MTC Tolling Study an Important Step Forward, But Equity Concerns Remain

December 4, 2024/in Blog, Climate Change, Transportation/by Abibat Rahman-Davies

The Bay Area has two problems with the same solution: highway congestion and the climate crisis. Both require us to drive less and use other transportation modes more. However, incentivizing people to choose other modes can be a challenge.

In 2022, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) launched the Next Generation Bay Area Freeways Study with the goals of “analyzing the feasibility, costs, benefits, and public support for tolling certain Bay Area freeways as a strategy for delivering reliably high-speed travel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by passenger vehicles.” In September and October 2024, MTC briefed and solicited feedback from Transform staff on the options it’s studying.

What is tolling?

Toll roads are not a new concept. In other parts of the country, you can find many highways where drivers must pay a fee on entering or exiting. This may be a flat fee or based on the distance traveled.

Studies have found that introducing tolls can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Tolls on highway travel have the added benefit of reducing congestion, making travel faster for those who still need to drive. In fact, tolling is a better long-term solution for congestion than adding highway lanes. New lanes, even HOV or tolled lanes, lead to more driving, more greenhouse gases, and — within five to 10 years — more congestion.

Getting around in a private vehicle imposes an external cost on everyone, whether they drive or not, by creating pollution and contributing to a warming climate. Tolls place more of the true costs of driving back on the driver. Tolling is an excellent strategy for the Bay Area to explore. However, as the study notes, the MTC doesn’t currently have the authority to impose tolls; it would need state legislation to do that.

Two tolling options

The MTC study includes six pathways that they studied but really focuses on two main pathways. The first is all-lane highway tolling, which means all lanes of all major highways during weekday rush hours from 6-10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. would be tolled. The second is a mileage-based user fee that would charge drivers on all roads in the Bay Area based on the number of miles they drive during all hours.

When it comes to affordability, reliability, equity, and safety, each option has its pros and cons, according to modeling MTC staff uses to estimate the costs and benefits. For example, all-lane tolling would potentially:

Decrease overall vehicle miles traveled by 4%
Decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2%
Decrease highway peak travel times by 14%
Increase transit usage by 0.3%.

The tolling option would also be more affordable for families as tolls for households below 200% of the federal poverty level would be capped at a maximum of $70 annually.

A mileage-based user fee would:

Decrease overall vehicle miles traveled by 2%
Decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2%
Decrease highway peak travel times by 2%
Increase transit usage by 0.7%.

A mileage-based user fee would be less affordable for families than all-lane tolling, as households below 200% of the federal poverty level would pay as much as $300 annually before they reached the cap.

The all-lane tolling option could increase local street usage by 11%, according to MTC’s modeling, bringing more smog and pollution to our local roads. It could also cause local roads to need more frequent repairs, which would upset local politicians. However, it is important to note that tolling freeways doesn’t just divert all the traffic to local roads. It’s also more likely to reduce overall demand for driving, so even though MTC’s modeling shows an increase in local road usage, we might not see this big of an increase on local roads when it’s applied in real-world conditions. This option would decrease vehicle miles traveled on highways by much more than a mileage-based user fee, but the user fee does not increase local street usage at all. In fact, it decreases street usage by 2%.

Increasing transit usage is an important cornerstone of Transform’s philosophy, and the mileage-based user fee would increase transit usage more than highway tolling because it would generate more revenues than highway tolling. Therefore, more transit investments could be made by reinvesting revenues from the mileage-based user fee for transit for the same amount of GHG reduction. The user fee has a lower initial financial cost to implement because it comes with zero capital costs and brings in an annual net revenue of $2 billion. All-lane tolling would require $2.3 billion in capital costs to implement and would bring in an annual net revenue of $550 million.

Equitable tolling

For Transform, equity is an essential component in all policy changes. Tolling and increasing transit ridership are imperative in reaching our state climate goals and decreasing climate change globally. If structured equitably, these measures can also redress past transportation harms and avoid burdening already struggling families.

One of the best ways to mitigate harm to lower-income drivers is by capping the amount of money low-income families will pay in new tolls. MTC has proposed monthly caps on toll expenditures where households earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level — $62,400 for a family of four — only pay a maximum of $30 a month, while households at 200-300% of the federal poverty level would only pay a $60 maximum per month.

Additionally, highway tolls could result in a large increase in the use of local streets. While this model states that equity priority communities — Census tracts with a significant concentration of underserved populations, including people of color and households with low incomes — would not be disproportionately impacted, we remain cautious that the increase in vehicle miles traveled on local streets doesn’t disproportionately impact communities already burdened by pollution.

Equity includes ensuring that all regions of the Bay Area benefit from the money raised through tolling. Therefore, it is concerning that, in the highway tolling option being studied by MTC, the North Bay would only get 6% of the revenue from regional tolling for transit, local roads, and reparative infrastructure (investments in highway-adjacent low-income communities, such as urban greening and highway pedestrian crossings). We are all one region, so re-investment should not be exclusively tied to the percentage of county-generated revenue but allocated with the need and the importance of regional connectivity in mind.

All-lane tolling must also be equitable in how revenues are spent. MTC has proposed that 50% of the revenue from all-lane tolling will go to transit improvements, while 30% will go to roadway improvements and 15% to ‘reparative community investments.’ Since low-income and marginalized communities disproportionately use transit and have been harmed by past transportation decisions, the expenditures from all-lane tolling as proposed are progressive and would be an important step toward a more equitable transportation system.

Next steps for tolling

In a November 2024 policy advisory council meeting, MTC staff stated that while they are not saying one specific policy is better than another, they recommend that for Plan Bay 2050+, MTC should maintain the highway all-lane tolling option as a strategy in the plan and update it with the “latest strategy specifics to better balance tradeoffs between mobility, environmental, and equity outcomes.” In its upcoming implementation plan, MTC will identify actions to address some of the challenges mentioned in this blog.

While potential implementation of these tolling or user fee options would not start until 2035, MTC will be giving recommendations and an implementation roadmap during the fall and winter of 2024 and 2025, so this is a vital time for Transform to weigh in. We have been selected to be part of a diverse group of stakeholders participating in this process and have consistently reiterated the importance of equity in all tolling policy recommendations.

It’s critical to move forward on all-lane tolling, but Transform remains committed to ensuring an equitable solution moves forward.

Board Member Profile: Gloria Bruce on the Intersection of Housing and Transportation

October 2, 2024/in Blog, Climate Change/by Laura McCamy

Gloria Bruce, the Program Director of Housing Security and Public/Private Partnerships at Crankstart (a local family foundation), recently joined Transform’s board of directors. We talked with her about her background in affordable housing, her current foundation role, and what excites her about Transform’s role in the world.

A passion for affordable housing

Bruce had always been interested in community development issues after volunteering with residents of public housing during her college years. When seeking a job during her master’s program at UC Berkeley, a fellowship at HUD connected her with several of the East Bay’s affordable housing organizations, where she found her passion. “I love the people in the [housing] field,” she says, noting that she realized right away she had found the “theory of everything” — the issue that brings together racial, social, and economic justice, and much more. “It’s funny because 20 years ago, housing was not at the top of every conversation the way it is now,” she adds.

After almost two decades of nonprofit leadership in affordable housing, including as executive director of East Bay Housing Organizations, Bruce joined Crankstart last year. “It’s obviously quite different helping to decide how philanthropic funds get out there,” she says. Instead of fundraising and managing yearslong campaigns as groups like EBHO and Transform do, she’s funding nonprofits and working on much shorter timelines.

“I’m working in a very different position in my role in making social change,” Bruce says, noting that she still works with a lot of the same organizations she worked with in her prior roles.”I’m not as directly involved on the ground anymore, but I love finding awesome community leaders to fund and support.”

Joining the Transform team

Although Transform’s housing work intersects with Bruce’s experience, Bruce is a lifelong transit rider and joined the board with more of a focus on transportation. ”I know this is a really pivotal moment, particularly with public transit systems, and I wanted to be a part of that,” she says. “People need to revalue the public sphere and the public good and understand how much our communities are knit together by public transit.” Even if you don’t take the bus or train, she notes, it’s essential to understand how many people rely on it and how transit benefits everyone.

Bruce is excited to support Transform’s work to bring Bay Area transit ridership back to pre-pandemic levels and improve our systems. “We really have to invest in infrastructure and services so they use it, and it’s part of the fabric of their lives,” she says. “Everyone in the Bay Area should have those choices. Transform can be part of painting a vision of this is how we get around as a community.”

Bruce adds, “The other thing I’ve come to feel really passionate about in the last couple of years is traffic violence and pedestrian safety.” While she likes to get around Oakland by bike and transit, she says, “I have definitely adjusted the way I move around town and the way I get my kids around town.”

And she sees the relationship between transportation and housing. “I think that the cost of living in general in the Bay Area is making it hard for so many things to get accomplished,” Bruce says. “Transportation costs are a big part of that, along with housing costs.”

High points and challenges

When Bruce isn’t working, she likes to be outside, taking walks with her family. On days off, you might find her exploring a San Francisco neighborhood she hasn’t been to or taking in amazing views on the hidden stairs and walkways around Oakland and Berkeley.

And she knows the Bay Area she loves didn’t happen by accident. “It’s the behind-the-scenes work over time that shapes the landscape and community,” Bruce says. Transform doesn’t often grab headlines but has often been a force behind needed reforms. From safety improvements to the elements that make neighborhoods vibrant, “None of that happens without skilled advocates working for it.”

Transform is thrilled to have Gloria Bruce supporting our team of skilled advocates.

Regional Housing Bond Measure Pulled from the Ballot — What It Means for Our Movement

August 16, 2024/in Blog, Climate Change, Housing, Policy/by Jenn Guitart

On Wednesday morning, the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) unanimously voted to remove Regional Measure 4 from the 2024 ballot. The measure would have raised $20 billion to alleviate the Bay Area’s housing and homelessness crisis. Unfortunately, the measure was scuttled in response to a series of eleventh-hour challenges by extremist anti-housing and anti-government activists. This is a tragic missed opportunity for voters to say yes to urgently needed affordable housing and homelessness funding.

This decision is heartbreaking for Transform and other housing advocates, and, more importantly, for the hundreds of thousands of people in our region who now must wait longer for the affordable housing and homelessness solutions Bay Area residents need and deserve.

The decision is also a major setback for our climate and transportation goals. By funding the construction of over 40,000 new affordable homes near transit, the measure would have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by over three million tons and spurred an additional five million transit trips per year.

While it is frustrating that a well-resourced group of naysayers halted progress on housing and homelessness this election, Transform and our partners will continue to build the necessary power to win big on these critical issues.

Looking Forward

All is not lost in the fight for affordable housing. Transform and our partners will be working hard to pass Prop 5 this November, which will lower the voter approval threshold for housing and public infrastructure bond measures to 55%. This measure is critical to advancing future affordable housing bond measures across the state.

Beyond November, our region continues to face significant challenges, from the housing and homelessness crisis to a looming transit fiscal cliff. New regional funding measures for both transportation and affordable housing are urgently needed. Passing both measures in the coming years will take unprecedented collaboration, creativity, and courage.

Transform will play a leading role in both these efforts as we continue our work to empower communities of color, innovate solutions, and advocate for policies and funding — all with the aim of helping people thrive and averting climate disaster. And we will need supporters like you in this fight to build up the necessary resources, political will, and movement organizing to beat the anti-taxers in future election cycles.

In the meantime, get ready to vote yes on Prop 5 in November, and stay tuned for future calls to action in the fight for housing, transportation, and climate justice for our region.