Quick-Build Projects Are Coming!

Posted on September 5, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

September 5, 2025

Quick-Build Projects Are Coming!

A photograph from the middle of an intersection looks down a street bordered by a gas station sign and a low building, with trees in the background. A computer-generated image has been superimposed on the road showing one lane in each direction, a turn lane, and bike lanes with painted, striped buffers.

Quick-build projects use paint and other low-cost materials and techniques to improve streets quickly, typically without expensive groundbreaking or paving work. Quick-builds can take months to go from concept to construction, instead of the years or decades that are often required for conventional street improvements.

The region’s first major quick-build project, involving bike and pedestrian safety upgrades on Hiller Road in McKinleyville, is scheduled to be built later this month. This project involves a significant public art component, but the county won’t be paying for that part, so donations are needed. Click here to join CRTP in sponsoring beautiful, traffic-calming asphalt art in McKinleyville!

To learn more about the quick-build process and the potential for other local quick-build projects, listen to the latest episode of the EcoNews Report and check out CRTP’s Quick-Build Toolkit.

Transportation Safety Is Having a Moment in Humboldt

This week, we learned about a Eureka resident’s petition to improve pedestrian safety after her 8-year-old son was nearly hit by a driver on Myrtle Avenue, and a Hydesville Girl Scout who successfully advocated for Caltrans to upgrade pedestrian crossings of Highway 36. We are heartened by these grassroots safety efforts, and encourage other community members to offer their support to these and other local initiatives to address the safety crisis on local streets and roads.

A computer-modified aerial image of the 255-101 interchange in Arcata shows roundabouts on both sides of the highway, with a continuous bike and pedestrian trail along the north side.

Meanwhile, the Humboldt County Association of Governments is coordinating an official regional Vision Zero Action Plan, which is intended to lay out the steps necessary to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries throughout the county. You can provide input on the initial planning stages by taking a 10-minute survey about your safety concerns and priorities.

We are happy to report that several other significant local safety plans and projects are proceeding as well, including Arcata’s plan to overhaul the Samoa Boulevard/US-101 interchange and dramatically improve bike and pedestrian safety on Samoa and South G Street, and the Annie & Mary Trail Connectivity Project, which will begin construction near Cal Poly Humboldt’s new dorms this month.

Local E-Bike Voucher Program Is Back!

The Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s e-bike voucher program, which provides vouchers ranging from $400 to $1,000 for energy authority customers to purchase an e-bike, is back. The last time the vouchers were available, back in April 2024, the program was extremely popular, and funding ran out fast. Click here to learn more and apply for a voucher.

Orleans-Willow Creek Transit Service Canceled

The Humboldt Transit Authority announced at its Board of Directors meeting this week that Yurok Tribal Transit has canceled the two-year-old Orleans-Weitchpec-Willow Creek bus route. The service, which replaced the old KT-NET bus, provided crucial mobility for non-drivers in the remote northeastern parts of Humboldt County, allowing them to connect to HTA’s Willow Creek bus and access important destinations on the coast. We do not yet know why the service was canceled, but we hope that some kind of lifeline transit for the area can be revived.

Student Parking Grabs Attention

About half of the rooms in Cal Poly Humboldt’s new Hinarr Hu Moulik dorms are newly occupied by students (the other half are still under construction), and some neighbors are upset that students are parking on nearby streets. For reasons we don’t fully understand, parking is one of the most reliably emotional issues in transportation, so we’re never surprised when people get worked up about a parking issue. However, we think it’s important to point out that nobody has so far reported illegal or dangerous parking. Rather, students are parking vehicles on public streets in spaces that were previously mostly empty. Nevertheless, parking complaints from other neighborhoods near the main campus led to a residential parking permit system that has worked well for years, and we expect that system will eventually be extended to this neighborhood as well.

In more exciting transportation news about the new dorms, the Humboldt Transit Authority reports that it is carrying 600 students every day on frequent shuttles to campus, the City of Arcata reports that the Annie & Mary Trail connection to the dorms may be built before the end of the year, and Hinarr Hu Moulik includes much more extensive and secure bike parking than any other current Cal Poly dorm.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Protect Crucial Funding for Affordable Housing & Transit

Three state grant programs which have collectively awarded tens of millions of dollars to North Coast projects in recent years may be at risk. The grants have been funded through revenues from California’s greenhouse gas “cap-and-trade” program, and the legislature is currently debating legislation to redesign and reauthorize that program. Local projects that have been funded by these grants include Eureka’s Linc Housing projects and EaRTH Center, Sorrel Place and the Yurok Indian Housing Authority’s 30th Street Commons in Arcata, and numerous bike, pedestrian, and transit projects. Click here to ask legislators to protect these critical grant programs when they reauthorize cap-and-trade.

Why Are US Roads So Much More Dangerous Than Canada’s?

The US and Canada are both wealthy countries with a lot of sprawling, car-dependent communities. But Canadians drive less, leading to fewer traffic deaths. Other factors explaining Canada’s superior safety record likely include bigger American cars and different legal and regulatory approaches. The American system of letting speeders set speed limits, for example, and resistance by many public officials to simple traffic calming measures like speed humps, certainly don’t help. Nor will the Trump administration’s current campaign against proven safety strategies like road diets, part of its broader rejection of scientific evidence in policy making.

Wealthier People Produce More Climate Pollution – Mostly from Transportation

A new analysis by the International Energy Agency finds huge disparities in energy use and climate pollution, both between rich and poor nations and between richer and poorer people within nations. The biggest disparities in emissions come from differences in personal transportation, including wealthier people driving and flying more.

The Collector is CRTP’s weekly transportation news roundup, published every Friday. We focus on North Coast news, but we also include relevant state, national and international transportation news – plus other items that we just find kind of interesting! To submit items for consideration, email colin@transportationpriorities.org.

Eureka vs. Trump

Posted on August 29, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

August 29, 2025

Eureka vs. Trump

I Street in Eureka with a buffered bike lane marked with green paint

The City of Eureka and six other local government agencies in California are suing the Trump administration over attempts to “claw back” federal funding that was previously awarded to them. In Eureka’s case, the funding at risk reportedly includes $5 million in Safe Streets and Roads for All funding, as well as millions more in emergency response, housing, and social services funding.

We fail to see how designing safer streets for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists is “woke” or otherwise offensive to the president and his followers, and we join with city officials in rejecting these chaotic and vindictive funding rescissions. We are grateful that a federal judge this week issued a temporary restraining order keeping the funding in place while the case proceeds in court.

In the meantime, elsewhere in the nation, the administration continues its aggressive push to control and militarize transportation infrastructure, taking Washington’s Union Station away from Amtrak as the president threatens to deploy more troops in the streets of cities across the country.

One More Time…

A satellite image of part of McKinleyville is overlaid with colored shapes representing zoning districts in the Town Center area. Almost all of it is light purple, labeled "Mixed Use."

We reported last week that the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee (MMAC) was expected to hold its final meeting this week on the Town Center ordinance, including a vote on the design of Central Avenue. But in one more unexpected twist in the winding six-year process of developing this ordinance, the MMAC did not even discuss the Town Center at the meeting as previously advertised. Instead, they voted to have their discussion and take their votes at a special meeting on September 10th. CRTP remains dedicated to ensuring a walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented Town Center, and will keep our supporters informed as this process continues.

A flyer provides information about the 2025 Week Without Driving. Click the link to go to a webpage with full text information.

Bike Valet at Friday Night Markets!

The final Eureka Friday Night Market of the season is tonight (August 29th). But this year, for the first time, there will also be three Arcata Friday Night Markets on September 5th, 12th, and 26th. We’re pleased to announce that CRTP will be providing bike valet services at all four of these events, and we encourage everyone who can to bike to the markets.

We still need volunteers for these events! If you’d like to help out with bike valet, please email CRTP Bike Valet Coordinator Jerry Von Dohlen at jvondohlen@humboldt.edu.

Help Shape the Future of Arcata

The City of Arcata is hiring a new Senior Planner to work in the city’s Community Development Department. This person will play a key role in shaping city initiatives on topics ranging from parking reform to infill housing development to sea level rise. If that sounds like a good fit for you or someone you know, you can find all the details here.

News from Beyond the North Coast

We Can’t Keep Funding Like It’s 1956

To paraphrase Albert Einstein, you can’t solve a problem with the same funding you used to created it. Yet in the face of a catastrophic death toll on our streets and highways and the existential threat of climate change supercharged by auto exhaust, most of our leaders from all over the political spectrum continue to support pumping huge amounts of money into maintaining and expanding the same damaging transportation system that created all of those problems, while throwing pennies at real solutions like pedestrian and bike infrastructure and public transit operations.

More Evidence That People Walk in Walkable Communities

A new study finds that when people move to a more walkable community, they start walking more. And when they move to a less walkable community, they start walking less. We are unsurprised, but grateful to have yet more evidence of the benefits of walkability!

Cars Are Heating Up Your Town

The “urban heat island effect” refers to the well-documented phenomenon of cities typically being several degrees hotter than surrounding rural areas. This has traditionally been thought to be largely the result of asphalt, concrete, and other materials absorbing and re-releasing heat. But a new study finds that parked cars – particularly dark-colored cars – increase urban heat substantially more than asphalt alone. The authors suggest that cities of the future may even need to create selective parking rules in different neighborhoods based on car paint color to manage the problem.

Justice on Wheels

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

August 22, 2025

Justice on Wheels

An illustration shows a raised fist holding a bike wheel with the word "solidarity" written on it. Below, multi-colored butterflies ride bicycles between two trees strung with a banner reading "Sanctuary for All."

Local advocacy group Centro del Pueblo is holding a Solidarity in Sanctuary Day on Saturday. According to Centro del Pueblo, the event “is a moment to lift up migrant voices through art, music, reflection, and unity” and “reaffirms that respect, diversity, and the protection of human rights are non-negotiable values.” Fittingly, the day will begin with a “Justice on Wheels” bike/skate/scooter event from Eureka to Arcata on the newly completed Humboldt Bay Trail, followed by activities at the Arcata Plaza and the Sanctuary Garden.

Less than two months since its completion, the Humboldt Bay Trail is quickly becoming not only a critical transportation corridor but also an important civic space for public speech and protest. Normally, when activists “take to the streets,” we are reminded that simply standing or walking in public can be powerful political acts, and that most of our public spaces are dominated by cars. We are inspired to see the creative civic uses enabled by a safer, more welcoming transportation corridor like the Bay Trail.

In Humboldt County, many of our important trails – both recreational and commuter – are largely maintained by volunteers. While CRTP believes that government agencies’ responsibility for road maintenance should extend to commuter trails as well, that is unfortunately not the current reality. If you want to help maintain the new Bay Trail or another trail in the county, you can email the Humboldt Trails Council at vtscoordinator@humtrails.org to sign up for their Volunteer Trail Stewards program.

Central Avenue Safety Upgrade Decision Expected Next Week

A diagram shows a cross-section of street with 3-story buildings on either side flanked by wide sidewalks, then street trees, then bike lanes, then more street trees, and finally two car lanes with a central media with turn pockets.

Next Wednesday, August 27th, at 6 pm, the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee (MMAC) will hold what may be their last meeting on the Town Center ordinance (we’ve prematurely predicted the end of this process before, so this time we’re not making any promises). They are expected to vote on two key issues – one of which is the design of Central Avenue in the Town Center – before taking a final vote on the plan and its accompanying Environmental Impact Report. That means they’ll be deciding whether to affirm their previous decision to include a lane reduction and other bike/pedestrian safety upgrades for Central Avenue, or backtrack and keep all 5 vehicle lanes in place, preserving a big high-speed roadway at the expense of the future Town Center’s success (and the safety of local community members). CRTP will continue to advocate for a lane reduction and comfortable, safe, protected bike lanes on both sides of the street.

After the MMAC takes its final votes, the ordinance will move on to the Humboldt County Planning Commission and then the Board of Supervisors, who will have the final say. At a public workshop this Thursday, the Planning Commissioners were introduced to the ordinance and heard from many of its supporters, including CRTP. Commissioners indicated that they are likely to defer to the MMAC’s recommendations on most major issues out of respect for the long public process that led to this point, and we expect the Board of Supervisors to do the same. That means the meeting next week will be key to determining the final street designs and other aspects of the ordinance.

An Overgrown Bush Can Be a Huge Mobility Problem

A narrow sidewalk between parked cars and a tall fence is partially blocked by weeds and a sign post.

As Cal Poly Humboldt professor Aaron Donaldson points out, people without disabilities often fail to recognize features of the built environment that create safety, access, and mobility problems for people with disabilities. Even when those problems are pointed out, people with the power to fix them often respond by minimizing, dismissing, or neglecting the issue.

At CRTP, we believe that transportation facilities and other public spaces must be designed to work everyone. As our vision statement says, we are passionate about creating a world where walking, biking, public transit, and other modes of transportation are equitable, safe and comfortable for people of all races, ethnicities, cultures, income levels, genders, ages and abilities. If you have experienced a hazardous location on a street or road, or a crash or near-miss, one small but important step is to report it on Street Story.

Official Safety Data Tell a Grim Story

In preparation for updating the statewide Strategic Highway Safety Plan, Caltrans has produced fact sheets summarizing fatalities and serious injuries from traffic crashes between 2013 and 2022 (the last year for which final, official statistics are available). Both statewide and in the “Northern Rural Region” that includes the North Coast, fatalities and serious injuries increased significantly over the decade. The trend holds for almost all types of crashes. For example, in the Northern Rural Region, serious bike crashes increased 14%, pedestrian crashes increased 21%, speeding & aggressive driving crashes increased 22%, and crashes at intersections increased 38% when compared to the previous decade.

Caltrans does not provide a good explanation for these devastating trends, but experts have suggested that similar trends nationwide are the result of many years of designing streets and roads for speed over safety, combined with ever-larger and more dangerous vehicles. The rise in distracted driving and other cultural changes may also play a role, but these factors are harder to document and study.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Caltrans Quick-Build Bill Needs Support

Caltrans has made some progress in recent yeras toward making its infrastructure safer for people walking, biking, and rolling. But there’s no doubt that the changes are too slow and the work that remains is enormous. A bill sponsored by CalBike would create a pilot quick-build program for Caltrans to encourage faster progress, and it needs your support.

California’s New Zero-Emission Vehicle Plan Falls Short

After the Trump administration attacked California’s long-standing zero-emission vehicle mandates earlier this year, the state Air Resources Board set to work developing alternative plans. Now they have released those new plans, and experts are disappointed by their lack of ambition. For those concerned about the climate crisis, it’s important to keep in mind that the more slowly zero-emission vehicles are adopted, the more carbon reduction efforts will have to rely on reducing the amount of driving we do overall.

Inadequate Physical Activity Costs the US Billions

A new study estimates that inadequate physical activity among American adults results in almost $200 billion in added healthcare costs each year. Walking, biking, and rolling for transportation are among the simplest and most reliable ways to meet physical activity standards.

University Offers Free Car Sharing – And More Parking

Posted on August 15, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

August 15, 2025

University Offers Free Car Sharing – And More Parking

Cal Poly Humboldt is currently offering free annual Zipcar memberships to students, staff, and faculty! Car-sharing programs like Zipcar allow people to access a vehicle when they need one, without having to bear the full cost of car ownership or find a long-term parking spot. And car-sharing can empower people to take more trips by walking, biking, rolling, and public transit when they don’t need a car.

A black-and-white site plan shows a large parking lot north of Foster Avenue, with a retention pond and two bicycle shelters

We applaud Cal Poly for offering this program. However, we are disappointed that at the same time, they are completing plans to build a big off-campus parking lot on Foster Avenue in the Arcata Bottoms. Encouraging students to sign up for a car-share program while at the same time expanding parking for their private vehicles makes no sense. The university is sending mixed messages to students and the community. Cal Poly’s adopted climate action plan includes several important strategies for reducing transportation emissions and encouraging more active transportation and transit use, but it will never be possible to achieve their climate goals if they continue to use the limited land and funding available to them to build big parking lots.

Energy Efficiency & Electrification Fair Next Week

Next Tuesday, August 19th, from 4-7 pm at the Jefferson Community Center in Eureka, 350 Humboldt will be hosting an energy efficiency and electrification fair with information about how to take advantage of federal and state subsidies for building and transportation upgrades – before those subsidies disappear. Topics will include electric vehicles and e-bikes, as well as heat pumps, solar panels, batteries, and energy efficiency upgrades. CRTP is a co-sponsor of this great event.

Planning Commission to Get First Look at McKinleyville Town Center Ordinance

After six years of meetings at the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee (with at least one more meeting still to come), the Humboldt County Planning Commission will finally get its first chance to discuss the McKinleyville Town Center ordinance at a public workshop next Thursday at 6 pm. The Commission won’t take any votes at this meeting, but they will discuss the ordinance and hear public comments. You can attend either in person at the county courthouse or online via Zoom, or email comments in advance. (The official agenda has not been posted as of the time we’re writing this, but it will be posted here soon.) With the crucial decision about a needed safety redesign of Central Avenue still unsettled, it’s important for commissioners to hear from people in support of a lane reduction and protected bike lanes on both sides of the street.

Regional Transportation Plan Update Approaching

Every four years, state law requires regions to update their Regional Transportation Plans. Humboldt County’s new plan is due next January, and the Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG) is preparing for the required update now. The HCAOG Board will hear an update at their meeting next week.

CRTP is a fan of Humboldt County’s current plan, which includes ambitious “Safe and Sustainable Transportation Targets” for cutting climate pollution and increasing transportation safety. CRTP and our supporters worked hard to ensure these targets were included in the current plan, and we’ll be advocating to keep them in the new plan – and to make sure we actually make progress toward meeting those targets, too.

Great Redwood Trail Progress Reported

State Senator Mike McGuire hosted a virtual town hall meeting this week to provide updates on the Great Redwood Trail, which will someday follow old railroad tracks from San Francisco Bay all the way to Humboldt Bay. McGuire and Great Redwood Trail Agency officials reported that a third of the trail is already built, under construction, or in “final planning” stages – including the recently completed Humboldt Bay Trail between Arcata and Eureka!

News from Beyond the North Coast

Analysis of San Francisco Data Shows Policing Hasn’t Improved Traffic Safety

Academic research has long suggested that while concentrated policing in a particular location can temporarily lower traffic speeds, enforcement of traffic laws does not have a sustainable, long-term impact on safety. A new analysis of years of data from San Francisco adds to this body of evidence, finding that the number of traffic tickets issued by police officers had no impact on the number of people killed on the streets.

Safer Roads for Wildlife and People

A bill in the California legislature, AB 902, would require future highway projects in certain areas of the state to include designs that allow safe wildlife crossings, reducing the toll of roadkill on wildlife populations and improving safety for motorists. Click here to express your support for the bill as it approaches some difficult votes in the legislature.

Let’s Eliminate Costly Parking Mandates Nationwide!

Minimum parking mandates for new development raise housing costs, make many new housing projects impossible to build, and encourage car dependency – and they’re not based on any scientific evidence whatsoever. A “People Over Parking” bill in Congress would dramatically reduce these mandates in communities across the country. Click here to sign a petition in support of the bill.

Bike & Pedestrian Traffic Stress in Humboldt

Posted on August 8, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

August 8, 2025

Bike & Pedestrian Traffic Stress in Humboldt

Different people have different tolerances for the kinds of places they will walk, bike, or roll. Generally, research shows that a relatively small number of people have a confident or fearless attitude and will bike or walk almost anywhere, but on busier streets most people require more comfortable infrastructure like good sidewalks and bike lanes. Researchers and planners quantify this idea as the level of traffic stress, or LTS, which is a score ranging from 1 to 4. LTS 1 represents conditions that almost everyone – including most kids – can tolerate. LTS 2 represents conditions that most adults will tolerate, while LTS 3 and 4 represent conditions that only smaller numbers of adults will tolerate.

Over the past year, CRTP has been working with the Humboldt County Association of Governments and engineering firm GHD to develop a local methodology for bike and pedestrian LTS, and to assess all of the street and road segments and crossings in the greater Humboldt Bay area (also known as Wigi). The results of that assessment are now publicly available here. We encourage everyone who walks, bikes or rolls in the area to check out the scores, and provide feedback on whether you think we got it right. You can email your comments to info@hcaog.net.

Before you review the LTS results, it’s important to understand the methodology. For example, the pedestrian LTS results show the vast majority of streets and roads in the area are “high stress,” meaning they scored LTS 3 or 4. The reason for the score depends on the exact location, but common reasons for a high pedestrian score are that a street that doesn’t have a sidewalk at least 4 feet wide or an intersection doesn’t have a curb ramp – criteria that are meant to reflect the experiences of people using wheelchairs, strollers, and other devices. Considering the experiences of everyone in the local population is key to getting the LTS scores right.

Mark Your Calendar for the Tri-County Independent Living Expo

Our friends at Tri-County Independent Living are hosting their 2025 Expo at Eureka’s Sequoia Conference Center on Friday, September 26. The Expo will focus on supporting the Independent Living of people with disabilities and those who are aging. CRTP will be there, and we hope you can come too!

Calling All Mural Artists!

The Hiller Road quick-build safety project in McKinleyville will include pavement art in the bike lane buffers and intersection areas – and you could be the artist! Fill out the application for artists by the end of August if you’re interested. If you’re not an artist but you’d like to help pay for the art, the project is also seeking sponsors.

Regional Paving Project Begins

A crosswalk on a freshly paved two-lane street in the foreground, with older pavement in the background

The annual “slurry seal” paving project, which adds a layer on top of existing asphalt to improve the pavement condition of various streets and roads, has begun in the Humboldt Bay area. The project is a collaboration between Humboldt County and cities including Arcata, Eureka, and Fortuna. Because slurry sealing also requires re-painting, projects like this are a great opportunity for local governments to add bike lanes, update crosswalks, and make other low-cost changes to improve safety. In fact, Eureka and Arcata have adopted complete streets policies that call for doing just that, and CRTP advocates to ensure those improvements are made.

“Headline Humboldt” Cancelled

The cuts to public broadcasting funds enacted by the Trump administration and Republican Congressional majority are already hitting home, with KEET-TV forced to cancel its weekly Headline Humboldt news show. Headline Humboldt has featured the work of CRTP and many other local nonprofits over the years, helping get the word out about important local issues. The show will be deeply missed.

News from Beyond the North Coast

US Pedestrian Fatalities Down a Little Last Year

A new report shows that pedestrian deaths dropped by about 4 percent last year compared to the year before. This is welcome news, but not nearly enough progress. The small recent decreases have not reversed the trend of the last two decades, with pedestrian deaths still almost twice as high last year as they were twenty years ago.

A “Road Safety Emergency”

It’s not just pedestrians dying on US streets and highways. The US has an overall traffic death rate far higher than other wealthy nations, and is one of the few countries in the world where death rates have been increasing instead of decreasing in recent years. In recent testimony to Congress, the head of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety called this situation an emergency and advocated for federal action to make roads and vehicles safer.

Got an E-Bike? Need an E-Bike?

Posted on August 1, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

August 1, 2025

McKinleyville Town Center Ordinance Inches Forward

On Wednesday this week, the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee reaffirmed their support for the Town Center ordinance without any major changes. However, the Final Environmental Impact Report has not yet been released, and the committee ran out of time before they got around to voting on an issue of major concern to CRTP and our supporters: whether to recommit to a lane reduction and protected bike lanes on Central Avenue. So there will be one more committee meeting on the Town Center in August. Still, if you sent an email to the committee in support of the Central Avenue redesign this week, it was clear your voice was heard! Committee members talked about how many messages they got in support of the lane reduction, overwhelming the number of messages against it.

Got an E-Bike? Need an E-Bike?

Redwood Coast Energy Authority is planning to re-launch their e-bike voucher program very soon, providing anywhere from $400 to $1,000 toward the purchase of an e-bike for eligible Humboldt County residents. Click here for more information, or click here to sign up for a notification when the vouchers are available.

If you already have an e-bike, you can help too! 350 Humboldt is looking for owners of e-bikes – as well as electric vehicles, heat pumps, solar panels and batteries, or induction cooktops – to share their experiences with other local residents at an upcoming home electrification fair. If you’re willing to help out, click here to sign up.

Tragic Pedestrian Death in Arcata

A pedestrian was killed this week after being struck by a Humboldt Transit Authority bus in Arcata’s Valley West neighborhood. We grieve for the loss of this community member, and extend our condolences to the victim’s friends and family. Unlike fatal car crashes, which are tragically common, fatal crashes involving transit buses are very rare, and we are grateful to HTA for conducting an investigation into the crash, and taking steps to ensure this never happens again.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Are You a Non-Driver?

Our friends at America Walks are conducting a research project about the experiences of non-drivers. If you’re a US resident, you’re at least 18 years old, and you don’t own a vehicle, please help out by volunteering to be interviewed for the study.

Trump’s EPA Looks to Abandon Federal Climate Action

Many of the federal government’s actions to address the climate crisis are legally based on a 2009 official EPA finding that climate change endangers human health. This finding is based on a large body of rigorous scientific research which has only grown since 2009. But the Trump administration is trying to discard that finding, and with it some of the few remaining climate rules that it hasn’t already abandoned. Transportation is the nation’s biggest source of climate pollution, and the administration’s proposal includes scrapping fuel efficiency standards for cars.

Being “Black in Public”

A new report based on interviews with hundreds of Black Americans and Canadians explores the challenges of being Black in public spaces, as well as the joy Black people still manage to express in public. Sadly, buses, streets, sidewalks, and trails are among the most common places listed by respondents when asked where they felt unsafe. Clearly, transit operators, transit riders, and street and sidewalk users of all kinds have a lot of work to do to create spaces that are safe and welcoming for everyone.

McKinleyville Town Center Plan Faces More Tests

Posted on July 25, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

July 25, 2025

McKinleyville Town Center Plan Faces More Tests

Next week, the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee will hold one more meeting to review the draft Town Center ordinance and its Final Environmental Impact Report – maybe the last of the dozens of such meetings it has held over the last six years. As it stands, the Town Center plans call for the development of more walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented housing, as well as bike and pedestrian safety upgrades including a lane reduction on Central Avenue. The advocacy of CRTP and our members and supporters in McKinleyville has played a key role in shaping these plans.

Unfortunately, many of the most important elements of the future Town Center – from housing density to the safety overhaul of Central Avenue – are still under attack from some opponents. Additionally, the county has muddied the waters by publishing a flawed “traffic study” recommending future street design changes that would speed up traffic and make McKinleyville’s streets less safe for people walking, biking, and rolling. You can dive into the details by reading CRTP’s May comment letter.

As of this writing, the county has not yet published the Final Environmental Impact Report, so we don’t know whether they are proposing any changes or additions to the previously approved Town Center ordinance. But we do know that it will be critical for supporters of a safe, vibrant, walkable Town Center to show up at next week’s meeting – and at the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors meetings that will follow – to defend the plans for a safer Central Avenue and for more walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented housing.

You’ve Got At Least One More Week to Ride the Bus for Free!

All public buses in Humboldt County are free for the month of July, in celebration of Humboldt Transit Authority’s 50th birthday. Youth (17 and under) and seniors (62 and over) ride free in August, too! Read about Humboldt Transit Authority’s history and recent accomplishments here – and then get out there and Ride Humboldt!

Trails, Housing, and Houselessness

At CRTP, we sometimes hear from people who are concerned about unhoused folks camping near trails in our region. It’s true that people with nowhere else to go often camp along trails, sidewalks, streets, and highways. Our view is that all members of our community, whether housed or not, deserve access to these public spaces, and that people generally only choose to live in these spaces when they don’t have access to affordable housing and other critical services. That’s one of the reasons we support building more safe, affordable homes, in areas with affordable transportation options. It’s also why we’re so proud of the Great Redwood Trail Agency for hiring social service organizations to patrol and keep their right-of-way clean, rather than relying on an armed police force to forcibly remove people. Join us in thanking the agency for this smart, enlightened approach.

Humboldt County Lagging on Accessible Curb Ramps

As we mark the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we applaud the county’s ongoing efforts to improve accessibility at all of its facilities. However, we are disappointed that in all that time, it has only provided accessible curb ramps at a quarter of the known locations that need them. Curb ramps provide critical access for wheelchair users – who sometimes have to ride in the street if there is no ramp to access the sidewalk – as well as for parents pushing strollers and lots of other kinds of pedestrians.

Crash on Broadway Leaves One Dead & Four Injured

Media reports indicate that the driver of a stolen van sped onto the sidewalk and then hit a parked car. The driver died, and three pedestrians were injured along with an occupant of the parked car. This kind of incident is often dismissed as a kind of unforeseeable, unpreventable “accident.” But the truth is that this is far from the first time that a driver has mounted the sidewalk and crashed with tragic consequences, and there are ways we can help prevent this kind of thing from happening again. Better street designs can make it harder to speed, for example, and well-designed barriers can protect bicyclists and pedestrians and keep cars in the street. In fact, these are exactly the kinds of upgrades CRTP has long advocated for on Broadway.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Federal Transportation Reauthorization – Huh?

The 2021 “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” which funded many of the nation’s highways and even a few buses and bike lanes, is set to expire next year. That means it’s time to talk about “reauthorization.” This process, which happens in Congress every five years or so, is typically opaque and hard to understand, but has huge implications for safety, climate change, and quality of life. If you’re one of the many people left scratching their heads, check out this helpful introduction to transportation reauthorization.

Parking Is Expensive – Even When the Driver Doesn’t Pay

It’s expensive to build and maintain parking, even when it’s “free” for drivers. So who pays for it? Taxpayers, consumers, renters, homeowners – basically everyone.

Safe Walking and Biking on Highway Bridges

Posted on July 18, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

July 18, 2025

Public Meeting on Eureka Slough Bridges Next Week

A paved trail with a painted yellow centerline curves along a body of water under a highway bridge

Caltrans plans to replace the US-101 Eureka Slough bridges starting in 2029, and the draft environmental document for the project is now available for public review. CRTP is happy to see that both design options include separated bike and pedestrian pathways in both directions. However, we think it’s critically important for those protected bike lanes and sidewalks to actually connect with existing bike and pedestrian infrastructure on the Eureka side of the bridges.

We’re also requesting that Caltrans include some traffic calming features on the southbound bridge to slow traffic entering Eureka. And because the project will be under construction for five years or more, we are asking Caltrans to make strong commitments to keep existing bike and pedestrian infrastructure – including the Waterfront Trail and the new Humboldt Bay Trail – open for use during construction, or at least provide safe and convenient detours. You can read CRTP’s full comment letter here.

You can provide your own comments on the project during a virtual public meeting next Wednesday from 6 to 7 pm, or submit your comments to Caltrans by email. Details about the project, the meeting, and how to submit comments can be found here.

“When Driving Is Not an Option”

People sit in chairs in an auditorium looking toward a large screen and a standing woman dressed in white

National expert and author Anna Zivarts gave an engaging, informative, interactive talk about nondrivers to an audience of almost 50 people at Arcata’s D Street Neighborhood Center last night. Zivarts is the founder of the Week Without Driving and author of When Driving Is Not an Option. If you missed the talk, you can check out an interview with Anna on last week’s EcoNews Report, read other interviews, or read her book (there’s at least one copy in the Humboldt County library system)!

A pictures of a cartoon purple bus appears below the words "Looking for transit riders who want to lead ride-alongs with our local decision-makers"

CRTP is pairing up regular bus riders with people who make local transportation-related decisions, like city and county officials, for transit ride-along trips during this year’s Week Without Driving. If you are a bus rider and you’d like to lead a decision-maker on one of your usual trips, like your commute to work or school or the grocery store, email kelsey@transportationpriorities.org for more information.

Want To Help Build the Great Redwood Trail?

The Great Redwood Trail Agency is hiring a Trail Development Manager. The agency is charged with overseeing development of trails on old railroad rights-of-way around Humboldt Bay and all the way down to San Francisco Bay. A few segments, like the Humboldt Bay Trail, are already built and providing enormous benefits to local communities.

News from Beyond the North Coast

It’s Not an “Accident” That People Keep Dying in the Streets

For many years, transportation safety advocacy groups like CRTP have been referring to incidents of traffic violence as “crashes.” You’ll never hear us call them “accidents.” That’s because we know that traffic injuries and deaths are both predictable and preventable, and when we call them “accidents” it sounds like each one is a unique, random event, and there’s nothing that can be done to stop the carnage. Now, even big government agencies like Caltrans are coming around to the idea that we should stop using the word “accident” to describe a car crash.

Truck Driver Training Videos for Bicyclist Safety

The League of American Bicyclists has produced a series of short training videos to teach truck drivers how to drive safely around bicyclists. If you’re a truck driver, or know someone who is, check out these videos. You could save a life!

Where Should New Homes Be Built in Humboldt?

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

July 11, 2025

Where Should New Homes Be Built in Humboldt?

A digital rendering shows a 5-story apartment building in a variety of earth-tone colors and with a variety of roof lines, and a large mural on one wall. — *Image: City of Eureka*

This week, we were happy to see the Wiyot Tribe win $4 million to help build two housing projects in downtown Eureka, one primarily for elders and the other focused on families. These projects will replace underutilized city parking lots with 93 affordable housing units, all within walking and biking distance to many jobs and services, and served by multiple transit systems. This is what’s called “infill,” and it’s the kind of housing we need in order to reduce climate pollution, improve health and safety, and make living in our region more affordable.

But it’s not inevitable that future homes will be built in infill locations. Over the last century, most local homes were built on former agricultural and wild lands in sprawling, car-dependent locations, and there is a lot of pressure to continue that kind of development. It takes years of effort by tribes, public officials, planners, and advocates to make projects like the Wiyot Tribe’s possible, and they regularly face fierce backlash. (Remember the millions Rob Arkley pumped into his ballot initiative last year trying to block this and other downtown housing?)

A lot of the decisions about where to build housing start with an obscure state-mandated process called the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). Every eight years, the state assigns each region a specific number of new housing units in every income category, and requires local governments to make plans to ensure those homes are actually built. However, the region makes its own choices about how to divide the responsibility for those new homes among local jurisdictions. In Humboldt, a lot about the future of housing and transportation hinges on whether most of the homes will be built in existing job and service centers like Eureka and Arcata, or will be assigned instead to the mostly low-density unincorporated county.

At a meeting next week, the Humboldt County Association of Governments will hear its first update on the local RHNA allocation for the next eight-year cycle, and provide input on how the new housing should be divided among local governments. CRTP is watching closely. As always, we will be advocating for local, regional, and state policies that support infill housing development and discourage sprawl.

“When Driving Is Not an Option”

A white woman with short hair and glasses smiles at the camera

National advocate and author Anna Zivarts is coming to Humboldt in two weeks to give a free public talk! Zivarts is the founder of the Week Without Driving and author of When Driving Is Not an Option. The talk will be on Thursday, July 17th, at 7 pm at Arcata’s D Street Neighborhood Center. Topics will include the nondrivers in every community, the importance of meeting the transportation needs of nondrivers, how communities can work better for nondrivers (and everyone else), and valuing the expertise of nondrivers. See you next week!

Eureka’s C Street Bike Boulevard Starts Construction Next Week!

The long-planned transformation of C Street into a bike-friendly thoroughfare is about to begin. The project extends from Henderson Street to Waterfront Drive. It includes traffic-calming curb extensions, median islands, and flashing beacons at key intersections, and other measures to reduce traffic speeds. Crucially, it also includes measures to reduce the volume of traffic: although vehicles will still have access to every block, alternating one-way designations will prevent drivers from using the street as a cut-through, while continuing to allow two-way bike travel throughout. Unfortunately, the crossings of 4th and 5th Streets are left out of the project (Caltrans is supposed to make improvements there), and improvements in Old Town don’t amount to much more than painted “sharrows.” But overall, the C Street Bike Boulevard will be a nice addition to the city’s growing low-stress bicycle network.

Another Bear Is Killed By a Driver

While CRTP primarily focuses on transportation safety for people, we care about our non-human neighbors, too. So periodically we feel obliged to remind the community that “roadkill” is a major hazard for wildlife in our region (and throughout the world), and can even drive some populations to extinction. Fortunately, we know a lot about how to design roads and highways to reduce or eliminate the problem for many species. The most effective way to reduce the death toll for animals is the same as it is for humans: drivers just need to slow down.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Countries Are Failing the Climate, But Cities Are Stepping Up

A new report shows that, while countries across the globe are failing to take the needed steps to reduce climate pollution, cities are increasingly stepping into the void with their own ambitious plans and actions. In this country, Congress and Trump administration are currently eliminating clean energy and transportation programs, clawing back grants to fund bike, pedestrian, transit, and zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, and urging Americans to “gas up” and drive more. The Trump administration is even slow-walking safety funding. And we can’t rely on the state to save us, either, as the supposedly forward-thinking California government continues to pump millions into doomed highway expansions and cut bike and pedestrian funding. In this context, the importance of local climate action is more clear than ever. While we are devastated by many of the actions being taken at federal and state levels, CRTP is glad to work with many local partners and allies on the North Coast trying to tackle our own climate-harming emissions.

Cameras Confirm: Lots of Drivers Are Speeding

Inexplicably, it has long been illegal to enforce speed limits with cameras in California. However, a 2023 law created a pilot program to allow speed cameras in a few cities, and the first data are starting to come in. Unsurprisingly, the results show that a lot of drivers regularly exceed the speed limit – and not just by a little. Research shows that automated speed camera enforcement can significantly reduce speeding, and if the cameras are placed and monitored in a fair and equitable way, can avoid many of the inequities inherent to human traffic enforcement.

Parents Arrested After Driver Kills Their Child

When a 7-year-old kid was killed while trying to cross the street in Gastonia, North Carolina, police did not charge the driver – or the engineers and planners who designed the street – with any crime. Instead, they arrested both parents for allowing their children to walk home by themselves.

Free Buses Throughout Humboldt This Month!

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

July 4, 2025

Free Buses Throughout Humboldt This Month!

The Humboldt Transit Authority was founded in 1975. To celebrate their fiftieth birthday, they’re offering free rides on all buses throughout the month of July! Regular bus riders will save a little money, and it’s also a great opportunity for new riders and the bus-curious to get out there and try public transit. Unfortunately, however, you can’t ride today – there are no buses running on Independence Day.

“When Driving Is Not an Option”

Funding Awarded for Loleta Transportation Safety & Last Chance Grade Designs

The Humboldt County Association of Governments will be leading a new planning effort to improve safety for kids walking and biking to school in Loleta, as well as connectivity to tribal lands. The plan is funded by a $310,000 grant from Caltrans. We appreciate this funding and look forward to safer conditions in Loleta. However, we are also struck by the contrast with another funding announcement this week: $40 million from the state to “jump-start the design phase” of the Last Chance Grade project.

CRTP has always supported a long-term, responsible solution for the long-running problems on US-101 at Last Chance Grade, and we know the project will be expensive. But it is hard not to notice that the state spends hundreds of times more to maintain highways than it does to ensure kids can get to school safely. Because while the Last Chance Grade project is unusually expensive, Caltrans routinely spends tens of millions of dollars to repave sections of rural highway in our region, while local governments and tribes – and even staff within Caltrans itself – are forced to compete with each other for much, much smaller amounts of money dedicated to safety and sustainability.

Caltrans Wants Feedback on Eureka Slough Bridges Project

Caltrans plans to replace the US-101 Eureka Slough bridges starting in 2029, and the draft environmental document for the project is now available for public review. CRTP is happy to see that both design options include separated bike and pedestrian pathways in both directions. You can find more information, including the Environmental Impact Report and how to comment on it, here.

“Walkies Only”

At CRTP, when we talk about “pedestrians,” we mean people walking as well as people using wheelchairs, scooters, canes, and other mobility devices. That’s why you might notice us using phrases like “walking and rolling” when we talk about what pedestrians do. It’s also why we highly recommend that our supporters read an ongoing series of opinion pieces in the North Coast Journal about Cal Poly Humboldt’s lack of accessibility for people with mobility limitations. It’s is an important reminder of the need to design streets, roads, sidewalks, buildings, and other public places in ways that work for people of all ages and abilities.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Big Changes for Transportation and Housing

The state budget bill just signed by Governor Newsom includes a bunch of policy changes aimed at encouraging more housing production, including exempting most new infill housing projects from environmental review. At the same time, new climate rules also took effect this week which are expected to moderately increase the price of gasoline over the next several years.

Both the new housing laws and the new climate rules include a host of highly technical details, and for transportation advocates there is plenty to both like and dislike. We hope that, as proponents have argued, the result will be more walkable, transit-oriented development and less climate-destroying transportation pollution. But we also know that at least some of the changes to the climate rules are likely to increase emissions, and that lengthy environmental reviews are not the only barrier to infill housing.

Why Aren’t Kids Biking These Days?

American children are biking a lot less than their parents and grandparents did. It may be partly because parents are increasingly aware of the prevalence of dangerous streets and dangerous vehicles. But relinquishing this form of independent mobility comes with significant costs to kids – and their parents.

Autonomous Cars Are Driving More Like Humans

Proponents of self-driving vehicles have long claimed that they are so much safer than human drivers that traffic deaths will soon become a thing of the past. But at least one major autonomous vehicle maker admits that they are now training the cars to act more like human drivers, because passengers and other drivers get impatient with slow, risk-averse robot driving. If this trend continues while autonomous vehicle adoption increases in future years, the consequences for street safety could be enormous.