The California Transportation Commission approved the guidelines and released applications for Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation Program at its March meeting.

Congratulations to Jeanie Ward-Waller, our former California Senior Policy Manager, who was promoted earlier this year to Deputy Director for Planning and Modal Programs at CalTrans! Jeanie recently served as Sustainability Program Manager and Acting Director of CalTrans District 2. We look forward to continuing to work with her. 

There is a new Clean Mobility Options pilot program that supports zero-emissions carsharing, carpooling, bikeshare, and other innovative transportation options for underserved communities.

Workshops to refine the ATP Cycle 5 Guidelines are continuing, and since our January update, there have been a few changes: 

• The Healthy Places Index will now be accepted as a fourth statewide metric to qualify for Disadvantaged Community Status, with full severity points available. We’re very pleased that this option will be available to applicants. 

Last fall, Governor Newsom unfortunately vetoed SB 127, the Complete Streets bill. In his veto message, the Governor promised that new leadership at CalTrans would find ways to increase active transportation investments.  Building on that, we have been working with CalTrans on a Complete Streets Action plan.

We are disappointed that Tamika Butler has had to resign as a CTC commissioner only a few months after her appointment last fall.

Workshops to determine guidelines for Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation continue, with input coming in from around the state. The schedule of workshops, as well as downloadable materials, is available on the CTC's ATP website under the 2021 ATP Cycle 5 header. 

Manteca is in the process of developing its general plan to guide how the city will grow. We recently recommended that Manteca include in its plan concrete ways it will improve bicycle and pedestrian access around schools, improvements in active transportaton data collection, and measurable goals on Complete Streets. We also urged the city to prioritize affordable transportation options as part of the environmental justice component of the general plan.

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