Meeting_Body
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
FEBRUARY 28, 2019
Preamble
Motion by:
Garcetti, Butts, Solis and Hahn
Item 32.4: Twenty-Eight by ’28 Initiative
Metro should always strive to accelerate major transit investments and deliver projects ahead of schedule.
On November 8, 2016 Los Angeles County voters adopted Measure M, a landmark transportation investment. The last Measure M transit project is currently scheduled to open in 2057, 38 years from now.
However, those projects were identified to ease the congestion experienced in LA County today. To accelerate projects, the Board adopted Twenty-Eight by ’28, an ambitious acceleration plan to deliver 28 critical transportation projects by 2028.
To deliver Twenty-Eight by ’28, Metro identified an acceleration need of approximately $26.2 billion. Additionally, Metro evaluated many potential revenue sources available for acceleration.
As the challenge of delivering Twenty-Eight by ’28 comes into greater focus it is clear that additional work will be required to prepare an ambitious but realistic and deliverable program. The next step should be a more detailed examination of what is required to accelerate the major transportation projects.
To better prioritize acceleration efforts, Metro should focus on accelerating transit projects. Metro should ensure that it is leaving no stone unturned, including revenues not previously considered and a healthy discussion of using alternative public and private financing mechanisms outside of Metro’s existing financing toolbox.
Additionally, as part of the acceleration plan, Metro should prepare a constructability analysis to determine what is realistic and deliverable for each accelerated project.
Lastly, Metro should adopt the five policy recommendations of the Policy Advisory Council to ensure the integrity of any Twenty-Eight by ’28 acceleration plan. These five recommendations are:
A. Decouple Twenty-Eight by ’28 from Re-Imagining LA County and its recommendations, particularly any study of congestion pricing.
B. Study how congestion pricing can be used as a tool to help us achieve our goals for equity, mobility and access to opportunity.
C. Clarify the relationship of Twenty-Eight by ’28 priorities to the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Vision 2028 Strategic Plan, and other major plans.
D. Keep promises for local return, Multi-Year Subregional Programs, and other Measure M local programs.
E. Address transit comprehensively.
Ultimately, the residents of LA County expect that Metro will do everything in its power to deliver congestion relief as quickly as possible.
Subject
SUBJECT: TWENTY-EIGHT BY ’28 INITIATIVE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
APPROVE Motion by Garcetti, Butts, Solis and Hahn that the Board direct the CEO to:
A. Prioritize the following pillar projects to address Twenty-Eight by ’28 acceleration funding needs:
• Gold Line Eastside Extension Phase 2
• Green Line Extension to Torrance
• Sepulveda Transit Corridor
• West Santa Ana Branch to Downtown LA and reaffirm that it is the first priority for P3 investment
B. Prepare a detailed year-by-year potential financial forecast to deliver Twenty-Eight by ’28, prioritizing the four pillar projects in section A, with updated assumptions from the revenue sources listed in Board File 2019-0089 (Item 32, February 2019);
1. This forecast shall provide an accelerated schedule for the four pillar projects, including detail on when Measure M funds are available compared to accelerated project schedules;
2. The forecast should prioritize low-risk revenue sources, maximize potential funding from state and federal grant and formula programs, and assume efficiencies from P3 realization;
3. The forecast may assume the use of Inter-fund Borrowing, Multi-Year Subregional Program Funds and Subregional Equity Program funds under the condition that reprogramming of these sources must be approved by the affected corridor jurisdictions and subregions before the Metro Board assigns the funds for acceleration; and
4. The forecast shall not assume the use of any local return revenues;
C. Report on alternative public and private financing mechanisms not included in Metro’s existing financing toolbox that could be used for acceleration of the four pillar projects, including but not limited to Build California Green Bonds;
D. Conduct a “Constructability Analysis” for the four pillar projects, including scope, costs, risks, P3 status, the use of alternative technology modes, and timelines for environmental clearance, conceptual design, preliminary engineering, and construction;
E. Adopt the five policy recommendations contained in the Policy Advisory Council letter and incorporate them into the Twenty-Eight by ’28 and "Re-Imagining of Los Angeles County" programs;
F. Maintain the Twenty-Eight by ’28 name for this acceleration initiative; and
G. Report on all the above to the May 2019 Construction and Executive Management Committees.