Legislation & Implementation

We salute the Air Resources Board for the creation of the new Sustainable Transportation Equity Program (STEP).

Congratulations to Toks Omishakin, Governor Newsom’s nominee for CalTrans director, which was announced earlier this month. Mr. Omishakin is a recruit from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, where he has been an unyielding champion of active transportation and complete streets. Prior to that, he served as director of healthy living initiatives for the Nashville Mayor’s Office for three years.

We’re proud to announce that SB 127, the Complete Streets Bill, passed the California State Assembly last week and is headed to Governor Newsom’s desk.

Last Monday, SB 127 (Wiener), the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill, passed the Assembly Transportation Committee.

SB 152 (Beall), which would have radically restructured the Active Transportation Program and to which we announced our opposition last month, failed to pass the Senate Appropriations Committee last week.

We are pleased with the continued progress of SB 127 (Wiener), the Complete Streets bill we are co-sponsoring along with California Walks, the California Bicycle Coalition and the American Heart Association. The bill has now passed out of the Senate Transportation and Appropriations committees. In the process, we have agreed to amendments that removed our proposed reordering of the State Highway Account’s priorities.

Earlier this month, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) released Draft Community Air Monitoring Plans (CAMP) for each of the three AB 617 Southern California areas (Boyle Heights, Muscoy, and West Long Beach). This is the first step in identifying ways to mitigate air pollution issues in these communities.