California voters will need to weigh in on Proposition 6, which would repeal the SB1 transportation law if it passes, on this November’s election ballot and voters should be aware of what is really at stake. The passage of Prop 6 would devastate the development of urgently needed transportation projects that impact our daily commute whether we walk, bike, bus or drive. Signed into law in April 2017, SB 1 invests $5 billion annually to fix California’s road, bridges, freeways and active transportation projects to promote safety of all road users. In Southern California, SB 1 repeal would mean millions of transportation dollars lost. SB 1 funds many different program buckets like the local partnership competitive program, congested corridors program, trade corridor enhancement program and the transit & intercity rail capital program to combat congestion through the region.
For example, the Southern California Associations of Governments (SCAG) reports that the local partnership competitive program alone allotted $235 million in critical funds for SCAG projects. These projects fund an array of traffic safety and congestion solutions projects like City of Claremont’s Green Streets Improvement Master Plan or Orange County’s Signal Synchronization project to name a few. The No on 6 campaign reports that numerous safety improvement projects for pedestrians and cyclists would be eliminated including 42 projects from the Inland Empire, 13 from Orange County, 51 from Los Angeles, and 15 from Ventura. For the SCAG region as a whole, a total of 121 safety improvement projects for pedestrians and cyclists would be at risk of elimination if Proposition 6 passed. Vote No on Prop 6 if you care about improving transportation safety and options.
