The Washington state organization named Front and Centered promotes a program called Just Transition in Transportation, along with many partners including Disability Rights Washington and 350.org Washington. As part of the program, they have developed a ‘Transportation Bill of Rights’, which is linked on that page. I was curious if other organizations had developed such documents, so did a Google search 0n ‘transportation bill of rights’. The first page and a half is about the airline bill of rights, and this one doesn’t show up until page two. It is sadly ironic that the mode used by a small fraction of the population, commercial air travel, gets all the attention from Congress and the FAA and politicians.

The text of the Transportation Bill of Rights is:

“People’s needs too often get left out of the planning, funding, construction, and maintenance of transportation systems. This is why we have worked together to create a Transportation Bill of Rights. Regardless of our race, age, gender, disability, income and where we live we all deserve transportation where:

1. No one dies or is seriously injured traveling on state roads, streets, and sidewalks
2. Every household can access groceries within 20 minutes without a car
3. No one today is harmed by pollution or noise from transportation
4. Protection from the climate crisis today for future generations
5. All trips less than one mile are easily and enjoyably achieved by non-vehicle travel including for people with disabilities
6. No household should spend more than 45% of its income on housing, transportation, and energy
7. Every child who wants to can bike, walk, or roll safely to school
8. Transit service is frequent and spans the day and night so people can get to work and come back
9. The pursuit of happiness does not require a car”

I would like to see something similar adopted by the state of California, and Sacramento County, and City of Sacramento. If we had this bill of rights, nearly every decision made about our transportation system would be different than it is today. For me, the most important of all the items is: 7. Every child who wants to can bike, walk, or roll safely to school.