The Collector
February 3, 2023
Big Support for Major Transit Improvements
More than 30 people attended this week’s public workshop on transit improvement plans for Humboldt County, and many of them proposed big ideas like increasing bus frequency to every 15 minutes between McKinleyville and College of the Redwoods. Research suggests high frequency is one of the most effective ways to increase ridership, so CRTP is excited about this idea – and so were other workshop attendees! Hopefully ideas like this will make it into the 5-year plan, and local leaders will commit the funding needed to implement them.
Learn About Housing & Transportation Improvements in Downtown Eureka
Next Wednesday at 5:30 pm at the Jefferson Community Center, Linc Housing and the City of Eureka are hosting a workshop to discuss proposed bike, pedestrian and transit improvements associated with the development of affordable housing downtown. Click the link above to register (or click here to register to attend via Zoom). This project, which includes 3 new apartment buildings on city-owned parking lots, has been in the works for several years and is currently seeking state funding to proceed. CRTP is a big supporter, and we’re excited for both the walkable housing and the transportation improvements.
Eureka to Purchase Land for Bay-to-Zoo Trail
The City of Eureka is hoping to purchase some land with crumbling, uninhabited buildings to allow construction of part of the new Bay-to-Zoo Trail along with some wetland mitigation. The City Council will likely approve the purchase next week, moving the trail one small step closer to reality. When complete, the trail will provide a much-needed safe bike and pedestrian connection between downtown, the hospital district, and the zoo.
Also on next week’s City Council agenda is approval of a consultant to help develop a Bike Plan for the city. Despite some wonderful trails and other plans in the works, Eureka needs a lot of work to become a great bike town. Let’s start planning!
Walk, bike, roll, Street Story.
If you’re out walking, biking, or rolling on local streets, you see hazards and experience near-misses pretty regularly, maybe even every day. Make it a habit to report those things on Street Story. Your reports help us advocate for safer streets, and help government agencies get funding for improvements. La versión de Street Story en español está disponible aquí.
News from Beyond the North Coast
How Do We Clean Up California’s Freight Transportation System?
Here at CRTP, we focus mostly on personal transportation, but freight transportation is also a major contributor to climate pollution, along with public health and safety impacts. If you’re interested in how we can develop a “climate-safe” statewide freight system, check out this webinar put on by The Climate Center.
The Federal Plan for Climate-Friendly Transportation
Despite the headlines, the new plan does actually talk about strategies other than electric vehicles – including development of more walkable and bikeable communities. But the focus on EVs, along with a problematic reliance on questionable biofuels, has drawn plenty of justifiable criticism.
How Does Your Community’s Budget Help or Harm the Climate?
It’s actually pretty hard to figure that out, due to budgeting practices based more on what’s been done in the past than on the impact of funding decisions on important priorities. But a new method called “priority-based budgeting” offers the potential to vastly improve budget transparency and help align funding with climate targets. We hope to see this new approach adopted by local governments across the North Coast!
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.