Dear Horizon supporters, stakeholders, and Bay Area residents with big ideas::
Do you find yourself daydreaming of new ways to cross over or under the San Francisco Bay? Do you have fresh ideas to improve your commute to work or to help folks get around the congested Bay Area? Then this could be your time to shine. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) are looking for your biggest, brightest, billion dollar (or more!) ideas for redefining the way we travel in and around the Bay Area.
This month, the agencies are jointly issuing an open Request for Transformative Projects – transportation project ideas that have the potential to revolutionize how we move around the region. The Request is part of the Horizon initiative to explore the challenges and opportunities likely to face the Bay Area between now and 2050. Learn more about the Request for Transformative Projects here.
The Transformative Projects should provide new and creative solutions for Bay Area transportation and should be large in scale – costing $1 billion or more. In addition to our public agency partners, individuals, private sector companies and nongovernmental organizations are encouraged to participate. Proposals are due on September 6, 2018.
Your ideas will be evaluated by an expert panel of engineers and transportation planners, who will review all project submissions for their feasibility, potential regional benefits, alignment with program goals and creativity. All individual and private-sector contestants are eligible for prizes including a $100 Visa cash card for the finalists and a $500 Visa cash card for the winner.
How to Share Your Big Ideas
MTC and ABAG are looking for big ideas from all sources. No previous planning experience is required to submit a Transformative Project – anyone with a great idea for the future of transportation in the Bay Area is encouraged to participate!
We are looking for well thought-out projects that will have a transformative impact on Bay Area communities and the way we move around the region. These could include vision projects not included in our last regional plan, Plan Bay Area 2040 — like the second Transbay Tube or the Central Subway extension — as well as new ideas for capacity-increasing projects, sea level rise-type resilience projects, or other transformative operational strategies. We will read every entry received, and the goal is to receive potentially actionable project ideas.
Public submissions will be reviewed by a judging panel this fall, which will select five to 10 projects to become part of the analysis for Horizon and Plan Bay Area 2050. Ultimately, projects identified as finalists will be evaluated alongside those from public agencies using a consistent evaluation framework. High-performing projects submitted will even be considered for inclusion in Plan Bay Area 2050 next year.
Proposals can be submitted by completing the online form. The Request for Transformative Projects is also open to packages of lower-cost investments, as long as the total cost of the package of projects exceeds $1 billion.
Thank you in advance for your interest. If you have questions about the Request for Transformative Projects, or the Horizon initiative, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Dave Vautin
MTC/ABAG Horizon Project Manager
dvautin@bayareametro.gov
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Tags: ABAG, Association of Bay Area Governments, horizon, horizon initiative, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, MTC