Tag Archives: Transportation Access

Essay: Sacramento voters rejected Measure A’s giveaways and political patronage for a reason

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ECOS Board Member Brad Banan wrote the following article published in the Sacramento News and Review on November 18, 2022.

By standard political measures, a proposed Sacramento County transportation tax should have won approval in this month’s election. Supporters had a truckload of campaign cash and the backing of the political establishment, among other things.

They spent more than $4 million on Measure A. Opponents spent less than $7,000.

And yet, just like voters nationwide rejected the narrative of an impending “red wave,” so it appears that local voters bucked conventional wisdom and nixed Measure A. As of Nov. 15, 54 percent of voters were opposed to the measure, leading by a margin of 22,000 votes. The measure would have added a half percent to the county’s sales tax for 40 years, raising it to 9.25 percent in Sacramento.

So why did the transportation tax fail?

Click here to keep reading.

Sacramento Transportation Authority Meeting Nov 10

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Update: these two items of interest are postponed until November 10, 2022.

The STA Governing Board Meeting Agenda Packet for October 13, 2022 at 1:30 pm: https://www.sacta.org/calendar/bl7btgymcz858x5

Item 9 discusses a strategy for using Measure A Smart Growth Incentive Program (SGIP) funds as a local match for the 2022-2023 SACOG Community Design Grant Program. The SACOG Community Design Grant Program focuses in on infill development and reducing VMT.

Item 10 provides a draft work plan for implementation of the Citizens’ Initiative should it pass in November. The draft work plan discusses among other things the need for policy development in the following areas:

  • Federal Air Quality, Metropolitan Transportation Plan and GHG Reduction Targets (Program Wide Policy)
  • Geographic and Social Equity (Program Wide Policy)
  • Complete Streets

Residents Invited to View City’s Initial ‘Transportation Priorities Plan’ at These Two Meetings

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August 17, 2022 – From the City Express, the news website for the City of Sacramento government

The City of Sacramento has reached phase two of its Transportation Priorities Plan and unveiled the initial project prioritization. Community members are invited to two virtual meetings on Aug. 24 and 27 to learn more and provide feedback.

The Department of Public Works in 2021 began working on the first-of-its-kind priorities plan and engaged communities to hear about their transportation values and gather input on recommendations.

“When it comes to investing in transportation, we wanted to know what matters most to Sacramento’s communities,” Transportation Planning Manager Jennifer Donlon Wyant said. “The input in phase one has allowed us to conduct the initial prioritization of the over 700 approved transportation projects in the City.”

Throughout 2021 and in early 2022, staff engaged communities through virtual gatherings, surveys, a youth-focused program and meetings with local organizations.

In March 2022, City Council adopted a set of criteria and process to prioritize the transportation investments based on those community values. This prioritization is needed because there are many transportation needs and the majority of transportation funding is from competitive grants, officials said.

It is estimated the City would need about $5 billion to complete all of the identified transportation improvements and maintenance projects.

The criteria approved by Council include: improve air quality, climate and health; provide equitable investment; provide access to destinations; improve transportation safety; and fix and maintain the transportation system.

Staff used this criteria to prioritize approved transportation projects. Projects that best meet community values are considered high priority projects. Medium priority are projects that meet some community values but not all. Lower priority projects do not align well with community values for transportation investment.

“As we move into phase two, we’re excited and ready to share the initial prioritization and hear from our communities,” Donlon Wyant said.

Residents can learn more about the initial prioritization and share input in many ways.

  • Register for a virtual gathering session (6 p.m. Aug. 24 or 10 a.m. Aug. 27)
  • Complete a comment form, available in multiple languages
  • Provide feedback on an online map, available in multiple languages
  • Meet the team at community events across the city throughout August

CLIMATE COMMITTEE: Focus on Transportation

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July 14, 2022 6:00 – 7:45 pm

Featuring: Dan Leavitt of San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission on the Valley Rail Program

Also, Jim Allison of Capitol Corridor will discuss the addition of a third track between Sacramento and Roseville. Finally, ECOS will provide updates on and invite discussion of the City of Sacramento Climate Action Plan and the proposed transportation ballot initiative.

LINK to join: ECOS ZOOM 6656164155
Call: 1 669 900 6833, Mtg ID: 665 616 4155

6:00 Welcome and Introductions

6:10 Dan Leavitt, Manager of Regional Initiatives, San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, and David Lipari also of SJRRC
• Dan will give a general update on the Valley Rail Program, and Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) and San Joaquins services. Valley Rail will provide new rail service to Sacramento on existing tracks from San Jose, Merced, and Bakersfield.
• David will present Valley Rail station design guidelines and process.
• Q&A.

Valley Rail is a joint program that includes improvements and expansions of both ACE and Amtrak San Joaquins that is focused on improvements between Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley.

7:00 Jim Allison, Manager of Planning, Capitol Corridor JPA
• Jim will discuss the Capitol Corridor, including the addition of a third track between Sacramento and Roseville to enable increased rail service east of Sacramento.

7:20 Ralph Propper, John Deeter, and others
• City of Sacramento Climate Action Plan
• Transportation ballot initiative

7:45 Adjourn

An evening with Charles Marohn, founder & author of Strong Towns – Thursday, June 16

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An event for Sac Valley Section APA members and the Sacramento area community!

Strong Towns is a nonprofit advocating for a new way to think about how our cities are built. The movement’s founder and author of Strong Town series, Charles Marohn, joins us in Sacramento on June 16 to discuss key ideas in his new book, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, and Strong Towns’ vision for financially resilient transportation systems.

You won’t want to miss this! Learn how the values of engineers and other transportation professionals are applied in the design process, and how those priorities differ from the values of the general public. Marohn will reveal how the standard approach to issues like fighting congestion, addressing speeding, and designing intersections only makes transportation problems worse, at great cost in terms of both safety and resources.

This event provides 1 CM credit: https://bit.ly/3t41iyw

Event Details

Thursday, June 16, 2022, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Location: Citrus Heights Community Center, 6300 Fountain Square Drive, Citrus Heights, CA 95620

Light refreshments will be provided.

Cost: $10 per person – All proceeds from tickets will be donated to SVS and local partner scholarship programs.

Register today: https://bit.ly/3LNM7jj

Chuck Morohn will also be speaking that morning at the SACOG Board meeting https://sacog.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?compiledMeetingDocumentFileId=5424 during Item 14 – Workshop: https://sacog.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=2275&meetingTemplateType=2 and https://sacog.primegov.com/portal/item?id=2275

Candidate Forum – Sacramento County Supervisor District 5 Candidates

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May 17, 2022 at 6 pm

Join Sacramento Metro Advocates for Rail and Transit (SMART) on May 17 at 6 PM for a virtual forum on Zoom and Facebook with candidates for Sacramento County Supervisor District 5! The topic will be their take on transportation – vision, priorities, and the benefits of public transit and rail improvements and expansion – in Sacramento County. You can copy and paste the link below into your web browser search bar. At the Zoom screen, enter the meeting ID and passcode below to join the Candidate Forum. For more assistance, send an email to info[at]sactosmart[dot]org. We can’t wait to see you there!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86522991260?pwd=TjN2Tkg1ajYrdE1aR21qekVaWHlRZz09

Meeting ID: 865 2299 1260
Passcode: 545914