{"id":82,"date":"2019-01-04T14:44:52","date_gmt":"2019-01-04T22:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/?p=82"},"modified":"2020-03-02T14:11:56","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T22:11:56","slug":"a-crash-course-from-the-santa-cruz-county-regional-transportation-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/?p=82","title":{"rendered":"A crash course for RTC Commissioners from the staff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why does the dog wag\nits tail?
\nBecause a dog is smarter than its tail.
\nIf the tail were smarter, it would wag the dog.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four recent columns in the Pajaronian by Trina\nCoffman-Gomez, Watsonville City Council member and the newest Commissioner of\nthe Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC), demonstrate a\nquick learning curve.  It is the outcome\nof a crash course provided by the RTC staff. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sometimes there are accidents, and sometimes there is policy. Sometimes there are both.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The RTC was established by the state in 1972 as an\nautonomous agency.  It has increased that\nautonomy by successfully passing Measure D. \nThe Measure D half percent sales tax goes exclusively to RTC funding, about\n$17,000,000 annually, or more precisely a cost to you of $50 if you purchase a\n$10,000 car in Santa Cruz County. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s examine some of the dog wagging by the RTC staff, as\nexpressed through Ms Coffman-Gomez\u2019s columns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She writes: \u201cThe contract with Progressive Rail prohibits\ntank car storage without approval from the RTC\u201d.  In fact, the contract specifically states,\nseveral times, \u201c…the Commission may not materially interfere with Railway\u2019s\nFreight Service rights and obligations under federal law, or rights under the\nFreight Easement, unless first approved by the STB.\u201d  \u201cSTB\u201d is the federal Surface Transportation\nBoard; the quoted segment is from 2.3. of the Operating Agreement.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She writes: \u201cThe corridor has the capacity and the width to\nsafely handle passenger rail, pedestrians and cyclist.\u201d  The rail right of way varies from 18 feet to\n160 feet and much of its landscape has naturalized and closed in on the\nrail.   The RTC notes that 25 feet is the\nabsolute minimum, but imagine how cozy that would be.  Baby carriages, bikes and trains, oh my!  Additionally, a physical barrier will be\nrequired between train and pedestrians, effectively turning the right of way into\na fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She writes: \u201cThe cost of not having a train is many times\nhigher\u201d\u2026 than the existing transportation conditions.  Most non-invested state and regional\nfinancial planners would disagree.  When\nthe Santa Cruz County 270,000 population and 31 miles of track and the $11\nmillion grant from the state were described, the informed advice was: give the\nmoney back.  The RTC staff asserting to a\nCommissioner the fiscal cost-to-benefit of rail is silliness, not even\njustified by their Unified Corridor Study: \u201c7,000 passenger trips on a typical weekday in the horizon\nyear of the Unified Corridor Study (2035)\u201d and a cost of $330,410,000.  In contrast, the UCS forecasts 22,518 bike\nand walk trips in 2035 in a trail only scenario, a 3 to 1 passenger trip\nadvantage for walking and biking over rail transit. These are figures from the\nStudy, but are not reflected in the programmatically directed \u201cScenarios\u201d.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nwrites: \u201dFor example, the county share by population based off of the 2018\nCaltrans State Rail Plan, is close to $1 billion. This is where our\ncontribution remains to be used, which will be spent by other communities if we\ndon\u2019t apply for these funds.\u201d  We can\napply all we want, but the second smallest county in California, population\n270,000 to 40,000,000 statewide, is disadvantaged in an arena governed by\npolitics rather than \u201cshares\u201d.  The\nbackbone of the State Rail Plan is High Speed Rail, upon which rail funding\nwill focus. The Caltrans 2027 vision map shows bus service from Watsonville to\nSanta Cruz continuing to San Jose; by 2040 they show our state linked by High\nSpeed Rail from Sacramento to San Diego and Santa Cruz and Watsonville have\nregional rail service running at less than hourly frequency.  This is the brightest scenario the State Rail\nPlan offers our area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nwrites: \u201cThe city of Watsonville has a  (population)\ndensity of 8,400 per mile\u2026 Other communities with this density have shown us\nthat rail is an affordable option.\u201d   The\nsuccess of rail transit depends on the rider\u2019s ultimate destination and the\ndensities along the route and at the destinations, such as employment\ndensity.  Those conditions don\u2019t exist in\nSanta Cruz County.  Instead, looking at\nWatsonville\u2019s population density and ranking as one of the least safe biking\nand walking community in California, one might consider other options.  More open space, a linear park, protected and\nsafe walking and biking areas, free healthy family recreation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What will happen instead is the return of the tank cars.  Saint Paul and Pacific (SPP), Progressive\u2019s\nlocal operating name, has published its tariffs. The only charges recorded are\n\u201cstorage hold charges\u201d amounting to $15.00 per car per day for non-hazardous\ncars and $20.00 per day for hazardous cars. \nAt the 5% franchise fee the RTC proposes, this would be $1.00 per car or\n$300 per day for 300 hazardous cars or $109,500 per annum.  In its third attempt to run a railroad, the\nRTC continues to demonstrate pathetic business acumen.  It is appropriate and reflective to its skill\nin managing transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RTC staff is focused on \u201cgrowing the program\u201d, on the\nsurvival and expansion of the agency. \nThese are their metrics of success.  \nMeanwhile, it can be argued that no other county in the United States\nwith similar tax base and population has worst roads and transportation.  Even in the face of repeated failure, the elected\nCommissioners have absorbed the staff\u2019s point of view, as reflected in Ms\nCoffman-Gomez\u2019s columns.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tail is wagging the dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally published in the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian, January 5, 2019.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why does the dog wag its tail? Because a dog is smarter than its tail. If the tail were smarter, it would wag the dog. Four recent columns in the Pajaronian by Trina Coffman-Gomez, Watsonville City Council member and the newest Commissioner of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC), demonstrate a quick learning … Continue reading “A crash course for RTC Commissioners from the staff”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89,"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions\/89"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laselva.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}