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Author: Colin Fiske

The Collector: New Trail Planned for Eureka, Richardson Grove Back in Court, Hydrogen Utopia Proclaimed

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Eureka City Council Considers Bike/Ped Trail from Waterfront to the Zoo
The trail project is part of the 2018 Capital Improvement Program considered by the Council on Tuesday night. From what we hear, it got a pretty positive reception.

Richardson Grove Saga Continues with Court Hearing in Eureka
The judge will likely take a while to rule on Caltrans’ request to “discharge the writ” – i.e., proclaim that the agency met its obligations spelled out in a previous ruling in state court. Caltrans would like to have the judge remove that legal barrier before even considering whether they have actually met the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act in the whole process. Does anyone else see a cart pulling a horse here? Meanwhile, a hearing on another of the state court cases concerning the project is scheduled for March 28th.

Extremely Drunk Man Hits Kid on Bike in McKinleyville, Gets Less Than a Year in Jail
CRTP Executive Director Colin Fiske somehow ended up as an alternate juror for this trial, in which an 11-year-old boy on a bicycle was hit on Central Avenue by a man driving a large pickup truck directly after consuming 10-12 beers in a very short period of time. The kid ended up with severe injuries; the driver admitted he was drunk but said the accident was the kid’s fault for allegedly riding his bike in an irregular manner. Editorial comment: Victim blaming is very common when cars and trucks hit people walking or biking. When will we get it through out heads that it’s the person driving an extremely heavy object at high speeds who’s the one doing something dangerous?

March HCAOG Board Meeting Cancelled
Dry your eyes, Humboldt transportation enthusiasts. The April meeting is only a month away.

First Bus Stop Parklet in the US Opens in the East Bay
An inspiration to us all!

New Company Claims to Have Solved All the Problems Plaguing Hydrogen as a Transportation Fuel
Questions to ponder: Is this more hydrogen hype, or is it really a turning point toward clean transportation fuels? And if the latter, would it be a good thing for our society to extend our ability to continue driving cars in the way we currently do well into a carbon-constrained future?

“Microtransit”: The Future of Public Transportation or Revival of a Bad Idea?
Public transit consultant Jarrett Walker says new ideas about incorporating the Uber/Lyft model into public transportation are just new packaging for the failed flexible-route service proposals of the past.

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.

The Collector: Bay Trail Meeting, Speed Limit Bill, Black Panther Transit Inspiration and More

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County Holds Public Meeting on Final Bay Trail Segment
On Tuesday evening, Humboldt County Deputy Public Works Director Hank Seeman presented highlights of the proposed project design and other information available in the Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration, currently being circulated for public comment. Seeman also answered questions and heard comments from attendees, who appeared to be very excited about the trail and eager for the project to be completed. (Don’t hold your breath – Seeman continues to project 2021 as the earliest possible construction date.)

HCAOG Meeting Discusses Bike/Ped Allocation Requests
Humboldt County Association of Government’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) met on Thursday. On the agenda was a discussion of requests for the $57,000 in active transportation funding available this year for the county. The biggest request by far was from the City of Eureka for a study of high fatality and injury rates in the Highway 101/Broadway corridor. Other requests would fund bike/ped counters and a bike repair station in Arcata, Little River Trail grant prep assistance for Trinidad, and Bay Trail user tracking for the County. Also on the TAC agenda were two items pertaining to the need and funding opportunities for improved bus service. (Meanwhile, the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission TAC meeting was canceled for lack of agenda items.)

Fatal Collision of Truck & Much Bigger Truck in Eureka
Every serious crash should give us pause to reflect on the dangers of large, heavy machines piloted at great speeds through our cities and towns.

Research Suggests Uber & Lyft Are Causing More Driving, Not Less
Can the promise of shared-ride fleet vehicles to reduce car ownership and vehicle miles traveled ever be realized, or are we heading toward an apocalyptic wasteland of empty autonomous vehicles driving endlessly around waiting for riders?

New State Bill Would Make It a Little Easier to Lower Speed Limits
Current California law makes it almost impossible to lower speed limits in most locations. The new bill would make an exception that allows a permanent lowering of the speed limit if studies show a lot of accidents in a particular location.

Only Some of Cars’ Air Pollution Comes from Tailpipes
It turns out a lot comes from the tires, too. Which underlines the fact that we won’t solve urban air quality problems just by electrifying vehicles – we’ll actually have to drive less, too.

Black Panther Movie Has Some Transportation Nerds Thinking About Utopian Transit Infrastructure
Will life ever imitate art?

German Car Manufacturing Cities May Ban Some of Their Own Vehicles
Imagine Detroit banning Ford trucks over air quality concerns. A surprisingly similar scenario may actually be playing out in Stuttgart and other German auto industry strongholds.

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.

The Collector – February 23, 2018

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NIMBY, YIMBY, NIABY, YIEBY
CRTP lays out how a couple of common land use phenomena apply to transportation – and proposes a few acronyms of our own.

Bay Trail Fundraising Going Strong, EIR Available for Review
$240,000 is in the bank for maintenance of the trail – now it just needs to be completed. The EIR for the final portion of the trail is now available for public review and comment.

New Universal Fast-Charging Stations Coming to the Humboldt
According to the Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s North Coast Plug-in Electric Vehicle Project February newsletter, there will soon be six more universal “Level 3” fast-charging stations for electric vehicles installed throughout Humboldt County from Redway to Orick.

Arcata City Council Votes to Remove Statue & Plaque
Why is this transportation news? Because CRTP has been actively involved in efforts to reimagine the Arcata Plaza as a place designed for people rather than cars, and has endorsed the removal of the McKinley statue & Jacoby Storehouse plaque as part of Plaza revitalization.

Are Bike Helmets the Problem?
A new paper in the journal Applied Mobilities points out that the US has higher rates of bike helmet usage but also higher rates of bike fatalities and injuries than most other countries – and lower rates of biking. The author argues that the focus on helmets in America distracts from the real problems, discourages people from getting out of their cars and onto bikes, and may make bicyclists less safe.

San Jose Handing Over Transit-Oriented Development to Google
Well of course. It’s Silicon Valley. But can the tech giant “retrofit the city that was built for automobiles into a city built for people,” as the city’s mayor hopes?

The Dutch Show That More Bike Infrastructure Leads to… More Biking
It’s important to remember that Europe is not an inevitable bike paradise. As this article points out, European cities built themselves around the automobile after World War II just as US cities did. But now they are showing how to turn that around, with huge environmental, economic and health benefits.

State & Federal Action on Regulating (or Not) Self-Driving Cars
The California legislature is struggling with all the potential changes that would accompany widespread deployment of autonomous vehicles – which the industry says is coming sooner than we think. Meanwhile, if a bill passed by the US House makes its way through the Senate, the industry will largely be left to regulate itself, with states and local governments prohibited from taking any real action.

Should Taxpayers Pay for Trucking Companies to Clean Up Their Act?
The LA Times Editorial Board says no.

Richard Branson Proposes Hyperloop in India…
…and hyperloops everywhere else too!

NIMBY, YIMBY, NIABY, YIEBY

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Anyone familiar with local land use issues knows that one of the most potent forces in any debate over a proposed project is the NIMBY (“Not In My Back Yard”). “NIMBY” is generally considered a derogatory term, intended to imply hypocrisy; a NIMBY is said to be objecting to a land use they would find totally unobjectionable if located in someone else’s neighborhood. In contrast, the new YIMBY (“Yes In My Back Yard”) movement, developing out of New York and San Francisco, proudly claims its name as it seeks to help residents support and advocate for (some kinds of) development in their neighborhoods.

It hardly needs to be said that NIMBYism is often problematic, standing in the way of needed infrastructure which would benefit the community as a whole in favor of “protecting” the status quo. But we should introduce a little more nuance here. At the risk of providing aid and comfort to NIMBYs everywhere, it has to be said that sometimes “not in my back yard” is an appropriate response to a proposed land use. After all, the idea that not all land uses are appropriate in all places is the basis for the very concept of urban planning. And YIMBYs, in responding to NIMBYism, can also be problematic. Not to put too fine a point on it, but YIMBYs must tread carefully to avoid becoming mere shills for powerful development interests.

Let’s also be clear that not all objections to new development are examples of NIMBYism. Or, even if objections are NIMBY in nature, they may be a sign that no one would want a particular land use nearby and perhaps it shouldn’t be allowed anywhere. To that end, I’d like to introduce a new acronym, NIABY (“Not In Anybody’s Back Yard”). Let’s apply this to people and groups that fight against damaging, polluting, out-moded forms of development wherever they are. And that concept of course implies its opposite, YIEBY (“Yes In Everybody’s Back Yard”). Let’s apply this acronym to those who advocate for widespread and equitable development of the kinds of infrastructure that improve virtually any neighborhood where they’re located.

What does this have to do with transportation? A lot, actually. While NIMBYs and YIMBYs are most often associated with new buildings (particularly large multifamily housing developments), their motivations and viewpoints can be and are applied to transportation infrastructure as well. It’s no coincidence that ports and freeways are generally associated with low-income, minority neighborhoods, while there’s usually far better bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in wealthier, whiter areas.

At CRTP, we aim to primarily take on the role of NIABY and YIEBY. We’re avowed NIABYs when it comes to new vehicle lanes and freeways, and committed YIEBYs when it comes to bike lanes, sidewalks, and bus stops. Of course, we don’t dismiss the importance of location for most types of development. In particular, we believe strongly that the place for dense new residential and commercial development is in existing population centers, not in suburban or rural zones. It’s this pattern of development that will enable the successful transportation mode shift that’s at the core of our work.

So we call on YIMBYs to speak up in support of dense infill development, and we’ll support the NIMBYs when new sprawl is proposed. And we hope you’ll all join us in our NIABY and YIEBY transportation advocacy. Acronyms, unite!

Times-Standard: Arcata City Council Votes to Remove Plaza Monuments

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CRTP has been actively involved in advocating for changes to the Arcata Plaza. Making the Plaza more pedestrian-friendly is a key step to making it a more lively, social, welcoming place. Although the McKinley statue and Jacoby Storehouse plaque are not directly transportation-related and not specifically included in our proposals, we have endorsed their removal as part of the revitalization of this core civic, social and commercial space in the City of Arcata, and we applaud the Arcata City Council for taking this long-overdue step.

Read the Times-Standard article here.

The Collector – February 16, 2018

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Welcome to the first edition of The Collector*, CRTP’s new weekly news roundup! We are aiming to collect important North Coast transportation news – including state and national news with particular local relevance – and publish it here each Friday. If you’d like to submit a news item for the weekly roundup or provide any other feedback, please email colin@transportationpriorities.org. Enjoy!

*In traditional planning nomenclature, a collector road collects traffic from local roads and delivers them to major arterials. Our news roundup collects transportation news items and delivers them straight to your eyeballs!

Arcata Student Housing Project Saga Continues; Parking Unbundling Secured

The Arcata Planning Commission conducted Part 7 (no kidding!) of its initial hearing on The Village, a proposed private development near HSU intended to house 700-800 students. After some pressure from CRTP, and with the support of city staff, the developer has agreed to “unbundle” parking costs from housing rents. This is one of the most effective measures a multifamily housing development can use to reduce car travel, and it’s now one of the official proposed conditions of approval for the project.

Hundreds Show Up To Celebrate New Eureka Trail

People love trails! Enough said.

Humboldt County Announces New Public Meeting on Completion of Bay Trail

Show up on February 27th to get the latest Bay Trail news and provide your input to the County. Only 4 miles left!

State Legislature Considering “Radical Upzone” Bill

State Senator Scott Weiner has introduced a bill that would remove residential density limitations and parking requirements for new housing near major transit hubs and lines. The bill is intended to stimulate infill housing to meet the state’s housing needs without sprawl.

Water Board Announces Proposed Road Management Discharge Waiver

The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board has announced a tentative order on a waiver of discharge requirements for road management activities. Public comment is open until March 19th and a hearing will be held on May 17th.

HCAOG Considers Budget & Work Program

The HCAOG Board met yesterday, and its agenda included a review of the proposed Overall Work Program and Budget for FY2018-19. HCAOG is our regional transportation planning agency, and these documents lay out their plans for the coming year. Exciting stuff!

Trump Unveils Infrastructure Plan

Anyone hoping Trump’s long-awaited infrastructure plan would mean big federal money for local priorities like Last Chance Grade is likely disappointed this week, as the administration has now made clear it expects most of the money to come from state, local, and private sources.

Big Rigs Exploiting Loophole in Pollution Rules with Help of Trump’s EPA

The New York Times reports on a loophole the size of the national highway network in truck pollution control regulations. The Trump administration has recently nixed an effort by Obama’s EPA to close the loophole. Stories like this should resonate as we consider how freight gets into, out of, and through our region.

 

Times-Standard: Hundreds attend Waterfront Trail celebration

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From the Times-Standard:

“Hundreds of people including city of Eureka officials and community members packed into the Wharfinger Building on Saturday afternoon to celebrate the opening of the Waterfront Trail and watch the first screening of a documentary on the trail‘s entire planning and building process.

The final phase of the Waterfront Trail was completed earlier this year and it now stretched 6.3 miles along Eureka’s picturesque waterfront on Humboldt Bay from Herrick Avenue in the south to Tydd Street in the north…”

Read the full story here.

Mad River Union Covers Living Plaza Proposals

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From the Mad River Union:

“Picture a Plaza free of cars on Eighth and Ninth streets, the vehicles replaced by bistro dining. A playset full of squealing children is surrounded by picnicking parents noshing on items from an array of food carts. Musicians perform from a small stage, while a chess game is played on a giant board with fireplug-sized pieces. Tourists pluck brochures from an information kiosk, their visit untrammeled by day-campers of the smoking/yelling/fighting variety. Surrounding businesses are thriving with walk-in business, thanks to the restored popularity of the Arcata Plaza. 

Idyllic, yes, but achievable, according to the McKinleyville-based Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP), representatives of which outlined their ideas Tuesday, Oct. 12 during a presentation in the Plaza View Room in Jacoby’s Storehouse….”

Read the full article here.