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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04242001 - C.41 F TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS S- Contra FROM: TRANSPORTATION, WATER AND INFRASTRUCTURE 'S Costa COMMITTEE (SUPERVISOR DONNA GERBER, CHAIR) _==�"" s .- County DATE: APRIL 9, 2001 ,r{{ SUBJECT: APPOINTMENT OF ALTERNATE TO SUPERVISOR GIOIA ON THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY RAIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) 8:BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS Appoint Joel .Keller as the alternate to Supervisor Gioia on the San Joaquin Valley Rail Advisory Committee and'authorize the Clerk of the Board to notify the Committee of this appointment. FISCAL IMPACT None. BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS Contra Costa County is one of 13 counties that comprise the San Joaquin Valley Rail Advisory Committee. The Committee meets every other month to provide policy input to Caltrans, which operates the San Joaquin intercity rail service. The San Joaquin service links the Bay Area with the Central Valley. The County has two seats on the Committee, one specifically for an elected official. Supervisor Gioia was appointed to that seat in 1999. An alternate is needed in the event that Supervisor Gioia is unable to attend the meetings, which usually are held in Central Valley locations along the San Joaquin rail line. Joel Keller of Antioch has expressed his willingness to serve as the alternate. Mr. Keller is a member of the BART Board of Directors and the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority Board of Directors. The County's other (non- elected) representative on the Committee is Mr. Howard Abelson of El Cerrito. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR X RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER (4k' ZL,; 10�=Lj SIGNATURE(S): Su ervisor John Gioia Sup sor Donna Gerber ACTION OF BOARD ON April 24, 2001 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED x OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ,�'rIV ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE ABSENT: ABSTAIN: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: John ?reitzer (925/335-1201) cc: Community Development Department (CDD) ATTESTED aril 24, 2001 J. Keller, BART Board of Directors JOHN SWEETEN, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY �0 , DEPUTY SAtransportationtoard order keller.doc t APPOIATMENT OF ALTERNATE TO SUPERVISOR GIOIA ON THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY RAIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE APRIL 9,2001 Page 2 BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS CONTINUED San Joaquins staff have requested the Clerk of the Board notify them in writing when the appointment is made. The San Joaquins service operates four trains daily between Bakersfield and Oakland via Contra Costa County, and two trains daily between Bakersfield and Sacramento. A fifth daily run between Bakersfield and Oakland is planned by the year 2005, and a sixth daily run by 2010, according to Amtrak's California Passenger Rail Improvement Plan. Within Contra Costa County, the line has stations at Antioch, Martinez, and Richmond. The service may also stop at Hercules if and when the new Hercules train station is completed. The 13 member counties of the San Joaquin Valley Rail Advisory Committee are Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Stanislaus, and Tulare Counties. Recent issues for the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee Two key issues have dominated the Committee discussions in recent months. One issue is the possibility of extending the San Joaquin service from Bakersfield south to the Los Angeles area, either through track improvements or new tracks across the Tehachapis or some alternate route. Currently the connection from Bakersfield to Los Angeles is made by bus. The second issue under discussion recently is a seat-reservations system established by Amtrak last year for the San Joaquin service. The service previously consisted of open seating. Some members of the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee believe the reservations system is difficult to use, thereby discouraging ridership. Annual ridership on the San Joaquin line is about 700,000 passengers per year. This figure has been relatively unchanged forthe past several years. By comparison, the Capitol Corridor forecasts annual ridership of about 810,000 for 2001, based on recent trends. Capitol Corridor ridership has been increasing each year as more service is added. Other issues specific to the San Joaquin service in Contra Costa County include the possibility of upgrading and staffing the Antioch station, which presently is unstaffed; impacts of the planned Hercules train station on San Joaquin operations, and whether the San Joaquin trains will stop there; the possibility of "splitting" service from the Central Valley at Stockton so that every train serves both Sacramento and the Bay Area; and coordination with the East County Transit Study. This study will evaluate several rail and bus alternatives to bring commuter transit service further east beyond the Pittsburg /Bay Point BART station. One of the alternatives under discussion in the study is new commuter train service along the same tracks used by the San Joaquin service. This alternative, if implemented, could impact the San Joaquin operations and likely would require cooperative agreements with the San Joaquin (State of California), Amtrak, and Union Pacific, which owns the tracks.