of the country. i think that is a great opportunity that we have with this administration to have our programs support this and further it, not just by a sense of entitlement or money, but rather because they see the applicability of what we are doing, and they see us doing things that are a few years ahead of the norm. regarding my report, which is on your desk, i think that the biggest news of the week was already reported by the chair. the biggest piece of news

related to a.b. 105 is that it insures state transit assistance funds which can be used to support transit operations. this was a bill that passed with a great deal of bipartisan support, and it also bodes well for the ability of the station commission to more accurately predict -- with more certainty, anyway -- the amount of funding that is likely to be available in state transportation permit program cycle, which is under development right now. it is really key to supporting and honoring the commitments the state has made to several of our key projects. so this is really a very good piece of news. it also includes $1.7 billion in

general fund relief over the next couple of years, which is likely to improve the chances that the state will start approving disbursements of proposition 1a and 1b transportation bonds. as you may recall, the state decided to pass on the issuance of bonds, and a number of projects on the state depend on the funding, so this is actually a very good thing. on the central subway, you may recall that the last couple of months, we dealt with the need to plug -- i believe it was a $140 million budget hole in the project. in the process, we worked with the mta to structure a swap that involve a number of different funding programs, but particularly, proposition 1a and 1b state bonds.

so we were able to put together a packet of about $386 million, the majority being propositioned 1b, and then $61 million in the high-speed rail connectivity bonds. today, as far as the action to reaffirm the commitment to the presidio park way project, you are going to be approving a swap of almost $20 million in state local partnership funds that will then move to the central subway, freeing up some of the commitment the central subway had of regional improvement funds. that has turned out to be a better fit for both projects because it vacates a few questions that were raised about the eligibility of the parkway project for the state local partnership funds, and at the same time, makes funding

available to central subway sooner than otherwise we would have had. better market street -- we have an attitude under way. there is a danish firm that will be doing some surveys as part of the public space and public life study. there will be some of that activity happening on saturday. some of the schedule has been moved a little bit because of the rain. but very interesting work that i think will support creative thinking about how to make the better parts of better market street real. going to keep you posted on that. major milestone on the van ness bus rapid transit project. we have issued the administrative draft eir in absentia, because she is off on the east coast.

i want to congratulate our deputy -- and the entire staff, really -- for getting this thing ready and circulated to federal agencies and local agencies. it is a major milestone, and i expect after we incorporate comments from all these agencies, it public draft will be out sometime in april. we did have a presentation to the plans and programs committee on the outreach materials for this just last week. i joined commissioner avalos and mayor lee, and i had several of my staff and people from other agencies, and bart, on a very interesting field trip at the ballpark bart station -- the balboa park bart station where we had a chance to see the challenges there with pedestrian safety and connectivity and so

on. i thought it was actually something we should do more often. i really appreciate commissioner avalos for taking the lead in making this happen. i thought the mayor was particularly interested in the details as well. we are now already working on several things that are follow- ups to that discussion. one of them is a caltrans planning grant that should be able to give us enough funding to set up a community advisory committee that would be staffed by mta. in addition to that, we intend to conduct a full of study, essentially focused on the prioritization of potential next generation improvements. there is a lot to be done there. but that is not a justification for not doing anything. so i'm glad we are finally moving on that. it is an area of tremendous potential.

there is also the opportunity to really revitalize a lot about housing in the upper yard area, resolving the issues that india may have with utilization of the land, but getting to reshaping that area as a true, bourbon, middle density area that is a lot more than it is today. the -- true, urban, middle density area ban -- that is a lot more than it is today. we closed just a few days ago. march 10 was the deadline for publication of these projects initially, and then the public has a deadline of march 24 to submit their ideas. let me just clarify -- this is the last shot. the first shot is potentially a multi-pronged process where mtc

needs an additional amount of feedback. we need additional feedback for the planned. the mtc will continue to look back product evaluations -- look back to project evaluations. that is all to say that there will be several bites at the apple for you here, and we have been scheduling already individual meetings with you or your staff to discuss priorities in your district and so on, with the caveat that the chair gave earlier that we are not likely to see huge amounts of money, so we need to be careful about how we prioritize. nevertheless, this is the time to put those things out. the mtc has released an initial vision scenario, which is more of the wish list that takes into account the future and an ideal

sense of how the region should grow. in some places, morgan city, more connectivity with transit and so on. that does not mean is what we will wind up with, but an initial take to see what it would cost, what it would take to get to that kind of scenario. the topics that we continue to push -- and i am cognizant of the fact that share -- chair mirkarimi will be hosting another of these forums to discuss precisely these issues -- is that whether it is new growth or the growth we already have on the books in san francisco, the kind of growth we put out is so efficient and so far superior to many other examples around the region that we should be entitled to infrastructure money commensurate with that commitment we are making. the more density, the more connectivity the transit, the transit-oriented development, and so on. we are making that point as loudly and clearly as we can.

we have project analysis already going on the central freeway. we have made a call for projects for the transportation fund for clean air, and next month, i will spend time talking to you about how the program is developing and how it is relating to the new prop. aa because there has been some creative tension between the two programs. and there has been a whole lot of progress in the bicycle programs. since the november 2009 superior court order allowing the installation of a limited number of bike lanes and so on, there has been a number of projects, a number of projects that have been completed, installed, and now, talking about sfmta's

activities. over 500 bike racks. there is another 15 bike network projects on the books already to be completed before the end of the fiscal year, so this is a significant project, still playing catch-up to the couple of years we had to spend without doing much on this issue. there is more detail, but given the time, you can see that and ask questions later. the last thing i have on my report is a warm welcome to our new office manager, who is sitting to the right of our clerk. she has, before joining us -- she just joined us last week. she was a bookkeeper and business operations manager for a small consulting firm, and she has experience as a mediator.

she has a b.a. in transportation studies from washington, d.c., and an m.b.a. from san francisco state, and i'm sure this is her own contribution to the report. she rides her bike every day for transportation and for fun, and weather permitting, she tries to write 100 miles each week. she has participated in the first california climate right 340 miles from eureka in san francisco in five days. just last year. has a pretty active volunteer schedule as well. we are delighted to have her with us already, and welcome aboard. that concludes my report. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you for that very thorough report. i just want to reiterate our appreciation to t.a. staff in

our visit to washington, d.c. thank you to everybody who helped make that an effective visit. commissioner campos, you have another comment? supervisor campos: i wanted to do a follow-up to the executive director. on the point earlier about a.b. 57 and the legislation under consideration in sacramento to add two seats to the mtc, i know the board of supervisors has taken a position. supervisor wiener introduced a resolution on that. we want to continue to be active in advocating against that piece of legislation. i do not know what is coming up in sacramento, if there is a hearing that is coming up, but i want to make sure that we are as engaged in sharing our concerns

with the legislature about the significance of that legislation. >> thank you. it has been our practice to communicate positions to the legislature immediately after they are taken. that is what we did with a.b. 57, to the chairs of both transportation committees in the assembly and the senate, to our entire legislative delegation. and through our legislative advocates, to all committees, with the legislation is heard -- where the legislation is heard. so far, we have had a legislative advocate participate and give testimony at the meeting that happened last week on monday. the committee actually approved the bill on a 13-0 vote, which i think reinforces your concern that we need to be very active to express our position.

supervisor campos: i would simply urge you to be as active, as aggressive as we can be. i know that assembly member ammiano has paid a lot of attention to the issue, and the board has made it clear where we are. just a matter of making sure that our voice is heard. >> i think it is really important that this be perceived as the city and county of san francisco, not just the transportation authority. it might not hurt to have the mta take a position and express it on that as well. we will be as active as we can. supervisor mirkarimi: the needs to be amplified, obviously by others within the city government. supervisor wiener: i have been in conversation with the mayor's office to make sure our city lobbyist is aggressively lobbying against this measure,

and the city needs to speak with one voice. not just having the t.a. out there, but making sure that the city and the mayor's office is aggressively lobbying against this. supervisor mirkarimi: quite right. any other comments on either the report -- on either of the reports? seeing none, we now open up for public comment. >> my name is francisco da costa. i want to bring to your attention the third street light rail where we spend $700 million. it stops at fourth and king and lands in the middle of nowhere in the visitation valley. the reason why i am bringing this is you can pat yourselves

all you want to, but what the transit first city once is good transportation -- with the transit first city wants -- what the transit first city wants. if you look at every element of our transportation, we cannot give the city high marks. on the project like the transbay, the doyle drive. when we had certain representatives regard the money, and in the future, whether it is from the state or federal, we will not get as much as we thought we would get, and you all know that. but what i am noticing now is having gone to the mtc meetings

and other meetings is that san francisco -- this is the city and county of san francisco -- is not going to get due representation. where once we had three, we are going to get two. i want to leave you with this thought -- do not have yourselves to much on the back -- back --pat -- do not pat yourselves to much on the back. we want results. thank you very much. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. any other public comments? seeing none, public comment is closed. very good. next item. >> item 5, adopted a position on state legislation. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: very good. any comments? seeing none, public comment on this item please? public comment is closed.

we will take this without objection. so move. very good. >> item 6, appoint joseph flanagan, jr. to the citizens' advisory committee. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: very good. comments? >> for a long time, i would go to the meetings -- supervisor mirkarimi: your name, please. >> i am well known in the city. supervisor mirkarimi: for the record, please. >> i do not have to double my name. you can read the brown act. -- i do not have to divulg my name. supervisor mirkarimi: as you wish. >> for a long time, i would go to the cac meetings. we had some very astute people, candidates, that wanted to represent the citizens advisory committee to the san francisco

county transportation authority, and somehow, we deprive them from representing. what we did was we continued to put in place candidates who were yes candidates and who were not very astute. i am here to tell you i do not know the gentleman who you approve because i was away from the country for quite some time. but in these given times, we need as to candidates, a state representatives -- astute candidates and representatives who can really understand transportation issues. we also need candidates that represent the diversity of this city. we also need candidates that represent those districts that

transportation is not available. you all want to build 10,500 homes in some areas, but we do not have good transportation. if you get new candidates, that is fine. take them around the city, and showed them how the transportation system is. thank you very much. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you, mr. da costa. may we take this without objection? so move. but >> item 7, up from the authorities funding commitment to the presidio parkway project and approve a bond swap of $19,722,000. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: discussion on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. -- seeing none, discussion is close. public comment on this item.

>> i am glad that the project manager is who he is. i know him very well. i was fortunate that i worked at the presidio and established an infrastructure group. prior to this meeting, i did have a small talk with him. i read some comments about union workers having some conflict, but he explained to me the issue. some creative financing that could help the united states, its prevalence in europe, in canada.

some of my partners are involved in that type of creative financing. but what i am concerned is that dole will drive -- doyle drive is built on time, hopefully in two years. that should be good. i wanted to wish you all the best. i followed you on this project for a long time. you are one of the better project managers. something that has to be emulated by the rest. you can see you walk the walk. next, talk the talk. we need people that are good leaders. we have little money. we cannot waste money. every dollar counts, and i am looking forward to seeing doyle drive completed in less than

three years. thank you very much. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you, sir. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. maybe take this without objection? very good. >> item 8, introduction of new items. supervisor mirkarimi: any discussion on introduction of new items? seeing none, any public comment? on introduction of new items? >> one of the items that should be put on the agenda is true representation of constituents from our district. oftentimes, when you watch the tv, even in your subcommittee meetings, you look at your audience and ask if there is any public comment, as if, you know, you what some people who are there to speak of, but over the years, people are not coming

to get public comment because first, you are deprived -- you deprive people from speaking. especially the ones who are informed. for three minutes. give them one and two minutes. second, the talk has to be kept simple. the outreach, whether they are blogs or on the internet, or whether you have some heart and give the material to all the seniors, the constituency falls into that bracket. something must be put on the agenda item. something must be done to bring the segments of the population

so that they become an element in our transportation system to improve it. something has to be done. they cannot be done in a vacuum. just like you had an agenda item and a hearing on the bedbugs. the topic was not very important, but it is very important, and adversely affect a lot. have some compassion. this is a city of st. francis. thank you very much. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. that will be considered for introduction of new items. next item. >> item 9, public comment. supervisor mirkarimi: public comment on public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. before the next item, i just want to say because i did not

before, thank you to sfgtv for their ongoing excellent coverage of these proceedings. next item please. >> item 10, adjournment. supervisor mirkarimi: have a great day. thank you.

>> about four years ago, [inaudible] look at how beautiful this was. there is our relationship to the planet. these regions are the wealthiest, the most powerful. that really has impacted the planet. it is almost impossible now to go anywhere and had it really be completely dark. there are very few locations that you can find. that means our relationship to the sky, there is a way where we dominate the sky. we cannot see anything really. we are blinding ourselves in a way.

>> you can look at the images, they are beautiful. when i started four years ago, there was a conversation about environmental issues that was very different. this is not being talked about in the way it is now. . this has just been like an amazing growth. i anticipate the project to be something that opens a dialogue to public interest in these ideas. so the work