Comment Log Display

TO:  California Air Resources Board

Honored Board Members;

As a volunteer who has spent the last several years working on
transportation equity issues, I must object to your proposed
reduction goals.  While admirable, the goal you have proposed does
not consider the unintended consequences and could, in fact,
cripple local economies and ruin families financially.  It took us
decades to get to this place; it shouldn't take decades to fix our
emissions, but it cannot be done without careful coordination.

I am involved in local and regional long term planning efforts, so
my comments are not just a knee jerk reaction.  I am a former
Planning Commissioner for the City of San Jose, have worked on
Redevelopment projects for over a decade, focusing on disadvantaged
neighborhoods.  I've sat on any number of local planning committees
related to planning, land use and transportation.  I sit on the
Metropolitan Transportation Commission's Policy Advisory Committee
and chaired the equity analysis committee.

I know that local and regional bodies have worked hard to
coordinate long term land use and transportation measures. 
Implementation of policy is dependant upon funding.  Unless you can
provide the funding to speed up this process, implementing
excessive target goals will simply create problems the local
agencies cannot handle.

We cannot just assume that we can, for instance, push people from
the suburbs into urban settings as a means of reducing road
emissions.  The urban centers are in a delicate balancing act of
planning for increased long term growth while preserving,
maintaining and enhancing existing infrastructure.  Local transit
agencies are not funded to take on a rapid shift in ridership.  

The economic reality is it can't be done.  Not at this point in
time.

I strongly, strongly, strongly urge you to reconsider your target
goals and reduce them to the levels recommended by MTC and other
regional bodies.  They have arrived at their numbers by consulting
with local bodies and working with hundreds of interested
residents, businesses and non-profits.  They have not simply made
up numbers, their numbers reflect a great deal of work from staff
around the region and also, by the way, from volunteers like me.

Please act on the information gathered and compiled.  Please
respect the goals set by MTC and other agencies.  They are
reasonable and achievable goals based on existing infrastructure,
and the long term planning and policy process that will allow us to
reduce emissions while still growing as projected.

Unless you plan on financing the upgrade, installation or expansion
of our transit network, it is irresponsible to attempt to impose
goals that can't be met.  


Sincerely,
Randi Kinman
San Jose