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I know, I know – traffic is so bad in Southern California<\/st1:place>, you’re certain that nobody could possibly be planning our transportation system. <\/span>Actually, that’s not so. <\/span>I’d like to start introducing, and maybe demystifying, the agency I used to work for: <\/span>the Southern California Association of Governments, also known as SCAG.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nSCAG was formed a little over forty years ago and is what’s called a Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO. <\/span>(I never heard of one either, until I started working there.) <\/span>SCAG gets planning funds from the federal government under federal transportation law. <\/span>The most recent law was passed by Congress in 2005, and goes by the moniker SAFETEA-LU, which stands for the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: <\/span>A Legacy for Users. <\/span>SCAG’s main responsibility is to use this money to generate a Regional Transportation Plan every four years. <\/span>This “RTP” describes how transportation funds will be spent in six Southern California counties: <\/span>Imperial, Los Angeles<\/st1:city>, Orange<\/st1:city>, Riverside<\/st1:city>, San Bernardino<\/st1:city>, and Ventura<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. <\/span>The plan lays out expenditures at least 20 years into the future, usually more.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\nTransportation funds come from a variety of sources – and a changing variety at that. <\/span>Traditionally, most transportation funding was federal – think interstate highways, which criss-cross our region. <\/span>However, fewer and fewer interstates are being built, and less and less federal money is available. <\/span>The main source of federal funding is the national Highway Trust Fund, which is supplied by gasoline taxes. <\/span>As cars get more fuel-efficient, these revenues are less able to keep up with growing demand for new infrastructure. <\/span>Over time, more state and local funds have been dedicated to transportation projects. <\/span>For example, Los Angeles<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> residents pay a one-cent sales tax to help fund transportation.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\nThe RTP lays out how all the funds projected to be available over the next 20-30 years will be spent in all the six counties: <\/span>typically on a mix of highway projects like interchange improvements, additional lanes, and carpool lanes; public transit systems including bus and light rail; commuter rail systems like Metrolink; and some “non-motorized” projects like bike paths. <\/span>Because transportation affects air quality in Southern California<\/st1:place>, the plan must show that the sum total of investments will reduce emissions enough so that by established deadlines, the region will meet air quality standards. <\/span>Right now, we don’t meet all of those standards, and we have the asthma, bronchitis, and other ailments to prove it. <\/span>SCAG works with the South Coast Air Quality Management District and other air districts in the region to show that each RTP will keep us on track to achieve the standards. <\/span>If the region cannot do this, federal funding for highway projects will be cut off.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\nSCAG’s decisions are made by a governing board called the Regional Council, which has nearly eighty members from the six counties mentioned above. <\/span>The members are elected officials: <\/span>City Councilmembers, Mayors, County<\/st1:placetype> Supervisors<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>, and County Transportation Commissioners. <\/span>Long Beach<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> is represented on the Regional Council by Councilmembers Rae Gabelich and Tonia Reyes Uranga, and Vice-Mayor Bonnie Lowenthal serves on the Transportation & Communications Committee. <\/span>The Regional Council and policy committees meet on the first Thursday of each month at SCAG’s offices in downtown Los Angeles<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, at the north end of the Metro Blue Line.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n SCAG is currently developing the 2008 Regional Transportation Plan, which indicates planned expenditures out to 2035. <\/span>A draft of this plan is expected to be released on Thursday, November 1. <\/span>The public will have several weeks to comment on the plan, as well as the associated Environmental Impact Report. <\/span>At any time, you can make a comment to SCAG on their web site, www.scag.ca.gov<\/a> – or you can simply visit to learn more! 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