Freeway planning in California is shifting gears. If the past was adding lanes to reduce congestion, the future is about creating multimodal mobility corridors. At least that is the thinking as the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) seeks to improve mobility in their I-680 Corridor, which includes closing a key gap in the region’s express …
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 Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is awarding grants totaling $6.75 million to six projects across the region designed to promote clean transportation and reduce harmful emissions during last-mile freight and delivery operations. The six are in addition to 26 clean-energy projects that were awarded a total of $10 million late last year under …
We are guessing not many of you read the latest version of the Mobile Source Strategy. We read it because it begins to show how the California Air Resources Board (ARB) will approach reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the Scoping Plan and how ARB may set greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets under Senate Bill …
One hundred years ago, Southern California had the largest electric streetcar system in the world. Red and yellow streetcars connected Southern California, including Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles counties. Over the years, however, competition from automobiles and freeways led to their decline. By the 1950s, nearly all the streetcars were gone. Now, the …
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 …
June 3 Update: The Legislative Budget Package recommends a $250 million augmentation for this program above the $500 million in the Governor’s May Revise. As we note below, there is more than enough eligible projects, and MPOs have a history of funding and programming projects in a timely way. The constitutional deadline for the Legislature to pass …
