Inland Valleys

We salute the Air Resources Board for the creation of the new Sustainable Transportation Equity Program (STEP).

The next application deadline for the Active Transportation Program (ATP) will be June 15, 2020 for Cycle 5, with projects awarded in 2021. The California Transportation Commission is currently holding workshops to get feedback and input on the ATP guidelines. “Branch” workshops will be held in locations where workshops haven’t been help before, and will be for input.  “Central” workshops will be in more central locations and will include discussions and decisions on different aspects of the guidelines; there will also be a webinar and real-time chat function available.

The September meeting of the Riverside County Active Transportation Network (ATN) toured new bike facilties and community gardens to showcase their efforts for healthier communities. The ATN group included 20 participants who had an opportunity to ride electric bikes through the bike lanes of Perris. City staff explained the newest vegetable garden features and how residents particpated in planning of the garden. 

October 2nd was International Walk to School Day & Clean Air Day, and Muscoy celebrated both. Vermont Elementary school recieved a small microgrant from the Coalition for Clean Air to help support efforts to launch a walk to school day event and promote clean air stratgies in their school. Vermont Parents in Action and Safe Routes Partnership organized partners including Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes, San Bernardino County Department of Public Works, San Bernardino County Public Health, San Bernardino City Police Department, Go Human and Alta Planning and Design.

The first in our series of webinars focused on Active Transportation Cycle 5 is next week on Thursday, Sept 26 at 11am PT - register now! It may seem too soon to be thinking about this, but what we know from our work with past ATP applicants is that if you wait until the guidelines come out, you won’t have enough time to create a competitive application.

Congratulations to Toks Omishakin, Governor Newsom’s nominee for CalTrans director, which was announced earlier this month. Mr. Omishakin is a recruit from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, where he has been an unyielding champion of active transportation and complete streets. Prior to that, he served as director of healthy living initiatives for the Nashville Mayor’s Office for three years.

We’re proud to announce that SB 127, the Complete Streets Bill, passed the California State Assembly last week and is headed to Governor Newsom’s desk.