Before anything else: we have a favor to ask. Tomorrow is #GiveBIG, a huge day of grassroots giving across Washington. Like every nonprofit participating in #GiveBIG, our page has a running count of how many people have donated.
We want to start tomorrow with a ton of momentum: will you donate today so that tomorrow everyone sees Transportation Choices Coalition is a cause worth supporting? Donate any amount — even just $10 — and you’ll help grow momentum before the big days tomorrow and Wednesday. Join Bryan T., Charles S., Heather C., Philip P., and our anonymous donors and be a #GiveBIG trendsetter:
In the meantime we’ve been up to some incredible things. The legislature adjourned on April 25, concluding a historic all-remote session that included several notable victories! HB 1301 and the HEAL Act were signed into law, legislators passed a biennial budget that includes millions of dollars for walk/bike/roll and transit, the new Carbon Emissions Reduction account within SB 5126 will make sure carbon revenue dedicated to transportation goes towards strategies that reduce carbon emissions, and we unified a powerful coalition of allies who leveled-up everyone’s expectations for a future transportation package.
Read on for more about what’s coming up and how you can get involved. And thank you.
— The Transportation Choices Coalition team
Mobility Justice
The legacy of racism built into Northwest highways and roads (Crosscut — April 27)
“From the Oregon Trail to the Lake Washington Bridge, transportation infrastructure has often driven growth while promoting exclusion.”
What Seattle can learn from Berkeley about reducing police role in traffic stops (Seattle Times — May 3)
“Last summer, the Berkeley City Council backed a process that could transform the city’s police and transportation departments by ensuring a “racial justice lens” is used in traffic enforcement and finding ways to reduce stops based on minor traffic violations.”
State lawmaker wants to repeal California’s jaywalking law, cites disproportionate enforcement against people of color (SF Chronicle — March 25)
“Whether it’s someone’s life or the hundreds of dollars in fines, the cost is too much for a relatively minor infraction,” Ting said in a statement. “It’s time to reconsider how we use our law enforcement resources and whether our jaywalking laws really do protect pedestrians.”
Policing and Enforcement in Transportation (Urbanism Next ‚ March 19)
How can we advance the goals of the Movement for Black Lives within transportation to remove harmful outcomes of policing and enforcement in transportation, such as decriminalizing sustainable modes, removing enforcement from the court system, developing alternative resolution pathways, decreasing police in traffic stops, exploring equitable automated enforcement, and upstream solutions that make transportation safer, easier, and more affordable.
Male, White Transportation Staff Complicate Biden Equity Pledge (Bloomberg Government — April 27)
“Of the department’s nearly 55,000 employees, 74% are male and 70% are White, according to data as of March. Those majorities have remained largely unchanged since at least 2000—the earliest publicly available data—spanning five presidencies and seven confirmed secretaries.”
Closing The Gap On Transportation: Chicago Area Officials Share Plans To Increase Transit Equity (WBEZ Chicago — April 29)
“As the world draws closer to pre-pandemic ‘normal’, there is a renewed government focus on equitable transit solutions in the Chicago region.”
Why it’s critical to tackle the inequities in transportation infrastructure (The Hill – April 28)
Now, as Secretary Buttigieg and the Biden administration attempt to tackle the inequities in our transportation infrastructure head-on, we must be clear about the impact that these investments have both in creating opportunities for some Americans, and in keeping them out of reach of others.
We’re looking for our next Advocacy Director
Do you know someone who’s ready to build political will and support to pass progressive transportation policy? We’re currently hiring for our next Advocacy Director, to organize winning coalitions at the intersection of transportation, land use, environment, climate, labor, and social justice.
Events and resources
May is National Bike Month!
May 1-31
“Established in 1956, National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling — and encourage more folks to giving biking a try.”
Decriminalizing Jaywalking: A National Discussion
TODAY May 3 — 1pm PT
“Join the growing nationwide movement to decriminalize jaywalking in this United States! Learn about the impacts of these laws and what advocates and policymakers are doing throughout the country to create more equitable, inclusive and just systems for ALL.”
The Most Dangerous Intersection in America: Where Race and Mobility Collide
Thursday, May 6 — 11:30am PT
“Mobility is never just about mobility. It’s deeply connected with economic access, housing, sustainability, and more. Today we have the opportunity to leverage current and emerging solutions and technologies to better the lives of our communities and residents.”
Relaunching the Scenic Route: T4A’s newly updated resource on arts, culture, and transportation
May 10 — 12:00pm PT
“Our newly updated creative placemaking guide, the Scenic Route, provides a tour of eight common approaches used in almost 50 exemplary projects across the country at the intersection of arts, culture, and transportation.”
Complete Streets Series: Making Bicycling Accessible for All
May 26 — 11:30am PT
What will it take to make Redmond a place where people of any age or ability can safely bike for transportation? How are we using bikes as a tool to connect our communities? Our panel of biking experts will explore ways to use biking to overcome barriers to bicycling for everyday use, including discussing race, body size, and infrastructure.
National Transportation in Indian Country Conference Survey
“The 24th Annual National Transportation in Indian Country Conference (NTICC) will be offered as a virtual event and will take place September 27 – October 1, 2021 and the Planning Committee wants to hear from you! Please let us know what tracks, topics, and/or training opportunities you and your staff would like to see offered at NTICC.”
Toll and Ferry Fare Rate Setting Preparations
May 11 — 9:00am PT
Discussions will commence on possible adjustments to ferry fares, and tolls on various tolled facilities, based upon the final transportation budget passed by the Legislature in the 2021 session.
How Are Your State’s Roads Funded? (Tax Foundation – April 21)
“States should seek to fund infrastructure through user taxes and fees as much as possible, internalizing the costs associated with using the state’s transportation systems.”
Sustaining Clean Mobility Equity Programs (Greenlining – April 2021)
“Establishing long-term financial sustainability for clean mobility equity programs represents one of the largest challenges that these programs face.”
Take action
Submit a comment urging the FHWA to rewrite the MUTCD (Transportation for America)
“The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is a street design document used by planners across the country. Yet to date, the MUTCD has done little to help stem the approximately 40,000 traffic deaths the U.S. sees each year. We need you to submit a comment to show support for rewriting this document.” Take action before May 14.
What we’re reading
Photo via Seattle Times.
Washington state lawmakers keep new highways on cruise control (Seattle Times — April 27)
“We shifted the narrative,” said Anna Zivarts, director of Disability Mobility Initiative. “For the first time, the transportation committees heard from people who don’t drive — a lot of us.”
Big bills, quiet halls: How Washington’s ‘historic’ 2021 legislative session stacks up (Takoma News Tribune — April 30)
“There’s broad consensus there are significant needs in the state’s transportation system, said Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, who chairs the House Environment & Energy Committee, from road maintenance to ferries. The two big climate bills can take effect on time, as long as the Legislature passes a transportation funding package before 2023.”
Can America’s Road Builders Break the Highway Habit? (CityLab — April 15)
The Biden infrastructure plan pledges a rethink of federal transportation priorities. But the government agencies that build and maintain U.S. highways might not all be along for the ride.
The Southwest’s Bike Spike Was Bigger Than Europe (Streetsblog – April 29)
The researchers say the U.S. data, in particular, underscores something that was painfully obvious to safe street advocates long before the pandemic: that car dominance on our roadways is the biggest deterrent to active transportation.
How Seattle might turn a $20 car-tab fee into $100 million, largely to fix bridges (Seattle Times — April 21)
“Advocates for alternatives to driving complain Pedersen, who chairs the council’s Transportation & Utilities Committee, ignored feedback from 23 community groups about how to spend the car-tab money.”
Q&A: Rep. Marilyn Strickland on how Congress can help localities build more housing near transit (Washington State Wire — April 29)
“Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) announced this month that she is cosponsoring an updated version of H.R.2483, the Build More Housing Near Transit Act, to incentivize the construction of low and middle-income housing in transit-served locations.”
Decarbonizing California Transportation by 2045 (UC Davis — April 21)
A team of transportation and policy experts from the University of California released a report today to the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) outlining policy options to significantly reduce transportation-related fossil fuel demand and emissions.
Mission in motion
The transportation debate in Olympia moves fast. In April, when the legislative discussion was at its most intense, we created a short explainer video about what was happening, and how to take action.
This was just one of the ways we mobilized this session for the transportation investments Washington communities deserve. Ultimately the legislature didn’t pass a transportation package this session — which means we’ll keep organizing in 2022 or a special session.
If you haven’t already, sign up to get our action alerts so you can stay in the loop as we move forward.
Staff pick
Photo by Zeppelin Zeerip, as part of All Bodies On Bikes
“It’s Bike Month! I wanted to use this space to spread the word about All Bodies on Bikes, 13-minute mini-documentary produced by Shimano highlighting that all size bodies can enjoy bikepacking. The video follows Kailey Kornhauser and Washington’s own Marley Blonsky on a two-day bikepacking trip along the Corvallis to Coast Trail, and they talk about the beauty of every body and how all of us can create more inclusive spaces.”
Kelsey Mesher
Advocacy Director
Meme in motion
Vice President Kamala Harris speaking with community leaders and transit workers in Cincinnati about why transit is good for American communities is the energy we’re channeling today.
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