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Major Pushback Against Caltrans Over Complete Streets Bill Fiscal Impact

August 21, 2019/in Newsroom, Streets for Everyone, The Latest /by Linda Khamoushian

On August 21, Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez (Dem-80, above right) did something unusual. Gonzalez chairs the Appropriations Committee. She allowed testimony on The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (SB 127 – Wiener), even though the bill was, by rule, headed for the suspense file. The Chair prefers that members waive testimony for bills going to the suspense file, but Gonzalez took the opportunity to rake Caltrans over the coals for making unfounded claims about the Complete Streets Bill fiscal impact in an effort to sink the bill.

The Complete Streets Bill requires Caltrans to accommodate people walking or biking when it repairs or rebuilds a state route that also serves as a local street. The bill allows exceptions, but will require the agency to explain at a public hearing why Complete Streets additions to maintenance projects are infeasible. The legislation will simply require Caltrans to follow its own stated Complete Streets policy.

Apparently, this is all too much for Caltrans. The agency has issued wildly inflated estimates of the cost to implement SB 127, in an attempt to sink the bill.

In the hearing, Gonzalez called out Caltrans for its inaccurate numbers and incendiary tactics. Senator Scott Wiener who introduced the Complete Streets Bill earlier this year, took to Twitter to call out Caltrans in no uncertain terms.

“I’m authoring #SB127 to ensure state roads that run through cities – eg 19th Ave, Santa Monica Blvd, San Pablo Ave – are safe for pedestrians & cyclists. Caltrans has now issued a grossly inflated, fake cost estimate of >$1B to tank the bill. Here’s my letter pushing back hard.”

I’m authoring #SB127 to ensure state roads that run through cities – eg 19th Ave, Santa Monica Blvd, San Pablo Ave – are safe for pedestrians & cyclists. Caltrans has now issued a grossly inflated, fake cost estimate of >$1B to tank the bill. Here’s my letter pushing back hard. pic.twitter.com/9sMo15ImvD

— Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) August 21, 2019

Weiner attached to his Tweet a copy of a letter he sent to David Kim, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), of which Caltrans is a division. In it, he calls out the inaccurate assumptions behind the sky-high cost estimate for Complete Streets projects presented by Caltrans. According to Wiener’s letter the Caltrans estimate that Complete Streets would add $1.1 billion annually (Caltrans’ estimate was actually $1.3 billion) to state road-building costs was based on the assumption that bike and pedestrian facilities cost $4.5 million per centerline mile. Wiener pointed out that Complete Streets elements are often the least expensive part of a project. He cited costs between $20,000 and $600,000 per centerline mile. The Caltrans figure is 7.5 times the high end of this range.

Many thanks to Senator Wiener and Assembly Member Gonzalez for strongly backing this important bill. The Complete Streets Bill is CalBike’s most important legislation in 2019. Vocal support from elected representatives, our coalition partners, and CalBike members has carried the bill so far.

The Complete Streets Bill has made it through some tough fights. The toughest of all may be ahead, as Caltrans pulls out all the stops to try to block SB 127. We’ll need all hands on deck to make sure this important bill passes and is signed into law.

Complete Streets Bill Passes Assembly Transportation Committee

July 9, 2019/in Newsroom, Streets for Everyone, The Latest /by Laura McCamy

The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (SB 127) passed the Assembly Transportation Committee July 8. This was a hard-won victory. CalBike and our coalition partners negotiated with and educated stakeholders and potential opponents up until the moment of the vote. In the end, the difference was the 1,000+ CalBike members and supporters who contacted their Assembly Member and asked for their yes vote. That pressure turned almost every committee member we counted as a maybe vote into a yes. SB 127 passed with 10 votes – two more than the eight we needed.

Caltrans controls some of the biggest and most direct streets that run through our local communities. Too often, Caltrans has refused to upgrade these streets to better serve the people who walk and bike on them, even when they’re repaving them or repairing them anyway. CalBike’s Complete Streets Bill will change that. If it becomes law, it will require Caltrans, by default, to add Complete Streets design elements every time it repairs or repaves a state route that also serves as a local street.

We are nearing the finish line. But the fight for Complete Streets for all Californians is not over. The Complete Streets Bill still has to pass the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the full Assembly. After that, it has to be signed by Governor Newsom.

This is the team of safe streets advocates, special guest witnesses, and Capitol staffers whose hard work — bolstered by pressure from CalBike members — helped to win the vote at the Assembly Transportation Committee.

This bill is the most important legislation that CalBike has worked on since we established the nation’s first Safe Routes to School program in 1999. If it becomes law, the Complete Streets Bill will save lives and make our cities and towns more livable. We need to keep the pressure up on our representatives every step of the way. We’re counting on you to help us succeed. Donate today to help the Complete Streets Bill get across the finish line.

Tell Your Assembly Member to Vote YES on SB 127 for Complete Streets

July 3, 2019/in Newsroom, Streets for Everyone, The Latest, Transportation Justice /by Linda Khamoushian

The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (SB 127) passed the Assembly Transportation Committee, but it has more hurdles to go before it becomes law. Even after months of negotiations with stakeholders to get the bill approved by the Senate, Assembly Members could kill or severely weaken the bill. Every provision that elevates the importance of biking and walking safety is at risk.

That’s why we need you to tell your state assembly member vote YES on SB 127, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill, today.

Critical provisions of this bill include:

Requiring safety improvements with every repaving project on most state-owned roads (with reasonable exceptions)
Elevating safety considerations in setting the priority of repaving and rehabilitation projects
Involving community organizations and local governments when a project is planned

We need to get the Complete Streets Bill through the Appropriations Committee and the full Assembly before it goes to Governor Newsom.

Tell your state assembly member vote YES on SB 127 for Complete Streets.

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Assembly Transportation Committee Supports E-bikes for Mobility Option

July 3, 2019/in Healthy Climate and Communities, Newsroom, The Latest /by Linda Khamoushian

On Monday, July 1, the E-Bikes for Mobility Bill (SB 400 – Umberg) passed in the Assembly Transportation Committee. The vote was 14-0. This bill expands the definition of “mobility options” in the Clean Vehicles for All program to include bikesharing and electric bicycle purchases.

Currently the Clean Vehicles for All program provides vouchers for trading in your old polluting car for low income residents. The vouchers are only good for electric, hybrid, and plug-in cars and “mobility options” like car-sharing memberships and transit passes.

The addition of bikeshare and e-bikes for mobility in the voucher program will provide an important incentive for Californians to switch from car to bike travel. E-bikes enable more people to ride a bicycle for longer distances, even with physical limitations, difficult terrain, and heavy cargo. This is an important step forward for healthy communities.

By passing the E-bikes for Mobility Bill, California’s Assembly Transportation Committee has taken a very important step in reducing our state’s GHG emissions. A study in Portland found that just a 15% increase in e-bike mode share results in an 11% decrease in CO2 emissions, even when using the dirtiest electricity generation profile in the USA. Another study found that as many as 50% of trips by electric bicycle would have been car trips, if the rider hadn’t had access to a pedal-assist bike.

The next step for the E-Bikes for Mobility Bill is to move through the Assembly Appropriations Committee. CalBike is committed to getting this important bill signed into law this year.

CALPIRG Report Identifies California Highway Boondoggles

July 3, 2019/in Newsroom, The Latest, Transportation Justice /by Laura McCamy

Last week, CALPIRG released its annual Highway Boondoggles report. The report details the way our nation’s policymakers continue to prioritize major highway expansion projects, while failing to spend the money needed to repair our crumbling infrastructure.

“[Y]ear after year, state and local governments propose billions of dollars’ worth of new and expanded highways that often do little to reduce congestion or address real transportation challenges, while diverting scarce funding from infrastructure repairs and key transportation priorities.”

– CALPIRG Highway Boondoggles 5, 2019

The biggest California boondoggle highlighted in this report is the High Desert Freeway in Los Angeles County. The High Desert Freeway will connect Lancaster in eastern LA County with Apple Valley in San Bernardino County, encouraging more suburban sprawl and more car-dependent communities. It is slated to cost $8 billion.

Imagine how much could be achieved by putting that $8 billion toward expanding and upgrading transit options for Los Angeles. Or repairing crumbling city streets while adding protected bike lanes.

At a time when California needs to put all its resources and ingenuity into creating a carbon-free future, new highway construction puts this progress in reverse. There is no environmental argument for freeway construction. CalBike will be keeping a close eye on this ill-advised freeway project as it moves forward. We plan to fight hard to make California’s top priority equitable and environmentally sound transportation options.

CalBike continues to hold state leaders accountable to the priorities of reduced greenhouse gases and clean air, so we can build truly healthy communities. We believe that our state’s highway expansions are expensive, increase the state’s debt, don’t solve congestion, and of course damage our environment and the communities where we all live. Historically, big freeway projects cause the most damage in low-income communities of color, which are also disproportionately impacted by increased driving.

CalBike will lead a new campaign in the coming months that analyzes where the State of California is misusing our transportation funds on new highway expansion. This misdirection of funds keeps California from meeting state goals that have been recently identified, and which we’re far behind in achieving. Your voice will be instrumental to this work, so please stay tuned for more information.

CalBike invites you to a house party fundraiser for our Complete Streets Campaign.

July 2, 2019/in Streets for Everyone, The Latest /by Minnie Phan

Come learn about this exciting campaign and meet our Executive Director, Dave Snyder and special guests. Party with your bicycling community, while you enjoy excellent beer, wine, and tasty hors d’oeuvres in the lovely Loma Portal home of Richard Opper and Ann Poppe.

Thursday, Aug 1, 2019
5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Please RSVP to receive the exact location (via email)

Learn more about our Complete Streets Campaign, and show your support for the campaign by signing our petition.

Thanks to our sponsors:

This free event is a fundraiser to make California’s streets safer and better for biking and walking. Please bring your checkbook or credit card. Thank you.

Senate Advances Better Bikeway Design Guidelines

June 12, 2019/in Newsroom, Streets for Everyone, The Latest /by Laura McCamy

The Better Bikeway Design Bill (AB 1266 – R. Rivas) moved forward in the Senate Transportation Committee yesterday, after passing the Assembly in mid-May. The bill provides important bikeway design guidelines for planners and public works departments.

Bike lanes often disappear at intersections, which are the site of most collisions and greatest confusion for all users of the road. The Better Bikeway Design Bill directs Caltrans to develop and embed better guidance into its design guidelines for where to place bike lane markings at intersections with turn lanes for automobiles.

“This common sense bill is another piece in our ongoing campaign to work with Caltrans to develop the nation’s best bikeway design guidance,” said CalBike Executive Director Dave Snyder. Snyder testified at the hearing yesterday to support the bill, which inspired an exchange with Chairman Beall about the Dutch reach and the dangers of the door zone.

The next step for the Better Bikeway Design Bill is to move through the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Transportation and Housing Groups Demand Equitable and Interconnected Funding

June 11, 2019/in A Stronger Movement, Newsroom, The Latest, Transportation Justice /by Jared Sanchez

California’s housing crisis is in the news a lot. But California has another crisis that gets much less coverage than it deserves: the disconnect between transportation funding equity and housing production. We need infill housing near transportation hubs. And we also need transportation that better serves the low-income communities that rely on it the most. We need both to be connected. As the state moves to link funds for transportation to housing performance, California needs to address both silos and ensure that equitable and integrated funding is available to the communities that need it the most.

CalBike has joined with a coalition of NGOs that work on housing and transportation issues to send a letter to Governor Newsom about his housing and transportation proposal. The letter outlines principles for equitable funding for our state’s transportation and housing justice goals, and addresses the ways the two sectors are linked.

The letter highlights the principle that our housing goals should not be defined by production numbers alone; California housing goals must also align with the state’s goals for climate, health, and equity. We must address our need for more housing in tandem with our sustainable and equitable transportation goals.

Principles for Housing and Transportation Funding Equity

The principles laid out in the letter to address how to use transportation funding to further housing goals include:

Prioritize the needs of low income households
Build new housing near existing jobs, transit, or other infrastructure in both rural and urban areas.
Couple infill investments with inclusionary and anti-displacement protections.
Tailor strategies to meet the unique needs of different geographies, including rural communities.
Do not condition transit and active transportation dollars.

CalBike is committed to the fight for transportation justice and housing justice. We will continue to work with our coalition partners, including ClimatePlan, NRDC, California Walks, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, and the Safe Routes Partnership, to bring funding equity to the connected issues of transportation and housing for all Californians.

In the coming months, we will work together, as a coalition, to hold discussions with Gov. Newsom’s key leadership on this crucial issue.

Read the full guiding principles for transportation funding equity connected to housing.

Complete Streets Bill Passes the Senate

May 24, 2019/in Newsroom, Streets for Everyone, The Latest /by Linda Khamoushian

On Thursday, May 23, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (SB 127) passed in the full Senate. The vote was 29 to 9. The bill’s co-sponsored are CalBike, California Walks, The American Heart Association, Safe Routes Partnership, and AARP.

The Complete Streets Bill will require Caltrans to add features to improve the safety of people walking, biking, and taking transit when they repair or repave state routes in urban areas and along main streets in more rural communities. Most cities in California have at least one Caltrans-controlled state route that also serves as a local street. These streets are often designed to facilitate speeding traffic and not much else. They may lack safe pedestrian crossings and bike facilities. Streets like these diminish the vibrancy of our cities.

By passing the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill, California’s state senators have taken an important step toward creating livable cities and supporting the clean transportation that California needs. CalBike applauds their foresight and overwhelming support.

This important bill almost died in the Senate Appropriations Committee a week ago. This victory wouldn’t be possible without the calls and emails of CalBike members and other Complete Streets advocates who helped keep the bill moving.

The Complete Streets Bill still has to pass the Assembly before it can be signed into law by Governor Newsom. We will need all hands on deck to make sure it passes through committee and gets support from a majority of assembly members. Will you raise your voice to support safe streets for everyone, everywhere in California?

Sign CalBike’s petition to support Complete Streets.

Find out more about Complete Streets.

CalBike Succeeds in Getting E-bike Vouchers through the Senate

May 21, 2019/in Newsroom, The Latest, Transportation Justice /by Laura McCamy

CalBike’s e-bike and bikeshare mobility bill (SB 400, Umberg) cleared the Senate with a unanimous vote yesterday. This bill will add vouchers for e-bike and bikeshare memberships to the mobility options in a state program that provides incentives for low-income Californians to trade in polluting vehicles for clean transportation. If CalBike succeeds in getting this bill passed, it will represent a big step forward in recognizing e-bikes and bikeshare as important transportation options.

The unanimous Senate vote is CalBike’s second victory in two weeks. It shows the broad base of support for e-bikes and bikeshare as transportation choices in California. Thank you to all the CalBike members and supporters who called your state senator ahead of this vote to urge them to support this important bill.

There is more work ahead, however. We still need to get the e-bike and bikeshare mobility bill through the Assembly. After that, we need to make sure Governor Newsom signs it into law. Stay tuned for more opportunities to support clean transportation for all Californians.

Major Pushback Against Caltrans Over Complete Streets Bill Fiscal Impact

Complete Streets Bill Passes Assembly Transportation Committee

Tell Your Assembly Member to Vote YES on SB 127 for Complete Streets

Assembly Transportation Committee Supports E-bikes for Mobility Option

CALPIRG Report Identifies California Highway Boondoggles

CalBike invites you to a house party fundraiser for our Complete Streets Campaign.

Senate Advances Better Bikeway Design Guidelines

Transportation and Housing Groups Demand Equitable and Interconnected Funding

Principles for Housing and Transportation Funding Equity

Complete Streets Bill Passes the Senate

CalBike Succeeds in Getting E-bike Vouchers through the Senate

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