and occasionally use cal train as well. >> thank you. >> okay. we can open this up for public comment. any member of the public would like to comment? all right. we will close public comment. colleagues -- we have actually a motion from commissioner cohen on continuing district 10 cac so we can take that without objection. on the district four we have been asked -- cac we have been asked to continue that seat is still looking for an applicant so we will continue that and without objection. commissioner farrell. okay. >> i'm actually seem pretty impressed with our last applicant, and wondering colleagues -- i know actually

we had support from our district nine commissioner and president for glen davis and wondering what anyone's thoughts are about that? >> i actually was going to encourage the applicants to meet with the supervisor that represents their district. i'm not sure you can do that but i think it would help to meet with them and get a sense. this isn't the only committee that we have. although this is the one that relates the best to transit. i am impressed by many of the folks that came up today and all of them and i would be okay making a motion to continue this and i know she was in district six and that is gone and i appreciate what you had to say today. >> i appreciate that motion and

i could support that and have a discussion among the committee. we can come back and heard again in plans and programs next meeting. okay. so we will continue that item as well. thank you colleagues. go on to the next item. >> item five is appoint of one member to the geary corridor bus rapid transit. this is an action item. >> good morning. i am with the authority. the authority is meeting the geary corridor bus rapid transit and improve travel times and reliability and transit access on one of the buzziest corridors in san francisco. it's in the planning phase and looking at alternatives for the project. the draft environmental document is expected in 2013. the project has a dedicated citizen advisory committee and give advice on project issues. this

committee meets quarterly, has 11 members with seats for representation of key neighborhoods along the corridor as well as at large representation. currently we have one vacancy on the committee. we would like to fill that shortly. we have given notice in the quarter about the vacancy in september and october and including notices on buss and bus stops and translated languages and into english, spanish and chinese as well as annoucements on the project website, and email distribution to our email distribution list, and finally we had a media advisory as part of the notification pros. the deadline was october 24. at that time we had eight applications and they're all in your packet. there is a summary matrix that is included on page 23 summarizing their

backgrounds. we encouraged the candidates to appear today to speak on behalf of their position and we noted it's not mandatory to be here to be considered and we are recommending one member for the geary cac. i am happy to take questions. >> . this is an at large seat. is that correct? commissioner kim. >> i had one question. i didn't see when the term expires? >> this doesn't have term expiration dates. it's for the life of the committee and the project until such time there is a vacancy. >> i know this committee was put together before. i was on the board and there isn't i single resident from district six. i don't know how this occurred and great person by the way but doesn't live in district six and i don't know what we can do about that, and i don't see at

large representatives from the district but i was impressed with the applicants and i would like a conversation at some point. >> okay. >> thank you. >> thank you. i do see -- there is someone running for supervisor in district five is mentioned as district six but i understand. are there applicants here today? please come forward. >> good morning. my name is winston parsons. i am here today because i would like to be on the geary corridor bus rapid transit citizens advisory committee. i'm a forught generation san franciscan so i lived near the

geary corridor my entire life and take transit and bike to get me around the city. i grew up with mom and grandma and i grew up hearing stories how transit worked for them. my grandma took a train across the bridge to the east bay and get off at market street and the fairy building and muni served the citizens more effectively. furthermore my current job is working for the presidio bike wise program. i teach kids to ride safely and responsibly. i work at the a middle school in the area and i see how the street design affects a myriad and variety of users there. furthermore we're involved in

safe routes for schools and i think the project has the potential to aid and impact. i also have ancasion and personal passion for transportation and urban planning. i have a minor in urban planning. my major was in communications and i worked for their communication urban action while i was a student there. lastly my frents and colleagues will tell you have a passion for transit, particularly bus lines and rail in this city. if you were to look in my room right now you will see a board on the wall with a map of the city and lines of string leading to different projects. geary is at the top of the list. it's something i have been following for a while and interested in and has the opportunity to improve the life for san franciscans and bikers

and muni riders and others as well and with that i would be a great member of the geary corridor bus rapid transit citizens advisory committee and thank you for your time. >> thank you. what do you see as the main challenges and bringing bus transit to geary? >> one of the main challenges is awareness for business owners and residents along there. the friends i know and work with who are attuned to a lot of stuff that happens in the city and read blogs and newspapers aren't always aware what is happening on geary. furthermore i have been to public meetings and local business owners are really concerned about the impact it's going to have on their constituents and users and i think i can make a good bridge and explain how it's potentially to their benefit and there are a number of intersections that have challenges and fill more and geary and other areas and i

would like to be part of that discussion and something that works for all the city's users. thank you. >> thank you very much. no other applicants that are here? okay. >> can i add one clarification. the eligibility for serving on the geary cac applies to not only where they live but where they work and that might be a way to engage people of the full length of the corridor and helpful in the selection of a candidate. >> great. thank you very much. okay. any member of the public that would like to comment on this item? please come forward. and we will close vote on it. commissioner farrell. >> thank you and thanks for coming up and wince ston thanks for being here. i worked with him a bit in the district and they do amazing stuff in san

francisco and i would like to say thanks for coming out. you're obviously the type of person exactly that we want and involvement really into the transit issue so i would be happy to support mr. parsons so i make a motion and offer it up to comment from my colleagues. >> that motion is seconded. commissioner kim. >> thank you. the two applicants i was interested in are mr. parse sons and ms. chin and they both grew up here and they live and work here and i think it's great to have young folks that live here that are interested in transportation so i am happy to support winston too and i hope when we have another vacancy you can let me know and i can do recruiting in the tenderloin but i don't want to hold up this applicant in the meantime. thank you. >> thank you. we have a motion

from commissioner farrell. seconded by commissioner cohen and we can take that without objection so congratulations. next item please. >> number six recommend allocation of 3 million in prop k funds for [inaudible] communications base over lay signal system project and subject to cash flow and implementation of strategic plan and the money in 2013 and 2014 -- [inaudible] in fiscal year 2013, and 2014 to the prop k funds. this is action item. >> good morning commissioners. i am louis and project consultant to the authority. let's begin with this request with a little context. the context begins with the california high speed rail. as you know the california high

speed rail authority has the mandate for building and maintaining high speed rail in california and their 2012 business plan proposed what they call incremental improvements with blended system, and some of this investments of course are to be taken place in the peninsula. the segment in question is from san jose to the san francisco tranit train center. in april of this year the authority board authorized an mou between nine members stakeholders of the cal train and the high speed rail which you see in this list. and early investment strategy for the

peninsula corridor basically has two components, advanced signal system and positive flow control and the [inaudible] including the vehicles. that's a total cost of 1.5 billion dollars. and this brings us to today's allocation request. this is for the cboss which is the acronym for the over lay signal system and type of advanced signal system. there are many types and this is the one cal train has chosen to use, and this system is basically to track train locations and prevent unsafe movements and consist of on board equipment and weigh side equipment. the total budget is $231 million. the system in addition to improving the signals and safety has also the added benefit of shortening

travel times and also reducing gate down times so improving crossings for traffic. it has a variety of elements from data link communications and computers with digitized maps on the trains. one of the more important features is the throttle brake interface and take over for the operator if the operator is not stopping the train when they should be and basically slows down the train and stops it, and it also includes center facility displays and equipment. part of this program will also train staff and operator staff in using this system and update all the documentation and rules under which cal train currently operates. in october of last

year the peninsula corridor board awarded a contract for $130 million to sign and build the cboss system. this contract also includes the construction of back up facility. as it is now cal train doesn't have a backup facility that they can use in case of an emergency if they lose for whatever reason operation ability of the current facility. the contract received -- [inaudible] generally this year and so far completed survey of alignment. basically gps coordinates every 5 feet to mark the way along the way to help the location of the trains. they also define the project of course, and are also currently

doing tunnel surveys to determine what equipment maybe needed in the tunnels to support this system. the critical design is under way. the critical design is between preliminary engineering and the final design -- the design group has the elements of the system and how they're connected and where they're connected but all of the critical elements are decided upon. also concurrently with that they are looking for the proper site locate this central control facility. you have in front of you the current schedule. as you can see we're on the second item, which is -- >> what are the sites come to mind when talking about globalization of the facility?

>> i'm sorry. i didn't hear. >> what is being proposed? what is being thrown as potential site? >> they're actually looking all over. they haven't decided. they are looking for sites along the line of course. they have a representative from cal train here and maybe they can -- okay. we're on the second bullet of the schedule. october 2 to march of next year and you can see by the end of 2015 there will be operational acceptance. you see the funding plan. the project is fully funded. the second line here is the current [inaudible] powers board member

contributions which is 70 million of which san francisco's portion is 23.4 million. this application requires an amendment to the strategic plan. namely we need to advance funds from future years which significantly increases the financing costs. initially there were estimates of 2.6 but advancing them to the near future the item $10.3 million in financing funds, so we have this amount available and leaving a short fall for san francisco share. the peninsula board requested that all of the members remit the funds by spring of 2013.

the signatories are working on establishing an oversight protocol for the project. so the staff is working with the mayor's office looking for ways to identify the funds for the remaining san francisco contribution to the whole program which is $60 million is the contribution to the whole program, both for the cboss and [inaudible]. commissioner -- 7.5 for cboss and the rest for electricity ifz and they are evaluating potential funding sources and staff is looking at potential revenue sources for the san francisco transportation plan and that concludes my presentation. if you have any

questions like i mentioned earlier we have cal train staff also available for questions. >> thank you very much. we have a commitment to allocate funding for fiscal year 2013 and 2014 and 15 6.4 million. we are making commitments for future years. how is that impacting what is planned how the plans would be used? >> there is a line item for that. that's the same -- >> same line item? >> yes correct. >> how is it that we're making these allocations now and we still are 7.5 million short? that puts us at somewhat of a

liability. money is hard to come by. what are your plans with the mayor's office to find -- >> that's correct. it does put us a little difficulty situation. however this project, the cboss project is highly needed for safety, and therefore the safety kind of trumps a little bit the risk that we're taking because it needs to be taken care of. now, there is a commitment from the mayor's office to find the remaining of the money, so i don't know if anybody wants to expand on that. >> they're going to find the money. >> that's correct. >> great. so this is pretty typical of what i face in terms of investments in the region or in san francisco that may trump investments that are greatly

needed in the transit services that are greatly needed in my district, and i see the need to be able to look at how we fit in the region, and i support overall that as well as high speed rail and yet by supporting this i know i make it less likely to support transit services in my own neck of the woods, and that's -- i think that's part and parcel how it's very difficult for parts of my district and southern part of san francisco to really get the services we need. now cal train doesn't go through my district. it's close by. a lot of my residents from my district perhaps use it but there are other needs not being done, so i'm going to be supportive certainly, but i know this is

the dichotomy i face practically with every decision before this body that we're committing resources to places that aren't necessarily going to help my district and parts of san francisco that are needed. i see the director coming up. >> well, i can't miss the opportunity. mr. chairman, commissioners. assistant director. a couple of things. san francisco as the historic center of the region has had a long standing relationship with the regional transit service providers. it's not just cal train but also bart, ac transit, serves san francisco, golden gate transit. the multiplicity of providers is far superior to other places in it is region. there is a great advantage to the city in having that at our

disposal in a sense because it definitely result in the lotional advantage for businesses and for our universities and for our commercial life and so on. it even has effects on the value of real estate, things like that. there is always been a love hate relationship with the transit providers in the sense when it comes time to distribute limited amounts of resources we always think how we deal with the needs of the city itself and muni and its services and so on, but there clearly needs to be a relationship, and that relationship i believe firmly is more productive if we are at the table as a funding partner because then we have the ability to help guide the decisions that are made by the regional providers. i think in the case of cal train that is very, very true. it doesn't take away the

need to have resources to deal with the local issues and what your comment highlights is the need for a picture of investment that doesn't stop at just the local stuff but also looks at regional and tries to come up with a set of priorities so we don't have to make these decisions on a piecemeal basis, and one of the documents that we had put together in the past and are updating right now to help us make sense of the decisions is the san francisco transportation plan, this 30 year plan, that looks precisely at those issues, and the cost and benefits of being a funding partner to those, and then puts them in a context of the regional transportation plan, which is the larger sweepstakes how federal money is allocated, so in the end we wind up with a stronger piece of advocacy and

policy in transportation funding and allows us to capture more of the regional money and convincing the region to invest in high speed rail. we have made progress in that because the high speed strategy that the region has has bought into the strategy and we have initial phase of that until all of the funding is identified we have to make some early commitments, but there will be quite -- >> well, i can appreciate that by making the commitments now it helps leverage other funding from the feds and the region as well and there is a regional component as well, but we have another item coming after this and i know we haven't actually made a commitment from the mayor's office for uncertified funds of seven-point $5 for balboa park station although we

are looking for it. the needs are greater than we can list there and that is the nature that we see. i will be supportive of this but i want to call out the attention how we're faced with these tough choices that affect how we allocate local resources for even regional projects in which balboa park station -- >> the point is well taken. thank you commissioner. >> okay. any other parts of your presentation? >> any questions you may have. >> colleagues? we can go on to public comment. any member of the public would like to comment please come forward. thank you for your presentation. >> i am robert millbower in district 11. i appreciate the chair's comments about the

dichotomy about making the decision when you have all these projects lined up and few funds to go around, and just in the interest of transparency and i know there is a presentation on balboa park but what are the opportunity costs that we're losing here if we commit for this project and admittedly it doesn't have a direct benefit to me but balboa park is a day to day station that i use, and if you have been out there it's just a mess, so i want you to just heighten that we have to make these difficult decisions and sometimes we may have to reinvent the way we approach things. i'm not saying in this case because i support the goals of this larger project also, but i want everybody aware of what maybe lost in district 11, and i would like to have a sense of what the opportunity costs are going to be when we make these kind of difficult decisions.

thanks a lot. >> thank you very much. any other member of the public would like to comment? seeing none we will close public comment. okay. colleagues this item is before us. can we have a motion to approve this item and move forward with recommendation? okay. motion by supervisor kim and second by supervisor farrell and take that without objection. madam clerk our next item please. >> item seven is update on balboa park improvement. this is information item. >> good morning chair avalos, committee members. chufter fung with the authority. this is a status update on improvements to balboa park station. we are bringing this item. it's a multi-part presentation with participation of my