MTA Media Relations - Press Release

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Summit: Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky addresses transportation conference.

MTA CEO Roger Snoble fields questions at news conference following opening session.

MTA/L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce Summit Calls for Fair Share of State and Federal Transportation Funding

Los Angeles County's first-ever transportation summit wrapped up with a call for more state and federal funding for transportation improvements to combat the growing congestion that threatens the region's quality of life and economic vitality. Sponsored by MTA and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Mobility-21: LA County Moving Together was held Nov. 18 at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Mobility-21 assembled a countywide group of elected officials, transportation providers, business, labor and community leaders to develop practical solutions to the county's transportation issues. The summit also was intended to foster a broad-based coalition that will seek significant increases in transportation funding in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

"Never before has L.A. County been so determined to find the most workable solutions to congestion," said Hal Bernson, Los Angeles City Councilman and MTA Board Chairman. "Mobility-21 drove home the point that we all have a stake in keeping this county moving and that we can focus on the greater good while still meeting the needs of the individual."

In addition to three general sessions, Mobility-21 included seven breakout sessions which produced a series of resolutions that were adopted at the afternoon general session. The resolutions included endorsement of the State of California and MTA principles for reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century and a recommendation for additional federal and state funding for transit needs in Los Angeles County.

Other resolutions included a recommendation to create an advocacy coalition for Los Angeles County; endorsement of new federal programs that promote more coordinated land use; and acknowledgement of the need to secure all available funds for air passenger and cargo safety/security and ground access improvements; endorsement of a partnership between the freight industry and public sector to examine future freight-related needs, strategies and alternatives; and a recommendation to address the adequacy of state and federal gas taxes and ensure that loans to the California general fund are paid back to the Traffic Congestion Relief Program. (See: A more detailed description of the resolutions.)

"Everyone who attended Mobility-21 knows well the urgency with which we must act," said MTA CEO Roger Snoble."We agreed that our most pressing need is to grow the transportation funding pie and to make sure L.A. County gets a bigger piece of it to pay for the transportation projects that will keep our people and goods moving. Our quality of life depends on it."

In addition to MTA and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, participating agencies and companies included the Federal Transit Administration, United Parcel Service, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, California Trucking Association, Surface Transit Project, Caltrans, Air Transport Association, Automobile Club of Southern California, United Western Grocers Association and others.

Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer Rusty Hammer stressed the importance of the public and private sector acting in concert, something that has not always happened in the past.

"Mobility-21 underscored the importance of a strong coalition of business, transportation professionals and lawmakers," said Hammer. "The participation of members of Congress demonstrated their strong interest in taking our case to Washington, D.C. and securing the funding we need to solve our very pressing mobility issues."

The opening and closing sessions and the luncheon included addresses by several speakers including Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, California State Assembly Speaker Emeritus Robert Hertzberg, MTA Board Chair Hal Bernson, and Thomas McKernan, president and chief executive officer of the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Breakout session topics included goods movement, the role of streets and highways in mobility, freight movement, public transit, getting to and from the airport, funding transportation services and infrastructure, integrating land use and transportation, and securing transportation resources through coalition building.

Moderators for the breakout sessions included Rusty Selix, executive director for the California Association of Councils of Governments; David Abel, editor-in-chief for Metro Investment Report; Phil Recht, a former Clinton Administration official in the U.S. Department of Transportation; Larry Jackson, president and general manager for Long Beach Transit; Steven Erie, director of urban studies an planning for the University of California at San Diego; and Doug Failing, District 7 Director for the California Department of Transportation.

Participating breakout session panelists included Dan Beal, manager of public policy and programs for the Automobile Club of Southern California; Katherine Perez, executive director of the Southern California Transportation & Land Use Coalition; Jim Seeley, Washington, D.C., chief legislative representative for Mayor James Hahn's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; Mitchell Rouse, president of Taxi Systems, Inc.; Ed Merlis, senior vice -president of government affairs for the Air Transport Association of America; and John Kirchner, professor at California State University, Los Angeles.

Mobility-21 executive co-chairs include Hal Bernson, L.A. City Council Member, Chair of the MTA Board of Directors and Metrolink, and President, Southern California Association of Governments Regional Council; Congressman David Dreier; James Hahn, Los Angeles Mayor and MTA Board Member; Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald; Senator Kevin Murray, Chair, California State Senate Transportation Committee; Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, Chair, California State Assembly Budget Committee; Frank Roberts, Mayor, City of Lancaster and MTA Board Member; Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard; and Zev Yaroslavsky, Chair, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and First Vice-Chair, MTA Board of Directors.

Streets and Freeways: Resolution supporting increased funding and resources to help maximize mobility benefits from Los Angeles County streets and freeways. Endorses that a focus be placed on corridor coordination, project development, implementation, and the streamlining of project delivery.

Land Use and Transportation Planning: Resolution endorsing creation of new federal programs that promote more coordinated land use and transportation decision-making through the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-First Century ("TEA-21") and calling for the commitment to explore avenues to create meaningful incentives that strengthen the nexus between land use and transportation planning in Los Angeles County.

Aviation: Resolution acknowledging the need to secure all available funds for air passenger and cargo safety/security and ground access improvements to Southern California's airports, which will enhance the economic vitality of the Los Angeles region.

Freight Movement: Acknowledges that addressing freight infrastructure funding is a national issue which requires national solutions and that freight-related needs should be considered in transportation plans and corridor studies; endorses a partnership between the freight industry and public sector in examining future freight needs, strategies and alternatives.

Transit: Resolution requesting additional federal and state funding for transit needs in Los Angeles County, including funding for buses, new fixed guideway systems and expansions, and transit capital; advocating for more flexibility in the use of federal transportation funds.

Building Effective Lobbying Coalition: Resolution endorsing the creation of an advocacy coalition comprised of transportation stakeholders and their representatives to advocate on behalf of Los Angeles County transportation needs.

How to Bring More Money to Los Angeles County: Resolution recommending a process to address the adequacy of state and federal gas taxes; support for the preservation of the Traffic Congestion Relief Program by ensuring that loans to the California general fund are paid back and Proposition 42 funds be continued; and to propose a half-cent increase in sales taxes for transportation purposes through a reduced voter threshold for approval of those taxes.