California’s Transportation Budget Must Prioritize Green Transportation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jared Sanchez, jared@calbike.org, (714)262-0921

CalBike: California’s Transportation Budget Must Prioritize Green Transportation

Sacramento — CalBike applauds Governor Gavin Newsom for leaving funding intact for the Active Transportation Program (ATP) in his proposed budget, after two years of steep cuts. The ATP is the state’s only dedicated funding source for infrastructure that supports biking, walking, and public transit. 

However, the governor’s budget doesn’t go far enough and preserves backward-facing investments that bake in decades of warmer temperatures and climate catastrophes. To have a realistic chance of mitigating the multiple disasters California faces due to climate chaos, we must stop investing in old ways of moving goods and people and reimagine our transportation systems.

The last budget cut two-thirds of the ATP budget, giving the California Transportation Commission(CTC) only enough funding to approve the top 13 projects out of dozens of worthy applications for grants. This budget should restore the $400 million taken from the ATP, allowing CTC to greenlight more green transportation infrastructure projects.

But that isn’t enough. The ATP is chronically underfunded, slowing the pace of California’s transition to a state that prioritizes safe passage for people using low- and no-carbon transportation options. CalBike is asking the legislature to double ATP funding going forward.

“The Active Transportation Program represents a tiny fraction of California’s transportation expenditures, yet it delivers powerful benefits for climate change mitigation,” says Jared Sanchez, CalBike’s policy director. “You can build a bike lane, upgrade a sidewalk, or add a bus-only lane for a fraction of the cost to build and maintain highway lanes. California should be investing much more in infrastructure like bicycle highways and connected biking and walking networks to make our communities healthier and safer from the ravages of climate disasters.”

State highway money (perhaps $1B) continues to build climate-killing roadways that increase traffic, fail to mitigate congestion, and work in opposition to the state’s climate goals. We must begin to shift our transportation spending to carbon-neutral options if we are to have any hope of stopping or reversing climate change.