California

Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition released their Dangerous by Design 2014 [PDF] report today, showing that California has the nation's second-highest pedestrian fatality rate for older pedestrians (age 65 and older).

Negotiations over the California state budget are producing dueling proposals on how best to spend revenue from the state's cap-and-trade program.

Here is Streetsblog’s weekly highlight of California legislation and events related to sustainable transportation. This week, many of the bills that Streetsblog has been tracking are waiting for the budget committees to work through them, so there hasn't been a lot of action.

The Peds Count! 2014 Summit kicked off in Sacramento with a panel of top-level executives from regional planning agencies celebrating their accomplishments in improving conditions for pedestrians.

Here is Streetsblog’s weekly highlight of California legislation  related to sustainable transportation.

The California High Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA) Board voted unanimously today to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the project segment between Fresno and Bakersfield in the Central Valley. This section of CAHSR can now move to the "final design" stage that precedes construction.

This week, the League for American Bicyclists released its nationwide "benchmarking" report on the state of active transportation throughout the country. The report contained good news for those working to make California a more safe and attractive place to bicycle. California rose ten spots to #9 in the state to state comparisons, scoring nearly 54 points out of a possible 100.

This week and the next are busy ones in Sacramento. Next Friday, May 2, is the last day policy committees (e.g. Transportation and Housing) can discuss bills that require a hearing in any fiscal committees (e.g. Appropriations).

The California Transportation Choices Summit, held in Sacramento this week, was an opportunity for sustainable transportation and public health advocates to spend the day learning about current state policies and legislation in the works to change them.