Streetsblog CA

As part of the process to develop the first-ever statewide bike and pedestrian plan, Caltrans has been collecting general information from people about their current walking and bicycling experience. The survey, available here, closes on June 30.

California budget negotiations have moved into high gear with the naming of Senate and Assembly members to the bicameral budget conference committee. Leaders of the two bodies named five members each—up from three in previous years—and the conference committee held its first hearing this morning. The committee's job is to find agreement among the three competing state budget proposals before June 15, when it must submit a final version to both houses to be voted on. The final budget agreement must be signed by the governor by the end of the month.

California’s 2016 budget may include additional funding for sustainable transportation research, education, and outreach.  The California Assembly’s proposed budget includes a $3 million increase for the University of California Institute of Transportation Studies. The funding increase was shepherded through the budget subcommittee by Assemblymember Richard Bloom, a SBCA Streetsie award winner. The budget item will now be considered by a conference committee.

Yes, it should be every day, but it's still fun to get out and cheer on or be cheered on in recognition of the general awesomeness of riding a bike. Also, Bike to Work Day/Week/Month is a great way to get people to try riding. People don't want to be left out of the fun, and biking is usually such a quiet, almost invisible activity. Today is a day to get out there and make some great big public celebratory noise about riding a bike.

The major lobby group for the California oil industry has launched a new, and particularly dimwitted, effort to denigrate California's climate change policies. Californians for Affordable and Reliable Energy, or CARE, one of the Western States Petroleum Association's front groups (as reported in Streetsblog several years ago), started a new website that purports to show how the state is wasting its money on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Caltrans is hosting a series of meetings around the state to get input on the California State Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan (CSBPP). The plan kicked off last year and is expected to be completed and approved by Caltrans management in early 2017.

Parking placard abuse.

Today is the deadline to pass any policy bills that have a fiscal impact out of all California legislative committees, so the last two weeks have seen a flurry of long hearings. Here's a quick recap of pertinent bills.

A marathon hearing in the Assembly Transportation Committee yesterday was a sign of looming deadlines in the California legislature. It was also an illustration of the strange and sometimes surreal world in which California's laws are debated and created.