UPDATE: There is still time for public comment to help save Safe Routes to Transit, the MTC Programming Committee will decide on December 9.
From the East Bay Bicycle Coalition office in Fruitvale Village we witness the undeniable growth of bicycling fostered by bike-friendly transit, smart growth, and secure parking at the Bike Station. Riding a bike is the most efficient non-polluting mode of transportation possible. The opportunity to expand the leading role of bicycling at Fruitvale BART (10% mode split, 544 bicyclists/day) or extend this model to other stations is at risk if Safe Routes to Transit (SR2T) funds are cut off.
For over two years EBBC joined organizations from throughout the Bay Area to lobby the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). We succeeded and the MTC adopted the “Transportation 2035 Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area” on April 22, 2009. Now, $$$ millions for bicycle projects are at risk and we need you to act!
That plan, also known as the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), promised to jump-start the Transportation Climate Action Campaign ($400 million) by implementing Safe Routes to Schools (SR2S) and SR2T programs ($50 million each) during the initial five years of the RTP.
We now ask for you to help us ensure that the MTC abide by these agreements. Please visit the TransForm website below and write to your two MTC Commissioners today (a County Supervisor and a Mayor from your County).
Dear Commissioners _______(Alameda Co – Supervisor Scott Haggerty; Mayor Tom Bates: CoCoCo – Supervisor Federal Glover; Mayor Amy Worth)
When MTC adopted the 2009 RTP this spring, we applauded them for taking climate change seriously and recognizing its importance. Not only did they set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, but for the first time ever, included funding for a five-year Transportation Climate Action Campaign, including $100 million worth of funding for the SR2S and SR2T programs.
Now, MTC is backpedaling on their commitment to climate. Instead of funding the Transportation Climate Action Campaign in the first five years of the life of the RTP, they’re proposing to shift funding to freeway priorities and fund the Climate Campaign at just 17% of the level promised, threatening millions of dollars of bicycle funding through the SR2S and SR2T programs!
Join East Bay Bicycle Coalition in telling the MTC Commissioners to make good on their word and fully fund the Transportation Climate Action Campaign.
TAKE ACTION by appending the TransForm letter to MTC to add your appeal to save Safe Routes to Transit.
To read the letter to MTC signed by nineteen transportation leaders in the Bay Area click STP CMAQ funding allocation letter.
UPDATE: Only about 140 of your appeals were received by the commissioners before our 9/9/09 meeting. We will need a flood of your letters before December 9!