San Mateo County's Measure W/A Strategic Plan Update

Written by Sandhya Laddha, San Mateo County Advocate with edits by Emma ShlaesUPDATE 10/24/19: SMCTA has updated the draft strategic plan after hearing our comments and other stakeholder feedback. See below for more info.We are about to mark the one-year anniversary of the passage of Measure W. Over this year, SVBC has been working with San Mateo County Transportation Authority (SMCTA) staff and Board, and allies and partners from TEAMC (Transportation Equity Allied Movement) and the Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG) on the Strategic Plan for implementation of the funding measure. The TA staff released the Draft Strategic Plan 2020-2024 on October 14, 2019 after presenting it to the Stakeholder group and the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) for their input and recommendations. It will be presented to the Board in December for approval. Please provide your input via the links at the bottom of this blog.We would like to thank the SMCTA Board and staff for their detailed work of bringing all the pieces of Measure W principles, components of Measure A, and the numerous feedback they have received together to form this Draft Strategic Plan. Agency staff have also worked with us to hear and incorporate our ideas, concerns, and recommendations over the last several months. This plan will outline how the TA will make investment decisions over the next five years for the funds from Measures A and W that it is responsible for administering, including the process for how projects will be evaluated and prioritized.  These decisions will have a major impact on transportation funding in this County.The graphic below is an attempt to briefly describe the proposed process for scoring projects in the Draft Strategic Plan.Overall, we think the Plan is going in a good direction. Each funding category has criteria that align with the core principles that were approved by the public (that’s you!) as part of the Measure W ballot measure. Those core principles include reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled, incorporating Complete Streets and stormwater features, and incentivizing biking, walking, and transit over driving alone. If a project meets criteria that align with those principles, it will receive more points, making it more competitive for the limited funding available. We’ve worked hard to ensure that freeway widening or other projects that encourage more driving receive less points/are less competitive.We also have a few recommendations which we have also shared with the SMCTA board and staff, hoping they will consider and accommodate the same in the final Strategic Plan. We have submitted this letter along with many other organizations in the area as a part of TEAMC.On Tuesday, October 22 SVBC participated in the Stakeholder Advisory Group meeting at which SMCTA staff provided updates to the draft strategic plan. Below are our recommendations in brief and in italics is the most recent update as of 10/24/19:

1. In regard to breakdown of points in project scoring, there is far too much emphasis on criteria that have little or nothing to do with the Measure W Principles. We recommend cutting Readiness and Funding leverage in half in each of the funding categories. - SMCTA proposes to reduce the number of points in Readiness from 20 to 15 in every category. This means that in all categories, Readiness and Funding accounts for only 25% of the total score. Thanks!
2. We would like stronger emphasis on social equity by allotting at least 10 points for this criterion across all funding categories. - Currently “serves low income, transit depending, and/or other vulnerable populations” accounts for 3-5 points out of 100 in the different funding categories.
3. Travel time savings as a metric should be focused on high occupancy (3+) modes and active transportation rather than solo vehicles.
4. We propose the TA or related agency providing Complete Streets training to all project sponsors so that cities understand how to score well/meet core principles in this for local roads, highways, grade separations, and more.– SMCTA is proposing to provide technical assistance to jurisdictions in every category. Particularly, they are excited about offering a Complete Streets training.
5. Lastly, we are very much interested in the process to score and approve projects once the Strategic Plan is passed. In particular, we’d like to see a diverse oversight committee as well as accountability that funding complies with the core principles approved in the ballot measure.
6. SMCTA is proposing boosting the level of the core principle “Maximize traffic reduction associated with creation of housing in high quality transit corridors” from low to medium across all categories.

Thanking all the TA Board and Staff once again for considering our comments and we look forward to a continued dialogue to ensure Measure A/W Strategic Plan is able to deliver the kind of visionary performance-oriented spending intended by the measure’s Guiding Principles.

Action

1. Now, the the Draft Plan is open for comment until November 15, 2019. Based on our thoughts above, and your assessment, please provide feedback here.
2. The TA will also be presenting information on the Draft Plan at an online Virtual Town Hall on Monday, November 4, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Register here.