Category: Uncategorized

Sac City abandons separated bikeways

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The City of Sacramento has installed a number of separated, parking-protected bikeways, including P St, Q St, 19th St, 21st St, 9th St, 10th St, and J St. It is failing FAILING to maintain these bikeways. They have not been swept by the city since the beginning of leaf season, early November.

You can find several blocks, or portions of blocks that have been cleared, but these have not been cleared by the city. They have been cleared by landscape services contracted by adjacent property management companies, mostly for multi-family housing. It is not the responsibility of these companies to clear the bikeways, but they do so both as a community service, and to maintain a higher level of appearance for their housing and businesses.

The city should be ashamed of itself. It has created a hazard of its own making.

It would probably be better if the city returned these streets to their previous configuartion, with traditional bike lanes. At least these could be swept by the city, and to some degree are swept by the wind of passing motor vehicles.

photo of SacCity P St separated bikeway; yes there is a bikeway under the leaf piles and leaf slime
SacCity P St separated bikeway; yes there is a bikeway under the leaf piles and leaf slime

SacATC 2025-11-20

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The Sacramento Active Transportation Commission (SacATC) will meet Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 5:30 PM. The meeting will be at Sacramento City Hall, council chambers. The meeting is livestreamed from the Upcoming Meetings Materials page at the time of the meeting. Comments may be made in-person, or via eComment on the Upcoming Meetings Materials page up to the time of the meeting, but should be submitted well ahead of time if you wish the commission members to see the comment before the meeting. No comments are taken online.

Agenda (pdf)

Open Session

Roll Call

Land Acknowledgement

Pledge of Allegiance

Welcome New Commissioner – Justine Recio-Patel

Consent Calendar

  1. Approval of Active Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes
  2. Active Transportation Commission Log File ID: 2025-00201 Location: Citywide Recommendation: Pass a Motion adopting the Active Transportation Commission Log.

Discussion Calendar

  1. Franklin Boulevard Complete Street Informational Update
  2. Transportation Planning Current and Planned Projects
  3. Active Transportation Commission 2025 Annual Report

Commission Staff Report

Commissioner Comments – Ideas and Questions

Public Comments-Matters Not on the Agenda

Adjournment

SacATC 2025-09-18

Dan Allison1 Comment

The Sacramento Active Transportation Commission (SacATC) will meet Thursday, September 18, 2025, at 5:30 PM. The meeting will be at Sacramento City Hall, council chambers. The meeting is livestreamed from the Upcoming Meetings Materials page at the time of the meeting. Comments may be made in-person, or via eComment on the Upcoming Meetings Materials page up to the time of the meeting, but should be submitted well ahead of time if you wish the commission members to see the comment before the meeting. No comments are taken online.

Agenda (pdf)

Open Session

Roll Call

Land Acknowledgement

Pledge of Allegiance

Consent Calendar

All items listed under the Consent Calendar are considered and acted upon by one Motion.

1. Approval of Active Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes

2. Active Transportation Commission Log

Discussion Calendar

3. 9th St Separated Bikeway

4. Marysville Boulevard Vision Zero Safety Project

5. Fiscal Year (FY) 2026/2027 Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Application

6. Active Transportation Commission 2025 Annual Report

Commission Staff Report

Commissioner Comments – Ideas and Questions

Public Comments-Matters Not on the Agenda

Adjournment

SacTA Board 2025-09-11

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The Sacramento Transportation Authority (STA or SacTA) Board of Directors is meeting this Thursday, September 11, at 1:30 PM in Sacramento County Board of Supervisors chambers, 00 H St, Ste 1450, Sacramento.

Comments may be made in person, or via email ahead of time to BoardClerk@saccounty.gov. If you want board members to see your comment before the meeting, send it at least 24 hours in advance.

The meeting may be viewed online at Metro Cable 14. It will be the video on the home page, at the time of the meeting. Comments may not be made through the live stream.

For more information about the SacMoves Coalition presentation, see SacMoves to present at Sacramento Transportation Authority. I strongly encourage people interested in transportation and transportation funding attend the meeting, or at least view it online. SacMoves Coalition is being offered the opportunity to present before the stakeholder engagement process has started because it is a coalition of 25 organizations with interests in transportation funding and related issues.

Documents not linked below are available on the SacTA website: https://www.sacta.org/2025-09-11-board-meeting.

Agenda (pdf)

COMMENT ITEMS

  1. Comments From The Public Regarding Matters Not On The Agenda

CONSENT ITEMS

GENERAL

  1. Approve Action Summary: August 14, 2025, Sacramento Transportation Authority Governing Board Meeting
  2. Adopt Resolution Amending STA Personnel Rules And Regulations For The CALPERS 457 Loan Program Provision

MEASURE A

  1. Receive And File A Contract With Lucas Public Affairs For Community Listening Sessions On Transportation
  2. Amendment To Ongoing Annual Programs Memorandum Of Understanding – Reporting Frequency Change ◄
  3. Receive And File Capital Project Status Reports Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2024-25
  4. Receive And File Measure A Ongoing Programs Annual Report – Fiscal Year 2024-25

SACMETRO FREEWAY SERVICE PATROL

  1. SacMetro Freeway Service Patrol Zones 3, And 4 Request For Bids Result And Authorize The Executive Director To Award And Execute Contracts ◄

SEPARATE ITEMS

  1. Receive A Presentation Regarding Coordination Of State Transportation Improvement Program And The Results Of The Four-County State Funding Program
  2. Receive A Presentation From The SacMoves Coalition On Principles To Consider For Future Ballot Measures (note: the SacMoves presentation is available: SacMoves presentation for STA 2025-09-11
  3. Executive Director’s Report
  4. Comments and Reports From Authority Members
    • Capital Area Regional Tolling Authority (CARTA)
    • New Transportation Funding Subcommittee
    • STA’s Role in the Region Subcommittee

local knowledge should not be free

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

I have participated in more agency planning projects than I can count, mostly transportation-related, but other topics as well.

Every project has a well-paid staff project lead, and sometimes other agency staff. Almost all have a well-paid outreach consultant, and almost all have very-well-paid technical consultants, sometimes several.

And then there is the community, the people with local knowledge that is critical to a successful project that meets the needs of the community. These people are rarely paid. Sometimes there will be a focus group that receives some sort of stipend or something of value, but rarely. Sometimes community groups are contracted to bring community members together, but rarely. Sometimes advocacy organizations with some degree of local knowledge are contracted.

But just plain people, who live in their community, have local knowledge, and lived experience with challenges and opportunities, almost never. These people are expected to attend in-person or online workshops and provide their knowledge, for free. This is wrong.

Sometimes food is provided at workshops and meetings, but not often, and when it is, is provided by community nonprofits, not by the grant or agency. There are restrictions on providing food with government grants (as though providing food is ‘wasteful’ while paying agency staff and consultants is not), so this particular issue is often not solvable by the grant recipients.

Child care can be provided by grants, but rarely is. The agencies expect parents to attend, but don’t welcome their kids. Meeting the needs of the kids is often the point of the grant, but the setup makes is difficult for families to participate.

I was just at a workshop, scheduled 5:30 to 7:00 PM. This is dinner time for many families. No surprise, community attendance was very low, with as many advocates as community members. Why are workshops at dinner time? Why are they not scheduled in the afternoon, when the caregiver parent can attend with their children, or after dinner time when the family can attend with their children?

The concept of community outreach is broken. It is the community members that should be treated well, not the professionals.

SacCity Vision Zero Action Plan update

Dan Allison1 Comment

The City of Sacramento is undertaking an update of the 2018 Vision Zero Action Plan. A recent Sacramento City Express article, Sacramento begins Vision Zero update, launches crash data dashboard, provides a summary. The dashboard has been available since March (SacCity crash dashboard).

Getting Around Sacramento author Dan Allison is participating in the stakeholder group, wearing the Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders (STAR) hat. Safety from traffic violence is a key part of encouraging transit use, since people need to walk or bicycle to and from transit stops and stations. Dan has attended three Vision Zero meetings, April 7, 2025 Task Force #1, June 2, 2025 Task Force #2 (the stakeholder group), and June 18, 2025 Working Group (combined Task Force and Technical Advisory).

The slides from these meetings are presented below as slideshows.

Vision Zero Action Plan update intro

Safe Systems Approach

Benchmarking & Crash Analysis

  • gallery of slides from Vision Zero Action Plan update Task Force #2
    Vision Zero Action Plan Benchmarking & Crash Data Analysis presentation
  • SacCity Vision Zero Action Plan update, Benchmarking & Crash Data Analysis presentation
    SacCity Vision Zero Action Plan update, Benchmarking & Crash Data Analysis presentation

Safety Improvement Strategies

I’m not looking at you

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Everywhere I travel, and walk, most other people walking will at least glance at me, and often acknowledge or smile, and sometimes say hi or good morning or good evening, or even talk. But that is rare in Sacramento. At least on the sidewalk, this is the least friendly place I’ve ever lived.

People passing look studiously at their phones, as though there were something important there, or look at the ground, or look away to the other side. 95% of people walking will not make eye contact, let alone give a positive vibe.

Why is this a transportation issue? The message is that I am an island (Simon and Garfunkel), I don’t need you, I don’t acknowledge you, I don’t care about you. Communities are built on trust, and trust does not occur if people don’t interact with other people. Sacramento (the city and region) has serious problems that can only be solved by group action and personal engagement. In particular, we have a very serious problem with traffic violence. That we are so bad at solving our problems is not surprising when we don’t think of anyone else except close friends as ‘our people’. Of course this is worse since the pandemic, but it has existing as long as I have lived in Sacramento (14 years) and spent time in Sacramento (22 years).

Is it different elsewhere? Yes, it is. In San Francisco, almost everyone I pass on the sidewalk will at least nod their head, and frequently more. Los Angeles. Portland. Seattle. Las Vegas. Denver. Salt Lake City. San Diego. And on and on.

I am very sad about this. But I do not know the cause, and I do not know the solution.

Sac City Council 2025-05-13

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The Sacramento City Council will meet Tuesday, May 13, 2025 (today!) at 5:00 PM. There are two items that might be of interest to transportation advocates.

Item 02 on the consent calendar is ‘Approve Criteria and Guidance to Accommodate Active Transportation in Work Zones Policy’. There is a staff report, and the policy itself. Though items on the consent calendar are not expected to be controversial, and will only be discussed by council if a council members pulls it from consent calendar, this is nevertheless worth supporting. This policy has been delayed for years. It is not perfect, but it is an immense improvement over existing policy and practice.

Item 09 on the agenda is ‘Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/26 Proposed Budget Overview‘. The budget should reflect the priorities of citizens in Sacramento, but it only partially does.

this week 2025-02-24

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

SacMoves Coalition hosts an event calendar at https://sacmoves.org/events/, which is maintained by STAR (Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders) and Getting Around Sacramento. ‘This week’ postings are irregular.

Monday 24

  • SacRT Board meeting canceled

Tuesday 25

Wednesday 26

Thursday 27

  • SACOG Scoping Meeting for Blueprint EIR, 5:30 PM, online via Zoom (registration)

Friday 28

Saturday 01

Sunday 02