In other legislative news, we are getting ready to testify in the Senate Transportation Committee in favor of SB 127, the Complete Streets for All Bill. We plan to publish amendments before the hearing further clarifying which corridors of the state highway network are affected by the bill.
Late last month, State Senator Jim Beall (District 15, Santa Clara) introduced SB 152, which would radically restructure the Active Transportation Program, reducing the statewide component to 10% from its current 50% while increasing the Metropolitan Planning Organization component from 40% to 75% and the Small Urban and Rural component from 10%-15%.
Last month, SB 152 was released in the California State Senate.
California’s legislative cycle is in full swing, and the Safe Routes Partnership continues to advocate for our priorities in Sacramento. In partnership with our co-sponsors CalWalks, CalBike and the American Heart Association, we have been meeting frequently with legislators and agency staff about SB 127 (Wiener), which will guarantee the implementation of Complete Streets improvements along sections of the State Highway System that fall within a half-mile radius of key community destinations such as schools and parks.
As we reported last month, the California Transportation Commission announced the results of Cycle 4 of the Active Transportation Program at the beginning of the year. There have been a few updates to the recommendations since then, and we have also had the chance to dig into the numbers and identify some trends.
Last December, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) voted to endorse a series of policy proposals from the Committee to House the Bay Area, known as CASA. This independent committee, made up of stakeholders including representatives from cities, businesses such as Google and Facebook, and advocates such as Urban Habitat, had been deliberating for 18 months about how to address the housing shortfall in the region. CASA was established after the last regional transportation plan, known as Plan Bay Area, was passed.
Last week, State Senator Scott Wiener introduced SB-127, the Complete Streets for All Bill.
Last month, we were pleased to join other walking advocates at PedsCount 2018, hosted by California Walks. California Senior Policy Manager Jonathan Matz and Senior Equity and Policy Manager Demi Espinoza both attended the conference, which highlighted the obstacles to full use of and participation in our streets faced by communities that are marginalized due to race, gender and disability.
Last week, California voters rejected Proposition 6, which would have repealed the SB1 transportation funding increases, by a ten point margin. As we noted in previous editions of the e-news, Proposition 6 would have resulted in a self-inflicted crisis on our state’s transportation system, not only removing billions of already allocated dollars, but rendering virtually impossible any future increases in revenue.
 | @saferoutesca |
| Safe Routes to School in California |
