Wildfires, climate change making it harder to breathe in Sacramento, report says

By Mila Jasper
April 24, 2019
The Sacramento Bee

The air is terrible in Sacramento, and climate change is baking the problem in, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Lung Association.

For the second year in a row, Sacramento was named fifth in a list of worst major U.S. cities for ozone pollution in the Lung Association’s annual State of the Air report. Sacramento also moved up from 19th to 15th in the nation for particle pollution days, scoring an F for both categories.

Click here to read the full article.

SacRT Forward Update

February 26, 2019

Update – SacRT’s new bus network that was approved by the Board of Directors on February 25. For detailed information on the plan, you can link to the Board presentation at: http://www.sacrt.com/apps/wp-content/uploads/SacRT-Forward-Board-Presentation-022519.pdf

February 18, 2019

Over the past year, SacRT has been working on the SacRT Forward project, a complete redesign of the bus network. A draft plan was released for public review on December 10, 2018.

Since then, major outreach efforts took place to let riders and stakeholders know about the proposed plan. Since December 10, SacRT has received more than 400 comments from the public. Staff has participated in more than 70 community, neighborhood association and stakeholders meetings and has ridden almost every bus route in the system to hand out information to customers and bus operators.

On February 18, 2019, SacRT unveiled an update to the proposed draft network. Below are updated maps, a summary of all the proposed route changes, and a video detailing all of the changes, route by route presented by SacRT Planning staff.

Click here to see the one-page “Rider Alert” summary of the changes.

Click here for more details.

City prohibits gas stations, relaxes parking requirements, next to light rail stations

December 11, 2018

From Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement

The Sacramento City Council Tuesday voted 8-0 to prohibit new gas stations, drive-through restaurants and auto repair shops within a quarter mile of light rail stations. Those within a half mile will require a conditional use permit.

The new rules also eliminate minimum off-street parking requirements for housing developments within a quarter mile of light rail stations, and reduce them by half within a half-mile radius.

The changes are intended to spur construction of housing in pedestrian, bicycling and transit-friendly corridors around light rail stations, where residents would have less need for cars.

Click here to read the full post.

July ECOS Board Meeting – Great Speaker Line-Up!

Free and open to the public! Join the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) on our mission to achieve regional and community sustainability and a healthy environment for existing and future residents.
 
We host a brief social/networking reception (with wine and light refreshments) at 5:30 pm. The meeting begins at 6:00 pm.
 
Presenting on July 24th… a panel on Affordable Housing and Transit-Oriented Development!
 
Panelists include:
• Prof. Jesus Hernandez (UC Davis Sociology) – Sacramento Region communities – history and ways to achieve equity
• James Boyle (Planning Director, Sacramento Regional Transit District) – Sacramento City plans for Transit-Oriented Development Ordinance
• Cathy Creswell (Sacramento Housing Alliance, Board President) – How to achieve Affordable Housing in our region
 
We encourage you to use public transit, walking or biking to get to the meeting. Parking is restricted to street parking and is limited. There is secure bike parking in the downstairs hallway.
 
Location: 909 12th St, Sacramento, California 95814 (in the Sierra Club CA conference room on the 2nd floor).
 
 
View the full agenda here: https://goo.gl/YtWF7z

Evening Hours on Light Rail Gold Line Extended!

June 14, 2018

A win for the Sacramento region! 

While light rail trains on the Gold Line previously stopped running before 7:00 pm, they will now run until 11:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 9:30 p.m. on Sunday!

How did this come to be?

Ten years ago, ECOS brought a lawsuit against Caltrans when it proposed adding lanes to Highway 50 to create High Occupancy Vehicle (“HOV”) lanes. Since these lanes are only restricted to High Occupancy Vehicles during certain hours, adding new lanes for this purpose is essentially just a widening of the freeway.

Freeway-widening induces urban sprawl, increases Vehicle Miles Traveled, increase greenhouse gas emissions and does not reduce traffic congestion after all.

That lawsuit was settled in 2008 when Caltrans agreed to pay $7.5 million to SacRT for improved light rail service between Folsom and Sacramento, along the Highway 50 corridor.

In 2017, Caltrans again proposed to create HOV lanes by adding more lanes to Highway 50 without adequately dealing with induced demand for sprawl development and additional miles traveled. Again, ECOS sued.

ECOS met with SacRT to determine what funding from settlement of this lawsuit would help public transit the most along this section of Highway 50, and it was determined that expanding light rail service past 7:00pm would be best, so Caltrans settled by agreeing to provide funding for that purpose.

At ECOS, reducing vehicle trips is an essential part of our work, and new service like this goes a long way toward helping us reach our goals. This project will open up car-free options to many people, as trips that were only possible in a vehicle are now possible via public transit. We are proud to be a part of this effort.

ECOS gets Light Rail to Run Later

June 4, 2018

Beginning June 17, 2018, SacRT’s Gold Line light rail service to Folsom will be expanded into the late night hours!

ECOS helped bring this about with our Highway 50 HOV lane lawsuit! While we weren’t able to stop extra lanes being added to the freeway, we were able to get the light rail trains that run between Sacramento and Folsom (servicing neighborhoods in between such as the University area, Tahoe Park, College Greens and Rancho Cordova) to run past 7:00 pm! While light rail trains on the Gold Line previously stopped running before 7:00 pm, they will now run until 11:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 9:30 p.m. on Sunday!

More info about the increased service hours at http://www.sacrt.com/apps/folsomlatenight/.

More info about this settlement at https://www.ecosacramento.net/tag/hov-lanes/.