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.
We’re proud to announce that SB 127, the Complete Streets Bill, passed the California State Assembly last week and is headed to Governor Newsom’s desk.
The Modesto Airport Neighborhood is a suburban community in the Central Valley that had not historically received much in the way of Safe Routes to School investment and attention. Read more in our new case study about how we helped Modesto change that.
Last Monday, SB 127 (Wiener), the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill, passed the Assembly Transportation Committee.
SB 152 (Beall), which would have radically restructured the Active Transportation Program and to which we announced our opposition last month, failed to pass the Senate Appropriations Committee last week.
We are pleased with the continued progress of SB 127 (Wiener), the Complete Streets bill we are co-sponsoring along with California Walks, the California Bicycle Coalition and the American Heart Association. The bill has now passed out of the Senate Transportation and Appropriations committees. In the process, we have agreed to amendments that removed our proposed reordering of the State Highway Account’s priorities.
A number of important plans will be updated in our Central Valley counties in coming months, offering advocates opportunities to weigh in on planning and transportation decisions. General Plans will be updated in Modesto and in Fresno County, and we will be particularly concerned that issues of equity, environmental justice and SB 1000 will be addressed. In addition, the Non-Motorized Transportation Plan in Stanislaus County will be updated, and we look forward to helping align the county’s Safe Routes to School and active transportation efforts where needs are greatest.
In other legislative news, we are getting ready to testify in the Senate Transportation Committee in favor of SB 127, the Complete Streets for All Bill. We plan to publish amendments before the hearing further clarifying which corridors of the state highway network are affected by the bill.
 | @saferoutesca |
| Safe Routes to School in California |
