Melanie Curry

Zoning laws in California usually require new developments to come with a minimum number of parking spaces. Housing, restaurants, stores, movie theaters — everything requires some number of parking spaces, theoretically based on the best available data.

Agreeing on a new way to measure transportation impacts -- and not just delays for drivers -- is no simple task for California's planning policymakers.

In the last hours before the deadline for signing legislation from this year's legislative session, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a batch of bills that could have improved safety for bicyclists, pedestrians, and other road users.

Governor Jerry Brown vetoed one of four hit-and-run bills passed by the California Senate and Assembly. A.B. 2337, by Assemblymember Eric Linder (R-Corona), would have increased the automatic driver's license suspension for a hit-and-run conviction from one to two years.

California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 1151, which would have raised fines for traffic violations in school zones. The legislation, authored by Senator Anthony Canella (R-Ceres), was co-sponsored by the Safe Routes to School National Coalition, transportation advocates TransForm, and the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program. The bill was designed to reduce traffic violations near schools, and money raised from the fine increases would have been earmarked for programs that encourage walking and biking.

Governor Jerry Brown signed two bills on Saturday that will make it easier for California cities to build better bike infrastructure.

Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee had a nasty exchange with a bicyclist riding on a sidewalk, and now he's disgusted that bicyclists want to feel safe while riding. “If bicyclists want respect and safety, they should act like they deserve it,” his headline stated in yesterday's Bee.

Here is Streetsblog’s weekly highlight of California legislation and activities related to sustainable transportation.

California transit agencies are now allowed greater use of bus-mounted bike racks that hold three bicycles. Governor Jerry Brown signed A.B. 2707 Tuesday, a bill authored Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park) to allow 40-foot-long buses to be equipped with folding bike racks that can carry up to three bikes.

In a packed, airless room last night in Oakland, several hundred people grappled with the question of how to define those communities in California that shoulder a heavier burden of pollution than others.