Welcome to Monitor Notes, a weekly roundup of news items, event announcements, and updates on past Bay Area Monitor articles.
Weathering the Extremes
Join the League of Women Voters of Piedmont this Sunday, December 6 for a 4 p.m. webinar about “California’s New Normal: Drought and Deluge.” The featured speaker is Ashley Boren, executive director of Sustainable Conservation. The nonprofit organization is focused on bringing people together to solve challenges affecting land, air, and water. Join them and hear Boren’s perspective on climate and environmental issues facing California during the hour-long event.
Along for the Ride-Hail
The Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) is exploring the potential of ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to help improve the travel needs of older individuals during a December 3 webinar at 10 a.m. The event will map out data from a new MTI survey showing adults aged 55 and older are now ride-hailing and poised to continue in greater number. That could point to more programs and policies that ease ride-hailing for older residents going forward. The survey also analyzed concerns adults have about ride-hailing services and their interest in new trip booking and payment options. Dr. Asha Weinstein Agrawal, the study’s principal investigator, and Dr. Manish Shirgaokar, study co-author, steer Thursday’s discussion. Register here.
Well Documented
The Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) released a list of about 700 Bay Area transportation projects totaling $10.3 billion in committed federal, state, and local funding for the four-year period through 2024. That list, part of the draft 2021 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), is available for public review online. MTC must adopt a new TIP at least once every four years. But that’s not all. MTC also let loose the draft Transportation-Air Quality Conformity Analysis. It makes sure the draft TIP and amended Plan Bay Area 2040, the region’s transportation and housing blueprint, follow the federal air quality plan. Need help putting the documents into some context? MTC’s programming and allocations committee meeting is discussing them December 9. Comments are due by December 14 at 5 p.m.
Water Policy Participation
The California State Water Resources Control Board is holding public listening sessions this week to gather feedback to help develop its racial equity initiative. It wants to make sure its policies and programs equitably preserve, protect, and restore the state’s drinking water and water resources for people of all races. Public feedback will help inform the board’s action plans and resolutions. The next two sessions are tonight (Spanish-language only) and tomorrow, both at 6 p.m. Advance registration is required as space is limited. Click here for more information, including ways to share feedback if you’re unable to attend a session.
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