At today’s Metro Planning and Programming Committee meeting, the Metro Board will receive and file the project lists for each of Los Angeles County’s subregions, one of the first steps in determining the expenditure plan for the potential 2016 transportation ballot measure. Known as the “mobility matrices,” these reports include over 2,300 projects countywide with an estimated cost of $150 to $275 billion. You can review the reports for each subregion on Metro’s website here: www.metro.net/lrtp. (Click on “Subregional Mobility Matrices” on the right.) We encourage our partners to review these reports and let us know what you think: are the projects you care about included? Do they reflect your priorities?
As you know, Los Angeles County is one of the strongest self-help counties in the nation for transportation investments, with close to 70 percent of the county’s transportation funding coming from existing local sales taxes (Propositions A and C and Measure R). Any additional ballot measure is likely to be the last significant opportunity to supplement these local revenues to meet the needs of a more multi-modal transportation system. This spring is an important time to join us as we seek to impact the expenditure plan for the potential ballot measure to reflect increasing demand for active transportation investment.
Metro’s timeline for input has been revised to allow for more input from Councils of Governments on subregional priorities. (For more background on the Los Angeles County Councils of Governments and subregions please see this FAQ.) Most significantly, the draft expenditure plan will not be released this month as originally scheduled. Below is the updated schedule:
Potential Ballot Measure Schedule – revised April 2015
- General Public Polling Results: Mid-April 2015
- COG Executive Director Meeting: Mid-April 2015
- COG Project/Program Priorities Due: May 22, 2015
- Non-COG stakeholder input on Project/Programs Due: Early June 2015
- COG Executive Directors Meeting: Mid June 2015
- Special Metro Board Staff Meeting: 1st week of July 2015
- COG Executive Directors Meeting: 1st week of July 2015
- Expenditure Plan Framework considered by Metro Board committees: July 16, 2015
- Expenditure Plan to be Adopted by Metro Board: July 24, 2015
more details click here: full pdf of Metro schedule
We are excited for our upcoming workshop with community based organizations in early May to take a deep dive into engaging with Councils of Governments and subregions during this process to increase funds for active transportation in Los Angeles County. Please feel free to email Jessica Meaney at Investing in Place and/or Eric Bruins at the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition to find out more and get involved.
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