Last Chance to Apply for MTC's Policy Advisory Council

Applications Due by February 1

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Metropolitan Transportation Commission

Jan 20, 2010, 02:05 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Wanted: 27 individuals to jump into the transportation arena, learn about the complexities of funding, and help identify the connections between transportation and land use, air quality and climate change. Interested? The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area's transportation planning and financing agency, may have a place for you as part of a new Policy Advisory Council slated to begin meeting in April 2010.

The mission of the new citizen panel will be to advise MTC on transportation policies in the San Francisco Bay Area, incorporating diverse perspectives relating to the environment, the economy and social equity. A total of nine members will be appointed to represent economic and environmental perspectives, nine members will represent communities of color and issues affecting low income communities or environmental justice, and nine members will represent the interests of seniors or persons with disabilities.

The application deadline is Monday, February 1, 2010. Experience in working on public policy issues or community-related issues is desired, as is having an interest in transportation and how it affects residents in each of the nine Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma). Committee members are expected to attend monthly meetings held on Wednesday afternoons at MTC's offices in Oakland, and to serve a two-year term. While positions are voluntary, committee members do receive a stipend for their attendance at certain meetings.

The new Policy Advisory Council, created by the Commission in November 2009, will effectively merge MTC's three separate advisory committees – the MTC Advisory Council, the Elderly and Disabled Advisory Committee, and the Minority Citizens Advisory Committee. These three advisory committees will sunset with the formation of the Policy Advisory Council.

Some of the issues that the new panel might be asked to advise on include:

Regional planning efforts linking transportation, housing and land use plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A Bay Area effort to identify public transit service productivity improvements that squeeze more efficiency from the region's existing transit investments, and pursue new revenues to build a system that could better serve all Bay Area residents.

"MTC must make transportation policy and investment decisions that serve all Bay Area residents," said MTC Chair Scott Haggerty. "This new Council will give a voice to a range of viewpoints to enhance our decision-making process. I encourage anyone interested in helping us improve Bay Area mobility to apply for a seat."

MTC's governing board of commissioners will review all applications and make final appointments to the advisory committees. For more information or to obtain an application, call 510.817.5757, go to MTC's Web site at www.mtc.ca.gov or visit the MTC offices at 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, during regular business hours.

MTC is the regional transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission