Complete Streets Bill Passes Legislature!

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For Immediate Release: Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Contact:

Linda Khamoushian, California Bicycle Coalition, 916-668-9401, linda@calbike.org
Tony Dang, California Walks, 510-464-8052, tony@calwalks.org
Jamie Morgan, American Heart Association, 916-431-2359, Jamie.Morgan@heart.org
David Azevedo, AARP, 626-616-9539, dazevedo@aarp.org
Jonathan Matz, Safe Routes Partnership, 323-422-4948, jonathan@saferoutespartnership.org

SB 127, the Complete Streets Bill Sent to Governor Newsom

SACRAMENTO, CA –  This afternoon, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (SB 127) championed by Senator Scott Wiener, was passed by the state legislature and now heads to the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature.

The bill would require Caltrans to consider bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements when it repairs or repaves state routes that serve as local streets. This bill aims to ensure state roads that run through local communities (e.g. 19th Avenue in San Francisco, Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, San Pablo Avenue in the East Bay, Santa Rosa Street in San Luis Obispo) are safe for people to walk and bike along those routes.

The Complete Streets Bill has strong support. A recent poll found that 78 percent of California voters support a policy requiring safety improvements when improving a road. They want children to be able to safely walk or bike to school. Hundreds of schools exist within a half-mile of a California State Route and these streets remain some of the most deadly in the state. The interim leadership of Caltrans opposes the bill.

Complete Streets advocates celebrated a victory for safety.

Linda Khamoushian, California Bicycle Coalition:

We commend the leadership of Senator Weiner and the Assembly in response to the overwhelming support from California voters. Caltrans is responsible for more than just the fast movement of cars and trucks. Dangerous state-owned roads that cut through our communities can become streets where people going to school, work, and shopping will be able to safely walk and bike. Streets designed for safe travel for people young and old are long overdue.

Jonathan Matz, Safe Routes (to School) Partnership:

SB 127 lays out a process for implementing what the State has long identified as a goal: providing safe infrastructure for people walking and biking on the stretches of the State Highway system that function as local streets. SB 127 will give the Department of Transportation the tools it needs to serve all Californians more effectively. We thank the legislature for recognizing the cost efficiency and potential to save lives when routine repaving projects include Complete Streets improvements, and we urge the Governor to demonstrate California’s commitment to safe infrastructure and transportation alternatives by signing SB 127.

Nancy McPherson, AARP California:

As a longtime advocate for Complete Streets policies in California, AARP is pleased to see SB 127 pass the Assembly today. Legislation like SB 127 is critical to ensuring our roads are safe for people walking, biking, and taking public transportation, thus allowing older adults to live healthy, active lives in their communities. Thank you, Senator Wiener, for your leadership on this critical issue, and to all members of the Legislature who have supported SB 127.

Tony Dang, California Walks:

Crossing the street should never be a matter of life or death–that’s why we applaud the Assembly’s passage of Senator Wiener’s Complete Streets Bill. SB 127 will bring an unprecedented level of accountability at Caltrans to ensure that our kids and families can walk and bike without fear on local and main streets that just happen to be owned by the state. We’re grateful to Senator Wiener and his colleagues in the Senate and Assembly for standing up for complete streets to make our communities safer, healthier, and happier.

American Heart Association:

“Creating more complete streets in all neighborhoods will help encourage people to take the first step to living a longer, healthier life,” said Joe Aviance (aka Papa Joe), an American Heart Association volunteer who took to the streets and walked to lose 250 pounds. “I was 450 pounds when I decided to make a change for the better and started walking. Fortunately for me, I live in a neighborhood that has sidewalks and pedestrian-friendly streets, so the sidewalks became my treadmill. Access to safe, walkable streets is not an available option for some communities of color where investment is sorely needed. Our leaders in Sacramento have taken a big step to help Californians live healthier lives by passing SB 127. I urge the Governor to do the same.”

COMPLETE STREETS BACKGROUND

In California from 2007-2013, nearly 1.7 million people were injured in traffic incidents, including 95,758 while walking along or across the street. In those crashes, 22,117 people were killed, with pedestrians accounting for one-fifth of the total persons killed. The problem is often concentrated around Caltrans roads that go through low-income neighborhoods where more people get around via transit, biking, and walking.

Caltrans often claims to make streets safer when they repair them. But in practice, they prioritize fast traffic over the communities demanding more livable streets almost every single time. Caltrans needed stronger direction from the Legislature. The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill will provide that direction, and force the safety improvements necessary to stop the killing and maiming on state-owned roads.

The bill is not strict. Caltrans won’t have to implement safety improvements if they’re not appropriate for some reason—for example, if they’re too expensive. And the law only applies to sections where you’re likely to see people walking and biking, about 17% of the total system. But it will force Caltrans to implement safety improvements when it’s cheapest to do so: when they’re repaving the street anyway.

SB 127 Co-Sponsors:

California Bicycle Coalition, California Walks, American Heart Association, AARP, Safe Routes Partnership

Supporting Organizations:

350 Bay Area Action, 350 Silicon Valley, Active San Gabriel Valley, American Lung Association in California , Alameda County Transportation Commission , Berkeley Climate Hub, Bike Bakersfield, Bike Concord, Bike East Bay, Bike Monterey, Bike San Diego, California Alliance for Retired Americans, California City Transportation Initiative/NACTO, California Democratic Party, California Interfaith Power & Light, California Park and Recreation Society, California ReLeaf, CALSTART Inc., CALPIRG, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Stockton, Cedars, Center for Climate Change and Health, Central California Asthma Collaborative, City of Encinitas, City of Half Moon Bay, City of Long Beach, City of Sacramento, City and County of San Francisco, City of Santa Monica, City of San Luis Obispo, Climate Action Campaign, ClimatePlan, Climate Resolve, Coalition for Clean Air, Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, Compton Unified School District, Cultiva La Salud, Davis Bike Club, Day One, East Bay Recreational Park District, Elders Climate Action (NorCal), Environment California, Fossil Free California, Inland Empire Biking Alliance, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, La Verne Bicycle Coalition, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Local Government Commission, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Los Angeles Walks, Lyft Inc., Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Napa County Bicycle Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Natural Resources Services Division Redwood, Office of the Mayor, San Francisco, Orange County Bicycle Coalition, Office of the Mayor, San Francisco, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, Planning and Conservation League, PeopleforBikes, PolicyLink, Public Advocates, Redwood Community Action Agency, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Rural Counties Representative of California, San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, San Francisco Transportation Municipal Agency, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco Planning Department, SFBA Families for Safe Streets, Santa Monica Spoke, Save The Bay, Seamless Bay Area, Shasta Living Streets, Sierra Club California, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Sunflower Alliance, Transform, Transportation Agency for Monterey County, Trust for Public Land, Walk Bike Berkeley, Walk & Bike Mendocino, Walk Sacramento, Walk San Francisco, and Walk Long Beach.

 

E-Bike Vouchers Bill Signed by Governor Newsom

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Governor Newsom Signs AB 1266

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For Immediate Release: September 4, 2019

Contact:

Dylan Lomanto, legislative aide to Assemblyman Rivas, (916) 319-2749, Dylan.Lomanto@asm.ca.gov

Dave Snyder, California Bicycle Coalition, (415) 216-7393, dave@calbike.org

AB 1266: Governor Signs Bill to Make Intersections Safer for Bicyclists

State Capitol, Sacramento, CA – Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill today that will make it safer for bicycle riding in California at busy intersections. The bill requires Caltrans to develop a street marking or design that allows cyclists to go straight from a right or left turn lane and to safely cross outside of the high-traffic lanes.

“AB 1266 bill will make our roadways safer for everyone by matching street design with the already practiced, safe behavior of cyclists at busy intersections. I’m committed to making sure Californians have safe, healthy, and non-polluting transportation choices as we expand our efforts to combat climate change,” said Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister).

“This bill authorizes a bicyclist to travel straight through a right or left-hand turn only lane and requires Caltrans to develop standards for lane striping, pavement marking, and appropriate regulatory signs to implement this bill. It will save lives,” said Dave Snyder, director of the California Bicycle Coalition.

About AB-1266 Traffic control devices: bicycles

Currently, cyclists approaching an intersection may thread the needle between the right-hand turn lane and the adjacent go-straight lane. However, legally, like cars, cyclists should proceed through an intersection in a go-straight lane and are prohibited from going through an intersection from the right-turn lane. Cyclists traveling in a bicycle lane that disappears, converting into a right-turn lane before an intersection, must merge left into the go-straight lane, proceed through the intersection, and then, if the bicycle lane resumes after the intersection, merge right back into the bicycle lane.

This bill will fix that problem by allowing bicyclists to cross intersections straight ahead from the relative safety of a right or left turn lane. This will be marked on the street or via sign, so all road users understand the rule.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Complete Streets Bill Passes Committee, Moves to Full House

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For Immediate Release: Friday, August 30, 2019

Contact: Dave Snyder, CalBike 415-216-7393, dave@calbike.org

“Complete Streets” Bill Passes Assembly Appropriations Committee

SACRAMENTO: This afternoon, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (SB 127) championed by Senator Scott Wiener, passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and now heads to an Assembly floor vote. The bill has already passed the State Senate.

This bill aims to ensure state roads that run through cities (e.g. 19th Avenue in San Francisco, Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, or San Pablo Avenue in the East Bay) are safe for pedestrians and cyclists. The bill would mandate community involvement and default inclusion of bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements funded by the $4.3 billion State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP).

Dave Snyder, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition, said:
“This shows that the Assembly Leadership understands the importance of holding Caltrans accountable to its promises of safety so that we taxpayers get better and safer roads for our tax dollars and not lip service and maintained deathtraps.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome New Hire: Forest Barnes to Work on Active Transportation in the Central Valley

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 6, 2019

Sacramento, CA –The California Bicycle Coalition is excited to announce the addition of Forest Barnes to our staff. Forest will lead CalBike’s active transportation planning work in five southern San Joaquin Valley cities from Fresno to Bakersfield.

Under Forest’s leadership, CalBike will facilitate planning for safe walking and biking connections to the planned high speed rail stations and for bikeshare in the city of Bakersfield. These efforts are supported by an SB 1 Sustainable Communities grant. The grant was awarded to CalBike and Kern Council of Governments to improve bicycle and pedestrian connectivity, specifically for the Valley’s most marginalized residents, around proposed High-Speed Rail stations.

Forest is coming to CalBike having recently completed his Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has extensive experience in sustainable transportation planning and policy, specifically in the Central Valley and the Bay Area. As a Bakersfield native, Forest will be a valuable addition to CalBike in this new role.

Please welcome Forest Barnes to the CalBike team!

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Streets For All Coalition’; CalBike Joins Shared E-Bike, Scooter Partners in Unveiling Equity, Sustainability Principles

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For Immediate Release

CalBike Co-Founds “Streets For All Coalition” to Unite Bike Riders, Scooter Users, and Pedestrians

New Coalition Brings Together Environmental Organizations, Active
Transportation Advocates, and Sustainable New Mobility Operators to Improve
Transportation and Tackle Climate Change

 

Sacramento, CA (March 3rd, 2019) – The California Bicycle Coalition announced on
Wednesday that the advocacy organization has signed on as a founding member of the new
“Streets for All” coalition, whose co-founders are working to harness the potential of shared
mobility options such as bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters to reduce car dependence as alternative
to automobiles become more popular while the streets remain unsafe.

“The political power of the automobile lobby has made our streets great for fast driving but
dangerous for everyone else. To change that, we need our own people power. Scooters bring a
massive new constituency to the movement for safer streets. Together in coalition we can make our
communities more equitable, inclusive, and prosperous by making it safer to use our streets on
bikes, on foot, or on scooters,” said Dave Snyder, Executive Director of the California Bicycle
Coalition, founding member of Streets for All.

Other founding members of the coalition include:

● Bikemore
● Bird
● Circulate San Diego
● Climate Action Campaign
● Forth Mobility
● Monday Motorbike
● New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition
● Razor
● Spin
● Tri-State Transportation Campaign

The organizations will utilize the breadth of their expertise to work together and help to improve
the safety and mobility of cities’ streets—everywhere, for everyone.

“There is no question that the climate crisis is the most urgent challenge of our generation. To
address it, we need a swift mode shift that replaces gas guzzling car trips with clean energy
micromobility options that improve the sustainability and overall safety of our cities ,” said David
Estrada, Chief Policy Officer of Bird, a Streets for All founding member. “We need smart
policies that allow this mode shift to expand responsibly and equitably.”

“Forth is excited to be a founding member of the Streets for All coalition,” said Jeanette Shaw,
Director of Government Relations for Forth Mobility based in Portland, Oregon. “Microtransit
such as e-scooters can provide an equitable, affordable, and sustainable transportation option.
This aligns with Forth’s mission to advance electric mobility to help transform lives and
communities for the better. We look forward to working with the Coalition to enhance electric
transportation access while minimizing environmental impact.”

“Our city streets are precious public spaces that, with the right design and management, can
provide enjoyment, access, and opportunity for all. Spin is passionate about helping cities
reclaim their streets for people, and so we’re tremendously excited to be a founding member of
the Streets for All Coalition,” said Beaudry Kock, Director of Infrastructure Programs and
Policy for Spin. “Along with our advocate and industry partners, we look forward to providing
support and encouragement to cities, as they work to fulfill one of their core responsibilities:
ensuring streets are safe and vibrant places for everyone to use and enjoy.”

Colin Parent, Executive Director and General Counsel for Circulate San Diego said,
“Circulate San Diego is proud to partner with other advocates and industry to ensure safe and
equitable access to new transportation choices.”

For more information about the coalition and its policy positions, please visit
streetsforallcoalition.org.

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CalBike, Senator Scott Wiener Introduce ‘Complete Streets’ Legislation Ensuring State-Owned Roads Will Prioritize Safety of People Biking, Walking

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For Immediate Release

January 17, 2019

Contact: Linda Khamoushian, Senior Policy Advocate

linda@calbike.org, 916.668.9401

San Francisco, CA –  This week the California Bicycle Coalition, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), and their coalition partners California Walks, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, and the American Heart Association joined surgeons from Zuckerberg General Hospital and the families of victims of traffic violence to announce the introduction of Senate Bill 127 in the California legislature, an effort aimed at making state-owned roads safer for people biking, walking, and taking transit.

Although Caltrans has already adopted guidelines that require planners to consider adding safer sidewalks, visible crosswalks, and protected bike lanes as they plan projects, CalBike’s Senior Policy Advocate Linda Khamoushian says this bill would go much farther by requiring safety improvements whenever roads are repaved or rehabilitated.

“Every day, poor street design causes hundreds of avoidable injuries and deaths on our roads. Some of the most dangerous places to walk and bike are those maintained and managed by the state, streets that Caltrans calls “highways” but we call home, places lined with small businesses, schools, senior centers, and places of worship,” said Khamoushian.

She listed several examples of state highways that serve as local streets: Van Ness Avenue and 19th Avenue in San Francisco, Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles, California Street in Redding, 23rd and 24th street in Bakersfield, and Ashby Blvd in Berkeley.

SB 127 would still allow for exceptions to the requirement where bike facilities weren’t appropriate, but by flipping the default action, local agencies and advocates will have a much better chance of winning the safety improvements desperately needed to provide healthy and affordable transportation options for all Californians, especially marginalized and low-income communities who are least likely to own cars.

Their effort looks to capitalize on the public’s interest in improving California’s transportation infrastructure following the resounding defeat of Prop 6 and the results of a statewide poll commissioned by CalBike finding that 8 in 10 California voters across the state and across all major political and demographic groups support building “complete streets” — roads designed to be safe for people walking or biking as well as driving.

“Voters want safer streets and they want efficient government. SB 127 does both by making sure that safety improvements are made in the course of regular repaving projects,” said Dave Snyder, CalBike’s Executive Director.

“We need to make sure that these streets are safe for all users,” said Senator Wiener. “There are city streets that are really state highways that don’t even have sidewalks.”

The California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike) is California’s state-level bicycle advocacy organization, advocating for equitable, inclusive, and prosperous communities where bicycling helps to enable all Californians to lead healthy and joyful lives. Learn more about CalBike at www.calbike.org.

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Lead the Way, California: A Transportation Platform to Lead Us Forward

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California has new leaders, and our communities deserve plans, principles, and priorities that will move our state forward instead of holding us back. To help support Governor-elect Newsom and his administration in truly leading the nation and the world in sustainable and equitable transportation policy, CalBike joins almost 50 organizations in releasing our comprehensive platform.

This transportation platform offers concrete proposals for the next governor to act to meet our ambitious state climate, air quality, housing, health, and equity goals. The platform takes an ‘intersectional’ approach that attempts to break down the usual operation of our state silos in meeting goals. CalBike is leading the way ensuring governmental action is carried out in more coordinated ways that challenge the true structural obstacles that cannot be solved piecemeal ways.

The platform lays out concrete steps in five priority policy areas:

 

Complete Streets Poll

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 22, 2017

Contact: Linda Khamoushian, Senior Policy Advocate, linda@calbike.org, 916.668.9401

Re: After State Gas Tax Increased to Repair Roads, Poll Shows California Voters Want Safer Streets for All and Alternatives to Driving

Sacramento, CA – A new statewide poll reveals that 8 in 10 California voters believe state and local transportation departments need to change the way they build streets and roads to make it safe for everyone of all ages and abilities to get around, whether they usually drive, walk, bike, or use public transportation.

Commissioned by the California Bicycle Coalition, this poll found that Californians across the state and across all major political and demographic groups support building “complete streets”—roads with safe sidewalks, visible crosswalks, and protected bike lanes—that are safe places for everyone and not strictly thoroughfares for driving. The poll was conducted by David Binder Research and funded in part by a grant from Voices for Healthy Kids, an initiative of the American Heart Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation working to make each day healthier for all children by ensuring that the places where children live, learn, and play make it easy and enjoyable for them to eat healthy foods and be active.

Likely voters were surveyed on the heels of the passage of Senate Bill 1, the first gas tax increase in California in twenty years, which will invest tens of billions in taxpayer dollars over the next decade in building and repairing roads. Caltrans and local city and county transportation departments will decide over the coming months which roads to fix first with the new gas tax revenue, and whether they will fix those roads to be complete streets that are safe for youth and families, older adults, and others that either can’t afford to drive or choose to walk and bike.

The survey revealed that public opinion strongly supports state and local transportation departments building complete streets, even accounting for the potential cost to taxpayers.

“Our survey shows that California families want to be able to safely walk and bike in their neighborhoods and strongly support transportation agencies redesigning our streets. Nearly two-thirds of people said they would bike more often, highest among younger voters and Latinos, if they had protected bike lanes on streets in their neighborhoods that made them feel less threatened by traffic,” said Jeanie Ward-Waller, Policy Director for the California Bicycle Coalition. “Transportation officials are decades behind acknowledging this shifting demand and investing taxpayer dollars as much in alternatives to driving as we have invested in making it easier to drive.”

 Voters decisively support building complete streets because they improve the quality-of-life in our neighborhoods by:

  • Providing safer routes for children to walk or bike to school or parks;
  • Increasing local business sales and jobs by creating more attractive streets to walk and bike for shopping;
  • Promoting healthy neighborhoods that enable youth and families to be more active in their daily lives and reduce their health care costs;
  • Reducing traffic in neighborhoods by allowing people to walk and bike more for work, shopping, and entertainment; and
  • Saving low- and moderate-income families money by providing them more affordable transportation options like walking and biking.

In addition, nearly half of California voters support investment in alternatives to driving—such as public transportation, walking, and bicycling—as an equal or higher priority than improving freeways and roads.

48 percent say they are equally or more supportive of investing in alternatives to driving than they are of investing in freeways; compared to 49 percent that support improving and widening roads and freeways over alternatives to driving. In fact, even for Californians who rely on driving as their primary mode of travel, more than 2 in 5 support investing as much or more transportation funding in alternatives to driving, and the support jumps to 3 in 5 among respondents that have to commute between 20-30 miles a day.

“It’s no surprise to us that a large majority of Californians—80 percent in all—believe that complete streets are a critical part of creating safe routes for children to walk or bike to school and parks,” said Marty Martinez, Northern California Policy Manager for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. “The research shows that when more kids are able to walk and bike to school and in daily life, they are healthier and do better in school. Now it’s time to put our transportation dollars to work to create safe, healthy communities to benefit all Californians.”

“The billions of dollars our state already spends each year on highways cannot continue to be used to divide communities and ignore our residents who are walking and bicycling for their everyday needs. A strong complete streets policy is a smart, cost-effective approach for leveraging our state’s transportation dollars to ensure that Californians can safely walk and bicycle where they need to go,” said Tony Dang, Executive Director of California Walks.

“As a neurologist, I often encourage moderate exercise to my patients after a stroke to prevent a recurrent stroke.” said Dr. Alan Shatzel, Board President at the American Heart Association, Sacramento Division. “However, they also need spaces to have the ability to go out for walks and to feel safe while doing so. This poll underscores the need to invest more in complete streets to promote physical activity and foster a healthy lifestyle.”

The California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike) is California’s state-level bicycle advocacy organization, working to enable more people to ride bicycles for healthier, safer, and more prosperous communities for all. Learn more about CalBike at www.calbike.org.

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Key findings:

  • A large majority of California voters support complete streets. 78 percent believe that state and local transportation departments need to change the way they build streets and roads – to make it safe for all users (drivers, people who walk, people who bicycle, etc.). A majority (53%) say they strongly support, and there is consistent support across major subgroups.
  • Voters support building complete streets for several reasons: to provide safer streets for children to walk and bike, and to stimulate local business sales and job creation along streets that are attractive for walking and biking.
  • Nearly half of respondents support investment in alternatives to driving–public transportation, walking, and bicycling–as an equal or higher priority to improving freeways and roads – 48 percent are equally or more supportive of investing in alternatives to driving such as public transportation and making it easier to walk and bike as they are of investing in improving freeways; compared to 49 percent that support improving and widening roads and freeways over alternatives to driving.
  • Even people who rely on driving as their primary mode of travel support investing as much or more transportation funding in alternatives to driving, especially respondents that have to commute between 20-30 miles a day – Support for alternatives to driving as an equal or greater priority for investment to roads and freeways is only slightly lower (43%) among the 76 percent of voters that use their car as a primary method of travel, and jumps up to 61% for people who have to commute 20-30 miles per day.
  • Voters want better bicycling conditions. Two-thirds of voters (67%) agree that “their city government should do more to encourage bicycling.”
  • Bicycling is commonplace in California. One in five men (20%) and 13% of women bike every week, and a majority have ridden a bike in the past year.

Click here for the pdf version of this release and details of the survey data.

 

Coalition Statement on the Passage of the Transportation Funding Package

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 6, 2017

Contact: Jeanie Ward-Waller, Policy Director, jeanie@calbike.org, 916-399-3211

Re: Coalition statement about passage of Senate Bill 1 

—-

Statement from 32 organizations representing walking, bicycling, public transit, public health, social equity, environmental, and environmental justice concerns on today’s passage of transportation funding bill SB 1

SB 1 will make major improvements to the transportation system in California, and our coalition of more than 80 organizations supported many elements of the package. We appreciate the bill’s focus on fixing roads first and investing significant dollars in public transportation and safe walking and biking, yet we believe there is still more work ahead to target and prioritize transportation investment to benefit disadvantaged communities.

Several key improvements to SB 1 would have won our support for the package. However, transportation justice means both funding the transportation needs of low-income communities and protecting vulnerable residents from health and other harms. Unfortunately, the bill also includes an unacceptable loophole to allow diesel trucks to keep polluting in communities already burdened with poor air quality. We cannot support a deal that sacrifices public health for public transportation — California communities need both.

“We’re proud that a diverse coalition of more than 80 groups committed to environmental justice, climate protection, public health, and sustainable transportation stood in solidarity throughout this process. Our collective effort moved this deal a long way toward providing safer, cleaner, and more affordable transportation options, and we were disappointed that the last-minute deal adding the trucking provision kept us from supporting.” –Jeanie Ward-Waller, Policy Director, California Bicycle Coalition

“We deeply appreciate all the work that went into making this bill as good as it was. It has come a long way, and that represents significant progress for public transportation, walking, and biking.” –Joshua Stark, State Policy Director, TransForm.

As amended recently through the efforts of the Governor, Legislative leadership, Transportation Secretary Brian Kelly, and others, SB 1 now:

  • Triples our investment in public transportation relying on stable revenue sources compared to a previous version of the bill,
  • Nearly doubles the state’s funding for safe walking and biking,
  • Does not further encumber Cap-and-Trade revenues,
  • Eliminates dangerous and unnecessary changes to CEQA,
  • Supports regional and local planning efforts for sustainable communities,
  • Includes funding for workforce development.

“We commend the Legislature and Governor for including new transit operating funds in SB 1. More frequent and affordable bus service will connect low-income families, seniors and students to opportunity, and help us meet our climate goals.” –Richard Marcantonio, Managing Attorney, Public Advocates Inc.

“Transportation remains the single largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in California. With our state’s visionary climate goals, it’s critical that our transportation dollars keep us on track to achieve these goals. SB 1 provides $25 million a year to support local and regional agencies’ planning efforts to build sustainable, equitable, and healthy communities. These types of investments will put us on the right track to achieve our state’s ambitious climate goals.” –Chanell Fletcher, Associate Director, ClimatePlan

“Together we will continue to fight to reverse this “dirty trucking” policy and ensure that the communities most burdened by poverty and by air pollution from transportation benefit from the state’s investments in transportation. We will continue to fight, in short, for transportation justice.” –Bill Magavern, Policy Director, Coalition for Clean Air

“We look forward to working with our allies throughout California to ensure that our state’s investments in transportation infrastructure and services benefit—and do not burden—disadvantaged communities, rural and urban alike.” –Phoebe Seaton, Co-Director, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

“The passage of the transportation package represents a crucial investment in public transit, but the exemption of ports from our clean air standards is too high a price for our most vulnerable communities. Californians should not be forced to choose between infrastructure improvements, access to public transportation, and the health of their families.” –Sarah Rose, CEO, California League of Conservation Voters

* * * *

Statement issued by the following organizations: Bike East Bay, California Bicycle Coalition, California League of Conservation Voters, California Walks, Central California Asthma Collaborative, Center for Climate Change and Health, ChangeLab Solutions, ClimatePlan, Climate Resolve, Coalition for Clean Air, COAST, Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative, Greenlining Institute, Housing California, Investing in Place, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Medical Advocates for Healthy Air, Natural Resources Defense Council, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, PolicyLink, Public Advocates, Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP), Safe Routes to School National Partnership, Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, Shasta Living Streets, San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, Sunflower Alliance, TransForm, Trust for Public Land, Walk Long Beach, and Walk Oakland Bike Oakland

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