We Can Eliminate Traffic Deaths If We Want To

Posted on October 23, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

October 23, 2026

Two people cross a wide three-lane, one-way street in a crosswalk in front of a row of cars, one on a bike and the other using a knee walker. Several buildings are visible in the background.

We Can Eliminate Traffic Deaths If We Want To

It’s been a bad year on Humboldt County streets and roads. The tragic death of 35-year-old James Christopher Lee after being hit by a driver last week marks at least the third pedestrian fatality this year on Broadway alone.

The urgent need for action to make our streets safer could not be more clear. And as the international Vision Zero movement point out, all traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable. So the rollout of Humboldt County’s new Vision Zero Action Plan could not come soon enough.

CRTP is still reviewing the details of the draft plan, and you can expect to hear more from us in the coming weeks. But regardless of the details, it is critically important for community members to speak up in favor of evidence-based interventions that actually have the potential to achieve Vision Zero – not half-measures based on a Vision of a Little Less Carnage.

What are effective, evidence-based measures? Well, people need to drive more safely, but just telling them to do that is not an effective strategy, nor is relying on the vain hope of police officers catching all the dangerous drivers before they hurt someone. We’ve been trying these strategies for decades, and the impacts have been limited at best.

In contrast, we’ve long known that better street design is the most effective tool local communities have to reduce injuries and deaths. But streets can’t be designed for safety while also prioritizing the fast and free flow of vehicles. We can make our streets safe, but doing it will require some major changes to the status quo.

You can speak up for meaningful, effective traffic safety measures at the public Humboldt County Vision Zero Action Plan workshop next Wednesday at 5:30 pm (click here to join), or by emailing your comments to info@hcaog.net by November 9th.

Eureka Council to Discuss 4th & 5th Street Safety Overhaul

A person in a motorized wheelchair crosses a three-lane, one-way street in a marked crosswalk. A car is visible approaching in the far lane.

Thanks to Councilmember Leslie Castellano, the Eureka city council will soon hear from Caltrans about the possibility of removing lanes on 4th and 5th Streets to improve traffic safety.

CRTP first proposed this concept – the conversion of one driving lane in each direction to a protected bike lane – in our Dangerous Downtown Streets report last year, followed up by the petition we delivered to Caltrans this summer signed by almost 800 local residents and endorsed by many organizations and elected officials. It’s an evidence-based design concept that would improve safety for all users of these downtown streets. As a side benefit, it would likely also support local businesses by making the corridor a much nicer place to be.

Unfortunately, Caltrans staff have declined to even study the idea in their upcoming “feasibility study” for 4th and 5th Street safety improvements. And if a recent online poll is to be believed, plenty of members of the public still need education on the benefits of a lane conversion as well. So it is particularly important for the city council to take a definitive stand on the issue and urge Caltrans to do the right thing. Stay tuned for opportunities to speak up.

About That Cal Poly Humboldt Bus Funding

Last week, we reported that the Cal Poly Humboldt administration had produced a “Frequently Asked Questions” document about their funding of local bus services. Among other things, the document blamed the Humboldt Transit Authority for the university’s own decision to cut service, while also announcing that they would be funding the evening Orange Route in Arcata through the end of the school year.

Now HTA has responded with its own document clarifying where things really stand. HTA says that they “would not recommend reducing service in the absence of a resource constraint” and only suggested which services to cut after Cal Poly Humboldt announced their budget for transit would be drastically reduced. HTA also revealed that they have not been consulted about continuing Arcata evening service in the spring, and that the current “service arrangement extends through the Fall 2026 semester only.”

CRTP is supporting a growing student campaign for bus funding and working with partners throughout the community to ensure long-term support for Arcata evening service.

David Loya Is the 2026 Responsible Transportation Champion

A white man with gray hair wearing a blue jacket and holding a plaque

CRTP has named former City of Arcata Community Development Director David Loya as the 2026 Responsible Transportation Champion. The annual award is given to local people who further CRTP’s mission of “promoting transportation solutions that protect and support a healthy environment, healthy people, healthy communities and a healthy economy on the North Coast.”

Loya is being recognized for his many years of work promoting walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly infill development in Arcata and throughout the region.

“David Loya recognizes the deep connections between housing, land use, and transportation,” said CRTP Executive Director Colin Fiske. “Over two decades at the City of Arcata, David was at the forefront of building community consensus around a vision of vibrant neighborhoods designed first and foremost for people, not cars. He has helped deliver numerous infill housing projects creating new affordable, walkable homes. And he led the city through the development and adoption of the Gateway Area Plan, Gateway zoning code, and General Plan 2045, which collectively are the most bike and pedestrian-friendly set of land use plans and regulations in Humboldt County. David Loya is truly a Responsible Transportation Champion.”

“Creating appropriate transportation options is one of the simplest and most effective ways to improve the quality of life in our communities,” said Loya. “Better transit, more walkable neighborhoods, safe bike facilities, and smartly connected communities enhance the joy of getting from place to place for everyone.”

New Annie & Mary Trail Segment Almost Done!

For the first time there is a safe, comfortable way to bike, walk and roll between Baduwa’t (Mad River), Valley West, and the rest of Arcata. The trail is already seeing plenty of use, and will officially open next month.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Less Than Two Weeks Left to Vote!

Election Day is coming right up, but you can vote right now! As a reminder, CRTP encourages a No vote on Proposition 43, a No vote on Proposition 45, and a Yes vote on Arcata’s Measure G.

Building Housing Can Be a Climate Solution (Shhh, Don’t Tell Trump)

Climate-friendly infill development hasn’t fully avoided being sucked into the culture wars. But the zoning reforms that enable it still have bipartisan support.

Distracted Driving Really Is a Huge Problem

After a crash, it’s usually hard for police to tell whether the driver had been using their cell phone, so official reports don’t often list it as a major factor. But new research shows that phone use is extremely common in the crucial seconds before a collision.

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.

A Win for Arcata Evening Bus Service?

Posted on October 16, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

October 16, 2026

Two lines of cars and a bus wait at a traffic light

A Win for Arcata Evening Bus Service?

The Cal Poly Humboldt administration has produced a “Frequently Asked Questions” document about local bus service that is now circulating widely on campus. The document includes a number of misleading assertions about the university’s recent cuts to transit funding. But it also says that “the University is now supporting the HTA evening service on the Orange Route while school is in session through the Spring 2027 semester” and that “we’re working on options for service beyond that period.”

If true, that’s big news. The university had previously only announced an agreement to fund evening service through the Fall 2026 semester. This shows that pressure from students, the community, and CRTP is making a difference! But this campaign is far from over. CRTP will keep advocating until we secure a long-term commitment to funding evening bus service in Arcata.

CRTP’s Comments on the Amtrak Bus Study

As we previously reported, the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA) is considering service cuts to the Amtrak bus route (Gold Runner Route 7) that provides the only direct, long-distance bus between Humboldt County and the San Francisco Bay Area. A new draft “thruway bus study report” says that, although Route 7 carries the third most passengers of any thruway bus in the state, it is considered less “cost effective” because the route’s long distances increase operating costs.

CRTP has now submitted official comments on the report, which you can read along with the full draft thruway bus study to dig into more of the details. Then, take the brief survey and submit other comments by clicking here and using the “Provide Input” form.

A white man wearing sunglasses poses with bus-related gear

Looking Back on Transit Month and the Week Without Driving

Fifty people signed up to participate in the 2026 Week Without Driving in Humboldt County, including many elected officials and other local public decision-makers. You can read some of their reflections and see a partial list of participants on CRTP’s website, and read Humboldt County Supervisor Natalie Arroyo’s thoughtful reflections in her column in the Times-Standard.

Just prior to the Week Without Driving, we wrapped up Transit Month, marked here on the North Coast by a number of events, and of course a Ride Contest! Twenty-six local transit riders logged 602 transit trips totaling almost 5,000 miles during the month of September as part of our local Ride Contest. Congratulations to riders Jon O, Bestofthebus, and OS for winning great prizes donated by the Humboldt Transit Authority!

Another Major Crash on Broadway

Two pedestrians are seen walking in a long crosswalk from the other side of a large intersection. Three lanes of cars face them, waiting at a red light.

Less than a month after a driver hit and killed 20-year-old McKinleyville resident Ronnie Franklin on Broadway, another pedestrian has been hit and critically injured on our region’s most dangerous corridor. This crash was at Wabash and Broadway, a notorious intersection where there has already been one pedestrian fatality and one serious injury in the last year.

If multiple people died in one building in a single year, we can be pretty sure the building would be at least temporarily closed to the public. If multiple people died in quick succession on a single airplane or train, those vehicles would be taken out of service while officials investigated. If multiple people died after eating the same food, there would certainly be a recall. Why then do we continue to allow business as usual to continue on public roads like Broadway, 4th and 5th Streets, while one after another people die and face life-changing injuries?

We are grateful for the life-saving South Broadway Complete Streets Project that is improving conditions south of the Bayshore Mall. And we look forward to similar improvements coming to Broadway’s “middle segment” in the next few years. But securing these improvements required many years of campaigning by CRTP and our allies, they are taking years to become reality, and they still fall short of making Eureka’s US 101 corridor a truly safe place to walk, bike, roll, and drive. Enough is enough. Caltrans needs to respond to this safety crisis with the urgency and seriousness it deserves.

Humboldt Bay Trail Updates

Our friends at Humboldt Waterkeeper have produced a new audio tour of the Humboldt Bay Trail featuring interviews with local experts covering 40 points of interest between the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center and the south end of the Hikshari’ Trail in Eureka. Check it out and appreciate the crown jewel of our local trail system even more!

If you’re out on the trail on a windy day, watch out for waves. Last weekend’s winds caused waves to splash over the trail in many locations, raising concerns about how the trail will hold up during the wet and stormy winter meteorologists are predicting. CRTP is keeping an eye on this issue. If you experience conditions on the trail that you think are unsafe, please let us know and report it on Street Story.

Reconnecting Arcata Doesn’t Necessarily Mean a Highway Cap

The idea of covering up the US 101 highway canyon in the middle of Arcata with a big land bridge has a lot of appeal. But CRTP has always encouraged the city to focus more of its energy on lower cost, near-term, and perhaps more realistic options to restore bike and pedestrian connections. Now the city is doing just that.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Predicting Impacts of California’s New E-Bike Labeling Law

CalBike looks to other states with similar laws to predict how effective SB 1167 will be at reining in rampant mislabeling of e-motos as e-bikes. They conclude that how the state enforces the law will be a crucial factor.

Virginia Students Develop a Safe Walking App

High school students in Fairfax County, Virginia noticed that Google Maps was really designed for drivers, and often sends pedestrians to dangerous streets without sidewalks or other protective infrastructure. So they built their own app designed specifically to provide safe pedestrian directions. The app is only available in Fairfax County, but could provide a template for other areas across the country.

Walkability Is About More Than Just Walking

A walkable place doesn’t just let you walk easily from one place to another. It also facilitates the kinds of human connection that enrich our lives.

Voting, Buses, Climate Action, and More!

Posted on October 9, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

October 9, 2026

A stamp saying "VOTE" with a background photo of bicycles

Time to Vote!

Election Day is November 3rd, but you don’t have to wait to vote. Most registered voters in California should have received their ballots in the mail this week. CRTP joins the Humboldt County Office of Elections in encouraging voters to make a plan to vote early. Click here for information on all the options for casting your ballot.

Local, state, and federal elections all have big impacts on the safety, equity, and sustainability of our transportation system. We encourage our members and supporters to do their research on candidates and ballot measures before voting. CRTP has taken the following positions on ballot measures this election:

NO on Proposition 43. This measure would make it virtually impossible for local voters to raise money for things like transit service or bike and pedestrian infrastructure.
NO on Proposition 45. This measure would gut the California Environmental Quality Act, removing critical environmental safeguards for projects ranging from highway expansions to sprawling subdivisions.
YES on Arcata’s Measure G. Measure G renews an existing City of Arcata sales tax that has provided significant funding for bike and pedestrian infrastructure over the last two decades. The funding has helped support new crosswalks, bike lanes, sidewalks, and even the Humboldt Bay Trail and the Annie & Mary Trail.

More Reasons for Cal Poly Humboldt to Fund the Bus

An infographic showing that 72% of AMRTS evening riders are students, and 15% of Cal Poly Humboldt students access classes by bus

One Vote Away from Regional Climate Action Plan Implementation

This week, both the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and the Arcata City Council approved a regional memorandum of understanding that provides for the creation of a Regional Climate Committee housed at the Redwood Coast Energy Authority, as well as commitments to fund a Climate Program Manager through 2030. These are the first steps toward formal implementation of the Regional Climate Action Plan, which tackles climate pollution from transportation among other local sources. While we hope that all local cities will follow suit, approval from the Eureka City Council is the only remaining step officially needed for the agreement to take effect. We expect that to happen in the next few weeks.

A pie chart shows 73% of emissions coming from on-road transportation, with a variety of smaller pie slices representing other sources of emissions

More Riders, More Buses

Bus ridership in Humboldt County is up roughly 20% from a year ago! Transit ridership plummeted across the country during the pandemic, as people stayed home and avoided crowds, and the situation was no different here on the North Coast. But ridership has been steadily climbing since then, and has finally reached pre-pandemic levels, boosted in recent months by the skyrocketing cost of gas.

Of course, the Humboldt Transit Authority needs enough buses on hand to provide good service to all of those new and existing riders. When a supply chain disruption stopped fuel shipments several months ago for the agency’s brand-new fleet of 11 hydrogen buses, that became a real challenge. But more hydrogen fuel finally started arriving this week, and HTA hopes to get the buses on the road soon.

Bike & Pedestrian Improvements Coming to McKinleyville, Blue Lake

At its meeting next week, the California Transportation Commission is slated to approve funding for much-needed bike and pedestrian safety upgrades at the US 101 School Road interchange in McKinleyville, as well as the long-planned “Phase II” of Blue Lake’s Hatchery Road project, which includes new bike lanes, crosswalks, curb ramps, and a pedestrian signal.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Rural Transit Brings Big Economic Benefits

A new study from Massachusetts shows that even the most bare-bones transit service in rural areas generates significant economic benefits. But we didn’t need a new study to tell us that! CRTP’s own 2026 Economic Fact Sheet for Humboldt County transit shows that local buses last year allowed riders to access almost 190,000 work shifts, more than 200,000 school days, and 50,000 medical appointments. Plus, transit riders spent an estimated $7.2 million shopping at local businesses!

Parking Pushback a Proxy for Prejudice

A new study finds that neighbors are significantly more likely to raise objections over the parking impacts of a new religious building project when that project is a mosque, as opposed to a church. The researchers hypothesize that “insufficient parking” is such a common basis for opposing new development that it can be deployed as a smokescreen to hide objections based on deeper prejudices.

It’s the Week Without Driving!

Posted on October 2, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

October 2, 2026

The picture is taken from inside the back of a bus, looking toward the front. Bus passengers with beanies and baseball hats are seated, with the backs of their heads visible.

A bicyclist in a blue helmet bikes down a bike boulevard.

It’s the Week Without Driving!

The Week Without Driving started yesterday and runs through next Thursday. Participants challenge themselves not to drive a car for as much of the week as they can. If you drive during the week, you’re encouraged to reflect on why you drove, and what you would have done if you didn’t have that option. More than 40 people in Humboldt County have signed up to participate this year, including many elected officials, public agency staff, and other community leaders.

This year’s Week Without Driving comes at a particularly challenging time for nondrivers, including many people with disabilities, kids, older people, immigrants, people with suspended licenses, and people who can’t afford to own or operate a vehicle. Consistently high gas prices in recent months have put driving out of reach for even more people.

At the same time, funding for public transit service is under threat at many levels. There have been recent bus service cuts in Arcata due to loss of funding from Cal Poly Humboldt, and the university may withdraw its longstanding funding for all evening bus service in Arcata. The San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority is facing financial challenges operating the Amtrak bus route that serves the county. Recent changes to California’s Cap and Invest program are predicted to all but eliminate several transit funding programs that local agencies have relied on in recent years.

Meanwhile, the transportation bill being debated in Congress would result in substantial reductions in transit funding, and the Trump administration has proposed cutting virtually all federal funding for transit.

If you’re noticing local unmet transit needs – whether in your daily life or during your participation in the Week Without Driving – you can attend a Eureka City Council hearing next Tuesday to report your experiences. There will be more hearings in other communities in the coming weeks, and you can also provide your input using the survey here.

An infographic showing that 16% of rides taken by students last year were on routes no longer running due to Cal Poly Humboldt funding cuts

Arcata Council Candidates Talk Housing

How and where new homes are built is a crucial factor in how walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly our communities will be in the future. It was also the main topic addressed by Arcata city council candidates at a recent forum.

Progress Report on Local Bike & Pedestrian Improvements

CRTP advocates for big, systemic changes to ensure that our transportation system is safe, equitable, and climate-friendly. But small, local improvements can also make a big difference in local neighborhoods and communities, and we advocate for those too! Here are a few updates from around Humboldt County:

New crosswalks, flashing signage, and accessible curb ramps are being installed this week at several intersections in McKinleyville and Redway. We’re happy to see these improvements, although we’re disappointed that the curb ramps do not follow best practices for people with disabilities, as we had advocated.
The city of Eureka says it will be installing some bike improvements as well as curb extensions, curb ramps, and new sidewalk for pedestrians on parts of N, 2nd, and Harris Streets as part of its annual repaving project. The inclusion of these safety improvements is the result of the city’s Complete and Green Streets Policy, which CRTP worked hard to get adopted several years ago.
Arcata’s city engineer will be giving an annual update on the implementation of Arcata’s Complete Streets Policy at the city council meeting next week. That policy is the result of CRTP’s advocacy too!

News from Beyond the North Coast

Transportation Bills Good & Bad Signed by Governor

A number of transportation-related bills will become law soon after Governor Newsom signed them this week. Those bills include some priorities for transportation advocates, like SB 1167, which will help prevent e-motos from being deceptively sold as e-bikes and encourage better data to inform the e-bike debate, and AB 1976, which will make it easier for communities to add traffic-calming features and harder to cancel planned bike improvements.

Unfortunately, the governor also signed AB 2059, which exempts transportation projects in rural counties from having to analyze their impacts on driving. The bill ignores academic research demonstrating that, just like in urban areas, rural projects that make it quicker and easier to drive lead to more vehicle miles traveled.

“A Community Member Was Killed Here”

Spokane, Washington has become the first city in the US to implement an Emergency Streets program. The city now intervenes immediately after a deadly crash to slow traffic in the area and investigate ways to prevent the same thing from happening again in the future.

Typical Pedestrian Safety Advice Just Doesn’t Cut It

Public messages to pedestrians like “look both ways before you cross the street,” “make eye contact with the driver,” and “only cross at a crosswalk” fail to acknowledge the realities facing pedestrians and do not keep them safe. And because we put the burden of avoiding a crash on pedestrians, as Smart Growth America CEO Beth Osborne points out, we’re basically telling people who walk or roll: “Be very, very careful because if you are hit, it will be your fault.”

What Lessons Can We Learn From a Tragedy?

Posted on September 25, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

September 25, 2026

Plastic bollards between a bike lane and a wide street.

What Lessons Can We Learn From a Tragedy?

This week, we mourn the death of Ronnie Franklin, the 20-year-old McKinleyville resident and Caltrans contractor who died while helping build new bike and pedestrian safety improvements on Broadway in Eureka. Selah Town allegedly hit Franklin with a large GMC Yukon SUV after driving through safety cones into the construction zone where he was working. Town is alleged to have been driving drunk while on probation for a previous DUI conviction.

We are sick of reporting tragedies like this on our local streets and roads. While we remember Ronnie Franklin today, we also revisit what happened to draw lessons about how to prevent something like this from happening again. Here are some lessons we can take from what we know so far:

Pedestrians and bicyclists need real protection from speeding drivers. A better safety system is needed for temporary construction zones. And for permanent infrastructure on high-speed roads, plastic does not provide enough protection for vulnerable road users.
Vehicles need to be designed for pedestrian safety. The vehicle that hit Ronnie Franklin was over 5,500 pounds and more than 6 feet tall, with a high, blunt front end – a design that increases the risk of pedestrian death by almost 50% in a crash.
Ignition interlock devices should be in more vehicles. California has systematically failed to keep dangerous drivers off the road, even after multiple offenses. One of the many problems: unlike most states, California does not require ignition interlock devices for first-time DUI offenders. A recent bill to change that was gutted by state legislators just last month. If you’ve been convicted of drunk driving, you should be required to use this technology to keep you from doing it again. In fact, why isn’t this technology standard in all new vehicles to keep anyone from driving drunk at all?
Better design, public transit, and better zoning are needed to make streets safer. Until ignition interlock devices are installed in all vehicles, we won’t be able to keep all drunk drivers off the road. But there are things we can do to reduce the number of drunk drivers, and reduce the chances that they kill someone. Better public transit service can provide more attractive options for intoxicated people to get where they’re going without getting behind the wheel. Zoning rules can prohibit bars and other alcohol-serving establishments in places that are only reachable by car. And traffic-calming designs that work at a subconscious level, like narrower lanes, could slow intoxicated drivers too, decreasing the risk of tragedy.

Transit Month Isn’t Over Yet!

A white woman with long brown hair and a blue hat talks to a white man with glasses on a bus.

You still have a few more days to log your transit rides for a chance to win prizes donated by the Humboldt Transit Authority. Every ride you log is like a ticket in a raffle, increasing your chances of winning. We’ll be picking the winners after September 30th.

There’s also still plenty of time to participate in the annual Unmet Transit Needs process, which provides an opportunity to get your observations and opinions about the need for specific transit service improvements documented in the official record. You can provide your input using the survey here.

As soon as Transit Month ends, the Week Without Driving starts. So even if you’ve never ridden the bus, this is a great time to start! The Humboldt Transit Authority has a helpful new video telling you everything you need to know.

Want to take your transit support to the next level? HTA is looks for folks to join the friendly crew of local bus drivers getting people where they need to go!

Could Eureka’s Next Housing Developer Be You?

Eureka is looking for land owners who might be interested in building new housing over the next several years. If you own some vacant land or an underutilized parking lot, you can contact the city to register your property. It doesn’t commit you to building anything, but it does help the city plan for more walkable, transit-friendly housing in the future.

Eureka City Council Candidates Have a Lot to Say About Bikes

As we previously reported, one city council candidate has been talking a lot about biking since announcing his campaign, and another has identified as a nondriver and bicyclist. Now, even more candidates are weighing in on bike infrastructure, particularly the new C Street Bike Boulevard.

In the E-Bike Debate, Facts Matter

The Eureka Police Department is in the midst of a crack-down on e-bike riders, and they have repeatedly stressed that they want to educate the public about the relevant rules and regulations. In this heightened environment, it’s particularly problematic when EPD broadcasts misinformation about e-bikes and their riders.

This week, police arrested a 15-year-old riding (apparently) an e-bike on the sidewalk in Eureka. In the press release about the arrest carried by local media outlets, EPD incorrectly equated Class 3 e-bikes with e-motos and falsely asserted that a driver’s license is required to ride a Class 3 e-bike. In fact, the press release repeatedly calls the teen in this case a “driver,” rather than a bike rider. After CRTP and others pointed out the errors, at least one local media outlet corrected some of these misstatements.

Another misleading aspect of the EPD press release remained unaddressed. The release states that the teen was arrested for, among other things, “reckless driving,” and suggests that “riding on a sidewalk where prohibited” might be a contributing factor. In fact, in Eureka, sidewalk riding is only prohibited downtown and in Henderson Center, neither of which was the location of this incident.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Trump’s Transit Cuts Would Hit Rural Areas Hardest

Rural transit agencies rely more heavily on federal funding than big urban systems. And small town systems with more federal investment generate a lot more ridership.

Driveways and Parking Lots Are Dangerous, Too

When we talk about the problems with parking lots, we usually focus on all the land they take up that could otherwise be used for homes or businesses. But parking lots and driveways are also the site of up to 1,000 motor vehicle-related deaths in the US each year. The federal government, however, doesn’t include these deaths in its traffic safety figures, because they occur on private property. Since most of those deaths are likely pedestrians, that means a significant portion of pedestrian fatalities go unreported.

“The Most Expensive Trip Is the One You Could Have Walked”

There’s been a lot of discussion about high fuel prices in the media recently. But few commentators have noted the fact that Americans wouldn’t be so hard hit if they had other options to get around.

Just How Dangerous Is Our Region for Pedestrians?

Posted on September 18, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

September 18, 2026

A sign with a pedestrian symbol in a circle with a line through it, hanging on a chain in front of a wide street.

Just How Dangerous Is Our Region for Pedestrians?

Almost every year, Humboldt County ranks among the most dangerous counties in the state for pedestrians. Eureka is always close to the top in the list of the most dangerous small cities in the state.

We know that much of this bad local safety record for pedestrians – and for bicyclists and motorists – is the result of the dangers on US 101 in Eureka, which is why we are fighting so hard for safety improvements on Broadway and on 4th and 5th Streets. Just this week, in a dark irony, a young Caltrans contractor helping to install new protected bike lanes on Broadway – bike lanes CRTP fought hard to get built – was hit by a driver and severely injured. Our thoughts are with Ronnie Franklin, and we hope he has a full and speedy recovery. Clearly, we have a long way to go to make our local roads safe.

A new national report helps put our local situation into perspective. The report ranks California’s 2nd Congressional District, encompassing the North Coast region, as the 150th most dangerous for pedestrians. In other words, about two thirds of US congressional districts have a pedestrian safety record better than ours. And the United States as a whole has the highest pedestrian death rate among the world’s high-income countries.

While Eureka might be the epicenter of this crisis locally, these data show that the whole region has a lot of work to do to ensure the freedom to walk safely in our local communities.

Join the Local Transit Improvement Movement!

As California Transit Month continues, CRTP will be hosting a local gathering for transit riders next Monday, September 21st. It’s an opportunity to connect with fellow riders and add your voice to local and regional transit issues. From protecting existing funding to building a better system for riders of all abilities, ages, and backgrounds, attend to learn how you can make a difference on Humboldt’s bus systems. Text or call 707-440-9839 for time & location.

You can also honor Transit Month by participating in the annual Unmet Transit Needs process, which provides an opportunity to get your observations and opinions about the need for specific transit service improvements documented in the official record. You can provide your input using the survey here.

And don’t forget to keep logging your transit rides throughout the month of September for a chance to win prizes donated by the Humboldt Transit Authority!

Big Local Trail Investments Planned

The Great Redwood Trail Agency board of directors is meeting today and is slated to approve a list of substantial new investments in trail projects throughout the region. We are particularly excited to see funding allocated to complete environmental and design work for a new trail from Eureka to College of the Redwoods, and to plan, design, and build a trail from Arcata to Manila.

These trails are long-time community priorities which will fill in big gaps in regional active transportation commuting infrastructure. Currently, many people bike on highway shoulders to get between College of the Redwoods and Eureka, and between Arcata and Manila, often because they have no other options. Developing these trails will dramatically improve safety and attract more people to use healthy, climate-friendly modes of transportation.

Why Are Street Safety Improvements Being Removed?

A small circle of low rubber bumpers and signs with arrows in the middle of an intersection.

This week, the city of Eureka removed two quick-build mini-roundabouts that had only recently been installed. The idea is to collect data on intersection safety without the mini-roundabouts in place, so it can be compared to data collected while they were there. We wish the city had collected data before they installed the mini-roundabouts and then left them there. But under the circumstances, we hope that the new safety data will at least provide support for more safety interventions in the future.

Meanwhile, we are advocating for the city of Arcata to leave its new quick-build speed humps on K and 11th Streets in place. While they have not solved all the safety problems on these streets, these speed humps have resulted in notable decreases in vehicle speeds where they were installed.

Eureka Parking Management Changes

Eureka is proposing new parking rules in its Downtown and Old Town neighborhoods, adding stricter time limits for on-street parking in an attempt to encourage parking turnover and benefit local businesses. We appreciate the city’s attempt to better manage its on-street parking. But the most effective, efficient, and fair way to manage parking is to charge a reasonable rate for it and let drivers decide how long to stay, rather than trying to figure out in advance exactly how long a car should be allowed to occupy each space. The city has previously announced plans to meter on-street parking in the area, and we look forward to those plans being developed and implemented soon.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Why Are State Leaders Giving Money to Big Oil Instead of Transit?

Check out this op-ed for an overview of the California Air Resources Board’s terrible decision de-funding state transit programs, and the legislature’s failure to fix the problem.

Vote No on Propositions 43 & 45

Proposition 43 would make it nearly impossible for local communities to raise money for things like transit, bike lanes, and sidewalks. Proposition 45 would remove environmental guardrails for major construction projects, including highway expansions and other climate-wrecking boondoggles. CRTP urges a No vote on both.

The Self-Driving Cars Are Coming…and There’s Nobody in Them

For years, experts have warned that if autonomous vehicles become widespread, they will clog the streets and highways while driving around empty waiting for a passenger. We are seeing glimpses of that future already, leading advocates to call for the implementation of a vacant vehicle fee.

Will Increased E-Bike Enforcement Really Help Anything?

Posted on September 11, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

September 11, 2026

An older white woman wearing short, a blue plaid shirt and a red helmet rides a tricycle on a paved trail along a body of water.

Will Increased E-Bike Enforcement Really Help Anything?

E-bikes have become enormously popular in recent years, and with good reason. E-bikes can provide the extra assistance needed for many older folks and people with disabilities to get around on a bike. They can help parents haul kids and groceries. They can help people bike longer distances and get up steeper hills. And research shows that people use e-bikes to replace cars on many trips, improving health and reducing climate pollution.

As more and more e-bikes hit the streets, there have been more crashes involving e-bikes (although, as we have noted in the past, many crashes reported as involving e-bikes actually involved high-powered e-motos). Just as with crashes involving pedestrians and “analog” bikes, the public discourse around e-bike crashes focuses almost exclusively on the behavior of e-bike riders. In other words, the public almost always blames the victim. The results of this trend include initiatives like the Eureka Police Department’s current crack-down on e-bike riders.

CRTP applauds EPD’s recent efforts to bring more attention to the traffic safety crisis in Eureka, which started long before anyone was riding an e-bike. And we don’t deny that – just like drivers, pedestrians, and other bicyclists – e-bike riders don’t always make safe and responsible choices. But we have serious concerns about a law enforcement campaign focused on people riding e-bikes.

A bicyclist on a sidewalk next to a busy street.

Most bike and e-bike legal infractions are not related to behaviors that truly increase safety risk, and they tend to be disproportionately enforced on people of color and unhoused people. In fact, the National Association of City Transportation Officials has called for the repeal of most laws criminalizing bike riders, both because of their inequitable impacts and because they do not improve safety.

Even infractions that are often seen as dangerous – like riding on the sidewalk, riding against traffic, or rolling through a stop sign – are often logical responses to infrastructure that is not designed for bikes. Facing hostile infrastructure, bicyclists often choose what they feel is safe over what the law says they should do. Telling them not to do so is unlikely to change their behavior.

And even in cases where there is no clear explanation or excuse for the risky activities of particular people riding e-bikes, enforcement is unlikely to result in lasting behavior change or safety gains at a community level. As advocates have long pointed out, enforcement is a high-effort, low-impact road safety intervention. So while traffic stops for high-risk behaviors – like speeding or driving under the influence – can mitigate an immediate safety risk, we must not let a focus on enforcement distract from proven, long-term safety countermeasures like traffic calming and better bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

Finally, we have to note that, when facing the fact that a dramatic increase in enforcement has not resulted in any meaningful safety gains, EPD has implied that many of its traffic stops are actually pretextual. (For example: “Traffic stops can lead to the identification of individuals wanted on warrants, the discovery of drug activity, and the apprehension of individuals involved in violent or property crimes.”) But the research shows that pretextual stops are subject to bias, do not increase road safety, and are not effective at discovering or reducing other criminal activity.

In light of these facts, CRTP is urging EPD to focus its enforcement efforts on only the most dangerous behaviors. We also urge EPD to act as “eyes and ears” on the street and work with the city’s engineering department to help identify dangerous locations and inadequate infrastructure before more crashes happen. Put another way, we hope EPD will apply the familiar principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and help champion the proven strategy of Crash Prevention Through Street Design.

Most critically, we urge the whole of city government to work together toward proven, sustainable safety countermeasures. This means recognizing e-bike safety – and all transportation safety – as primarily a public health problem, not a law enforcement problem, and prioritizing the most effective systemic measures accordingly.

Transit Month Continues!

Next Monday, September 14th, Humboldt Transit Authority bus drivers will be joining CRTP at Friends of the Eel River’s monthly Solidarity Gathering at Humbrews in Arcata from 5-7 pm. Come out to meet the folks who keep the buses moving, ask them your burning questions about how transit works, and show your appreciation for some of our community’s most essential workers! Special thanks to AFSCME Local 1684 for co-sponsoring this event.

A white woman and white man talk with each other across the aisle on a bus.

The following Monday, September 21st, CRTP will be hosting a transit rider gathering. It’s an opportunity to connect with fellow riders and add your voice to local and regional transit issues. From protecting existing funding to building a better system for riders of all abilities, ages, and backgrounds, attend to learn how you can make a difference on Humboldt’s bus systems. Text or call 707-440-9839 for time & location.

The annual Unmet Transit Needs process has also begun in Humboldt County, providing an opportunity to get your observations and opinions about the need for specific transit service improvements documented in the official record. You can provide your input using the survey here.

Finally, don’t forget to keep logging your transit rides throughout the month of September for a chance to win prizes donated by the Humboldt Transit Authority!

A map of McKinleyville's Central Avenue corridor, with red-colored parking lots occupying much of the area.

Central McKinleyville Is 38% Parking

Following up on our previously published maps of off-street parking in downtown Eureka and Arcata, CRTP has now produced a map of off-street parking in McKinleyville’s Central Avenue corridor. The conclusion – shocking, but perhaps not surprising – is that 38% of developable land in the corridor is covered by parking lots.

This analysis demonstrates both a massive challenge and a huge potential for turning not just the designated Town Center, but also the rest of the community’s core area, into a more walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly corridor.

$23 Million and Counting for Eureka Slough Bridge Repairs

The Eureka Slough Bridges carry a lot of traffic, and Caltrans should do what it has to do to ensure they’re safe. But this ongoing emergency project has us thinking: wouldn’t it be nice if Caltrans acted with the same urgency and the same open-ended funding commitment to addressing the injuries and deaths that happen regularly on the US 101 corridor throughout Eureka? Or at least created a temporary safe route for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross the highway, with the Waterfront Trail under the bridges closed indefinitely while bridge work continues?

News from Beyond the North Coast

Let’s Kill That Bill

As we’ve previously reported, the federal transportation reauthorization bill is bad for safety, bad for pedestrians, bad for bicyclists, and bad for transit. Congress recently passed a stopgap transportation bill, but this bad bill is still waiting in the wings. Tell Congress to scrap it and start over.

Pickups and SUVs Are Truly Dangerous for Pedestrians

Another new study shows that bigger vehicles, especially those with higher front ends, are much more likely to kill or seriously injure pedestrians in a crash. Pickup trucks in the study were most likely to kill or injure someone when a crash happens, while full-size SUVs were most likely to get in a crash in the first place.

A Mixed Bag for Transit

Posted on September 4, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

September 4, 2026

Riders seated on a bus, with a quote overlaid reading "For students, working families, and low-income riders like me, transit is not a luxury. It is what makes opportunity possible."

State & Federal Budget Bills Offer a Mixed Bag for Transit

On the eve of Transit Month, California legislators approved a follow-up budget bill on Monday that preserves an important source of direct operating funding for local transit agencies. They also delivered some additional funding to other climate initiatives threatened with cuts from Governor Newsom’s new Cap-and-Invest rule. However, the legislature did not provide funding for the two other big transit programs threatened by Newsom’s rule.

That means the state programs that have allowed local transit agencies on the North Coast to build new transit centers, upgrade bus stops, offer free fare programs for youth and seniors, and buy zero-emission buses are projected to see a 76% funding cut this year.

Meanwhile, at the federal level, Congress passed a stop-gap budget bill that extends current transportation funding programs through December. However, because the bill didn’t guarantee that any actual funding would be disbursed to transit agencies, advocates say the bill amounts to a 20% cut in federal transit investment.

Speak Up About the Future of US 101

A wide four-lane road with a middle two-way turn lane is filled with cards in both directions.

Caltrans has published a draft plan for the future of US 101 from Mendocino County to the Oregon border. This is a great opportunity to tell Caltrans we want major safety improvements on Eureka’s 4th Street, 5th Street, and Broadway, which are all part of US 101 and are some of the most dangerous streets in the whole region.

The draft US 101 Corridor Management Plan is long, but it mostly calls for just keeping the highway the way it is right now. We think that’s unacceptable. The way the highway is now contributes to numerous injuries and deaths every year and fails to provide adequate facilities for safe, low-carbon transportation options like walking, biking and transit. Significant design changes, including converting some existing lanes into protected bike lanes or other facilities, are needed to make US 101 a safe, modern facility. Caltrans is taking online comments here through the end of the month.

Protecting Transit’s Role in Multi-Racial Inclusive Democracy

Public transit provides access to participate in society for people of all ages, abilities, and incomes. It is not an accident that transit has been the site of many of the US’s civil rights struggles. Mass transit is a mechanism for an integrated society as both a public arena that people of different backgrounds share and a means for people to access diverse neighborhoods.

Join us next Thursday, September 10th, at 5:45 pm at the McKinleyville Family Resource Center for a talk by Laurel Paget-Seekins on how the Trump administration’s attack on multi-racial inclusive democracy is impacting public transit and what we can do in California to protect and strengthen transit.

We encourage you to take the bus to the talk if you can! And if you do, don’t forget to log your ride for a chance to win prizes donated by the Humboldt Transit Authority.

Del Norte Faces Possible Transit Service Cuts

The Redwood Coast Transit Authority, which serves Del Norte County, is considering reducing service on its bus routes and increasing fares to address a budget shortfall. Among the cuts being discussed is the elimination of Saturday service on Route 20, which connects Crescent City with Klamath, Orick, Trinidad, Arcata, and Eureka, as well as Redwoods State and National Parks.

RCTA is scheduled to make a final decision on service cuts and fare increases at its September 28th board meeting. Affected riders can attend that meeting to weigh in, or submit feedback via the RCTA website.

Workshops on Yurok Tribal Transit Next Week

The Yurok Tribe is holding three community workshops next week to get public feedback as they work to update their Transit Development Plan:

Tuesday, September 8th, 1:30-3:00 pm, Eureka Tribal Office, 1034 6th St.
Wednesday, September 9th, 6:00-7:00 pm, Klamath Tribal Office, 190 Klamath Blvd.
Thursday, September 10th, 10:00-11:30 am, Weitchpec Tribal Office, 23001 CA-96

The workshops can also be attended by Zoom. Email Transportation Planner Chris Sterner at csterner@lsctrans.com with questions.

The Real Impacts of Transit Cuts

Transit funding is complicated. The legislative process is confusing. It’s easy to get lost in numbers and jargon and political spin. But cuts to transit have real impacts on local people who rely on transit to meet their everyday needs. The local economy also suffers from employees not being able to reach jobs, students not being able to reach schools, and shoppers not being able to reach local businesses.

Transit cuts also deal a major blow to our efforts to tackle the climate crisis. Getting more people out of cars and onto buses is one of the major strategies for reducing climate pollution. With the North Coast already feeling the escalating impacts of climate change, and international experts predicting the planet will soon pass a critical temperature threshold, cuts aimed at important climate solutions like public transit are extremely short-sighted and damaging.

News from Beyond the North Coast

Transportation Bills on the Governor’s Desk

Among the bills awaiting Newsom’s signature or veto is SB 1167, a key labeling and transparency bill to distinguish between legal e-bikes and high-powered e-motos.

Local Government Vehicles Can Make a Big Safety Difference

By adopting technologies that limit speeding and help avoid crashes, and buying smaller and more safely designed vehicles, local governments can lead by example and make a real impact on safety in our communities.

Is This the Last Nice Thing We’ll Get for Transit?

Posted on August 28, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

August 28, 2026

A group of people with hard hats and golden shovels stand behind a wooden box of dirt with a blue bus in the background.

Is This the Last Nice Thing We’ll Get for Transit?

This week, the Humboldt Transit Authority and Danco officially broke ground for the Eureka Regional Transit and Housing Center, more commonly referred to as the EaRTH Center. Eureka has long needed a good downtown transit hub and more walkable housing, and this project provides both. CRTP has been advocating for the EaRTH Center for years, and we’re excited to see construction begin!

The EaRTH Center is one of many local transit projects made possible by the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP). In fact, in recent years TIRCP has been the main source of funding on the North Coast for new buses, bus stop upgrades, and other transit infrastructure.

TIRCP is one of the critical transit and housing programs that is anticipated to be defunded by rule changes recently made by Governor Newsom’s appointees to the California Air Resources Board. If TIRCP funding dries up, it’s not clear where local agencies will get funding for the new buses they need, let alone bigger infrastructure projects – like, for example, a much-needed new transit center in Arcata, and a planned transit hub in the McKinleyville Town Center.

Let’s make sure this isn’t the end for transit infrastructure improvements in our region. Click here to email state leaders today and tell them to fully fund TIRCP and other transit and housing programs. Don’t wait! Legislators must take action in the next few days to avoid severe funding cuts starting this fiscal year.

Eureka’s Safety Crisis and Solutions

Last Friday, the Lost Coast Outpost published a “deep dive” into Eureka’s traffic safety crisis, and we’re grateful for the coverage. It’s critically important for the media to report on traffic safety as the systemic issue that it is, rather than simply re-publishing police reports and treating every crash as an isolated incident.

As CRTP Executive Director Colin Fiske notes in the Outpost article, the most effective, evidence-based strategies for making streets safer involve redesigning those streets to slow traffic, minimize conflicts, and provide safe places to walk and bike. In Eureka’s most dangerous corridor, Caltrans is taking baby steps in that direction with changes like the newly activated traffic signal at Broadway and Hilfiker Lane. This signal provides a safer crossing of Broadway at an access point to the Waterfront Trail, in a location where pedestrians and bicyclists previously had to make a half-mile detour to cross at a light.

A bar chart shows that the number of pedestrians and bicyclists injured or killed on US-101 in Eureka over the last decade varies from year to year but shows no significant downward trend.

But the self-congratulatory message Caltrans provides for the article is premature. Hiding behind selective and misleading statistics, Caltrans spokesperson Miles Cochrane argues that collisions in Eureka’s US-101 corridor have declined dramatically in the last decade. What he doesn’t mention is that there has been no significant, sustained decrease in the number of people actually injured and killed. Nor does he point out that, due to Humboldt County’s small population, there is significant random variation in injuries and deaths each year. In other words, you can create the illusion of a trend simply by selecting convenient years to start and end your comparison.

The most substantial safety upgrades on Broadway – like the new traffic signal – have all been made recently, so we haven’t had time to judge their effects. If studies of other locations are any indication, these improvements will make a difference in the immediate vicinity of where they are implemented. But to really move the needle, a corridor-wide overhaul is needed.

Another Serious Injury Crash in Eureka

On Thursday, a collision involving the driver of a vehicle and the rider of a two-wheeled device left the rider incapacitated with serious injuries. The only public information about the crash comes from a Eureka Police Department press release. The device involved is identified by EPD as an e-bike, but given the longstanding confusion and lack of clear labeling distinction between legal e-bikes and high-powered e-motos, we don’t know with certainty what kind of device it was.

We also don’t know the rider’s account of what happened, since he was incapacitated in the crash. What we do know, thanks to EPD, are some apparently irrelevant details about the rider that will surely color public opinion, such as the fact that witnesses said he was “smoking from a tobacco vape prior to the collision.”

It may very well be true, as witnesses reported, that the rider in this crash was breaking traffic laws and otherwise behaving dangerously. But making mistakes, even big ones, should not be a death sentence. The Vision Zero approach, adopted regionally in Humboldt County, acknowledges that all serious traffic injuries and deaths are preventable.

A cluster of reports on Street Story shows numerous near-misses and crashes at this particular intersection in the past, a clear indication of the need for safety improvements. Ultimately, regardless of who is legally at fault in a crash, traffic calming and other interventions can reduce the chances of injury or death.

Our thoughts are with the seriously injured rider. Whoever he is, and whatever he did leading up to the crash, we wish him a full and speedy recovery.

Arcata Planning Commission Takes a Stand for Bike Parking

The Arcata Planning Commission approved a small housing project near downtown this week after requiring the developer to convert one of the planned car parking spaces into a bike parking structure. We are grateful to the Commission for its recognition of the importance of safe, weather-protected bike parking!

News from Beyond the North Coast

Trump Administration’s “Safety Strategy” Severely Lacking

Surprising no one, the US Department of Transportation’s new Roadway Safety Strategy leaves out evidence-backed safety measures that the administration doesn’t like – such as road diets and bike lanes – and makes no mention of bicyclists or pedestrians.

Maybe It’s Not the Bread…

Americans visiting Europe frequently report losing weight despite eating plenty of calories. Some think there’s something magical about European flour. But maybe it’s just the fact that they walked to the restaurant.

The E-Bikelash Continues

A Southern California prosecutor has initiated a buy-back program for e-bikes, putting them in the same “threat to the community” category as guns, and treating all legal e-bikes and illegal e-motos as equivalently dangerous. As politicians across the country scramble to demonize e-bikes, this political stunt ranks among the most absurd examples.

New Research Supports Demands for 4th & 5th Street Safety Overhaul

Posted on August 21, 2026 by Colin Fiske

The Collector

August 21, 2026

New Research Supports Demands for 4th & 5th Street Safety Overhaul

CRTP’s “Dangerous Downtown Streets” report and the 4th and 5th Street safety petition we delivered to Caltrans both propose significant, corridor-wide safety improvements. Most notably, we are advocating for the conversion of these three-lane streets into two-lane streets with a protected bike lane throughout the corridor. In contrast, Caltrans only wants to consider minor changes to specific intersections.

Our recommendations for a complete safety overhaul of 4th and 5th Streets (as well as Broadway) are based on a rigorous review of the research on what actually works to reduce traffic injuries and deaths. And evidence continues to pile up to support this approach.

A new study of pedestrian crash risk at night – when more than half of pedestrian injuries and deaths occur on 4th and 5th Streets – finds that the best way to reduce crash risk and severity is to lower vehicle speeds. The study emphasizes that even safety upgrades like improved lighting are best done at the corridor level rather than only in specific locations. It also identifies “road reallocation” – in other words, converting vehicle space into bike or pedestrian space – as a key strategy for both lowering speeds and reducing pedestrian crash exposure.

A diagram showing the combination of increased exposure, high-risk context, driver behavior, and vehicle design that lead to pedestrian safety risk

Meanwhile, another new study shows that even when safety improvements are provided at specific intersections, few pedestrians cross there if they have to walk very far out of their way to do it.

We may bemoan the risky decisions people make. But just as telling drivers not to speed doesn’t work if the road is designed to encourage it, telling pedestrians not to cross the street where they want to doesn’t work if the street design make it inconvenient to do otherwise. Both to slow drivers and to make pedestrian crossings safer, we need good design throughout the corridor, not just in specific locations.

That doesn’t mean intersection upgrades aren’t important – they are – or that they don’t make intersections safer – they do. Our report calls for plenty of intersection improvements, too. But we won’t settle for just a few tweaks here and there. Instead, we will keep fighting for the real, comprehensive solutions that will make these streets truly safe.

The Fight for Transit Funding Continues

A person in tan pants and a camouflage patterned sweater steps onto a bus from the sidewalk.

Even as we fight for Cal Poly Humboldt to continue funding evening bus service in Arcata, and for the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority to continue providing Amtrak bus service between Humboldt and the Bay Area, the fight for even more crucial state transit funding continues.

Transit advocates are working hard to get the state legislature to overturn a California Air Resources Board decision that would effectively eliminate several major transit funding programs – programs the Humboldt Transit Authority and other local agencies have relied on in recent years. The legislature must act by the end of August to ensure the cuts don’t take effect.

Click here to send a message to state leaders demanding that transit funding be restored.

To demonstrate the importance of public transit on the North Coast and beyond, we are gearing up for an active Transit Month in September. We’re hosting a public talk on protecting transit’s role in multi-racial inclusive democracy, a meet-and-greet with Humboldt Transit Authority bus drivers, a gathering for transit riders to organize for more transit investment and better service, and ride-alongs with regular bus riders and local decision-makers. Plus, there’s a fun ride contest where you can earn badges and the chance to win prizes by logging your bus rides in September.

Click here for more information about all our Transit Month events and activities.

Give Input on County and Arcata Housing Plans

Local governments are currently updating their state-mandated Housing Elements to demonstrate how and where they plan to add more needed housing over the next eight years. Next week, Humboldt County will be hosting workshops in Garberville and McKinleyville to get public input on their plans. Meanwhile, Arcata representatives will be at the upcoming Friday Night Markets asking for input on their plans.

CRTP is advocating for all local governments to focus on walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented development, to ensure that new housing is affordable, equitable, and climate-friendly. This is especially important for Humboldt County, since only a few areas within its jurisdiction – most notably McKinleyville and Myrtletown – can really meet these standards.

New research shows that local housing plans throughout the state are failing to direct new homes to the most walkable areas. We intend to make sure that doesn’t happen here. You can join us at one of the upcoming workshops and tell the county to ensure that new homes help us reach climate and livability goals and don’t create new sprawl.

News from Beyond the North Coast

It’s Crunch Time In Sacramento

With only a week to go in the legislative session, several important transportation bills are heading for final votes, while even more have died before getting to this point.

Bills still alive include AB 1976, which would make it harder for opponents to block bike safety projects and easier for residents to request traffic calming measures, and SB 1167, which would clarify the differences between e-bikes and e-motos and require clear labeling.

Bills that have died include several overly restrictive e-bike measures that we’re glad to see gone. But they also include important proposals like AB 2276, which would have required speed-limiting devices in the vehicles of chronic, extreme speeders, and SB 569, which would have made it harder to remove safe bike infrastructure.

Less Driving Means Safer Roads

A new study finds that the amount of driving done in a state is strongly correlated with the number of people who die in traffic crashes – and that when vehicle miles traveled decrease, so do crashes. This might seem obvious, and it is. But the most common way that states measure safety is by the number of fatalities per vehicle mile traveled, which excuses higher death rates when people drive more. If we care about reducing the actual number of traffic deaths, reducing the number of miles people drive is likely one of the most effective strategies.