Last fall, Governor Newsom unfortunately vetoed SB 127, the Complete Streets bill. In his veto message, the Governor promised that new leadership at CalTrans would find ways to increase active transportation investments. Building on that, we have been working with CalTrans on a Complete Streets Action plan.
In collaboration with local advocacy groups, Safe Routes Partnership submitted a policy comment letter this week to the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) on the 2020 update of the Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS). The 2020 RTP/SCS, also known as Connect SoCal, will set the Southern California’s plans for transportation and housing for the next 25 years--including thousands of transportation projects.
We are disappointed that Tamika Butler has had to resign as a CTC commissioner only a few months after her appointment last fall.
Workshops to determine guidelines for Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation continue, with input coming in from around the state. The schedule of workshops, as well as downloadable materials, is available on the CTC's ATP website under the 2021 ATP Cycle 5 header.
We salute the Air Resources Board for the creation of the new Sustainable Transportation Equity Program (STEP).
The next application deadline for the Active Transportation Program (ATP) will be June 15, 2020 for Cycle 5, with projects awarded in 2021. The California Transportation Commission is currently holding workshops to get feedback and input on the ATP guidelines. “Branch” workshops will be held in locations where workshops haven’t been help before, and will be for input. “Central” workshops will be in more central locations and will include discussions and decisions on different aspects of the guidelines; there will also be a webinar and real-time chat function available.
The first in our series of webinars focused on Active Transportation Cycle 5 is next week on Thursday, Sept 26 at 11am PT - register now! It may seem too soon to be thinking about this, but what we know from our work with past ATP applicants is that if you wait until the guidelines come out, you won’t have enough time to create a competitive application.
Congratulations to Toks Omishakin, Governor Newsom’s nominee for CalTrans director, which was announced earlier this month. Mr. Omishakin is a recruit from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, where he has been an unyielding champion of active transportation and complete streets. Prior to that, he served as director of healthy living initiatives for the Nashville Mayor’s Office for three years.
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