California

Staff recommendations for Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation Program were released earlier this month. As we expected, the program became even more competitive than it was in Cycle 4: the cut-off score in the Statewide Component was 92 out of 100, a rise from Cycle 4’s cutoff score of 89. There was only enough funding for 41 projects in the statewide competition, and 9 in the Small Urban and Rural component, a decrease of 18 percent and 10 percent, respectively, from Cycle 4.  

The Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant program applications are now open! This grant program includes (1) Sustainable Communities grants to encourage local and regional planning that furthers state goals and (2) Strategic Partnerships Grants to identify and address statewide, interregional, or regional transportation deficiencies on the state highway system in partnership with Caltrans.

As we look towards 2021, we are hopeful that the arrival of a vaccine will enable our state government to return to a full legislative agenda after this year’s sudden shift to emergency relief. Enormous challenges lay ahead, notably saving our threatened transit systems.

Earlier this month, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) approved allocations for a bevy of projects programmed in four SB 1-supported programs. As Streetsblog describes, many of those projects, which were brought to the Commissioners by CTC staff, are emblematic of discredited highway expansion planning.

• We are hiring a Communications and Equity Manager.

We urge everyone to vote! There are two ballot measures up for consideration in California this year that we wanted to call your attention to. We urge you to vote yes on:

Last month, Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-79-20, which calls for the end of all sales of new fossil fuel vehicles by 2035.

CalTrans has released a draft California Transportation Plan 2050 that lays out strategies for the state’s transportation over the next thirty years.

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is currently accepting applications for Active Transportation and Safety projects. The due date is November 13, 2020. Grants can fund active transportation or safety plans, quick-build projects, network visioning and implementation, and more.