Saturday, February 24, 2024

Complete Streets State Legislation - 80 CoSponsors

Calbike Sponsored
Calbike sponsored legislation agenda

California Roadway Users Changing

California's roadway population is changing, our roads and streets are showing signs of obsolescence, they are becoming Stoads. In Laguna Beach too our roadway users are changing from car-only to mixed-use: a blend of walkers, active transportation, transit and cars. 

Complete Streets are safe streets, comfortable for people who walk, bike, and take transit as well as driving motor vehicles. In 2020 Laguna Beach ranked by OTS as the most dangerous city in 103 California cities for 1-speed related injuries and fatalities 2-alcohol related collisions. Laguna Beach demands Complete Streets.  

All roadway users demand equal access to our streets and highways, these demands are driven by affordable housing, congestion, economics, trip distance, and parking.  Complete Streets are a remedy for a new mobility plan as mandated in LB General Plan Policy and the LB Vision 2030 Strategic Plan, and consistent with climate action policy in the LB Climate Protection Action Plan.

2019 Legislation Failed

In 2017, a CalBike-commissioned poll showed that Californians across the state, political and demographic groups support building Complete Streets.

In 2019  CalBike sponsored SB 127, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill. The bill would have required Caltrans to follow its own Complete Streets Policy and prioritize the safety of everyone using our roads. Despite overwhelming support in the legislature and from constituents, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the Bill.

Complete Streets Policy  Sponsors

In 2023, CalBike joined 100 mobility, climate justice, and transportation organizations to write Governor Gavin Newsom, urging an independent investigation of Caltrans, better oversight and a moratorium on freeway expansion.

In 2024 CalBike and co-sponsors are once again sponsoring a Complete Streets bill introduced by Senator Wiener, SB 960.

The result of the co-sponsors persistence and hard work are a new legislative agenda for 2024. A brief introduction to the new legislation follows.  

2024 Complete Streets Bill

SB 960, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, would require Caltrans to implement safe infrastructure for people bicycling and walking when it repaves a state route that serves as a local street. CalBike invites you to join their Complete Streets Campaign.

Safe Vehicles Save Lives Bill 

SB 961  another part of Senator Wiener’s safer streets package.  This bill consists of two measures; the first part requires trucks to provide side-guards to protect people riding bikes or walking from being pulled under the rear wheels of a truck. Trucking companies oppose the measure. The second part requires speed limiters on passenger cars to a maximum 10 mph above the posted speed limit, starting with 2027 models.

Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill

AB 2290 the Better Bikeways Bill limits state funding for Class III bikeways (or bike routes) to streets with speed limits under 20 mph. These are the least safe bicycle infrastructure, which typically include only Sharrows marking a lane shared by car drivers and people on bikes. The bill removes loopholes and strengthens requirements for Complete Streets on state and local street projects already funded by the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program.

The bill’s final provision creates a quick-build pilot at Caltrans. Quick-build adds safety elements for people bicycling and walking in months rather than years.

No Freeway Expansions for Freight

AB 2535, sponsored by the Charge Ahead California coalition, limits highway expansions for freight traffic, a critical step toward reducing our freeway dependence and triggeriing induced demand from freeway expansions. 

A Plethora of New Complete Streets Legislation

A dozen new bills for 2024 include AB 2086 for Caltrans accountability and SB 689 Bike Lanes in Coastal Areas: This bill converts an existing motorized vehicle travel lane into a dedicated bicycle lane near the Pacific coast. Read the details at CalBike here.

How to Take Action

You can add your name to petition the Governor for Complete Streets here.  Follow bike-friendly legislation on CalBike’s Legislative Watch page here.

 -LS

Friday, February 16, 2024

Complete Streets Federal Legislation - Markey/Fetterman 2024

New Complete Streets Legislation

Complete Streets Policy and approach to road design emphasizes safe street access for all road users, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycles, transit and automobiles by prioritizing infrastructure and new vehicle code rules. These roadway users have historically been left behind by legacy transportation bias that preferred motorists. In January 2024 Senators Markey and Fetterman have put forward The Complete Streets Act that takes the first steps toward a new street safety mindset that will ensure all road users have access to safe, equitable transportation options and apply nationally.

Correcting Street Design Standards

Legislation introduced October 2023 aims to correct America's road safety crisis by modernizing roadway design standards that leads to over 4000 pedestrian fatalities per year. The Building Safer Streets Act sets new standards for safer streets by reforming the development process for a highway design manual called the MTCUD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices). This change will redefine how road projects should integrate transit, multi-modal and safety features and address dangerous design standards.

The Act would streamline FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) road design practices, require the FHWA to publish new guidance to help develop multimodal streets work in local contexts, and would no longer allow a time metric to displace safety and increase dangerous speeds when evaluating project benefits. 

Collisions Matter

The chart shows trends in pedestrian fatalities nationally from 2009 to 2021 resulting in over 40,000 deaths in a decade. 

Ped Fatalities National 2021
Pedestrian Fatalities Nationally  -SmartGrowthAmerica

These are the 2020 OTS traffic safety rankings for Laguna Beach, out of 103 similar cities Laguna ranks:
 
   Pedestrians : 14
   Bicyclists : 8
   Motorcycles : 2
   Alcohol involved : 2
   Speed involved: 1
  Hit and Run: 11.

DOT Chooses Safety over Speed

For an example of street design with a motorist bias, consider how a posted speed limit is derived. Previously the posted speed is that speed which 85% of freely flowing motorist traffic would travel at that location. In a Complete Street allocation (Complete Streets Act) the new speed limit would be set to a safe speed for all roadway users in a multi-modal design.

Transit over Highway Funding

Past funding has been allocated 20% to transit and 80% to highway development but all Americans—no matter where they live—deserve transportation options that are convenient, affordable, sustainable and safe. But this arcane policy makes it an uphill climb for transit agencies to deliver that kind of service. In fact, fewer than 10 percent of Americans live within walking distance of transit that runs every 15 minutes or less, Transit Center found.  The new legislation addresses the funding imbalance.

Take Action for New Legislation


-LS