Who should be accountable when it appears a Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) will not achieve the target set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB)? Most believe the answer is obvious: It should be the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) that adopted the SCS. But we think differently. Our answer is: “it depends.” Here’s why. Although MPOs …
Over the last 15 years, SANDAG has worked with regional tribal nations to incorporate their views and needs into SANDAG’s planning and project selection program. In doing so, they have developed one of the outreach and public engagement models in the state for tribal inclusion. It has also resulted in planning elements and project selection …
There are probably 285 things we could say about the AB 285 report. Some positive, others critical. But that would be a really boring read, so here are our initial five thoughts: Quick Background: What Is an AB 285 Report? The AB 285 Report (technically, the Transporation Assessment Report) is a review of the CTP …
The first iteration of the Regional Early Action Program (REAP) provided funding for the councils of governments (COGs) responsible for developing the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) to accelerate and support housing planning. It was the regional counterpart to the Local Early Action Program (LEAP), which were distributed directly to cities and counties. While most REAP …
Whether it’s offering rebates for energy-efficient upgrades or creating maps that reveal where energy use is highest, the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) is playing a crucial role in helping cities, counties, and residents in the Bay Area increase energy efficiency and save money. The BayREN program is a whole portfolio of services offered …
Over the past two years, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) has been pilot testing a powerful new data platform in a partnership with Caltrans and the California Air Resources Board. They call it the Big Data for Transportation Planning pilot project. What it lacks in a catchy name, its gains in providing a …
About the Author: Randy Iwasaki is the former director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and also served as the Director of the California Department of Transportation. He currently works with Amazon Web Services, a CALCOG partner. Delivering a regional transportation plan (RTP) with a sustainable communities strategy (SCS) is a big task. That …
They are practically newlyweds. The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) and the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA) are thriving under a new partnership. When the respective boards approved a union last fall, RCTC became the new managing agency of the RCA. Ring the wedding bells! The RCA was formed in 2004 to implement …
Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Oakhurst is a picturesque, wooded community just south of Yosemite, in eastern Madera County, with a problem increasingly shared by many rural areas: Creating safe evacuation routes in the event of wildfire. As climate change makes the weather hotter and drier, wildfires have increased across California …
Regional governments often serve as a venue where local agencies solve transboundary issues. But what happens when an international boundary bisects the region? That is the issue faced by the Imperial County Transportation Commission (ICTC), which frequently engages with their regional partners in Mexico and two other sovereign nations – the Fort Yuma Quechan Indians and the …
