Transit Capital Summit
Summit Fosters Productive Analysis of State Funding
Nearly 150 people attended the Transit Capital Summit in October 16 in Sacramento, co-hosted by the California Transit Association and the California Transportation Commission. The event brought together representatives from transit systems and both state and regional government agencies, as well as a number of legislative staff members and transit advocates.
Also in attendance was Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), Chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing, and an ex-officio member of the CTC. The senator was among many who praised the event as a unique and enlightening opportunity to learn more about the challenges presented by the complex system of state transit funding.
The group spent the morning learning the nuts and bolts of public transportation operations, and how transit capital projects are planned, programmed and funded. The afternoon roundtable session involved discussions on developing possible solutions for future transit capital funding at the state level.
In addition to Executive Director Joshua Shaw, presenters representing members of the Association included Michael Wiley of Sacramento Regional Transit, Michael Scanlon of the San Mateo County Transit District/Caltrain, Carl Sedoryk of Monterey-Salinas Transit, David Yale of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Les White of the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District. Along with Shaw, the event was co-facilitated by John Barna, Executive Director of the CTC. Participants also included CTC Commissioners John Chalker, Lucetta Dunn, James Earp, James Ghielmetti, Joseph Tavaglione and Larry Zarian.
A highlight of the day was luncheon speaker Elizabeth Deakin, Professor of City and Regional Planning and Urban Design, and Director of the University of California Transportation Research Center. Her talk on "The Challenge of Urban Transportation in California" illuminated the many obstacles and opportunities faced by transit providers in the pursuit of full-fledged 21st Century efficiency.
At the conclusion of discussion sessions, a task force comprised of regional agencies, transit systems and others was designated to develop an action plan regarding implementation of some of the recommendations that resulted from the discussions. The task force is to be staffed by personnel from the Association, the Commission and the State Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
Click here to view the agenda for the Summit.
Click below to view PDF versions of the Power Point files used in some of the presentations.
How Transit Funding Works
Joshua W. Shaw, Executive Director, California Transit Association