2015 CA State Budget: for Transportation, More of the Same
Governor Jerry Brown released his preliminary budget proposal [PDF] today in Sacramento, missing the opportunity to articulate the connection between spending on roads and meeting the climate change goals he proposed Monday in his inaugural speech.
January 9, 2015
High-Speed Rail Breaks Ground in Fresno
California signaled its commitment to high-speed rail with a groundbreaking today in Fresno. The ceremony, featuring a speech by Governor Jerry Brown, marks the official beginning of construction on the long-awaited train.
January 6, 2015
San Diego Sued for Putting in a Bike Lane
A lawsuit filed last week in San Diego [PDF] claims that the city did an inadequate CEQA analysis for a recent road diet and new bike lane on a stretch of Fifth Avenue.
December 22, 2014
San Diego Fights CA Courts for Its Highway-Happy Plan to Increase Emissions
Despite what CA's courts say, San Diego insists on plans to widen freeways in its 2050 Regional Transportation Plan, even if it defies the state's ambitions to reduce climate-changing car dependency.
December 19, 2014
California Bicycle Coalition Announces Its 2015 Legislative Agenda
The California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike) released its ambitious agenda for the 2015 legislative session. Their top priority is to increase funding for cities to build complete bike networks -- not just piecemeal bikeways.
December 15, 2014
CA Legislature’s New Session: Hit-and-Run, Cap-and-Trade, No Tolls for Bikes
A new California legislative session started last week with the swearing-in of ten new Senators and 27 new Assemblymembers, the introduction of a hundred new bills between the two houses, and adjournment until January 5.
December 8, 2014
CA Seeks Input on 2015 Active Transportation Program Guidelines
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) is seeking input on revised guidelines for the Active Transportation Program (ATP). The ATP is the main source of state funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects, mostly through federal transportation grants to local cities. The proposed changes to the ATP guidelines are mostly minor, but include eliminating the requirement for matching funds and de-emphasizing bike plans.
December 8, 2014
Caltrans Grants $550 Million to Transit Projects Statewide
Caltrans announced over the holiday weekend that it has allocated one of the remaining chunks of money from Prop 1B, the massive transportation bond act approved by California voters in 2006.
December 4, 2014
Exposed: Oil Industry’s Astroturf Tactics Against CA Cap-and-Trade
It's no surprise that the oil industry is fighting California's cap-and-trade program. But it is enlightening to see the strategy laid out in a leaked PowerPoint presentation [PDF].
December 1, 2014
Court: Environmental Review for San Diego’s Highway-Happy Plan Inadequate
The California Court of Appeals yesterday confirmed a lower court ruling that the environmental impact report (EIR) for San Diego's long-range regional transportation plan was inadequate. The EIR, said the court, underplayed the impact of the emissions that would result from its highway-building, sprawl-inducing plan.
November 25, 2014