As we mentioned recently on our Facebook page, the event evaluations we collected at Bay Area League Day 2016, “Reinventing Bay Area Transportation for the 21st Century,” indicated that attendees showed particular interest in social equity issues. Many attendees also wondered, “What next?”
Quite a bit, it turns out. This year will be an important one for transportation, as last year’s funding troubles have grown from bad to worse. While lawmakers and stakeholders continue discussing solutions, equity considerations loom large as Californians attempt to advance a transportation system that serves everyone.
Yesterday, TransForm’s Joshua Stark (whose colleague Joël Ramos spoke at League Day) described a “Transportation Equity Package” of proposed Assembly bills that his organization feels “would go a long way in providing real transportation choices for all Californians, improving safety, and saving families billions of dollars each year.” These bills cover free and reduced-fare transit passes (AB 2222), prioritize maintenance in disadvantaged communities (AB 2332), and bolster bicycling and walkability in disadvantaged communities (AB 2796 and AB 1982).
Interested parties can follow the progress of these and other bills through the Assembly Transportation Committee in order to learn more and form their own positions. They can also attend TransForm’s upcoming California Transportation Equity Summit in Sacramento this May for intensive conversations on these and related subjects.
As far as conversations about equity go, another League Day speaker, Richard Marcantonio from Public Advocates, passed word along that his organization felt excited by last month’s MTC-ABAG forum on housing affordability and displacement. He encouraged us to share his colleague David Zisser’s blog post from earlier this week, which includes reflections on the event and descriptions of upcoming steps in the Plan Bay Area process.
For those who did not get a chance to attend the forum, Ken Bukowski recorded both the main session and East Bay breakout session (see below).