2022 Year in Review

Happy New Year! We hope 2023 will be a year of good health and active living for all of you.

We wanted to take the time to recap our accomplishments in 2022, and give a preview of the work we have planned for the year ahead.

We had a lighter legislative workload than in previous years, mostly because of our focus on the Active Transportation Program (ATP) and State Highway Operation and Protection Program  (SHOPP) (more on which below). However, we do want to note two significant bills that had different outcomes: AB 2438 passed the legislature, but was disappointingly vetoed by Governor Newsom. The bill, written by Assembly Transportation Chair Laura Friedman, would have essentially written into statute the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI) by requiring the California Transportation Commission (CTC) and Caltrans to rewrite the guidelines for all programs that to ensure that all projects comply with CAPTI with the objective of aligning the largest funding programs with away from projects that increase vehicle capacity.  We are frankly baffled by Governor Newsom’s veto of a bill that would have formalized his own executive order for posterity, and are in conversations with our partners about pursuing a similar effort again.

Thankfully, however, SB 932 (Portantino), was signed into law. This law requires updates to the circulation element of a county or city’s General Plan made on or after January 1, 2025 to develop a balanced, multimodal transportation network and include bicycle and pedestrian plans and traffic calming plans, as specified, and requires implementation of the updates to begin within two years of the General Plan’s adoption. We believe that the implementation of this law will result in a stark decrease in disparities in California cities’ and counties’ planning for and implementation of safe walking and rolling infrastructure.

 Our ATP Technical Assistance this year was extremely successful: all three agencies we coached through the process are slated to receive funding in Cycle 6. Calaveras COG received a score of 92 out of 100 for the Pope Street application and was recommended for funding by CTC staff in the Statewide component. We have also just learned that the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (for the San Lorenzo Creekway) and the City of San Pablo and Contra Costa County Department of Public Health (for the Broadway-El Portal Safe Routes project) were both included in MTC staff’s recommendations for the MPO component. Congrats to all three agencies!

2023 Year Ahead

Even though ATP Cycle 6 is fresh in your minds, Cycle 7 will be coming up quickly in 2024. We will be formally kicking off recruitment for our next round of ATP Technical Assistance in Spring 2023, but please don’t hesitate to let us know now if you’re interested.

We’re also working on a webinar series for communities and agencies in California about the opportunities for advancing active transportation through new federal discretionary programs such as Safe Streets and Roads for All, Reconnecting Communities, and Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity.

Finally, we will be working with our partners to engage Caltrans on the update of the State Highway System Management Plan, to adopt the Safe Systems Approach, dedicate funding for climate resiliency projects, and incorporate the recently adopted Equity Index for prioritization of projects.

We had a fruitful year in 2022, and are looking forward to another one in partnership with you in 2023.