Equity & Environmental Justice

In California’s Central Valley region, the Safe Routes Partnership is working in the counties of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Fresno. Housing and transportation costs in Central Valley often exceed 70 percent of income for moderate income households.  The lack of affordable transportation options puts stress on families. In addition, the region struggles with poor air quality.

We co-sponsored SB 760 under author Senator Wiener, which would have required the State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP) implement Complete Streets near critical locations. As we reported in January, it was scaled back due to concerns over the effort to repeal last year’s increase in the Gas Tax. While we plan to reintroduce a bill with similar objectives next session, Sen.

Last week, California voters supported equitable transportation, open space and climate spending by large margins at the ballot box.

Stanislaus County has released its draft Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). The 2018 RTP/SCS is the long-term coordinated transportation/land use strategy and provides a framework for transportation investment out to the year 2042. Public workshops are being held throughout May, and public comments are accepted until July 5.

The Safe Routes Partnership has been working with environmental justice groups, including the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice to raise awareness about the impact of freight and warehouses on the pollution levels and traffic safety of schools and neighborhoods throughout the Inland Empire and Southern California.

In early May, California Senior Policy Manager Jonathan Matz joined our partners in the Sustainable Communities for All coalition (SC4A) in Sacramento to lobby state lawmakers for an equitable portfolio of investments from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). Among the programs SC4A would like to see funded from the GGRF this year are Urban Forestry and Urban Greening; the Low Income Home Weatherization Program; and transit passes for K-14 students in public education institutions.

The California Transportation Commission has announced another (likely final) workshop on the applications and guidelines for Cycle 4 of the Active Transportation Program on Tuesday April 17 in Sacramento. The workshop will also cover SB 1 accountability guidelines. Please see the meeting announcement with full details including how to participate remotely here.

Last month, a group of youth and community residents initiated a meeting with Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes of the 47th District in San Bernardino County. Youth representatives from the group Soar IE envisioned an initiative for safer sidewalks around neighborhood schools in Muscoy. Muscoy is unincorporated area of San Bernardino that has a CalEnviroScreen pollution burden profile of 96-100%, is low-income, and the population is 82 percent Latinx.