Planner "Pete" spurns driving alone in HOV lanes

Sacramento Bee reporter Tony Bizjak notes the following in his "Backseat Driver" Column:

Since we're talking reports, here's one about hybrid cars in carpool lanes.

Remember the state law allowing 45-mile-per-gallon hybrids with just one occupant to use the carpool lane? It's an incentive for people to buy environmentally friendly cars.
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A state report tells us there are 3,000 hybrid owners zipping around Sacramento with the yellow decals.

That is, minus one guy we know, Pete. Pete got a decal, but he won't use it. He just wanted to take one decal out of circulation, on principle.

He's a planner. Carpool lanes are for carpools, he says.

It's good to know that at least one policymaker sees the disconnect between current HOV lane policy and the objective of increasing the number of carpools. (We can only wonder whether "Pete" is SACOG's Pete!)

If You Build It, They WON'T Come?

Whatever one's opinions about Caltrans' plans for Highway 50, nearly everyone agrees that the so-called "carpool lane" is about expanding capacity so that the freeway can carry more cars. Pete Hathaway says so. Caltrans also says so in the project description.

It boggles the mind, then, that the planners and engineers at our state's largest transportation agency think that they can expand the capacity of a freeway by 20% to 25% without any effect on the volume of traffic! However strange it sounds, it's true. Below is an excerpt from an email from Caltrans in response to a question asking for justification of their claims that widening Highway 50 will not increase the total number of Vehicle Miles Traveled, and furthermore will not increase the total number of Diesel Vehicle Miles Traveled:

This project will not increase average daily VMT, but rather it will help to maintain mobility in the face of such growth.

The bus/carpool lanes are not built to facilitate diesel truck traffic or accommodate more diesel trucks to use the carpool lanes. The percentages of heavy trucks were not assumed to change in the future build models. The bus/carpool lane was not assumed to have any effect on heavy trucks, as they are not allowed to use the bus/carpool lane, even if they have the required number of occupants.

The only percentages that did increase over time were for bus/carpool vehicles (buses, vanpools, 2+, 3+ autos). There was a corresponding decrease in single-occupant vehicles. Buses can be either diesel powered or other (e.g. gasoline-hybrid, CNG). It's likely that non-diesel powered commuter buses would increase over time. Small delivery trucks were not considered as HOV vehicles.

In other words, Caltrans thinks that you can add an extra (HOV) lane to a congested freeway without affecting any increase in the total volume of traffic on the freeway! Furthermore, Caltrans thinks that no trucks or diesel vehicles will be added to the freeway, even though the project creates more space for them in all lanes. "Increased capacity" apparently doesn't mean "increased volume" to Caltrans planners.

What a relief to know that our state's engineers have mastered the magical thinking skills that allow us to continue to build freeways free from negative impacts of the increased traffic that they are built to accomodate!

Photo from the NAST press conference

NAST supporters with Sacramento City Council Member Rob Fong and California Assembly Member Dave Jones at the NAST Press Conference, January 17, 2007.

Highway 50 Workshop Recap

It's as if we showed up for a gunfight and instead were treated to reruns of "Bonanza"...

Thanks to those of you who took time out of your busy schedules to come to the Highway 50 workshop this evening. We had expected an opportunity to engage CalTrans staff, on the record, and get some clarification on some important questions on apparent gaps in the environmental review of their proposed Highway 50 expansion. I'm sure there were others, like me, who made a point of taking off from work early so we could be there at 5.00 PM sharp.

CalTrans, clearly, had other, less ambitious plans. The informal, science fair-style workshop offered no chance to ask the agency as an entity to clarify or explain the DEIR, and there was no opportunity to verbally enter comments onto the record. We were offered the opportunity to drop handwritten comments in the suggestion box, however!

CalTrans clearly missed a chance to take substantial public input on the DEIR. Consequently, our clarifying questions will need to be submitted along with our written comments, and CalTrans' only chance to respond will be in the Final EIR. That means that there is less chance that the public and CalTrans will be able to come to terms on the proper content of the environmental impact report, and there is a greater chance that the final document will be deficient. Nevertheless, we clearly showed that the community cares about the potential impact of this project.  And we learned more about how democracy works in the world of California transportation planning, where the region's decision makers are one level removed from the will of the voters.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to turn out!

Highway 50 Expansion: Congestion relief—or accommodation for more traffic?

“The project purpose is to…improve traffic operations by reducing congestion and travel time.”

- Sac 50 Bus/Carpool Lanes and Community Enhancements Project DEIR, p. i (emphasis added)

“Do carpools relieve congestion? Temporarily, but basically, no. They add capacity to the corridor and they provide more people per vehicle.”

- Pete Hathaway, SACOG Director of Transportation Planning, in comments to the Sacramento City Council,
November 1, 2005

Public Hearing on Hwy 50 Expansion Next Week!

CalTrans has released the DEIR on its proposed project to widen Highway 50 from Sunrise into central Sacramento. They have scheduled two public workshops-- one in Rancho Cordova and one in Sacramento-- to hear public comments on the project. For most of us living in Sacramento, this may be our best chance to demonstrate the level of community opposition to this project.

The Sacramento hearing on the Highway 50 project takes place NEXT WEDNESDAY, January 10th, from 5 PM to 8 PM at David Lubin Elementary School, 3535 M Street. PLEASE take this opportunity to share your thoughts on the impact, on our region and our neighborhoods, of increasing vehicular traffic along the 50 corridor. Even if you're not willing to speak, your presence to support the speakers is crucial. A strong public showing of opposition is politically very important.

For those of you who have been waiting for an opportunity to help NAST fight this project, this really is, um, where the rubber hits the road. Or the steel wheels hit the rails. You choose the metaphor!

Please distribute widely! Bring your friends and neighbors!


PUBLIC HEARING ON HIGHWAY 50 EXPANSION
Wednesday, January 10, 2007, 5 PM to 8 PM
David Lubin Elementary School
3535 M Street
Sacramento, CA 

Sac Business Journal Poll

The Sacramento Business Journal is running an online poll regarding the Highway 50 
expansion.

You can vote in their poll here.

As a reliable indicator of what people in the region actually believe, these online polls are almost as valuable as reading the entrails of the chicken you cooked for dinner last night.  But who knows, maybe somebody is paying attention.  And nobody pays for internet service by the hour anymore, so vote away!  At minimum, you'll be skewing whatever reader data the Business Journal imagines it can collect from their website.

(This week's print edition of the Sac Business Journal has an article on the release of the DEIR for the Highway 50 expansion.)

Big Picture

While much of the NAST coalition's energy right now is focused on a single (incredibly important) regional transportation project, every now and then it's good to disengage long enough to ask what longer-term goals neighborhood and transportation advocates might articulate for the Sacramento area. I came across a provocative web page maintained by the Project for Public Spaces in New York that articulates an intriguing, if somewhat problematic approach to transportation planning. The essence of PPS' perspective seems to be that transportation is a place in itself just as much as it is a means of getting places. As a result of thinking about transportation as a place, PPS places less emphasis on speed (or mobility) and more emphasis on the quality of transportation corridors as social, public spaces:

Roads can be shared spaces with pedestrian refuges, bike lanes, on-street parking etc. Parking lots can become public markets on weekends. Even major urban arterials can be retrofitted to provide for dedicated bus lanes, well-designed bus stops that serve as gathering places, and multi-modal facilities for bus rapid transit or other forms of travel. Roads are places too!

I'm not certain that PPS' approach applies unproblematically to the planning of interregional transit, like freeways or medium-distance mass transit. And certainly, freeway expansion disguised as HOV lane is an approach that fails to perform even according to traditional, common-sense, mobility-oriented standards. Nevertheless, the PPS transportation site is provocative. What are the specific objectives of a just, equitable, and sustainable transportation system?

US 50 Expansion DEIR Released

The DEIR for Caltrans proposed project to expand Highway 50 has been released:

You can view the DEIR online here.  The document is also available for review at a variety of locations, including the Central Library, the McClatchy Library, and the McKinley Neighboorhood Library.

At first glance, there are a couple particularly interesting (and dubious) conclusions in the Summary:

1. Caltrans projects "isolated traffic volume increases" near entrance and exit ramps, but concludes that the project's impact on traffic would be "less than significant."
   
2. The Air Quality impacts are limited to "short-term construction-related air emissions." If construction contractors comply with best management practices, Caltrans procedures, and applicable law, Caltrans claims the air quality impact will be "less than significant."
   

 

DEIR Release this Wednesday!

One of our esteemed and connected members learned from Caltrans today that the DEIR on the proposed expansion of Highway 50 in Sacramento County will be released this WEDNESDAY, December 13.  After it is released, the public will have 60 days to review and comment on it. Caltrans will also conduct two 'workshops' to hear public commentary on the DEIR.

(DEIR stands for Draft Environmental Impact Report-- a document prepared by state agencies to review the potential environmental impacts of their actions and to propose mitigation of those impacts.)

This is our best opportunity to air our concerns about the environmental impact of the proposed project at both the regional and neighborhood levels. If you or your organization is worried about the prospect of increased traffic through central Sacramento and development of a regional transportation grid that encourages sprawl and automobile dependence, PLEASE take time to submit comments on the DEIR. Environmental analyses can be challenged in court, but only to the extent that the issues are raised during the public comment period following release of the DEIR. 

Sustainable Transportation Projects

In case you were wondering how SACOG might otherwise spend the $195 million that CalTrans seeks for Highway 50 expansion, here are some suggestions (courtesy of Warren Cushman). These are all projects that should be included in the MTP and receive priority for funding:

1. Double-tracking the Folsom light rail line.
2. South line (light rail), phase 2.
3. Street car service between West Sacramento and downtown
4. Neighborhood shuttle service in Arden Arcade
5. Expanded RT service on Watt Avenue
6. Neighborhood shuttle service in South Sacrmento
7. BRT (bus rapid transit) along Sunrise Blvd.
8. Sacramento RT bus service to the airport
   

The City Follows Through?

On November 22, Sacramento Vice Mayor Rob Fong and City Manager Ray Kerridge sent a letter to CalTrans Director Will Kempton. In the letter, they reiterate the City's
opposition to the expansion of Highway 50. They also clearly state the City's support of
"transportation investment that promotes density, increases transit ridership and walkable communities, and also alleviates congestion and improves air quality." The letter closes by requesting a meeting with Director Kempton "to further discuss the HOV lane project."

You can read the entire letter here.

The Vice Mayor and the City Manager deserve our congratulations for following through on the City Council's official position opposing this project. This is the sort of leadership we expect from elected officials and city staff. You might consider contacting them to thank them for their support.

(You also might consider contacting Mayor Fargo, who also serves as SACOG chair, to ask what she intends to do to make the City's opposition clear!)

Bond funding and Highway Expansion

Paul Trudeau forwards a link to Daniel Weintraub's column on potential political wrangling over the expenditure of transportation bond funds authorized by Proposition 1B.  For many people, myself included, it was frustrating to be confronted with a bond measure that created a substantial pot of money ($4 billion) for transit projects at the same time that it earmarked more than twice that much for freeway expansion projects.  The devil is, of course, in the details, and it will take vigilant elected officials and voters to ensure that freeway funds are not used on boondoggle projects that provide only temporary congestion relief rather than sustainable solutions to our transportation issues.

Update on Highway 50 Expansion

CalTrans' proposal to expand Highway 50 from Sunrise Boulevard through
downtown appears to be in jeopardy! On November 14, Caltrans Region 3
Chief Jody Jones wrote to the Sacramento Transportation Authority (the
body charged with overseeing Measure A Transportation funds) to give a
"status report" on the Highway 50 Project. What her letter reveals is not
so much a status report as it is an entire redefinition of the project.
Ms. Jones' letter revealed that CalTrans has scaled back its plans to
expand Highway 50. Rather than widening the freeway all the way through
downtown/midtown, CalTrans is now considering whether to stop the
expansion at Watt Avenue or whether to continue as far as the 99/50
Interchange (in Oak Park). These are apparently the only "build"
alternatives that will be considered at length in CalTrans' environmental
study.

It appears that CalTrans has, for the moment, decided not to defy the
wishes of the City and the central Sacramento neighborhoods by expanding
Highway 50 through downtown. I have absolutely no doubt that this is due
in large part to the pressure that NAST has exerted on our elected
officials and policy makers. It is not a coincidence that the new
alternatives avoid the areas where resistance to the project has been
greatest. However, despite our collective impact on the Caltrans planning
process, the project is still a threat.

Expanding Highway 50 from Sunrise to Watt or the 50/99 interchange will
still massively increase the number of cars travelling from the eastern
part of the region to downtown. Ultimately, those cars will filter
through Sacramento neighborhoods, either via the existing Midtown exits,
or via neighborhood streets between downtown and the terminus of the HOV
lane. As it currently stands, Cal Trans' proposed alternatives will not
only increase traffic in the neighborhoods immediately around downtown
(the point of departure or destination for most of the new traffic), but
will also have severe impacts on neighborhoods around the Watt Ave. exit
or the 50/99 interchange. Furthermore, widening the freeway to Watt or 99
is clearly an attempt to build out Highway 50 in stages. If completed, we
would undoubtedly see proposals to continue the expansion through the
downtown area. Although we have clearly had an impact on the design of the
project, we STILL have not convinced our transportation planners to
examine more sustainable, less auto-dependent transportation solutions to
the needs of our growing community.

NAST will be meeting on Thursday, December 7 at 7 PM at the common house
of the Sacramento Co-Housing Project (5th St. and T St.) We will be
discussing the next steps to take in response to the changes to the
project and in anticipation of the release of the environmental study of
the project. Please plan to attend this meeting, particularly if you
represent one of NAST's member organizations. We have demonstrated our
ability to have an impact on this project. However, to realize our goal
of seeing the resources from this project diverted to more sustainable,
transit-oriented alternatives, we will need to coordinate our efforts.