CITY COUNCIL
Darrell Steinberg, Mayor
Angelique Ashby, Vice Mayor, District 1
Sean Loloee, District 2
Jeff Harris, District 3
Katie Valenzuela, District 4
Jay Schenirer, District 5
Eric Guerra, Mayor Pro Tem, District 6
Rick Jennings, II, District 7
Mai Vang, District 8
CHARTER OFFICERS
Mindy Cuppy, City Clerk
Susana Alcala Wood, City Attorney
Jorge Oseguera, City Auditor
Howard Chan, City Manager
John Colville, City Treasurer
City Council
Financing Authority
Housing Authority
Public Financing Authority
Redevelopment Agency
Successor Agency
City Hall-Council Chamber
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Published by the Office of the City Clerk
(916) 808-5163
CORRESPONDENCE
Description of Attached: Correspondence received after publishing the Agenda.
For the Meeting of: Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at 5:00 p.m.
Agenda Item: Discussion Item 12
12. Transportation Priorities Plan Prioritization Criteria, Metrics and Points File ID: 2022-00279
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution approving Transportation Prioritization Criteria, Metrics and Points related to various transportation investments and funding.
Contact: Jennifer Donlon Wyant, Transportation Planning Manager, 916-806-1026, [email protected]; David Edrosolan, Engineering Manager, 916-808-5974, [email protected]; Ryan Moore, Director of Public Works, 916-808-6629, [email protected]; Department of Public Works
From: Sakereh Carter
To: Public Comment; Mayor Steinberg
Subject: Public Comment to Council
Date: Monday, March 14, 2022 8:37:42 AM
Attachments: TPP PLAN_SC .pdf
Hello,
Attached is my public comment regarding the Transportation Priorities Plan to the city council.
Have a great day,
Sakereh
3.14.22 Dear Mayor Steinberg and City Council,
I want to express my support for the Transportation Priorities Plan staff recommendations forthe prioritization criteria.
I, Sakereh Carter, support staff's recommendations for the transportation prioritization criteria,including:
Improving Air Quality and Healthby prioritizing alternativemodes of mobility, includingbicycling, walking, and transit use, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs)and harmful air pollutants.
Providing for Equitable Investmentby consideringdemographic characteristics andinfrastructure deficits unique to historically underinvested communities.
Providing Access to Destinationsby considering theproximity to jobs, schools, andparks.
Improving Transportation Safetyby prioritizing criticaltransportation projects thatemphasize safety, especially in Sacramento's under-resourced communities.
Fixing and Maintaining the Systemby prioritizingnecessary maintenance of streets andbridges before the projected deterioration of Sacramento's infrastructure.
I wholeheartedly support the city's transportation priority plan and appreciate the city's effortsto engage the public on transportation-related matters.
Thank you,
Sakereh Carter
From: Kiara Reed
To: Angelique Ashby; Eric Guerra; Jeff S. Harris; Rick Jennings; Sean Loloee; Jay Schenirer; Mayor Steinberg; Katie Valenzuela; Mai Vang Cc: Public Comment; Mindy Cuppy; Hector Barron; Howard Chan; Nicole Cuellar; Jennifer Donlon Wyant; Michael Jasso; Jennifer Venema Subject: March 15th City of Sacramento Council Meeting - Agenda Item #12: Transportation Priorities Plan Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 10:05:38 AM
Attachments: Screen Shot 2020-06-03 at 3.00.13 PM.png
Outlook-Civic Thre.png
TPP Prioritization Letter of Support _Civic Thread.pdf
Good morning,
In response to the March 15th City Council Agenda Item No. 12: Transportation Priorities Plan, Civic Thread is submitting the attached letter urging you to adopt the criteria which is the first step to address past and current harms at the intersection of transportation and race, the existential Climate Emergency that threatens our city, better connect residents to jobs, schools and parks, support transportation safety in communities that need it most, and address Sacramento's most deteriorated infrastructure.
Kiara Reed | Executive Director
Civic Thread - formerly WALKSacramento
909 12th St | Suite 125 | Sacramento CA 95814
Office: 916-446-9255
We have a new suite number, website, and email address! Please update your contacts with our new information! The Civic Thread office is currently closed due to COVID-19. All staff are working remotely until further notice. For immediate assistance, please contact me on my cell at (530)-204-8857 From: Deb Banks <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2022 6:17 PM
To: Angelique Ashby <[email protected]>; Eric Guerra <[email protected]>; Jeff Harris <[email protected]>; Rick Jennings <[email protected]>; Sean Loloee <[email protected]>; Jay Schenirer <[email protected]>; Darrell Steinberg <[email protected]>; Katie Valenzuela <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; Hector Barron <[email protected]>; Howard Chan <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; Jennifer Donlon Wyant <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: March 15th City of Sacramento Council Meeting - Agenda Item #12: Transportation Priorities Plan
Mayor Steinberg and City Councilmembers,
In response to the March 15th City Council Agenda Item No. 12: Transportation Priorities Plan, Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates is submitting the attached letter urging you to raise Climate, Equity, Vision Zero/Safety and Funding as the main criteria for the Transportation Priorities Plan.
Thank you for your leadership and attention to these important discussions and decisions affecting the future of Sacramento.
Best,
Debra Banks
Debra Banks
[email protected]
Executive Director
Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates
916-444-6600
Sacbike.org
3/15/2022
Mayor Darrell Steinberg and City Council Representatives 915 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Mayor Steinberg and City Council Members,
Re: Transportation Priorities Plan staff recommendations for the prioritization criteria With this letter, we would like to express our strong support for the Transportation Priorities Plan staff recommendations for the prioritization criteria. Transportation investment continues to be fraught with inequities that negatively impact our communities of color, and low-income, environmental justice communities' daily accessibility, and safety. We believe strides towards equitable transportation investment aligns with dismantling the systemic racism that continues to build and design our communities.
Civic Thread, formerly WALKSacramento is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health equity in the built environment by elevating institutionally underserved voices and priorities. Our work engaging with local communities throughout the Sacramento Region provides us with valuable insights on community priorities and we’ve heard directly from residents on the need to improve our air quality, center equity, connect communities of color to essential destinations, and reduce the rates of serious injury or death that disproportionately impact low-income communities of color. Additionally, our team nsultants team to provide feedback to city staff and their consulting team on issues related to equity and transportation, and general project observations, including unintended consequences that can arise if we continue to disregard equity in transportation investment.
Civic Thread supports staff’s recommendations on the prioritization criteria for the Transportation Priorities Plan, particularly the focus to center equity in resource allocations by prioritizing investment in Sacramento’s communities that lack basic transportation infrastructure and in areas that are majority Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and/or Indigenous. We also understand that with any investment anti-displacement measures must be implemented to ensure residents have the opportunity to benefits from those investments. The proposed prioritization criteria is the first step to address past and current harms at the intersection of transportation and race, the existential Climate Emergency that threatens our city, better connect residents to jobs, schools and parks, support transportation safety in communities that need it most, and address Sacramento's most deteriorated infrastructure.
The City of Sacramento’s transportation investment should be led by community values based on broad and equitable listening and engagement and adopting the prioritization criteria for the Transportation Priorities Plan does just that. We hope to see similar collaborative efforts on future projects and we urge city council to not only adopt the prioritization criteria but go beyond the investment framework and consider weighting equity highest among the priorities and take necessary action including commitments to prioritize funding to support high-priority projects. We hope to see similar collaborative efforts on future projects and thank Jennifer Donlon Wyant and her team for pushing for the change Sacramento needs.
With Respect,
Kiara Reed
Executive Director,
Civic Thread, formerly WALKSacramento
From: Angela Hearring
To: Mayor Steinberg; Howard Chan
Cc: Angelique Ashby; Sean Loloee; Jeff S. Harris; Katie Valenzuela; Eric Guerra; Jay Schenirer; Rick Jennings; Mai Vang; Ryan Moore; Jennifer Donlon Wyant; Karina Talamantes; Michaela Schunk; David Gonsalves; Jocelyn Navarro; Michelle Pariset; Allison Joe; Koy Saeteurn; Dennis M. Rogers; Jaime R. Cervantes; Public Comment; Kelly F. Rivas
Subject: Transportation Priorities Plan Prioritization Criteria, Metrics and Points, March 15, 2022*** Item #12***Angela E.
Hearring Public Comment
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 8:03:44 AM
Mayor Steinberg & City Council Members,
The Transportation Priorities Plan that was co-created with the community will be the guiding instrument for transportation investments and projects in Sacramento. It is a document that is long overdue, that has a great need to be established for the residents of Sacramento.
I signed my name onto the SacMoves letter that is part of the correspondence for Item #12 and I agree with a vast majority of this public comment letter.
I do not agree with attempting to alter and or change the Transportation Priorities Plan from the current state that it is in. Nor do I agree with the statement in reference to ‘air quality….proxy….climate change’. The metric for air quality addresses climate change by encouraging and improving bicycling, riding electric vehicles to scooters to wheelchairs, transit oriented and walking, . The verbiage ‘air quality” was chosen specifically by the under-resourced community members that participated during the first phase of the Transportation Priorities Plan. That vernacular speaks to more folks in Sacramento than “climate change”, while prioritizing the same projects.
The Transportation Priorities Plan was never intended to be a primary objective to specifically address climate change and climate change alone, but it was developed as a metric of community values on how resources are allocated for the city transportation projects.
However, I do agree with one of the co-authors of the SacMoves letter, Mr. Steve Cohn's verbal public comment statement that was made on February 8th, during the Climate and Transportation workshop.
"Please also take up Public Works Director Ryan Moore's proposal to transform the Transportation Priorities Plan into a viable strategy to transform our transportation system."
This Transportation Priorities Plan will transform Sacramento’s transportation system as it is currently known and will address areas that are in deficit. Mr. Mayor and city council members, In order to achieve and maintain equitable mobility, equity has to shift from a word used on the dias during racial equity ad hoc committee meetings, from an attainable goal to measurable metrics displayed in the Transportation Priorities Plan to ensure accountability.
The Transportation Priorities Plan promotes what I refer to as the “Five I’s”:
Improve Air Quality & Health
Improve Equitable Investment
Improve Access to Destinations
Improve Transportation Safety
Improve Maintaining the Transportation System
The Transportation Priorities Plan will help build economic viability and sustainable communities while addressing inequities with the recommended framework and metrics in this plan.
A few months ago Mayor Steinberg made a remarkable comment that I felt was compelling, impressive and inspiring. I would like to share a portion of the quote in my public comment.
“We must look at our history of investment and disinvestment in various parts of the city and the role that race played and continues to play in the way we make decisions and the substance of the decisions we make.
This is about truth, it's about reform, it's about reconciliation and if we don't start with the truth in terms of understanding and acknowledging our history we are not going to be real when it comes to reform and reconciliation.
“We tell the truth, we heal on the inside, then we translate the healing into change around the decisions and how we make them and the community leads this and I think that is so important, because we are not going to create a racial equity tool that will be a checklist of all time. It’s really appropriate and really powerful that the community not only holds us accountable, but that they guide this work as they are doing.” The Transportation Priorities Plan is a tangible goal and I hope that all members of city council aspire for equitable mobility and support this plan.
With hope for a better future,
Angela E. Hearring
From: suzy murray
To: Public Comment
Cc: Jackie; Angela Hearring-Jackson; Jennifer Donlon Wyant Subject: Support for the Transportation Priorities Plan Date: Monday, March 14, 2022 10:16:23 PM
March 14, 2022
Dear Mayor Steinberg and City Council Members:
I’m writing to express my support for the Transportation Priorities Plan staff recommendations to guide transportation spending decisions.
It has been my honor and pleasure to serve as a member of the Transportation Priorities Plan Community Consultants team since its beginning. I strongly support staff’s recommendations for the transportation prioritization criteria including:
Improving Air Quality and Health by prioritizing investment in walking, bicycling, transit use and supporting electric vehicles.
Providing for Equitable Investment by prioritizing investment in Sacramento’s communities
that lack basic transportation infrastructure like sidewalks, street lights, trees and more. Additionally, in recognition of racial equity, I support prioritizing investment in areas that are majority Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and/or Indigenous.
Providing Access to Destinations by prioritizing transportation projects near jobs, schools and parks.
Improving Transportation Safety by prioritizing transportation projects on Sacramento’s 10
corridors with the highest number of fatal and severe crashes.
These also are in Sacramento’s under-resourced communities.
Fixing and Maintaining the System by prioritizing maintenance on those streets andbridges with the worst conditions and the most use.
This is the first time transportation investment will be led by community values based on broad and equitable listening and engagement. We hope to see similar collaborative efforts on future projects and thank Jennifer Donlon-Wyant and her team for the passion and vision that they have brought to this inclusive process.
Thank you,
Suzy Murray
Arden-Arcade resident and volunteer
From: Tyrone Netters
To: Public Comment; Sean Loloee; Jeff S. Harris; Katie Valenzuela; Eric Guerra; Jay Schenirer; Rick Jennings; Mai Vang; Ryan Moore; Jennifer Donlon Wyant; Karina Talamantes; Michaela Schunk; David Gonsalves; Jocelyn Navarro; Michelle Pariset; Allison Joe; Koy Saeteurn; Dennis M. Rogers; Jaime R. Cervantes; Kelly F. Rivas; Jackie; tyrone netters
Subject: Transportation Priorities Plan Prioritization Criteria, Metrics and Points, March 15, 2022 Item #12 Public Comment Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 9:18:21 AM
Dear Mayor Steinberg and City Council Members,
The Red Black and Green Environmental Justice Coalition is an organization invested in seeing issues that impact the Black community, especially the poor, prioritized in efforts like this that are related to equity and transportation, including the unintended consequences of refusing to center equity in resource allocations.
We would like to strongly express our support for the Transportation Priorities Plan staff recommendations for the prioritization criteria to equitably and sustainably address the City of Sacramento’s backlog of nearly 700 transportation-related projects. We appreciate the efforts of City staff to hear and actually listen to community priorities around: improving our air quality, centering equity, connecting Black folks to important and valuable destinations, and reducing the rates of serious injury or death (where we are dramatically overrepresented) by addressing our safety.
We understand the urgency of Climate Change (as we continue to be among the most impacted) and ask you to remain committed to the City’s efforts to stop diluting environmental justice priorities. Climate Change goals and EJ priorities are not mutually exclusive, and we would like to emphasize that we support the goals of reducing Sacramento’s contribution to the climate crisis, however, we also have a responsibility to get funding to projects that reimagine and reshape how we work towards those climate goals.
As people and organizations continue to conflate the TPP with the 7 Big Ideas, we ask you to view this effort as it was intended: a mechanism that demonstrates community values (which were also overwhelmingly represented outside of EJ communities) in how we allocate resources on the City’s transportation projects. “Air Quality” and “health outcomes”, while insufficient for some, are a part of the expansive lexicon that our communities use to describe responsiveness to Climate Change. Climate Change strategies will be positively impacted and included through the current avenues. We are just concerned about the negative impacts around including limiting criteria that have historically negatively impacted our communities. We don’t believe that Climate Change priorities at the expense of EJ communities is a just process.
The proposed prioritization criteria will work to address past and current harms at the intersection of transportation and race, the existential Climate Emergency that threatens our city, better connect residents to jobs, schools and parks, support transportation safety in communities that need it most, and address Sacramento's most deteriorated infrastructure. The Red Black and Green Environmental Justice Coalition supports staff’s recommendations for the transportation prioritization criteria including:
Improving Air Quality and Health by prioritizing investment in walking, bicycling, transit use and supporting electric vehicles.
Providing for Equitable Investment by prioritizing investment in Sacramento’s communities that lack basic transportation infrastructure like sidewalks, street lights, trees and more. Additionally, in recognition of racial equity, we support prioritizing investment in areas that are majority Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and/or Indigenous.
Providing Access to Destinations by prioritizing transportation projects near jobs, schools and parks to reduce spatial inequalities.
Improving Transportation Safety by prioritizing transportation projects on Sacramento’s 10 corridors with the highest number of fatal and severe crashes. These also are in Sacramento’s under-resourced communities.
Fixing and Maintaining the System by prioritizing maintenance on those streets and bridges with the worst conditions and the most use.
We would especially like to thank Jennifer Donlon Wyant and her team for working to unravel systemic racial discrimination. This is the first time the City of Sacramento’s transportation investment will be led by community values based on broad and equitable listening and engagement. We hope to see similar collaborative efforts on future projects and we urge city council to not only adopt the prioritization criteria but go beyond the investment frameworks and take necessary action including commitments to prioritize funding mechanisms and set aside funding within the city budget to support high-priority projects. The time for action is now.
Thank you,
The Red Black and Green Environmental Justice Coalition From: JESSE REESE
To: Public Comment; Mayor Steinberg
Subject: Sacramento Transportation Prioritization Plan, agenda item #12 Date: Saturday, March 12, 2022 11:30:49 AM
Attachments: Letter to Mayor Steinberg and City Council Members.odt March 12, 2022
Dear Mayor Steinberg and City Council
I would like to express my support for the Transportation Priorities Plan staff recommendations for the prioritization criteria.
I am Jesse Reese, President of the Meadowview Neighborhood Association support staff' recommendation for the transportation prioritization citeria including:
Improving Air Quality and Health: by prioritizing investment in walking, bicycling, transit use, and electric vehicles.
Providing for Equitable Investment: by prioritizing investment in Sacramento's communities that lacks basic transportation infrastructure like sidewalks and tree canopies for those hot summer days when a person is trying to catch a bus, Additionally I support prioritizing investments in area that are majority Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and/or Indigenous.
Fixing and Maintaining the System: by prioritizing maintenance on those streets and bridges with worst conditions and the most use.
Improving Transportation Safety: by prioritizing transportation on corridors with the highest of fatal and severe crashes. These also are in Sacramento's under-resourced communities
Thank you
From: Faye Wilson Kennedy
To: Public Comment; Darrell Steinberg; Eric Guerra; Rick Jennings; Jay Schenirer; Mai Vang; Katie Valenzuela; Angelique Ashby; Sean Loloee; Jeff S. Harris; Howard Chan Cc: Genoa Barrow; Regina Wilson; Salena Pryor; "Sarah Svoboda"; Jennifer Donlon Wyant; [email protected]; Scott T. Anderson; Betty Yee; Voices River City
Subject: City Council Meeting 3/15 Agenda Item #12 Transportation Priorities Plan staff recommendations Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 10:06:18 AM
Importance: High
Dear Mayor Steinberg and City Council Members,
Agenda Item #12 Transportation Priorities Plan staff recommendations We would like to express our support for the Transportation Priorities Plan staff recommendations for the prioritization criteria to address the City of Sacramento’s backlog of nearly 700 transportation-related projects equitably and sustainably.
While we support the priorities of equity in the plan, the City staff have been too timid in meeting the climate crisis in their set of proposed measures. The city must explore new funding opportunities to accelerate these measures and to integrate all impacted neighborhoods, so we do not end up pitting progress in neighborhoods in one part of the City versus another.
· For communities of color, unreliable mass transit, transportation costs, and unequal access have contributed to longstanding structural racism and associated socioeconomic barriers that have segregated communities from a range of opportunities.
· Transportation inequities can be traced in part to historical economic and societal shifts—white flight to the suburbs, the growth of a car-centric culture, and the migration of businesses—and jobs—from cities to more distant locations. · Key to addressing transportation inequities, is greater coordination between government agencies—especially transportation, housing, and public health.
The Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign (Sac PPC) is a part of the Poor People’s Campaign:
A National Call for Moral Revival. Our Fundamental Principles: We are committed to lifting -up and deepening the leadership of those most affected by systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, and ecological devastation and to building unity across lines of division.
The proposed prioritization criteria will work to address past and current harms at the intersection of transportation and race, class and the existential Climate Emergency that threatens our city, better connect residents to jobs, schools and parks, support transportation safety in communities that need it most, and address the Sacramento's most deteriorated infrastructure.
The Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign support staff’s recommendations for the transportation prioritization criteria including:
Providing for Equitable Investment by prioritizing investment in Sacramento’s communities that lack basic transportation infrastructure like sidewalks, streetlights, trees and more. Additionally, in recognition of racial equity, we support prioritizing investment in areas that are majority Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and/or Indigenous.
Improving Air Quality and Health by prioritizing investment in walking, bicycling, transit use and supporting electric vehicles.
Providing Access to Destinations by prioritizing transportation projects near jobs, schools, and parks.
Improving Transportation Safety by prioritizing transportation projects on Sacramento’s 10 corridors with the highest number of fatal and severe crashes. These also are in Sacramento’s under-resourced communities.
Repairing and Maintaining the System by prioritizing maintenance on those streets and bridges with the worst conditions and the most use.
This is the first time the City of Sacramento’s transportation investment will be led by community values based on broad and equitable listening and engagement. We hope to see similar collaborative efforts on future projects, and we urge city council to not only adopt the prioritization criteria but go beyond the investment frameworks and take necessary action including commitments to prioritize funding mechanisms and set aside funding within the city budget to support high-priority projects. The time for action is now. Transportation Justice for all communities.
Finally, “Follow the transportation dollars and one can tell who is important and who is not.
While many barriers to equitable transportation for low-income and people of color have been removed, much more needs to be done. Transportation spending programs do not benefit all populations equally.” Dr. Robert Bullard
Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign (Sac PPC)
From: Nicole Grady
To: Angelique Ashby; Eric Guerra; Jeff S. Harris; Rick Jennings; Sean Loloee; Public Comment; Jay Schenirer; Mayor Steinberg; Katie Valenzuela; Mai Vang; Mindy Cuppy
Cc: Hector Barron; Howard Chan; Nicole Cuellar; Mindy Cuppy; Jennifer Donlon Wyant; Tera F. Hannah; Michael Jasso; Allison Joe; Remi Mendoza; Tom Pace; Matthew Read; Dennis M. Rogers; Jennifer Venema; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; Deb Wurgler; Michelle Pariset; [email protected]; Koy Saeteurn; David Gonsalves; Website G-Suite; Angela Elizabeth; Becky Heieck; ROSANNA HERBER; Ali Doerr; Ilonka Zlatar; Emel Wadhwani; debra banks; David Moore; Kiara Reed; Doug Thompson; [email protected]; [email protected]; Jordan Grimaldi; Pristina Zhang; [email protected]
Subject: March 15th City of Sacramento Council Meeting - Agenda Item #12: Transportation Priorities Plan Date: Monday, March 14, 2022 12:21:35 PM
Attachments: image002.png
image003.png
image004.png
SacMoves Letter - March 15 Agenda Item 12 Transportation Priorities Plan.pdf Mayor Steinberg and City Councilmembers,
In response to the March 15th City Council Agenda Item No. 12: Transportation Priorities Plan, SacMoves is submitting the attached letter urging you that the Transportation Priorities Plan be revised to prioritize climate change.
Thank you,
Nicole Grady
Executive Assistant
Breathe California Sacramento Region
909 12th Street, Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.444.5900
--
Middle and high school students, join us for the Breathe Youth Media Awards on March 24! There is no cost to attend.
Have kids? Love bikes? Bring them out to the First Annual Breathe Bike Rodeo April 23, 10am-noon.
Partner Organizations
2021-2022:
AARP
ACT
RiderShip for the Masses
SARA
Sacramento Regional Rail Working
Group
Sacramento Splash
Sierra Club, Mother Lode Chapter
Sierra Club, Sacramento Group
SKK Enterprises
The 50 Corridor TMA
March 15, 2022
To: Mayor Steinberg and City Councilmembers
Re: March 15 City Council Agenda Item No.12, Transportation Priorities Plan
For the past two years, SacMoves has been leading a broad-based coalition of business, labor and community groups united behind a common vision that Sacramento should have an innovative, seamless, and diversified transportation network offering a wide range of accessible, affordable, and efficient mobility choices coupled with supportive land uses, better air quality, safer neighborhoods, and a stronger and more equitable economy. To that end, we have consistently advocated for the inclusion of projects and policies in transportation, land use, and climate action plans for the City, the Sacramento Transportation Authority, SACOG, and the greater Sacramento region that are consistent with the groundbreaking work of the Mayors’ Climate Change Commission.
Once again, we write to implore you to act swiftly to take comprehensive and bold action to transform transportation in the City and the region. Such a transformation is nonnegotiable if we are to begin to respond to the imminent threat of climate change; it is also essential in fostering equity, addressing traffic safety, increasing the livability of our neighborhoods, and improving air quality.
Just a few weeks ago the Council held a workshop titled Climate and Transportation. Yet the Transportation Priorities Plan before you, which proposes analyzing 700 transportation projects that have been proposed by council members over the past twenty years, would appear to adopt the status quo and does not establish addressing climate change as one of the criteria. Our city is in dire need of a transportation plan that reflects the current century. Again, we urge you to direct your City Manager to set aside staff and resources to develop and implement a comprehensive active transportation and public transit framework for the city.
That being said, we offer the following comments on the criteria proposed in the plan before you. The criteria themselves are all important aspects of analyzing transportation projects. In particular, the coalition is pleased to see equity as one of the proposed criteria. It is essential that we prioritize investments in our underserved communities. Only then will we achieve an equitable and healthy Sacramento.
However, the criteria do not adequately address the climate crisis or the critical need to become competitive for increased state and federal funding.
As the City Council acknowledged in December 2019, climate change constitutes an emergency. In Sacramento, transportation is the source of over 50% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, our efforts to curb its impact on our environment remain woefully inadequate. “Air quality,” which is important and is one of the proposed criteria, is affected by greenhouse gas emissions but is not a proxy for addressing climate change. In order to meet our local and regional climate goals, the criteria must include the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled.
The Criteria must also include competitiveness for state and federal and matching funds.
We have heard consistently that the City of Sacramento does not receive “its share” of available state and federal funds. With the influx of funding for transportation infrastructure, along with clear priorities on climate change, land use, and equity that have been established by both the state and federal administrations, it is imperative that the City not squander this opportunity and that projects be selected based on their competitiveness for the available funds.
Thank you for your consideration of these comments. While we continue to push for bolder action on these issues, we are appreciative of your staff’s efforts, particularly in the area of engagement. We remain hopeful and eager to work with you and your staff on a transportation and transit framework that reflects the vision we all have for a sustainable city.
Yours truly,
SacMoves Coalition
Anne Stausboll, former Chair, Mayor’s Commission on Climate Change Steve Cohn, President, Breathe California Sacramento Region Roger Dickinson
Angela E. Hearring
Glenn Jackson Jr.
Becky Heieck, Jibe
Rosanna Herber, SMART Steering Committee
Ali, Doerr, 350 Sacramento
Emel Wadhwani, Midtown Neighborhood Association
Debra Banks, Executive Director, Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA) Civic Thread
Doug Thompson
Susan Herre, President, ECOS
Glenda Marsh, Chair, SMART
Julia Burrows
cc: Howard Chan, City Manager
Michael Jasso, Assistant City Manager
Hector Barron, Assistant City Manager
Lucinda Willcox, Program Manager, Public Works
Jennifer Donlon-Wyant, City Transportation Planning Manager
Jennifer Venema, City Climate Action Lead
From: Deb Banks
To: Angelique Ashby; Eric Guerra; Jeff S. Harris; Rick Jennings; Sean Loloee; Jay Schenirer; Mayor Steinberg; Katie Valenzuela; Mai Vang Cc: Public Comment; Mindy Cuppy; Hector Barron; Howard Chan; Nicole Cuellar; Jennifer Donlon Wyant; Michael Jasso; Jennifer Venema Subject: March 15th City of Sacramento Council Meeting - Agenda Item #12: Transportation Priorities Plan Date: Monday, March 14, 2022 6:17:41 PM
Attachments: TPP LOS SABA.pdf
Screen Shot 2020-06-03 at 3.00.13 PM.png
Mayor Steinberg and City Councilmembers,
In response to the March 15th City Council Agenda Item No. 12: Transportation Priorities Plan, Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates is submitting the attached letter urging you to raise Climate, Equity, Vision Zero/Safety and Funding as the main criteria for the Transportation Priorities Plan.
Thank you for your leadership and attention to these important discussions and decisions affecting the future of Sacramento.
Best,
Debra Banks
Debra Banks
[email protected]
Executive Director
Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates
916-444-6600
Sacbike.org
909 12th Street. Ste 110 Sacramento, CA 95814 www.sacbike.org
March 14, 2022 Dear Mayor Steinberg and City Council Members, The Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA) would like to express support for the Transportation Priorities Plan criteria to equitably and sustainably address the City of Sacramento’s backlog of nearly 700 transportation-related projects. SABA has been on the frontlines advocating for safer, more equitable, and cleaner, greener, modes for transportation for residents in Sacramento for the last thirty years. We have worked in partnership with a broad-base coalition of organizations to realize a vision for Sacramento that centers active transportation along with public transit as the most affordable means of transportation and one that provides excellent health benefits to individuals while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With a backlog of close to 700 transportation related projects, it makes sense to create a “rubric” and related metrics in which to prioritize these projects, yet, we have a different take on the set of criteria for scoring. We think that Council should require criteria that falls into four categories: Climate, Equity, Vision Zero/Safety and Funding. Given that it was less than a month ago in which we gathered for a Climate and Transportation workshop, it would be important to raise any project moving forward with criteria that shows a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per the agreed upon recommendations from the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change. We need a transportation plan that reflects the current climate emergency and a plan that centers and creates the conditions for people to choose walking and cycling over vehicular travel. In addition, we agree wholeheartedly on criteria that works to address past and present harm at the intersection of transportation and race. We must prioritize investments in underserved communities so that all residents can experience and thrive in their neighborhoods. No one in Sacramento should lack basic infrastructure like sidewalks, street lights, or trees, which are less likely found in communities that are largely Black, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander and/or Indigenous. We can and should ensure that these neighborhoods receive equitable infrastructure that better connect residents to jobs, schools, and parks.
909 12th Street. Ste 110 Sacramento, CA 95814 www.sacbike.org The City’s work on Vision Zero needs to be raised to ensure safety for everyone. Lowering speed limits, improving safety by prioritizing projects on Sacramento’s high-injury corridors with the highest number of fatal and severe crashes is imperative. It is unacceptable that Sacramento continues to rank as one of the worst cities in California for transportation safety. We must do better for our families who suffer from the tragic and avoidable loss of a loved one due to a severe or fatal collision with a motor vehicle. Finally, with the influx of funds for transportation infrastructure flowing into the state, it is important that we not miss this window of opportunity. Adding criteria that addresses competitiveness for state and federal funds would assist in accelerating implementation of many of these projects that are so vital to a safe and equitable transportation system for all Sacramentans. We urge you to take the necessary action to prioritize the above criteria to create a blueprint for selection of projects that will yield a sustainable, equitable, livable, Sacramento for all of its inhabitants. Thank you, Debra Banks, Executive Director, Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates Cc: Howard Chan, City Manager Michael Jasso, Assistant City Manager Hector Barron, Assistant City Manager Jennifer Donlan-Wyant, City Transportation Planning Manager Jennifer Venema, City Climate Action Lead