Fund Transportation for All!

February 19, 2020
Sierra Cub Sacramento Group Official Campaign
Sacramento County

Fix Our Streets, Fund Our Public Transit, and Make Biking and Walking Safer For All

Why this matters

The Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA) Board is considering a ballot measure for November 2020 asking voters to approve a half-cent sales tax to fund countywide transportation projects and programs. If approved, the new local Measure A would generate an additional $8 billion in local transportation funds over 40 years – $200 million annually. The proposed sales tax measure will shape our transportation system for generations, and it should be spent so that Sacramento County residents have the option of living and working within walking distance of a transit stop from everything they need.

The SacMoves and SMART coalitions are a growing group of business, labor, transportation, environment, public transit and community leaders. We have presented a forward-looking plan to STA that supports this vision by prioritizing expanding rail and transit service, fixing our existing neighborhood roads, while making them safer and connected for bicycles and pedestrians. This will relieve congestion while addressing our air quality, traffic congestion, and creating economic opportunity that will guarantee Accountability, Transparency and Public Participation. Transportation is Sacramento County’s #1 contributor to climate pollution, primarily from the tailpipes of cars and trucks.

It’s important that you let STA board members know you support the SacMoves and SMART Coalitions, along with the Environmental Council of Sacramento and the Sierra Club, in immediately tackling congestion and air quality by investing first in major improvements and expansion of transit, and fixing our local surface streets. Under our plan, transit expansion can eliminate 4 million metric tons of greenhouse gas each year from going into our atmosphere. And, to ensure that local streets and roads provide more types of transportation choices for local trips and getting to transit, 10% of funding should be clearly dedicated for bike, pedestrian and complete streets projects, making local streets safer. Focusing on these two priorities alone will move Sacramento County in the right direction.

Tell your local representatives

Click here for a convenient way to write to your Sacramento County Board Supervisors as well as the Mayors and City Councilmembers of the cities of Sacramento, Galt, Folsom Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove and Isleton.

Attend a meeting, testify

We need everyone to attend the Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA) meeting on February 26, 2020. The STA Board will be making final consideration on the spending ratios of the Measure. The time is now to tell the board that we want them to Fix our Existing Streets! Fund our Public Transit! Making Biking and Walking safe for all! Safe Routes Everywhere for Everyone!

Special Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA) Board Meeting – Wednesday, February 26, 2020 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm at 700 H St, Sacramento, CA 95814

Special Meeting – The Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA) Board is considering a ballot measure for November 2020 asking voters to approve a half-cent sales tax to fund countywide transportation projects and programs. Sierra Club, ECOS and our coalition of public stakeholders presented guiding principles to STA that will improve rail and transit, make existing neighborhoods safer and connected for bicycles and pedestrians. This will relieve congestion while addressing our air quality, traffic congestion, and creating economic opportunity that will guarantee Accountability, Transparency and Public Participation.

Come and participate at the Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA) Board Meetings every second Thursday of the month at 1:30 pm

Sign the petition

Click here to sign the petition.

Why is it urgent to sign the petition?

Stakeholders must be at the table to deliberate the allocation of sales tax funds starting with submitting comments to all STA Board Members at every 2nd Thursday Meeting (In person or electronically). How they will spend our money is being developed over the following weeks with developers heavy influence on their interests and not our communities. Without your direct involvement, it will be very difficult to change a plan that does not reflect what Sacramento needs! If we can demonstrate organized Grassroots POWER NOW that can oppose a ballot measure, we will empower STA Board member allies to accomplish an expenditure plan that is consistent with our vision for a healthy future for our region with an innovative transportation system that serves all Sacramento County residents.

Share with your networks

Click here to share using tools from the campaign organizers.

Phone bank with us

Thursday, Feb 20, 2020 3:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Tuesday, Feb 25, 2020 3:30 PM – 7:30 PM

909 12th St, Sacramento, CA 95814, USA

Food and drinks will be provided. Just ring for Sierra Club!

Event Organizer: Dyane Osorio, dyane[dot]osorio[at]sierraclub[dot]org, Sierra Club Mother Lode Chapter

Click here to RSVP.

Please come and help us call our members to take action: We need everyone to Call, Email, Attend the next Special meeting. We need to demand a better cut for Public Transit and Complete streets. Safe routes everywhere for everyone!

This Special Meeting will take place to discuss the Measure! We need you to show-up, call, email and let your representatives know that funding Public Transit, Complete Streets reduce congestion and will improve the air and health of our Sacramento County.

In order to protect our health and climate, it’s critical we reduce congestion and improve air quality by investing first in fixing our existing roads and expanding mass transit. This measure gives us an opportunity to promote high-quality and stable jobs while keeping more money in our local neighborhoods for fixing our roads and making them safer for bicycles and pedestrians. Sacramento is growing and this is our opportunity to do so with innovative solutions.

We will be phone-banking our members and coalition members to submit comments and attend the The Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA) Board Special Meeting 2/26/20 at 1:30pm – STA considering a ballot measure for November 2020 asking voters to approve a half-cent sales tax to fund countywide transportation projects and programs. Sierra Club and our coalition of public stakeholders presented guiding principles to STA that will improve rail and transit, make existing neighborhoods safer and connected for bicycles and pedestrians. This will relieve congestion while addressing our air quality, traffic congestion, and creating economic opportunity that will guarantee Accountability, Transparency and Public Participation.

Learn More: sierraclub.org/mother-lode/transportation

Regional Transit: Fare-Free Program for Youth is a Success!

February 12, 2020
Sacramento Regional Transit

SACRAMENTO, CA – The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) announced today that student ridership has doubled since implementing the fare-free program for youth/students in grades transitional kindergarten (TK) to 12th. SacRT launched the RydeFreeRT program in October 2019, which offers youth/students access to the entire SacRT network, including buses, light rail and SmaRT Ride on-demand microtransit service, for free.
Last month, SacRT experienced record ridership increases with 176,500 student trips taken on bus, which is a 106% increase from January 2019 student ridership.
“One of our top priorities at the City of Sacramento is offering more opportunities for young people,” said City of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “Having a free transit pass makes it easier to get to that paid internship, to that sports practice or that afterschool program. It’s amazing to see so many students take advantage of their new freedom to move around the Sacramento region and take advantage of all the opportunities it offers.”
The City of Sacramento provided SacRT with $1 million, as well as additional funds from other cities and school districts to counter revenue loss for the year-long RydeFreeRT program.
“Young people have told us the number one reason for chronic absence is lack of transportation. By eliminating transportation barriers, we’re increasing chances for more young people to succeed in school, career and in life,” said SacRT Board Director and City Council Member Jay Schenirer.
“SacRT is setting a new standard that will be emulated across the nation.”
“This program is the first in the nation to offer students free transit seven days a week, anywhere, any time,” said SacRT Board Chair and City Council Member Steve Hansen. “We are seeing a spike in students riding SacRT after school and on weekends, which confirms that there is a strong need for students to get to jobs, internships and extracurricular activities – Exactly what we hoped would happen with the implementation of this program.”
“Free fares for youth not only opens the door to opportunity, it creates lifelong public transit riders by instilling the habit at a young age,” said SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li. “Research shows that people who ride public transportation at a young age are more likely to use it as adults, which could have a tremendous impact on traffic congestion and air quality.”
Researchers at University of Texas, Austin who recently completed a study with three Sacramento City Unified School District schools to assess the barriers students face in traveling to school and other activities, are conducting a study on the impact of fare-free transportation on these students’ lives in areas including, but not limited to, school attendance, engagement in out-of-school time enrichment activities, participation in work-based learning, and attitudes towards SacRT in general. The study is expected to be complete this summer.
More than 300 schools in the Sacramento region are enrolled in the program. Most students automatically received a RydeFreeRT sticker with their student ID. For students and youth not attending a participating school, stickers and cards are available for free at local Sacramento County public libraries and SacRT’s Customer Service and Sales Center.
Partners and participating school districts include Sacramento Public Library, Center Unified School District, Elk Grove Unified School District, Folsom Cordova Unified School District, Natomas Unified School District, Robla School District, Sacramento City Unified School District, Sacramento County Office of Education, San Juan Unified School District, Twin Rivers Unified School District, City of Citrus Heights, City of Folsom and City of Rancho Cordova. The RydeFreeRT program runs until September 30, 2020. SacRT is working to secure funding to continue the program in future years.
Within fiscal year 2020, SacRT has seen an estimated 6% increase in ridership system-wide. More information on the program is available at RydeFreeRT.com. Watch a student testimonial about the RydeFreeRT program here.

Will local officials listen on 2020 transportation measure?

December 10, 2019
By David Mogavero (Former ECOS President)
Sacramento News and Review

What Transportation Measure?

In the next several weeks, our elected officials are writing a measure for the November 2020 ballot to levy a sales tax for transportation funding in Sacramento County.

How You Can Help!

Go to sacta.org/a_board.html, find the name of your elected representative who sits on the board and call, email, text or ask them for a meeting.
Tell them:
– You don’t want more roads, but want more transit and safer streets for bicycling and walking.
– You won’t be fooled by a measure that funds the road project down the street (that your neighbor told the pollsters they like) but sacrifices the quality of our county’s future
– You will only support a transportation measure that moves our community to a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable future.
-This is most critical for those who live outside of the city of Sacramento, including in Citrus Heights, Arden Arcade, Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove and North Highlands, etc.
– Please contact your representative now and voice your concerns. By February, it may be too late.

Read the full article here.

Photo Courtesy of Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA)

Metropolitan Transportation Plan Update

On November 7, 2019, the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) submitted comments on the recently proposed update to our region’s Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS). These comments were submitted via one letter solely from ECOS, and a joint letter from both ECOS and 350 Sacramento. Below is an excerpt from our comments, followed by links to PDFs of both letters.

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) has put forth a sophisticated Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS), a regional plan that the region’s jurisdictions should follow. While this regional plan is not a strong as we feel it could be, the 2020 MTP/SCS is a viable strategy for the region to meet its regional greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets mandated by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) per Senate Bill 375 (2008).
The plan represents a reasonable compromise between what the region could accomplish if the political will existed, and the reality of much more expansive car-oriented, low-density growth that is actually being actively pursued by some of the region’s jurisdictions on the ground. ECOS would prefer a greater percentage of transportation investment to non-auto modes, and a much more compact land use footprint than proposed. The Sacramento region is not meeting its mandated GHG reduction targets because local jurisdictions are not complying with the strategy that SACOG has laid out for them, and the State must do more to ensure compliance of local authorities to our Sustainable Community Strategies, as well as to ensure the State’s own investments are aligned with its climate laws.

Click here to read the comment letter by ECOS on the MTP/SCS.

Click here to read the comment letter by ECOS and 350 Sacramento on the Climate Change section of the MTP/SCS, which was submitted separately.

Unmet Transit Needs – Upcoming Meetings

Posted October 15, 2019

Whether you ride daily, occasionally or haven’t tried transit yet, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments is looking for feedback on our area’s bus, dial-a-ride, paratransit and light rail transit services. SACOG accepts transit needs related comments from any area in the counties of Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba.

What are your thoughts on local transit service? Would you like to use it for more trips, but don’t because of issues like where it goes, the schedule or cost? Are there places you really need to go but cannot currently? Please give SACOG your thoughts by attending an Unmet Transit Needs meeting or by relaying your comments to SACOG.

The California State Transportation Development Act (TDA) requires the Unmet Transit Needs Process be conducted annually by Regional Transportation Planning Agencies. SACOG is the Regional Transportation Planning Agency for the counties of Sacramento, Yuba, Sutter and Yolo. SACOG staff conducts the Unmet Transit Needs process annually for these four counties. The TDA requires that SACOG make a determination whether there are “unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet” in the jurisdictions throughout the four counties.

There are also a number of ways to comment beyond the hearings, so please feel free to also call, text, email, fax or mail your unmet transit needs comments to SACOG!

Upcoming Meetings

OCT 28 2019, MON
2 – 3pm
Sacramento Regional Transit Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Sacramento RT Auditorium, 1400 29th Street, Sacramento, CA

OCT 30 2019, WED
2 – 3pm
City of Galt Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Galt Council Chambers, 380 Civic Drive, Galt, CA

NOV 4 2019, MON
2 – 3pm
City of Davis Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Davis Council Chambers, 23 Russell Blvd., Davis, CA

NOV 5 2019, TUE
2 – 3pm
Sutter and Yuba Counties Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Yuba County Government Center, 915 8th Street, Marysville, CA

NOV 6 2019, WED
6 – 7pm
City of Elk Grove Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
Elk Grove Council Chambers, 8400 Laguna Palms Way, Elk Grove, CA

JAN 16 2020, THU
9:30 – 10:30am
Sacramento Regional Transit Unmet Transit Needs Hearing
SACOG – Board Room, 1415 L Street, Suite 300, Sacramento, CA

Click here for more details on the SACOG website.

SacRT to modernize light rail system, increase train frequency to Folsom

August 14, 2019
Emily Hamann
Sacramento Business Journal

“Sacramento Regional Transit District is in the beginning stages of a multiyear, multimillion-dollar project to upgrade its light rail system, which will include more frequent service to Folsom.
Most of SacRT’s current light rail cars are reaching the end of their useful life, and will start costing SacRT more money in maintenance and repair costs. So SacRT is upgrading to new low-floor cars. The doors on low-floor cars are level with the street, which eliminates the need for elevated platforms at light rail stops.
Most of the state funding for the project is directed toward upgrading the Folsom line, which is aimed at reducing traffic congested corridors. Some of the funding is also coming from the settlement of a lawsuit between Caltrans and the Environmental Council of Sacramento. The environmentalist group had sued Caltrans over a plan to add carpool lanes on Highway 50. As part of an out-of-court settlement, Caltrans agreed to pay $7 million toward improving the Gold Line, which parallels the freeway. “

Read the full article here.