REGIONAL MEASURE 2 - MARCH 2 BALLOT

REGIONAL TRAFFIC RELIEF PLAN

On January 30, 2004, the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District adopted a position of support for Regional Measure 2, the Regional Traffic Relief Plan. Measure 2 is a regional effort to develop and fund transportation projects with a $1 toll increase on State-owned Bay Area toll bridges (which does not include the Golden Gate Bridge) and subject to approval on March 2, 2004 by the voters of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano counties and the City and County of San Francisco.

Measure 2 would provide $125 million annually for local transportation improvements. Over a 35-year period, the plan provides $3.1 billion in funding for both capital and operating improvements. Funding that would affect North Bay residents include:

PROJECT	FUNDING	DESCRIPTION
Regional Express Bus North	Approximately $26 million over a ten-year period	At least $1.6 million would go to fund capital improvements ranging from park-and-ride lots, infrastructure improvements and rolling stock (buses). An additional $2.1 million would go to partially offset operating expenses for bus service over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, connecting the San Rafael Transit Center to BART destinations in the East Bay. Service is currently operated by Golden Gate Transit as Routes 40 and 42 using a mixture of regional funds. These operating funds will increase at a rate of 1.5% annually to account for cost increases, and over the 35-year period of the expenditure plan, will provide approximately $80 million to the District.
U.S. 101 Greenbrae Interchange/Larkspur Ferry Access Improvements	$65 million	Funds improvements around the Greenbrae interchange to reduce traffic congestion and provide multimodal access to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and Larkspur Ferry Terminal. Specific improvements include: - constructing a new full service diamond interchange at Wornum Drive - extending a multi-use pathway from the new interchange at Wornum Drive to East Sir Francis Drake Blvd. and the Cal Park Hill rail right-of-way - adding a new lane to East Sir Francis Drake Blvd. rehabilitating the Cal Park Hill rail tunnel and right-of-way approaches for bicycle and pedestrian access to connect the San Rafael Transit Center with the Larkspur Ferry Terminal.
New Transbay Terminal/Downtown Caltrain Extension in San Francisco	$150 million	A new Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, connecting AC Transit transbay buses and a Caltrain downtown San Francisco extension with BART, Golden Gate Transit, Muni, SamTrans, Greyhound and paratransit buses, as well as future high-speed rail.
TransLink® Smart Card Integration	$22 million	Update the regions fare collection system with TransLink technology, to enable customers to carry one transit fare instead of exact change or operator-specific tickets or passes. This would assist transit operators in integrating TransLink technology with existing fare collection equipment and in expanding TransLink to new transit services.
Real-Time Transit Information Program	$20 million	These funds would be allocated to develop a regional Real-Time Transit Information Program, which would inclde the implementation of high-technology systems to provide real-time transit information to riders at transit stops and/or via the telephone, wireless or internet communication.
Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) Extension	$35 million	Extension of rail line from downtown San Rafael to a ferry terminal at Larkspur or San Quentin. Up to $5 million may be used to study the potential use of San Quentin property as an intermodal water transit terminal.
Regional Transit Commute Benefits Promotion Marketing Program	$5 million	To promote tax-saving opportunties for employers and employees. The goal is to increase the participation rate of employers offering employees a tax-free benefit to commute to work by transit.

For more details about Regional Measure 2, please visit http://www.mtc.ca.gov .