Complete Streets Bill Passes Assembly Transportation Committee

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 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.