MTC adopts Major Project Advancement Policy

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) last week voted unanimously to adopt a new policy for prioritizing, building and delivering the next generation of major Bay Area transportation projects, with a focus on transit.

Officially known as the Major Project Advancement Policy (MAP), the new investment framework marks the first overhaul of the Bay Area’s transit expansion policy since 2008. Designed to support implementation of Plan Bay Area 2050, the MAP balances the sequencing of new projects with limited available funding, prioritizing those that already have received significant grants of state or federal dollars and are either now under construction or poised to begin construction soon.

These include the ongoing electrification of the Caltrain corridor between San Jose and San Francisco, BART’s Core Capacity initiative to expand service frequencies through the Transbay Tube linking San Francisco and Oakland, and the extension of BART service from Berryessa/North San Jose through downtown San Jose to a new terminus in Santa Clara.

The MAP also prioritizes projects readying for construction, including a Caltrain extension to the Salesforce Transit Center in downtown San Francisco and the Valley Link Rail Project to connect the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station with communities in San Joaquin County.

The MAP further recognizes the importance of preserving funding opportunities to advance smaller, high-performing projects and other regional priorities such as accelerating the transition to zero-emission buses. MTC is expected to make amendments to the MAP in early 2023. These amendments likely will include policy and risk-management elements to strengthen and support project delivery.