Remember the Heat as the MPO Starts Thinking about the MTIP

In Saturday's front page piece about a record-setting potential for five consecutive days of 100 degree weather, the tone seemed more about gee-whiz excitement at breaking the record than warning about the danger. Above all, climate change and the probability of more heat waves like this was wholly absent from the piece.

The paper ignored climate

By contrast, the day before in a piece from OPB, the new agency head at the Department of Water Resources was clear on climate, and specifically pointed to "policymakers and agency leaders."

The day before, a story on water centered climate

Even today, climate is directly adjacent in a national story off the wire, but a little denied in the local coverage by the trope of water play and fun.

Front page today

The technical committee at our Metropolitan Planning Organization meets on Tuesday, and hopefully the heat wave will be top of mind, and not merely background and incidental.

Starting discussion on the MTIP priorities

They'll be starting the conversation about priorities for the 2027 MTIP, the short-term transportation plan. You may recall the Goal 7 discussion from a few years ago for the 2019 RTSP (the long-term plan).

Staff have identified some possibilities for the current round:

• Continuing to prioritize finishing projects – i.e. establishment of reserve buckets
• Safety
• Transit
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects
• State of Good Repair
• Regional Programs

Climate! What about climate? Bike/ped projects and transit fall naturally under a climate focus, and then they are framed up as something essential rather than an amenity and extra.

The MTIP should have two priorities: Climate and Safety. We should start thinking of repair even in a subordinate role: If a repair helps climate and safety, then it is a good one. But if a repair hinders climate and safety, then maybe it is not such a good idea.

The Technical Advisory Committee meets at 1:30pm on Tuesday the 9th.