SB 960 Complete Streets Bill Hearing in Assembly Transportation Committee Monday, July 1, 2024
MEDIA ADVISORY for Monday, July 1, 2024
Contact: Jared Sanchez, jared@calbike.org, (714)262-0921
SB 960 Complete Streets Bill Hearing in Assembly Transportation Committee
Monday, July 1, 2024
SACRAMENTO – The Complete Streets Bill of 2024, SB 960, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, will be heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee on Monday, July 1, 2024, at 2:30 pm.
The Complete Streets Bill requires Caltrans to consider the needs of people riding bikes, walking, and taking transit on our state roadways, many of which serve as local streets. Caltrans policy mandates this, but the agency often doesn’t follow through; SB 960 will codify Caltrans policy in state law and increase accountability.
What is a Complete Street?
Complete Streets are streets that are safe and comfortable for people biking, walking, and taking transit, as well as driving motor vehicles. Protected bikeways, a key element of many Complete Streets, have been shown to reduce fatalities and injuries for road users in all modes of transportation.
“People who get around by biking, walking, or taking transit have the same right to safe passage on our streets as people driving cars. True Complete Streets provide equitable use of our public space regardless of transit mode, economic status, or race,” said Jared Sanchez, policy director for CalBike.
Caltrans and Active Transportation Projects
While Caltrans has made incremental progress in adding more bike- and pedestrian-friendly features to its repaving projects, the 2023 firing of one of the agency’s strongest voices for active transportation shows the need for greater oversight and accountability.
The agency’s Complete Streets checklists treat any element that makes biking or walking even marginally safer as a “Complete Streets” feature, ignoring the fact that a single crosswalk or “Share the Road” sign is often not enough to create a Complete Street.
The Complete Streets Bill requires Caltrans to set objective goals and to better implement comfortable, convenient, and connected facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users on all projects in the [SHOPP funding] program, where applicable.
Background
CalBike sponsored SB 127, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill, in 2019. The bill would have required Caltrans to follow its own Complete Streets Policy and prioritize the safety of everyone who uses our roads, not just drivers, on every repaving, maintenance, and rehab project. Despite overwhelming support in the legislature and from constituents, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the Complete Streets Bill in 2019.
In 2023, CalBike joined with over 100 mobility, climate justice, and transportation organizations to send a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, urging an independent investigation of Caltrans, a moratorium on freeway expansion, and better oversight of the agency.
In 2024, CalBike is sponsoring a Complete Streets Bill introduced by Senator Wiener, SB 960.