Speier recognized for Baby Bullet Speier recognized for Baby Bullet (September 01, 2004)

State Sen. Jackie Speier, whose district includes Woodside and Portola Valley, is receiving an award for her work on transportation issues, and especially for her help in securing funding for Caltrain's Baby Bullet rail service.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission announced that Sen. Speier, D-Hillsborough, is to receive the 2004 John F. Foran Legislator of the Year Award at a ceremony September 22 in Oakland.

The commission cited her many years as a member of the state Senate Transportation Committee, and said Sen. Speier was instrumental in securing $127 million of the Baby Bullet project's $163 million in construction costs from state traffic congestion relief funds.

Each five-car Baby Bullet express train, which makes limited stops between San Francisco and San Jose, can take 800 cars off the freeways during commute hours, and has been so successful that Los Angeles County supervisors are interested in replicating the service, said Sen. Speier.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is the agency in charge of transportation planning, financing and coordination for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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