NorCal Trade Corridor Coalition to Meet 3/27 in Oakland

Please plan to attend the next meeting of the Northern California Trade Corridor Coalition on Tuesday, March 27th from 1:00 to 3:00 at the Port of Oakland (530 Water Street, Oakland). We will continue our conversation with regional transportation planning agencies about improving freight mobility in the Altamont and Central corridors, as well as discussing plans for growing the Coalition and advocating effectively. Additional agenda items and presenters will be announced shortly with a draft agenda; in the meantime please mark the time on your calendar and let me know if you plan to attend (or if someone else from your organization will attend). And please share this notice with business associates in other organizations that you think should be involved in the Coalition; the broader and larger that the Coalition becomes, the more influential and effective it will be.

Goods Movement Headlines

Jerry Tidwell, Safeway Senior Vice President Supply Operations, represented the Northern California Trade Corridor Coalition in testimony before a recent hearing of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission in Los Angeles. Jerry described the business effects of inadequate trade infrastructure in Northern California and emphasized the need for a coordinated federal/state/regional strategy for investing in trade infrastructure. The Commission is developing recommendations for Congress and the President on how they should structure the next federal transportation act, and there is an opportunity through this process to advocate for a larger federal role in supporting goods movement.

Fresh from allocating $4.5 billion from Proposition 1B for highway projects, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) is now turning its attention to the $2 billion goods movement category. On March 8th, CTC staff will convene a kick-off meeting of state, regional, and local public agency staff that will discuss options and provide recommendations to the Commission on how to implement the program. The workings of this group will provide the first insights on how the CTC intends to implement the $2 billion program and also provides the first opportunity for the Coalition to shape and influence the direction of the program.

The California Legislature is prepared to guide the $2 billion goods movement program as well. Legislation has been introduced in both the Assembly (AB 995) and Senate (SB 9) that states the intent of the Legislature to define how the program is to be implemented; these same bills will likely be amended later to include specific program guidance.