Transportation Bill Powell San Francisco CA USALast modified: 01/24/2001 06:07:41 PM 's message, "San Francisco--seperate file." on Saturday, April 05, 01:49:34am http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5966911.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ Posted on Thu, May. 29, 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------ Lawmakers make push for transit bill CALIFORNIA STANDS TO GET $25 BILLION OVER SIX YEARS By Putsata Reang Mercury News ------------------------------------------------------------ Against a backdrop of a new span of the Bay Bridge under construction, top House transportation officials touring the country's major transportation hubs made a stop Wednesday at the Port of Oakland to push for a bill that would guarantee more than $25 billion for California transportation projects over the next six years. ------------------------------------------------------------ Rep. Mike Honda, D-Campbell, said the money could be used for the BART-to-San Jose extension, increasing capacity on AC Transit or other projects that would get more people out of their cars. ------------------------------------------------------------ Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wis., chairman of the House Highways, Transit and Pipelines Subcommittee and Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., ranking member of the House Transportation Committee, took a helicopter tour of two congested areas -- Highway 4 in Contra Costa County and the interstates 80, 680 and Highway 12 junction near Fairfield -- to get a bird's-eye view of how traffic jams in one of the nation's key economic centers have all but choked commerce. ------------------------------------------------------------ Petri is drafting a $375 billion transportation package to fund highway and transit projects across the country before the law that provides federal funding for transit and highway construction and safety, known as TEA 21, expires Sept. 30. Under the proposal, California would receive $25.2 billion -- money that local legislators and transportation authorities say is badly needed. ------------------------------------------------------------ ``For years, transportation in California got the short end of the stick. That's changing,'' said Caltrans Director Jeff Morales. ------------------------------------------------------------ Projects on a local level such as the city of San Jose filling potholes to regional improvements such as the widening of Highway 101 would be funded, Morales said. ------------------------------------------------------------ Public transportation projects such as the San Jose BART extension would also receive a major boost. ------------------------------------------------------------ ``The amount of money it costs to sit on freeways is astronomical,'' Honda said. ``Convert that into quality of life and time away from family. We need to make sure a good quality of life is maintained.'' ------------------------------------------------------------ That lawmakers chose the Bay Area as a staging point to present the transportation proposal speaks to the region's importance both nationally and worldwide, Morales said. ------------------------------------------------------------ ``It underscores something unique we have here in California, which is the effect we have on a national level,'' Morales said. ``A truck that's stuck in traffic here has a ripple effect across the country.'' ------------------------------------------------------------ Those effects could prove economically calamitous. It means that stores in the Midwest and on the East Coast aren't getting their supplies, Morales said. He added that 60 per cent of imported goods shipped to Chicago come through California. ------------------------------------------------------------ Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, said the Port of Oakland is crucial to the country's economic prosperity. ------------------------------------------------------------ ``We are a vital nerve center,'' Tauscher said. ``This infrastructure we are building here is about the national economy.'' ------------------------------------------------------------ Contact Putsata Reang at preang@mercurynews.com or (510) 790-7312. ------------------------------------------------------------ [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
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| scheduled for the commission meeting on June 25th. | http://clearstation.etrade.com/cgi-bin/bbs?post_id=4466661 | Thursday, June 05, 09:20:13am |