Tag: advocacy

meetings

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The Sacramento Active Transportation Commission (SacATC) on Thursday, January 18, was just posted. It is not possible for me to post something on every meeting, and I usually do so only if there is something of particular importance to me. For tomorrow’s SacATC, it is the work zone policy. It may be useful to others to see a schedule of meetings that I often or sometimes attend. For all of these meetings, they may be cancelled or rescheduled, so it is alway best to check before attending. Though most meetings are viewable online, either during or after, fewer and fewer offer public comment, except ahead of time or in person, at the meeting.

Government

Advocacy

Sacramento Transit Advocates and Riders (STAR) maintains a calendar of events of interest to transit advocates, at https://sacramentotransitadvocates.groups.io/g/main/calendar, and you can subscribe to that calendar if you wish.

You are welcome to add meetings that you think would be of interest to transportation and housing advocates, in comments. Certainly no one needs more meetings to attend, but my experience is that if you attend a meeting regularly, people get to know you and your interests, and you can really make a difference.

Walkable Sacramento wrap-up

Dan Allison3 Comments

I hope that you found the series of posts on Walkable Sacramento useful. The posts received some comments, but not as many as I’d hoped. I’d ask you to go back to them and make comments. Though comments are few, I know that this blog is read by a number of transportation professionals and a few politicians, who could have a major impact in making Sacramento more walkable. Many of them don’t or can’t comment because of their job position, but they do read the posts and do read your comments, so your comments are valuable. The ideas and comments will also be considered as advocacy groups in the city and region develop their own, most likely milder, recommendations for policies and action to enhance walkability and safety for walkers.

I did not address bicyclist concerns and bikeability. That is not because it is not important to me. I bicycle a lot in the city, and do want to improve our streets for bicycling. Though the data is not in yet, I suspect that bike share has increased the rate of bicycling far above that for walking and other modes in the central city. However, the city has done better on providing bicycling facilities, and addressing specific areas of concern, for bicycling, relative to walking. I am also not unconcerned with the safety of people in motor vehicles, but there are plenty of people to advocate for that. As always, the greatest need for improvement in our transportation system is in the low-income neighborhoods which have been traditionally underinvested, and continue to be so.

So, get out there walking, and get out there advocating. Our streets will not get safer unless we all work to force the government to make them safer. The drivers will not help us, except for those more enlightened ones who remember that they walk also, and that the value of a place is determined by its walkability and not its driveability.