›› UPFRONT
Bike-ped program walks the walk Report shows non-auto transportation funds are on the right path... by Pe te r Se i d m an
A
report released last week confirms the view that bicycle and pedestrian transportation should take their rightful place as integral components of a nationwide transportation future. The report was the culmination of the multi-year Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program, part of the 2005 federal transportation bill. The program identified four communities across the country in which to test a supposition: Would investing in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure help spur what transportation types call a “mode shift?” It did. The Federal Highway Administration, part of the Department of Transportation (DOT), delivered the report to Congress last week. It includes data collected since 2007 in each of the four communities: Columbia, Missouri; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Sheboygan County, Wisconsin; and Marin. Each of the demographically diverse communities received about $30 million to develop nonmotorized transportation infrastructures. According to the report that DOT Secretary Ray LaHood delivered to leadership in the House and Senate transportation committees, a requirement mandated by Congress, “an estimated 16 million miles were walked or bicycled that would have otherwise been driven in 2010, and an
estimated 32 million driving miles were averted between 2007 and 2010.” Counts taken in each of the four communities revealed an average increase of 49 percent in the number of bicyclists and a 22 percent increase in the number of pedestrians between 2007 and 2010. While bicycle riding and walking have increased across the country, and the number of driving miles has decreased, the shift has been more pronounced in the pilot communities. According to the report, “The pilot communities saved an estimated 22 pounds of carbon dioxide in 2010 per person or a total of 67,701 tons. This is the equivalent to saving 1 gallon of gas per person or nearly 1.7 million gallons from 2007 to 2010.” As impressive as the average numbers are for the four communities, in many respects Marin beat the averages. The county public works department estimates that during the pilot program, bicycling trips increased 64.4 percent, walking trips 21 percent. Along with these increases, driving decreased by 4.7 percent. The percentages translate to some impressive numbers: Vehicular travel in the county declined by an estimated 18.9 million miles over the course of a year, or nearly 51,900 miles each day. Those numbers translate to a reduction in greenhouse 10 >
›› NEWSGRAMS
by Jason Walsh
Don’t plug those meters in yet, says Marin Not so fast, Mr. SmartMeter pants...the county of Marin and the town of Fairfax have filed motions with the California Public Utilities Commission to delay further wireless-meter installation until the commission rules on whether entire communities can “opt out” of the smart-meter grid. Many Marin residents have had their fingers in a socket over Pacific Gas and Electric’s plans to install the controversial radio-frequency-emitting meters, which can better monitor household power usage, but have caused concerns over health sensitivities and privacy violations. On Feb. 1, the CPUC voted 4-0 on a smart-meter “opt-out” policy that would allow residents to keep their analog meters for a $10 monthly service fee. If smart meters have already been installed, the opt-out price would include $75 to have those meters replaced by analog meters, in addition to the $10 monthly service fee. The county and Fairfax are also asking the CPUC to rule on whether the amount that customers are being charged to opt out is too high. Fairfax Town Councilmember Larry Bragman says that until the CPUC reviews these options, further deployment of smart meters should be delayed. “Our electrical grid will be smarter and more secure if the CPUC adopts a community optout program that permits diverse but compatible metering technology,” says Bragman.“And ratepayers should not be forced to pay fees to keep analog meters that have already proven to be safe and accurate.” The CPUC is expected to consider the smart-meter opt-out options within the coming weeks, but PG&E has said that since the opt-out option has been given to customers the utility sees no reason to delay installing the meters. Opt-out customers who don’t pay the fees may have their power cut off, according to PG&E officials. Robert Milner of Point Reyes Station says such threats to cut off electricity “demonstrate the true PG&E culture.” “[PG&E] called several times and tried to make an appointment to install a smart meter even though I made it clear that I didn’t want one,” says Milner.“I refuse to pay to opt out of a smart-meter program that I never opted-in to. I still have my analog meter, but now PG&E is trying to force me to have a smart meter if I don’t pay the fees.” County to explore ‘hybrid’ pension plan Marin County Supervisors are embracing the idea of a hybrid pension plan as the county’s next step in dealing with more than $700 million in unfunded liability for retirees in the coming years. The Supes have already endorsed Gov. Brown’s proposed 12-point pension reform plan, and on May 1 the board agreed to explore a hybrid pension plan for Marin—similar to the guv’s, but specific to Marin in case the state plan fails in the Legislature. If the county were to model its hybrid plan after the governor’s, it would feature such remedies as ending double dipping by retirees with multiple county positions, curb end-of-career pension spiking, delay retirement ages and raise employee pension contributions. Board of Supes condemns Citizens United Marin citizens are uniting against Citizens United, the controversial 2010 Supreme Court decision which held that corporations have a First Amendment right to unrestricted political expenditures—or, as some critics have put it, the ruling that equates unlimited amounts of corporate money with free speech. On April 24, the Marin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to sign on to a resolution to amend the U.S. Constitution in order to overrule Citizens United. Among the declarations in the resolution are the assertions that corporations are “legal 10 >
8 PACIFIC SUN MAY 4 - MAY 10, 2012