oh, my! haa ha ha! ha hha ha! [snortg]

supervisor mirkarimi: good morning and welcome to the san francisco transportation authority meeting my name is ross mirkarimi. i want to thank sfgtv for their ongoing excellence. madam court, good morning. could you please read roll call? >> [roll call] we have a quorum. >> very good. item to please. >> item 2. approval of minutes of march 29,

2011 meeting. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: any public comment on the item? public comment is closed. we will take this without objection. could we take another roll call? there has been a change in the roster. >> commissioner campos? commissioner carmen chu? commissioner cohen? commissioner elsbernd? commissioner farrell? commissioner kim? commissioner mark? commissioner mirkarimi? commissioner wiener? supervisor mirkarimi: please read items 3 and 4. item 3. chair's report. this is an information item.item 4. executive director's report. this is an information item. supervisor mirkarimi: last

thursday the executive director and i'm joined edwin lee and federal highway deputies director to officially kick off the sf park program. scott wiener and members of the mta board were also at the event which marks the culmination of a four-year process to bring real time parking information to san francisco. it was a great event recognized by the press around country as a major milestone in terms of how technology can structure solutions for common urban problems like finding curbside parking. the entire demonstration was funded with $20 million of urban partnership money which this authority was able to obtain from the federal government in 2007 as part of the negotiations over the funding plan for doral drive, now presidio parkway, which at the time included a proposal. the proposal was a forward- looking idea and this is a

forward-looking program, which is now on the run for san franciscans to use on a daily basis to help us perfect. in a few months, there will also be very impressed and components to the program. congratulations to our mta for getting the project on the ground after four years of development, and to this authority, for having the program funding at a time when the local jurisdiction in the country would dare to consider congestion pricing, even coupled with a promise of free federal money. this is an important step in the right direction but there is more to be explored. i am looking forward to seeing the congestion pricing program evolves. i want to make you aware that at an annual meeting of the coalition, a coalition of counties that have local sales taxes for transportation like san francisco, will be taking place november 13 through november 15 at the st. francis

hotel in union square. this is the premier transportation conference in california and will attract hundreds of representatives, including the lifting officials. -- elected officials. i think it will be an excellent conference an opportunity to show the progress we are making. it is also a great opportunity to share san francisco as a place to do business. i am hoping that you will all clear some time on your calendars. you will be getting updates from the staff as the planning and conference evolves. this concludes my report. mr. milosevic. -- moscovich. >> good morning, jose moscovich.

i have a few things to highlight. first of all, we have been engaged in the process of sorting through the plan and sustainable communities strategy that will be guiding the region's efforts in investing in transportation over the next 30 years. that process has resulted in several presentations that you have participated in. most recently, at the plans and programs committee where we had a lovely policy debate about big ideas and how we are moving to the future. particularly, in terms of how san francisco can lead the way and do its share for what it will take to reshape this region

to absorber the kind of growth that is projected for it through the planning process. that includes population and employment, and most importantly for san francisco, production of housing, affordable housing, in particular. we have been sharing this information and have been getting feedback from all of the sister agencies and city families, as well as from our own cac, from you at committee meetings, meeting with other department heads, and so on. we have two messages that are important to telegrapher around the region. the first one is the amount of growth targeted for san francisco, was consistent with san francisco's own vision, should not be taken for granted. it will require significant amounts of policy and funding support from the region in order

to achieve it. secondly, development of the samaras should be accompanied as plans and programs chair campos made it clear to the regional representatives the other day, in a discussion of regional transportation policy and funding, to clarify the link between regional transportation and land use policy and providing incentives for local jurisdictions, including san francisco, to achieve the goals of housing and greenhouse gas reductions that are ensconced in the sustainable community strategy. these are not efforts that can be taken for granted, nor which can be accomplished without money. we also have a call for projects on the r t p, community strategy. that is another item we will discuss briefly at the plans and programs committee.

it is headed for a set of actions in may as we need to get over 300 submissions which we have received so far to the larger regional sweepstakes. one of the key contribution will be making to that is our own proposal to you for next month for how to prioritize, make sense of those emissions. some of which are duplicates, some of which are in conflict. general reporting in the following pages. we received $750,000 in a grand award from mtc. it was intended to help us develop a management process. we finally put out an rfq for

consulting services qualifications and we got a may 10 deadline for those seven bills to be coming into the authorities. we are looking to get underway. -- submittals to be coming into the authorities. we also have the planning grant from caltrans the last couple of years for hunters point bayview. we are looking forward to working with commissioner cohen and their reorganizations in the area to try to shape the types of services and improvements that are likely to happen out of that follow-up. these are things like shuttles, bands, an organization of volunteer drivers. this is something we have identified in the study as gaps

in the mobility of residents in the area. it is a large area and often the typography makes it difficult for people to access transit. i am looking forward to seeing an effort move forward. jesse is the point person on that. contact information is included in the report. the van ness bus rapid transit draft environmental impact report and environmental impact statement have been in circulation for a while now. we need to get agency comments on that. we are looking forward to getting the document circulated this month. the report that was released confirm the project cost estimate, which is a key thing now but the federal level, as

well as its limitation time frame, as well as identify key interests to guide our annual submittals to the fda. i will remind you, the van ness brt project has been number one in the nation for receiving federal funds, so we are looking forward to seeing that move forward. about the s.f. parks program, i just want to add my commendations. i am looking forward to seeing that project evolves as it includes a brittle pressing for a time of day in the next few months and i am looking forward to finding parking when i need it curbside. i would like to report, on april 15, i join commissioner abel lows and a number of distinguished guests at an event

at the balboa park station where we had the pleasure of finally ribbon cutting the west side walkway, which is a product that has been a number of years in the making. the authority had significant funding contributions to the project from prop k. also, over $1 million in lifeline transportation funds. its total project cost of $6.3 billion. the event was a great event, classy. there was even a string quartet and other music. just a great sense of a celebration for this community, who for too long, has been separated from its ability to reach the station without having to walk perilously along the streetcar tracks of the geneva maintenance yard. now that is over and the east side connections are coming. it is interesting to see how

long it takes to essentially do a sidewalk project. but this is not just a sidewalk. there are complexities to the station itself. east side product will have complexities' itself, but we are committed to getting that done. authorities are provided over $3 million in funding and staff support. we submitted two caltrans planning grants. one is a follow-up to the balboa park station that is already being done. it is for two important things. one is to study next-generation improvements for circulation. this is marginal investment to get maximum performance out of these multimillion dollar investments made in transportation over the last 30 years. and also, to fund staffing of the cac for the area, so the people of the bell ballpark area can have a better opportunity to produce it in the process.

on the 19th avenue corridor, we are funding a study of potential stranded investment, including the shifting of the m line to the west side to improve connections to major activity generators there, and also, better connections to the bart station. we are looking forward to getting the nod from caltrans and then we will be on our way with those major planning efforts. we are also making progress on the bike county study. we have had a meeting recently with the new chair of the mtc to coordinate the next steps up analysis in that area, including changes to the interchange, brt that is being proposed for geneva avenue, crossing over

101. we have got some information for you on bicycle improvements to market street, next steps related to that. in the interest of time, i'm going to skip over that for the moment i want to highlight for you the fact that the california high speed rail authority, subsequent to its position to build its first section of high- speed rail infrastructure in the central valley, decided to reschedule the release of the eir/eis to late 2012. we believe the postponement works in our advantage as it gives us an opportunity to further study the alternatives. we want to look at solutions 46 street street crossing -- to the

16th street crossing. there had been announcements that they wanted to phase the implementation. we have had a phased implementation approach for them, so this is a step in the right direction. our sense of phased implementation, in san francisco, first and foremost, downtown extension from king street to the terminal, operations of caltrain, and operation of that service from the terminal to san jose. needless to say, we cannot support a transfer from high- speed rail to caltrain service of any kind in san jose. we believe high-speed rail service has to reach the terminal and that will be the line of advocacy that we will pursue vigorously with authorities, starting with our meeting on may 5, where we will be speaking about that issue.

that concludes my report. i would be happy to answer any questions. supervisor mirkarimi: any questions or comments? commissioner and cohen. supervisor cohen: a question about the grant received for the bayview. to the executive director. i was curious to note, this mobility solutions study, it is this also to include visitation valid? -- valley? >> this is primarily a bayview hunters point area of analysis. >> is there a way to expand it? people in the southernmost part of the district in visitation bally are greatly affected to the -- valley are really

affected to the cuts that muni 8 has undergone. is there a way to extend the study? >> i do not know if we can go from the scope of a caltrans grant and modify it to the degree where we could add a significant portion of an era that was not originally included. we have ongoing efforts related to visitation valley and i am drawing a blank right now as to which exact effort we could put this into. i believe we could address your concerns without the need for renegotiating contracts with caltrans. but we are aware of what you are talking about. commissioners, your point about cutbacks in service, in fixed route service, brings up another set of interesting issues related to the long-term future of service in areas of the city

where fixed routes, for whatever reason, is only producing marginal results. either because of the topography or because of the routes that are being cut back our community circulators. part of the study of the bayview mobility was to see whether there was another form of community circulator that could be used, like shared vans, whether we could reduce a program by helping neighbor organizations buy vans or somehow insure vehicles. we could get some drivers to provide the service that is often needed by elderly people who no longer drive, young people who cannot drive yet. to keep the communities knitted together for something other than just driving. those services are being studied as a focus point in the new

transportation plan that the authority is putting together. that is another place where we can find some analysis. supervisor cohen: so are you telling me that i can look forward to visitation valley being studied? >> we will incorporate it somehow into the analysis. what will be tough, commissioner, is to assure you that there will be operating money for those sorts of services. that is why we are so interested in that phenomenon. we are interested in getting nonprofits, community organizations to participate in the business of providing some service were fixed route does not meet. the cutbacks are because of budget problems. those problems will bleed into all options we are looking at for operations. supervisor cohen: it seems to me if you are going to be studying redding gaps are, you would go to areas where the cats are the greatest. >> of course. prioritizing those.

once they are prioritized, we will have to engage in a major advocacy efforts to find money. yes, the idea is to find areas that have the worst gaps, and part-time at the top of the list. supervisor cohen: thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: commissioner cohen, he makes a strong point. i would suggest a meeting be held to discuss those points and tsa staff to see how this can extend to visitation valley. i think there needs to be an ongoing discussion about it. are there any other comments or questions about this? seeing none -- any public comments? seeing none, public comment is closed. thank you. now we move into the committee business decisions. next item. >> item 5. authorize the executive director to exercise a one-year extension to the professional services contract with pendergast & associates in

amount not to exceed $275,000, to a total amount not to exceed $875,000, to provide disadvantaged business enterprise/small business enterprise consulting services for the presidio parkway project and authorize the executive director to negotiate contract terms and conditions. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: any discussion on this particular item? seeing none, public comment? public comment is closed. the house has changed. roll-call, please. >> [roll call] the item passes. supervisor mirkarimi: next item please. >> item 6. amend the adopted fiscal year 2010/11 budget to increase revenues by $16,509,843, decrease expenditures by $49,268,862 and decrease other

financing sources by $152,787,500 for a total net decrease in fund balance of $87,008,795. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: any discussion please? who can say that faster? [laughter] should we have a competition? any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. same house, same call. next item. >> item 7. adopt positions on state and federal legislation. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: any discussion on this item? see none, public comment is closed. same house, same call. so moved. next item. >> item 8. amend resolution 10-75 to revise the scope, schedule and budget; to change the funded phase of work from construction to planning and design for the san francisco municipal transportation agency's jfk drive parking-buffered bikeway project; and to de-obligate $50,900 in prop k funds.

this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: we're into the work of the plans and programs committee. any discussion? simenon. this discussion is closed. public comment? please. >> good morning chair, commissioners. i am a community planner with the san francisco bicycle coalition. i urge you to approve this amendment. as you know, lots of families in san francisco are biking -- lots of people in 7 cisco or biking. we see the bicycle separations on market driving back and getting everyone where they want to go. we applaud the ta and mta staff work on looking to upgrade our routes, making sure that they are safe for everybody. we have been excited to work with the city family including the recreation and parks department to move the project forward. i encourage you to look for additional funding so that we can plan a route that allows for

sunset district family to drop their kids off at school by bike, to allow everyone who wants to ride their bikes to school to be able to do so. thank you. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. any other comment? please. >> recreation and parks department. sarah ballard. i just wanted to urge you to release these funds. we are excited about the partnership with the mta and bicycle coalition. supervisor mirkarimi: thank you. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. same house, same call. amendment passes. next item. >> item 9. allocate $15,016,000 in prop k funds, with conditions, to the san francisco municipal transportation agency for three projects and $1,241,000, with conditions, to the bay area rapid transit district for one project, subject to the attached fiscal year cash flow distribution schedules. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: any discussion on this item?

simenon, this item is closed. public comment? same house, same call. so moved. >> item 10. commit up to $150 million in additional state regional improvement program funds, with conditions, to the san francisco municipal transportation agency's central subway project to cover potential cost overruns beyond the $1.578 billion baseline project cost. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: terry good. this has been an ongoing discussion. any continue discussion on this item? simenon, discussion is closed. public comments? public comment is closed. same house, same call. very good. so moved. next item. >> introduction of new items. this is an information item. supervisor mirkarimi: any new items? seeing none, any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item. >> public comment. supervisor mirkarimi: any public

comment for those of you who did not have a chance at the previous 11 times? seeing none, public comment is closed. next item. >> adjournment. supervisor mirkarimi: have a great day. deaths