Infrastructure Bill Funds Status Quo

$682 Billion in new transportation infrastructure spending passed the Senate last week but supports highways not transit alternatives. To put into perspective, the amount spent on the US defense budget was $778 Billion in 2020 alone.

"In its current state, this deal fails to accomplish the administration’s goal of reducing emissions, preserving both the status quo of easy money to build new highways (while neglecting basic repair needs) and the existing, complex hurdles to build transit,” said Transportation America Director Beth Osborne. 

 

Transportation for America (TA) found the Bill falls short even before the dire warning given by the International Committee on Climate Change on Monday. 

The bill provides large federal investments in both public transit and electric vehicle recharging, the expenditures are undermined by historic levels of highway spending that will produce higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions, as it always has. The bill provides a small amount of funding for reconnecting communities divided by highways but providing hundreds of times more funding to build and expand highways creating new divisions. 

The TA Guiding Principles show:

• States are permitted to defer basic needs and  highway maintenance in order to expand (think Toll Roads) new highway systems. This way the expansion is rewarded by federal highway funding but maintenance is not.
• Cut the highway maintenance backlog in half by dedicating formula highway funds to maintenance. 

Our roadways are designed for speed over safety, check the 85% percentile rule followed by Caltrans to set speed limits. Transportation systems focus on speed of delivery compromising safety. The bill should emphasize moving people not vehicles.  Connect people to jobs and services first, then design emphasis should be connecting people to those jobs and services. Prioritize highway projects that will serve that mission and use existing funding expeditiously but meet the mobility goal. This Bill uses status-quo-supporting, five-year transportation bill the Senate passed a few months ago as the guide for investing $682 billion in transportation infrastructure.

What you can do about it:

Call the Capitol Swithboard (202) 224-3121, ask for four amendments:

Talking points:

“I live in [STATE] and I’m calling about the infrastructure deal. While I’m certainly glad that we’re near a deal to invest in our country’s infrastructure, we have to do more than invest in the same way we always have. As the Senate considers the deal this week, I urge you to SUPPORT these following four amendments:

• The Kaine amendment (2373), which would require a “fix it first" approach to highway funding. 
• The Klobuchar amendment (2301), which would require states to reduce traffic death targets and end the practice of planning for them to increase with no penalty.
• The Warnock amendment (2167) (& Cardin 2176), would increase funding for reconnecting communities divided and damaged by highways from $3 billion up to $5 billion.
• The Cardin amendment (2465), would implement a transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) performance measure to finally start considering the climate impacts of our transportation projects.

8.10.21 Update

Coming just a day after a dire new IPCC climate report calling for transformational change, the Senate is providing hundreds of billions for status quo programs that will be used to build new roads and produce ever-increasing emissions for decades to come.  

-LS

LB Municipal Vehicle Fleet goes Electric

 SO WHAT? 

LB City Council is considering a replacement of the city vehicle fleet with electric vehicles to ostensibly, reduce the road noise they produce and "chiefly to reduce the number of polluting vehicles the City operates."

Let's try some math. 

 The city operates 200 vehicles (20-21 Budget)...............let's say they operate 1000 cars, trucks, beach buggies, and fire trucks. According Caltrans the Average Annual Daily Vehicle Trips to Laguna when people park is 29,400.  The entire city-fleet represents 3% of the tourist fleet of vehicles; the electric vehicle replacement program will do nothing to achieve stated goals.

 

Credit: @CanUrbanism

 

 

-LS

Transportation Sector Carbon Footprint

(Credits: Our World in Data, Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, UK )

The transportation sector contributes 29% to global GHG emissions, cars and trucks make up 82% of those emissions. Your choice of personal mobility greatly reduces GHG emissions.
How to reduce carbon emissions:

• Walk instead of medium car for short trips: ~83% reduction
  
• Use a pedal bike instead of car for short trips: ~75% reduction
• Train instead of car for medium trips: ~80% reduction
  
• Train instead of plane: ~84% reduction

-LS

 

 

NextDoor Polling Results on LB Parking and Traffic

 From 2018 to 2021 Laguna residents responded to a series of NextDoor polls about parking and traffic, here is a summary of fifteen polls in three charts showing what Laguna respondents say. The three charts organize parking and traffic polls into problems, solutions, and the vision for Laguna Beach. From each poll only the majority vote is shown, some take-aways are these:

• A large majority of respondents agree there are too many cars in Laguna.
• A majority believe cars will disappear if parking structures hide them all.
• A large majority prefer walking, biking, transit, Trolley over cars IF safe infrastructure was provided.
• A majority of respondents remain ignorant of mobility solutions available. 

 

 -LS

OCTA Multi-Modal Transportation Study

Soon it will be cool to say the words "MULTI-MODAL".  No, not a Podcast production with Garageband, this is the Orange County Transit Authority public survey of a multi-modal transportation system for Southern California including beach cities. On June 17 2021 OCTA held a virtual town hall taking public input about what services we want and where to spend Measure-M money on a multi-modal system. OCTA is also taking an on-line survey to record your preferences. To take the survey click the last link. Previous studies are shown.

PCH Corridor Objective:  make it more convenient for people to travel without needing an automobile

2016 OCTA Get Moving

2016 Corridor Study for SoCal and PCH (pdf)

2021 Multi-Modal Transportation town hall recording and info

2021 PCH Corridor Executive Summary (Laguna Beach p15)

2021 Public Survey direct link

 

Want to see a Metrolink to Laguna Beach?  Want to see OCFlex schedule on your phone? Want to see bikelanes on Laguna Canyon Road?  

Take the survey and tell OCTA what preferences you like.

-LS

Origin and Destination Analysis for LCR 2015 RBF

Given the recent fuss about Parkletts and their impact on Laguna Beach parking, here is a reminder of who uses Laguna Canyon Road to arrive in Laguna Beach and park. The charts show the average number of car trips per day through LCR, where they come from and where they are going.  

This study does NOT count those drivers using PCH. This study does NOT include other modes of transport: walking, cycling, motorcycles, trams buses boats gliders or SUP paddle-boards. Also these are annual averages not peak visitors season, say Memorial Day.

As the charts show, on average the main users of Laguna parking is: us. The main users of Laguna's streets is:  pass-through commuters.

 

This data was reported 16 March 2015 by RBF Consulting as a deliverable to the City of Laguna Beach and their product in it's entirety. This reporting is comparable to city-wide citation and moving violation data posted previously. The values are different since LBPD data includes the PCH route through Laguna Beach, the RBF study does not.

-LS

eBikes: What are the LAWS?

WHAT IS AN eBIKE? 

The California Vehicle Code classifies an e-bike as a bicycle equipped with an electric motor less than 750 watts with top speed from 20 mph to 28 mph.

CALIFORNIA LAW:

The California Vehicle Code treats bicycles as VEHICLES, so same laws apply to cyclists as motorists. Cal VC 21200 treats eBikes same as bicycles. 

LAGUNA BEACH LAW:

It is illegal to ride bicycles or eBikes on LB sidewalks by city Ordinance. 

(a) It is unlawful for any person, except for authorized law enforcement personnel, to operate a bicycle upon any sidewalk, the Main Beach Boardwalk, or any area within any city park. 

(b) It is unlawful for any person, except for authorized law enforcement personnel and for persons with disabilities, to operate any electric personal assistive mobility device (as defined by the California Vehicle Code and sometimes also known or referred to as Segways, T-3 Motions and/or motorized scooters) or any golf cart or low speed vehicle (as defined by the California Vehicle Code) on any sidewalk on Pacific Coast Highway, within the central business district, Main Beach Boardwalk, or any area within any city park. (Laguna Beach Ord. 1614 § 1, 2016; Ord. 1546 § 1, 2011; Ord. 1509 § 1, 2009; Ord. 1299 § 1, 1995; Ord. 1081 § 1, 1985).

Sources:

CalBike Bike Laws (CVC 21200): Bicycles eBikes

LB City Ordinance: Bicycles eBikes 

LB City UPDATE: eBikes in Laguna Beach 

OC Register on eBikes: Rules Regulations Popularity

-LS

Bike Month in Laguna Beach

Think you are too old for cycling?  Check-out this 2012 chart from Prof. John Pucher Rutgers University NJ. For those over 65 years the trips made by cycling in the Netherlands are 23%, cycling trips made by the same age group in the US are 0.5%.

In a study by the AARP and the US National Household Travel Survey shows non-motorized trips taken by those 40-64 are the largest group. From the 2021 study:

• Bike/Walk trips for those 50 years and older are increasing
  
• Growth in older adults walking should change Public Health perspective
• Accidents are more prevalent in this group that previously
  
• Infrastructure to support more bike/walk adults must improve
• More trips by non-working older adults not accounted for here

-LS

Steps to Complete Street Policy

1. Admission

   Recognize if you drive, then you contribute to traffic congestion

2. Policy Initiation

    Recognize traffic congestion is an economic, environmental social problem

3. Gather the Evidence 

   Gather the pollution, traffic counts, time lost, ROI, obesity metric of mobility system

4. Building Support

   Identify stakeholders, political leaders, partnerships, city staff, technical leads  

5. Influence Factors

   Identify regulations, media advocacy, pub/priv financial influence, workshops

6. Financial Support

   Identify $ources, agencies, MPO's, CDC, Land Use Connection Programs  
   
   

READING:  APA Guide to Complete Streets, APA Report 559

 -LS

CALTRANS Takes Traffic Counts in Laguna

Caltrans is taking traffic counts in eight locations around Laguna Beach.The purpose of these measurements is to adjust vehicle speeds and signal timing to reduce car trip delay, and to update the traffic accounting system known as the Caltrans Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) system.

The counting methodology is intended to move more cars faster and safer than ever before. Every so often the result of this approach is revealed spectacularly on Laguna's Arterial highways PCH and Laguna Canyon Road.

 

El Morro Crash 7 April 2021

Given Caltrans mission statement the project methodology falls short:

Provide a safe, sustainable, efficient and  integrated transportation system to enhance California's economy and livability.

Given the 10x20-foot hole-in-the-road at Broadway and PCH impeding car traffic, why would Caltrans take traffic count measurements now? Let's ignore this detail for the moment.

This iconic photo reveals the mobility problem particularly for Laguna Beach. Our Caltrans mobility system emphasizes a single mobility mode for cars alone when there are three more to choose to enhance our mobility system.

Demonstration of mobility modes to transport 60 people. Muenster Germany

In the HPMS measurements, bus bicycle and pedestrians are not counted as criteria for success, only cars are counted (a metric called AVMT). Why should Laguna Beach prescribe to a HIGHWAY monitoring system exclusively for cars?

Nationally 60% of all vehicle trips were less than six miles all within the reach of transit, cycling and walking (US Department of Transportation 2018).

The optimal mix of four transportation modes is a balance of car, bus, bicycle and walking, the proportion of each is different for every municipality. A better balance reduces congestion, improves road safety, increases available parking, reduces air noise and water pollution, and achieves LIVABILITY desired in the Laguna village.

Project documents for the Caltrans HPMS upgrade reveal there is no mention of the policy standards or traffic count methodology to support the other transportation modes as found in these documents written by Caltrans:

• 2014 Complete Streets Integrating Transportation System (DD-64-R2)
• 2019 Count Methodology Guidance for Active Transportation (ATP)
• 2016 Corridor Study for Pacific Coast Highway (CSPCH)

In 1959 Los Angeles took extreme measures to expand a freeway interchange from South Los Angeles through Boyle Heights. The expansion demolished and segregated the existing mixed racial community of Boyle Heights (LA Times).

Why should Laguna Beach and San Clemente residents prescribe to a similar freeway policy forced upon East Los Angeles?  There are much better written policies already prescribed in CALTRANS Directives above. They should be followed.

-LS