The compounding effects of the pandemic stay-home orders and the drastically reduced revenues have had an enormous effect on the legislative agenda and schedule in Sacramento. Though the State Senate and State Assembly are starting to reconvene, lawmakers are drastically cutting back on the bills they have introduced and sponsored, as very little legislation not directly tied to the emergency is being pursued.

The application deadline for Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation Program, which will award $440M for biking, walking, and Safe Routes projects, has been extended from June 15 to September 15 to account for staffing and outreach challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The deadline for the Quick Build pilot program, a new addition this Cycle 5, has only been moved back just one month, to July 15.

After the veto of SB 127, the Complete Streets legislation, we continue to work with our partners and CalTrans on development of a statewide Complete Streets Action Plan.

The Safe Routes Partnership is pleased to announce the third and final in its series of webinars focused on California’s Active Transportation Program: Changes in the ATP Guidelines, Applications and Scoring in Cycle 5.

UPDATE: April 20, 2020

In the meantime, we hosted the second in our ATP Webinar series last week, and 300 participants tuned in, far exceeding our expectations. The webinar, Writing a Compelling Statement of Need was hosted by California Senior Policy Manager Jonathan Matz and featured Panelists Meghan Pendrocelli, Program Analyst at the California Transportation Commission and Bill Sadler, Bill Sadler, Director of Operations at the Public Health Alliance of California.

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

Several cities within Riverside and San Bernardino Counties are developing and updating active transportation plans. Developing plans ensure cities have a blueprint to implement a vision of prioritized projects and policies that support walking and biking for local residents.

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.