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Tag Archive for: Complete Streets

How will the Infrastructure Bill Impact California Bike Riders?

November 16, 2021/by Laura McCamy

Congress has passed, and the president has signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. It’s a $1.2 trillion spending package that will invest in aging infrastructure across the US. We share the disappointment of many progressives that this bill still puts too much money toward road-building and not enough toward infrastructure that will help wean us off fossil fuels. Still, there is a lot to like.

Infrastructure Bill basics

Every five years, Congress passes a transportation bill providing five years of funding for transportation projects across the U.S. That bill is wrapped into the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill. So, out of $645 billion for transportation, $300 billion is a reauthorization of existing funding, while $345 billion is new money on top of expected spending.

Here’s a partial list of what’s in the bill (in billions):

$110 for roads and bridges
$39 for transit and rail
$65 to upgrade broadband infrastructure
$25 for airport upgrades
$17 to modernize ports
$65 for improvements to the electric grid
$55 for water infrastructure
$50 for security and resilience in public infrastructure
$7.5 for electric vehicles

Of course, the question on the minds of active transportation advocates and bike riders is: What’s in it that will make bicycling safer? We have a few preliminary answers to that question, based on reports from and interviews with state and national leaders.

Active transportation funding boost

California has been getting $89 million in active transportation funding from the federal government. That money goes to the state’s Active Transportation Program, which has a total budget of $220 million. The Infrastructure Bill increases active transportation funding by 60%, which gives California an additional $53.4 million to bring the total ATP to more than $270 million.

Of course, this is still woefully inadequate. In the last cycle, the ATP budget covered only a fraction of the projects that applied for funding, leaving many excellent projects unfunded. The governor and the legislature need to settle a dispute about high-speed rail funding and release $500 million in additional ATP monies.

The bill also includes a Complete Streets policy, mandating that planners consider all road users, not just car drivers. However, thanks to advocacy from your CalBike, California already has a Complete Streets policy in place, so this feature won’t have much, if any, impact here.

Rule changes in the bill will dedicate a larger share of funding to regional agencies, which are more likely to support active transportation than state agencies. This funding can also make it easier to meet local match requirements.

Another critical new policy requires states where at least 15% of fatalities are vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and people on bikes, to dedicate at least 15% of their Highway Safety Improvement Plan funds to measures that improve vulnerable road user safety. In California, 29% of fatalities are vulnerable road users and, in its HSIP implementation plan, spent approximately 24% of its funds on safety for people walking and bicycling. CalBike believes that California’s investment in protecting vulnerable road users should match their share in road fatalities. We will push the state to increase its HSIP spending on biking and walking safety to at least 29%.

New standards for automobile safety

The Infrastructure Bill represents a significant break from past automobile safety policies, which focused on protecting the safety of passengers and defending, literally to the death, the drivers’ rights to go ever faster.

Here are some of the noteworthy safety initiatives in the legislation:

New cars will come equipped with sensors that prevent drunk driving.
New headlight standards will require technologies that help reduce fatalities at dusk and after dark.
Crash testing for front bumpers will include an assessment of safety for people outside the car during a collision. While this doesn’t impose any limits on auto manufacturers who want to make SUVs and trucks designed to kill pedestrians, it will put information in the hands of consumers. Hopefully, people will vote with their dollars and choose safer models.

But wait, there’s more potential funding

CalBike recently spoke with California State Transportation Secretary David S. Kim, and he’s excited to compete for some of the additional funding sources created by the Infrastructure Bill. That includes $200 million a year for the Connecting America’s Active Transportation System Act, which improves connectivity in active transportation networks. We a thrilled at Secretary Kim’s enthusiasm and this opportunity to bring more connected bikeway networks to California communities.

The bill also includes $200 million a year for the Reconnecting Communities pilot program, which seeks to compensate for damage caused by freeway building through BIPOC neighborhoods. Projects that this money could fund include bikeways, pedestrian bridges, and freeway removal.

Chinatowns in many California cities were split by freeway construction. CalBike would love to see I-980 in Oakland removed to make room for badly-needed housing and reconnect the city’s historic Chinatown. However, as Smart Growth America pointed out, the $1B investment in freeway reparations is dwarfed by the bill’s $300B for building new freeways, including a Louisana highway that will bulldoze a Black neighborhood in Shreveport.

As bike advocates, we’ve learned to celebrate incremental progress and fight hard for more. So we appreciate the Infrastructure bill, and CalBike will work hard to get more money for better biking and better communities in California.

Urban Transportation Research Reveals Alarming Trend in US Bike Traffic Fatalities

November 18, 2020/by Kevin Claxton

A new study compares data on pedestrian and bicycling fatality rates in the US with those in three European countries. While Europe’s fatality rates tumbled, the rate of pedestrian and bike fatalities on our roads is rising. CalBike spoke with the researchers about why the US is heading in the wrong direction and what we can do about it. In this first of two articles based on our interview with the study’s authors, we delve into the details about traffic fatalities.

The researchers looked at data from 1990 to 2018 for Germany, Denmark, the UK, and the US. John Pucher is a professor emeritus at Rutgers University. Ralph Buehler is a professor and the chair of Urban Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech. Both specialize in urban transportation and much of their research focuses on international comparisons, like their latest study.

Traffic fatality trends

Germany, Denmark, and the UK saw huge declines in traffic fatalities for all road users during the study period. However, traffic fatality rates fell in the U.S. by only 20%, and only for occupants of automobiles. Cars are killing people who walk and bike on U.S. streets at an increasing rate.

The researchers calculated the fatality rates per 100M kilometers walked. From 2016 to 2018, the US saw 11.2 pedestrian deaths per 110M km. Compare that to the UK with 2.2, Denmark with 1.7, and Germany’s 1.4. The US has eight times as many pedestrian deaths per mile as Germany.

The study found that the fatality rate for bike riders is also obscenely high in the US at 6 deaths per 100M kilometers. The UK saw 1.6 bike fatalities, Germany 1, and Denmark 0.9. The US has nearly seven times as many cyclist deaths per mile as Denmark.

The Road Safety Annual Report 2020 from the International Transport Forum of the OECD confirms the conclusions of the Buehler and Pucher study. In a comparison of traffic fatality trends among 42 countries from 2000-2018, the US stood out for having the largest increases in the deaths of pedestrians (more than 40%) and bicyclists (approximately +80%). The US stands in stark contrast to most of the other countries in the report, who reduced fatality rates during this same period.

Figure from OECD/ITF ROAD SAFETY ANNUAL REPORT 2020

Figure from OECD/ITF ROAD SAFETY ANNUAL REPORT 2020

“Slaughter” on the streets

“One of the problems is most of the population and especially most of the government policymakers aren’t aware of how serious the problem is,” Pucher said. “This is a slaughter.” In addition to the thousands of people killed while walking and biking on American streets, many more are injured and some will be disabled for life.

“It’s a huge public health problem,” Pucher said. “It’s an equity issue as well.” The people most affected are people of color, lower-income people (who often can’t afford the price of safety on US streets: a car), children, and seniors.

“What it comes down to is a political willingness at all levels of government to make pedestrian and cyclist safety a priority,” Buehler said. “It’s a second thought.”

This important research is one more addition to a growing body of research that points to the urgent need for more Complete Streets. Finding ways to increase Complete Streets is a key part of CalBike’s work. We continue to work with Caltrans to improve Caltrans-controlled roadways, which are often the most dangerous in our communities.

This article is the first of two based on our far-ranging discussion with Pucher and Buehler about their research and their recommendations for safer streets. In our second installment, they offer solutions based on their cross-cultural experience and highlight some advantages the US has in creating safer streets.

CalBike Releases Quick-Build Guide to Create Safer Streets

October 13, 2020/by Kevin Claxton

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 13, 2020

Contact: Dave Snyder, California Bicycle Coalition, dave@calbike.org | 916-251-9433‬

CalBike Releases How-to Guide for Building Safer Streets Quickly and Cheaply

The California Bicycle Coalition and Alta Planning + Design today released a Quick-Build Guide for planners, officials, and community leaders to encourage the construction of safe bikeways quickly and affordably.

The guide promotes the “quick-build” method for safety improvements. Quick-build projects use materials that can be installed quickly and at a low cost. Quick-build design allows active transportation projects to be completed in months rather than years. Because quick-build projects rely on inexpensive materials, they are a good fit for California’s COVID-strapped municipal budgets.

The 77-page Quick-Build Guide, created by Alta Planning + Design, is available for free. This resource will help planners, city staffers, and advocates understand the tools and processes that lead to successful quick-build projects.

In addition to the guide, the project includes a 4-page introductory brochure. Both are available online at calbike.org/quickbuild.

“We hope this guide will help California capitalize on the huge increase in biking and walking we’ve seen during the pandemic,” said CalBike Executive Director Dave Snyder. “Quick-build allows communities to build on that momentum to create the kinds of safe, separated spaces that people of all ages need to feel comfortable biking and walking in their neighborhoods. There’s no good reason to wait years for safer streets and plenty of reasons to act quickly.”

“Rapid implementation of bike and pedestrian networks through Quick-Build is one of Alta’s core priorities for transformative investment in transportation,” said Brett Hondorp, President of Alta Planning + Design. “This guidebook gives communities the resources to quickly, inexpensively, and equitably create safe spaces for people on our streets, turning the pandemic walking and biking boom into sustained active transportation mode shift.”

The partnership to create this guide matches Alta Planning’s design expertise and experience with CalBike’s network of planning and advocacy communities throughout California. It will give cities a tool they can use to build safe biking infrastructure when and where it’s needed.

The Quick-Build Guide was made possible by funding from the Seed Fund and the SRAM Cycling Fund.

Download the Quick-Build Guide 2020.

From the Quick-Build Guide:

“Quick-build works to meet mobility needs by helping people to choose active modes more often. Those mobility needs will vary depending on the community and may include safer crossings, slower streets, an extended bikeway network, or safer routes to transit, schools, and essential workplaces. In every case, people require a safe, connected, and comfortable network for active transportation.”

“We as transportation experts need to be thinking strategically about whether or not we need to spend three years talking about doing something important, or three weeks to just try something.”

― Warren Logan, Transportation Policy Director of Mobility and Interagency Relations at Oakland Mayor’s Office

A Preview of the CalBike 2021 Agenda

October 1, 2020/by Laura McCamy

Update: Attend our Agenda Announcement and Campaign Kickoff Party on December 10.

Oh, 2020. It’s been a hard year for too many. We extend our sympathies to everyone who is suffering from loss.

Looking ahead to 2021, we here at CalBike have reasons to be optimistic. Among the silver linings of this tough year is that many people have turned to bicycling during the pandemic. Our demands for safer streets will be buoyed by a larger constituency.

Another silver lining is that our light legislative agenda this year gives us more time to plan for an ambitious 2021. We’re excited about the opportunity to make meaningful change for health, safety, community, equity, prosperity, and climate.

Here’s a preview of what we’re thinking.

CalBike 2021 Agenda

CalBike’s plans for 2021 are still developing, but we have five initiatives already in the works.

E-bike purchase incentives. Our e-bike rebate bill, which would allow people to get a voucher to buy an e-bike, was one of the casualties of the pandemic in 2020. We’ll bring it back better than ever in 2021. Electric bikes have been proven to be the best option for replacing car trips. They have surged in popularity this year. However, the price tag for an e-bike puts one out of reach for many Californians. We believe an e-bike purchase incentive program is the most effective way to make energy-efficient transportation available to everyone.

Micromobility. Shared bikes and scooters should be integrated with public transit and accessible to all. We want cities to take ownership of their shared mobility systems so users aren’t subject to the whims and price increases of a private company. This will also ensure that micromobility options are available in neighborhoods that have been historically underserved by transit.

Complete Streets at Caltrans. Despite the pandemic, CalBike was able to work with Caltrans to greatly improve its Complete Streets policies in 2020. The agency increased funding for biking and walking improvements and made positive changes to bring the needs of people who aren’t in cars into their planning processes. However, there is still more work to be done to change decades of car-centric planning at Caltrans. In 2021, CalBike will redouble our efforts to transform Caltrans-controlled local streets into Complete Streets.

Rewriting the street design rulebook. Two manuals hold sway over local planning decisions about street design in California: the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and the Highway Design Manual (HDM). If you’ve ever been at a planning meeting in your city and watched an innovative bike facility get rejected, the MUTCD and HDM may have been to blame. Planners are often reluctant to approve roadway designs that aren’t in them. CalBike is working with state administrators to revise these manuals to include designs for safer streets for people on bikes. These changes could turn a no into a yes the next time your local bicycle coalition lobbies for a new protected bike lane or protected intersection.

Equitable traffic enforcement. CalBike is committed to doing our part to change state laws about traffic enforcement to reduce the risk of police violence for Black and Brown people. The measures we are considering include:

- Automated speed monitoring and ticketing.
- Changing the Vision Zero grant process to money doesn’t go pay for more police traffic stops and instead goes to measures that will be more effective at reducing traffic injuries and fatalities.
- Decriminalizing walking and biking. This includes legalizing mid-block crossings (jaywalking) and the Idaho stop (which would allow bikes to treat stop signs as yields).
- Reforming Office of Traffic Safety grants so they don’t support police stings of bike riders running stop signs on quiet, low-traffic residential streets.

Finishing 2020 strong.

CalBike has two important initiatives that we’re still working on that we believe will make a big difference for bikeable communities.

Quick-build

CalBike has partnered with Alta Planning to produce the Quick-Build Toolkit. Quick-build is a revolutionary philosophy that streamlines the roadway design process. This puts the bike lanes and other safety features we need on our streets in months rather than years. Our design manual (coming very soon) will give planners across California the tools they need to quickly implement bike projects as we emerge from the pandemic and confront the climate crisis.

Election 2020

Many of us are, understandably, laser-focused on the presidential election this year. However, as we know from firsthand experience fighting for bills in unfriendly committees in the State legislature, the people we choose to represent us in our state and local government play a bigger role in shaping how bike-friendly our communities are.

We have endorsed candidates in several races that we believe will be crucial to achieving our ambitious goals for 2021. Please check out our endorsements and support bike-friendly candidates.

Ride your bike + Raise money for CalBike = Fun!

The California Dream Ride is one of CalBike’s biggest annual fundraisers. This year, the Dream Ride Challenge is a self-guided 300-mile ride to wherever you choose. Ride all 300 miles in the saddle, or earn miles and get rewards for taking on fun, bike-related activities and daily pop-up challenges along the way.

As a Dream Rider, you’ll join a fabulous bicycling community online to share the joy of riding in a brand new way. We’ve got perks and prizes, tips and tricks, an awesome support team, Happy Hours with special guests like mountain biking pioneer Gary Fisher, and so much more.

Best of all, the Dream Ride Challenge is a great way to raise money to support CalBike’s work in 2021 and beyond. You can register for as little as $25 and raise money as you ride. We hope you’ll join us from October 3-11 for this fun event.

We hope that 2021 is better than 2020!

No one can argue with the fact that 2020 has been crazy. For a lot of people, it has been a simply terrible year. Our heart goes out to anyone who’s dealing with COVID-19 or who lost a loved one, everyone who lost a job or had to risk their health to keep a job, everyone on the West Coast dealing with fires and smoke. In addition, while racist violence and oppression started long before 2020, the burdens of our inequitable society have supersized this year’s many tragedies for Californians of color.

Here’s to a better year in 2021.

Last Chance to Influence Caltrans Complete Streets Priorities

August 28, 2020/by Kevin Claxton

Now is your last chance to influence how Caltrans spends $100 million on bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. The funding comes from an unprecedented set-aside that Caltrans director Toks Omishakin ordered, to add bicycle and pedestrian safety elements to projects in the 2020 State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP).

The SHOPP contains 920 projects. The projects will be constructed over the next four years. Many of them already include complete streets elements, but some projects don’t include critical safety improvements despite the multimillion dollar investment. Caltrans Headquarters has already identified 22 of those projects which will require less than $50 million of the $100 million set-aside.

Now, Caltrans district directors are identifying more projects to receive the funding that remains in the set-aside. They will submit those projects to Caltrans Headquarters for evaluation on September 25.

Caltrans staff has shared with CalBike and others on the California Walk Bike Technical Advisory Committee the criteria they will use to evaluate the projects proposed by the district directors. The criteria are excellent, with an emphasis on projects that will help marginalized communities. These are neighborhoods that have been historically divided by racist freeway construction and harmed by neglect to their infrastructure.

However, the criteria only apply to projects submitted for evaluation. Some projects that may need safety improvements could be overlooked and never submitted for evaluation. This is where you come in.

Help highlight Complete Streets priorities in your community

We want you to help us figure out which Caltrans projects need Complete Streets. We have provided a link to the project summary document below. Don’t be put off by the length of the document. Project summaries are broken out by county, so you can focus on the ones near you. If you’d like more information, CalBike has copies of the Project Initiation Documents (PIDs). If you’d like to see the PID for any of the projects, email Jared Sanchez.

2020 Caltrans SHOPP Projects Summary

Let us know as soon as possible if you see projects that need Complete Streets funding in your community. CalBike will communicate your requests to the Caltrans regional offices and will advocate for them when the proposals are reviewed at the California Transportation Commission meeting in November.

California Bicycle Coalition Applauds Caltrans Move to Add Complete Streets to SHOPP Projects

May 14, 2020/by Laura McCamy

For immediate release 5/14/2020

Contact: Dave Snyder, dave@calbike.org, 916-251-9433

California Bicycle Coalition Applauds Caltrans Move to Add Complete Streets to SHOPP Projects

At the May 13, 2020 meeting of the California Transportation Commission (CTC), the Director of the State Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Toks Omishakin, asked the CTC to set aside $100 million from the 2020 State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) for bike and pedestrian safety improvements in SHOPP projects. CalBike applauds Caltrans leadership for championing the Complete Streets improvements that many California streets desperately need. Please take a moment to thank Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin.

A technicality at the CTC meeting prevented the commission from approving the whole $100 million. However, the conversation among commissioners made it clear that they intend to approve the rest of the funding at its next meeting in June.

The request came as part of the director’s stated commitment to make good on the governor’s promise that Caltrans will implement the intent of last year’s Complete Streets Act despite his veto. “While the state has a long way to go to turn the SHOPP and other state programs into funding sources for safety and sustainability and equity, this unprecedented action indicates the agency is serious about changing how it implements the SHOPP. These funds are essential to make desperately needed improvements for biking and walking safety,” said Dave Snyder, CalBike Executive Director.

Prior to the meeting, Commissioners received a letter from CalBike as part of a coalition of organizations led by Esther Rivera of California Walks. The letter commended the proposal to set aside $100 million, but expressed concern that Caltrans might not spend that money on the projects that would make the most difference because of its poor record of community engagement. Caltrans did identify 22 projects that would benefit from $50 million of the funding, but at the CTC meeting, Director Omishakin made clear that Caltrans would work with community partners to improve outreach. Several other high-ranking Caltrans staff have already reached out to CalBike offering to collaborate on outreach so that they can make the best decisions on how to prioritize that $100 million.

When Governor Newsom vetoed the Complete Streets for Healthy Living bill (SB 127 – Wiener) last year, it was a blow for the safe streets movement. The bill would have required Caltrans to consider adding Complete Streets elements to repair projects on state routes that double as local streets. It also created a public comment process if Caltrans decided Complete Streets features were infeasible. However, the governor issued a statement with his veto that made it clear that he expected Caltrans to find a way to implement the spirit of the law. With the 2020 SHOPP, we can see that Caltrans takes the need for Complete Streets seriously.

There has never been a more important time to build streets that encourage biking, walking, and taking transit. Changing our transit choices is a critical element of climate change mitigation. In addition, the current pandemic has shown us how vital California’s street spaces are to provide safe places to exercise and get fresh air. And bikes have become an even more important transportation option, to create space on public transit for those who need to ride and provide healthy and inexpensive transit for essential workers.

CalBike 2019 Legislative Session Wrap-Up

November 14, 2019/by Kevin Claxton

Several victories advance CalBike’s agenda, but a veto forces us to change strategy

While Governor Newsom’s disappointing veto of the Complete Streets Bill got the most attention, CalBike advocated for much more in the 2019 legislative session. CalBike members responded to our calls to action to secure important victories for our mission of making California’s communities more bike-friendly. CalBike succeeded in getting two of its priority bills signed into law: the Bike Turn Lane Bill and the E-Bike Vouchers Bill. These and several other victories marked a fruitful 2019 legislative session for CalBike.

Despite the veto, CalBike’s Complete Streets Campaign scored a success in galvanizing a broad movement for safe streets

More than 80 organizations signed on, with a diverse leadership team that included California Walks, the American Heart Association, AARP, and Safe Routes Partnership. This powerful coalition, backed by thousands of constituents, got the bill past many obstacles in the legislature, including a falsified and inflated cost estimate presented to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. This coalition will stick together to bring unprecedented pressure on Caltrans to meet its stated mission of creating a “safe” transportation system. We will not allow Newsom’s veto to result in continued dangerous conditions for children and older adults and everyone else who chooses to walk, bike, or take transit on state-owned roads in our communities! Our Complete Streets Campaign has simply entered a new phase.

E-bikes included as a clean mobility option

CalBike sponsored SB 400 (Umberg) to make electric bicycles eligible for vouchers in the state’s Clean Cars 4 All program. The program, funded by the California Air Resources Board, provides support for low-income households in the five largest air quality management districts who wish to trade in their old polluting cars for something more affordable than a discounted electric car. E-bikes are much cheaper and have even lower emissions than an electric/hybrid vehicle.

Safer bikeway design mandated

We sponsored AB 1266 (Rivas) to require Caltrans to improve its bikeway design guidance. The Bike-Friendly Turn Lane Bill, signed by the governor on September 4, will result in official approval for designs that encourage people on bicycles to use the left portion of a right-turn lane to go straight, which is often the safest and most appropriate maneuver. This bill is a very important win for cyclists. Intersections are the most dangerous place for bicyclists, where the most injuries and fatalities occur. This law provides a new tool for improving bicycle safety at intersections.

Climate and environmental justice in the next California Transportation Plan

AB 285 (Friedman) requires Caltrans to address how the state will achieve maximum feasible emissions reductions in order to attain a statewide reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This law also obliges Caltrans to show that the five-year update to the California Transportation Plan it submits in 2020 is consistent with air quality standards. It mandates a forecast of the impacts of advanced and emerging technologies over a 20-year horizon on infrastructure, access, and transportation systems and a review of the progress made implementing past California Transportation Plans. It adds environmental justice as a subject area that the plan is required to consider for the movement of people and freight. Read the full text of the bill in its final form.

Housing and transportation agencies must coordinate

AB 185 (Grayson, Cervantes) requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to participate in joint meetings of the California Air Resources Board and the California Transportation Commission. In joint meetings of the latter two agencies (required thanks to earlier advocacy by CalBike and allies), it became apparent that transportation and air quality goals can’t be easily addressed without also addressing land use. This is an important step toward coordinating our state’s policies to reduce car traffic.

Opening up Amtrak buses to everyone, not just train passengers

Have you ever tried to book an Amtrak bus only to learn that the system won’t allow it unless you also book a train ride for a segment of your trip? For example, Amtrak won’t allow you to book a ticket on the nonstop bus from Los Angeles to Bakersfield, or from Sacramento to Redding, even though they have frequent regular service. SB 742 (Allen) fixes that by authorizing a state or local government to enter into an agreement with Amtrak to provide for the intercity transportation of passengers by motor carrier over regular routes that are open to all riders, including passengers who are not connecting to a passenger rail service.This marks a long-desired change in the rules about Amtrak buses that will make intercity public transit more widely available.

Protecting the Active Transportation Program

SB 152 (Beall) would have changed the allocation of funds from the Active Transportation Program (ATP), which provides funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects, including Safe Routes to School. The bill would have granted most of the money directly to regional metropolitan transportation agencies instead of through competitive grants at the state level. This would have threatened the statewide competitive program, which is a model of transparency and equity. CalBike and its partners opposed this bill and helped to defeat it in the Senate.

CalBike Statement on Complete Streets Veto

October 23, 2019/by Kevin Claxton

On October 12th, Governor Newsom issued a veto of CalBike’s Complete Streets for Active Living Bill, SB 127.

What happened, Governor Newsom?

To say this was a disappointment is an understatement. Thousands of emails, hundreds of phone calls, overwhelming support from the State Legislature, and the support of more than 80 organizations—all this was insufficient to warrant the Governor’s approval.

Beyond our disappointment, the response was confusing. Governor Newsom has recently doubled down on the need to address the climate crisis, and issued an Executive Order that acknowledges that 40% of our carbon emissions in California come from the transportation sector, and that to meet our state climate goals we must change our transportation funding priorities. Specifically, he declared that the state should fund transportation options that reduce emissions and improve access to biking, walking, and transit. He must know that signing the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill not only would have been in direct alignment with this sentiment, but more importantly that it was the right thing to do.

We know that every day of inaction is a day that people risk losing their lives and their loved ones to traffic violence. The Complete Streets Bill would have made it clear to Caltrans, and would have bound them by law, to take people biking and walking into consideration when repairing or re-paving our streets. It would have made it possible for people to move safely through their communities, no matter how they choose to travel.

There was tremendous support for the Complete Streets Bill – thank you.

It was a very tough fight to pass the Complete Streets Bill, and reaching the Governor’s desk with a strong proposal was a feat of its own. We couldn’t have done it without support from our co-sponsors, supporters, and thousands of CalBike members over the past three years. Thank you for your emails and phone calls, for attending in-district meetings, for sharing your stories and making a personal investment in this work, for donating to support the campaign. Your efforts pushed this bill all the way through the legislature, and let lawmakers know how much Californians care about building safe streets.

Last week, CalBike held its biennial California Bicycle Summit in Los Angeles. More than 300 participants convened for 3 days of plenaries, panel discussions, workshops, bike rides, and social events. Coming off the heels of this veto, it was incredibly healing and inspiring to come together with a group of committed advocates, planners, and elected officials—people who understand the need for Complete Streets. The Summit was full of energy and ideas for how to transform our streets. It left us with hope that together, despite this recent defeat, we can change California for the better, making our streets safer, our transportation system sustainable, and our communities healthy.

CalBike will continue to press Caltrans to build Complete Streets.

While the Complete Streets Bill was not signed into law, we are not declaring defeat. In his veto message, Governor Newsom stated that he trusts that Caltrans, which is under new leadership starting this week, will deliver alternatives to driving. We’ll believe it when we see it. Now it’s incumbent on us to be a vigilant watchdog, and to push Caltrans to implement Complete Streets on its many surface streets—something that it has been unwilling to do in the past.

Governor Vetoes Complete Streets Bill – Chooses Against Safety

October 12, 2019/by Kevin Claxton

For Immediate Release: October 12, 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
Margo Pedroso, Safe Routes Partnership, 301-292-1043, margo@saferoutespartnership.org

SB 127: Gov. Gavin Newsom VETOES “COMPLETE STREETS” BILL

SACRAMENTO, Calif.– Late this evening, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (Senate Bill 127) championed by Sen. Scott Wiener.

The bill would have required the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to consider bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements when it repairs or repaves state routes that serve as local streets. This bill aimed 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, bike and use wheelchairs along those routes.

The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill had strong and widespread support. A recent poll found that 78% 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 deadliest in the state.

Linda Khamoushian, Senior Policy Advocate, California Bicycle Coalition,:
“Gov. Newsom’s decision blatantly ignores the immense support for this critical policy change. People risk their lives everyday just to walk or bike along dangerous state-owned streets. Without more aggressive complete streets policies, our transportation system will continue to operate business as usual. SB 127 was a rare opportunity to create livable streets for everyone. This decision was ill-informed by the faulty cost estimates from Caltrans that were proven illogical based on actual practice, and unfortunately will only perpetuate distrust without resolution. Communities demanded better from the Governor, but now are left in the dust.”

Jamie Morgan, Government Relations Regional Lead, American Heart Association:
“Californians want safer, more livable streets that support local businesses and local jobs. They want the ability to walk and bike safely. By vetoing SB 127, Gov. Newsom missed out on the opportunity to create more livable streets for our children, our residents and our communities.”

Tony Dang, Executive Director, California Walks:
“We are appalled by Governor Newsom’s decision to derail SB 127 despite overwhelming support by the public and the Legislature. Families and children deserve to be able to walk, bike, and cross their community’s local and main streets without fear–the veto of SB127 lets Caltrans off the hook and leaves the safety of our vulnerable residents to chance.”

Margo Pedroso, Deputy Director, Safe Routes Partnership:
“The Safe Routes Partnership is so disappointed that Governor Newsom vetoed the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill into law. As SB 127 made its way through the legislative process, it became clear that legislators understood this bill would create safe routes for everyone when Caltrans repaired state highways in populated areas. This legislation was a common-sense and cost-effective way to get more kids and families walking and biking to school safely when those schools are located next to state highways.”

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. The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill would have brought safety improvements necessary to stop the killing and maiming on state-owned roads.

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 SGV, American Lung Association in California , Alameda County Transportation Commission, Berkeley Climate Hub, Bicycling Monterey, Bike Bakersfield, Bike Concord, Bike East Bay, Bike San Diego, Bike Santa Cruz County, Bike SLO County, BikeVentura, 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 Heights Community Development Corp., City of Encinitas, City of Half Moon Bay, City of Long Beach, City of Los Angeles, City of Oakland, 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 Sustainable Transportation-Santa Barbara, Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, Costa Mesa Alliance for Better Streets, 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, Investing in Place, 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., Marin County Bicycle Coalition, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Move LA, Napa County Bicycle Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Office of Mayor London Breed – 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, Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates, 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, Vision Zero Network, Walk Bike Berkeley, Walk & Bike Mendocino, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland, Walk Sacramento, Walk San Francisco, and Walk Long Beach.

Complete Streets Bill Passes Legislature!

September 11, 2019/by Kevin Claxton

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

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.