Melanie Curry
Recent Posts
Richmond California Builds a Trail for Health and Wellness—and Fun
| | 2 Comments
Residents of Richmond, California, have a chance to weigh in on the design of a trail through their community that will connect local institutions and public spaces, provide health information, and showcase local artworks. The Richmond Wellness Trail is, according to the city’s website, a collaborative project to develop an interactive health-themed trail that showcases […]
Legislative Update: GHG Targets, Cap&Trade, Transportation Special Session
| | No Comments
The California legislature returned from its summer break last week and now has one month to finish all the business it started in this session. If it can. Pending issues include a bill that would extend current greenhouse gas emissions goals past 2020, creating an expenditure plan for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, and finding […]
Why You Should Care About Statewide Transportation Plan Guidelines
| | 1 Comment
Today is the deadline for commenting on California’s draft Regional Transportation Plan guidelines. Why should you care about some wonky planning process? Because funding. Wait, no: Because there are no good transit options near you. Because you don’t dare ride a bike because you have to ride on or cross streets packed with speeding, careless […]
Will California Legislature Make it Legal to Roll through Red Lights?
| | 16 Comments
No, this is not about a bill to allow bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs, sorry. This is about a bill that supposedly set out to lower fines for cars that turn right on red without stopping. It is sailing unopposed through the state legislature. The bill, S.B. 986 from Senator Jerry Hill […]
Oakland’s Pedalfest: Celebrating All Things Bicycle
| | No Comments
On Saturday, Bike East Bay’s annual Pedalfest at Jack London Square in Oakland brought out bicyclists of all shapes, sizes, ages, and colors to celebrate what makes bikes wonderful. Below are some the day’s highlights. All photos by Melanie Curry.
Environmental Justice Committee Seeks Input on Climate Change Plan
| | No Comments
California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, passed in 2006, opened the door for cap and trade, which among other things collects revenue to be invested in reducing emissions. The bill, A.B. 32, also created an Environmental Justice Advisory Committee to help the state spend those revenues equitably. The existence of this committee was an acknowledgement that the […]
ClimatePlan Studies SCAG’s Progress on Climate Change
| | 5 Comments
Can California meet its climate change goals? A.B. 32, which set in motion the state’s current climate change policies including cap and trade, is set to expire in 2020. The legislature and the governor are taking up the question of what’s next. Do we continue down the same path? Adjust our policies? Scrap them entirely […]
Bike-Share Can Get State Funding to Reach Low-Income Communities
| | No Comments
At its meeting a few weeks ago, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) agreed to include bike-share in its Car Sharing and Mobility Options pilot program. That means that areas that are figuring out how to get bike-share into low income areas now have a new funding option. The Car Sharing and Mobility Options program […]
The Confusion About Cap-and-Trade
| | 3 Comments
In “With cap and trade in doubt, key questions go unanswered,” a recent article in Cal Matters, writer Julie Cart described “a scathing bipartisan scolding” by state lawmakers of the California Air Resources Board “over a lack of transparency” with the cap-and-trade program. Legislators are talking about doing an audit. But lack of transparency may […]
Caltrans Inches Toward a New Paradigm, Part One: New Ped/Bike Safety Chief
| | 12 Comments
Caltrans has always said that one of its main concerns was the safety of road users, but its focus has been squarely on people in cars, to the detriment of others. The department developed a notion of safety that led it to encourage straightening and widening roads in response to high speeds and crashes, which […]
Oil Lobby Pushes For Pump Labeling, Calling Cap and Trade “Hidden Tax”
| | 3 Comments
A few days after the largest oil lobbyist in the state told a legislative hearing that cap and trade is “the most cost-effective way to produce greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” the oil industry is trying out a new way to attack the state program. The California Independent Oil Marketers Association, a trade group for oil […]
The Importance of Media Attention
| | No Comments
James Sinclair is one of a handful of people who are shining a light on what’s happening with California’s Central Valley planning, development, and transportation. His blog, Stop and Move, covers these issues in Fresno. He provides a huge public service, bringing much-needed attention to developments that often take place out of the public eye, […]