July ECOS Board Meeting – Great Speaker Line-Up!

Posted on July 11, 2018July 11, 2018 by Alexandra Reagan

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!

Posted on June 15, 2018July 2, 2018 by Alexandra Reagan

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

Posted on June 4, 2018June 6, 2018 by Alexandra Reagan

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/.