The Collector
June 19, 2020
CHP Investigating Incident at McKinleyville Protest
As we reported last week, a driver was apparently trying to run down pedestrians in the street, and narrowly missed.
“Calling All Justice Rollers”
Local advocacy group Centro del Pueblo is asking folks to turn out on their bikes, skates, skateboards, or any kind of wheels for a 4-mile roll in Arcata on Sunday calling for the abolition of the police, ICE, and the Border Patrol.
Arcata Police Budget Cut, But Parking Enforcement Returns
The close relationship between policing and automobiles is rarely hard to spot. Speaking of which: the Eureka City Council just approved the purchase of six new police cars.
Don’t Forget to Take Our Survey!
Let us know how you’ve been getting around during the pandemic, and what you think of some ideas for making the streets safer and healthier.
HCAOG Board Talks Climate…
Local advocate and physician Dr. Wendy Ring spurred a discussion at yesterday’s meeting about the planning agency’s work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Ring, CRTP Executive Director Colin Fiske, and others asked the Board to establish clear and ambitious goals for reducing vehicle miles traveled and reducing transportation emissions. Look for this item on a future agenda.
…and Mobility on Demand
Later in the meeting, the HCAOG Board approved a modified version of a consultant’s recommendations for local mobility-on-demand pilot projects. The recommendations include an expansion of bikeshare and other bike infrastructure, app-enabled “modern hitchhiking,” and some significant changes to the Redwood Transit System. That last one sparked most of the discussion. The consultants are recommending eliminating the low-frequency, low-ridership bus trips north of McKinleyville and south of Fortuna (as well as detours to Manila, the McKinleyville airport, and some Fortuna stops) and replacing them with on-demand service so that the rest of the route can be run at a higher frequency. The Board seemed to mostly agree with the concept, except for objections from Rio Dell to removing their fixed-route service – so that part was removed from the final Board action. Another public meeting will be held on Monday for more public input on the recommendations.
Eureka May Put New Sales Tax on the Ballot
Some of the revenue would almost certainly go to roads. Meanwhile, the Arcata City Council also approved a tax measure for the November ballot which would raise revenue partly for trails.
New Guidance for Non-Essential Travel
And flights to LA are returning, too. Long-distance air travel is notably the most carbon-intensive and perhaps the most COVID-risky kind of transportation.
Drive-Through Everything
This week, dinners at the Mateel. And more and more graduations.
Reminder: Make Your Street Story Reports
If you see or experience a hazard, near-miss or collision on the street, make your Street Story report here. CRTP uses reports to advocate for change, and local agencies use them to apply for grants and prioritize improvements. Your reports are important!
Global Driving, Carbon Emissions Are Nearly Back to “Normal”
Good news perhaps for some economies, terrible news for the climate. As people drive more, we also expect the motor vehicle death rate to rise again, too.
City Design Impacts Social and Economic Outcomes
How can we have safe streets if Black people are afraid to use them? Transportation advocates need to critically examine both our own movement and the tools we are using to promote public welfare.
New Bill Proposes Environmental Review Exemptions for Certain Projects
The idea is to make it easier to build active transportation and transit infrastructure.
The New Commuter Mode of Choice in Europe
The bicycle!
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.