As we review Governor Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal, it’s becoming clear that, once again, proposed expenditures are not in alignment with California’s climate goals. With the first balanced budget in three years, the governor is missing a massive opportunity to commit additional resources to vital housing and transportation programs that will reduce climate emissions.
Affordable housing and transportation are essential for Californians
Affordability was clearly a big theme in the 2024 election, and investments in housing and transportation are a fundamental part of the solution. On average, Californians spend 62% of their income on combined housing and transportation costs. The state has the power to increase transit service and double down on the production of affordable housing, but Governor Newsom’s budget fails to do so.
We need more funding for new affordable homes to combat the rising cost of housing and the increasing number of homeless residents. We’re intrigued by the creation of a new Department of Housing and Homelessness and will continue to track that closely, but we remain disappointed that the governor didn’t appropriate new funds for housing.
Californians also need affordable transportation options. In too many communities, people are trapped in their cars and forced into long commutes to reach workplaces. While it’s notable that, for the first time in three years, the governor didn’t try to pull money from the tiny Active Transportation Program, the transportation budget still puts too many dollars toward highway projects and not enough into public transit and biking and walking infrastructure.
Climate investments are critical
Voters approved a $10 billion climate bond in 2024, which will positively impact California’s ability to put state monies toward projects that mitigate climate change. However, the bond is a fraction of what’s needed to make our communities climate-resilient. Our climate budget must find funding beyond the bond to make those investments now. Instead, the budget pulls money from existing programs that were funded by the bond.
With the reauthorization of California’s Cap and Trade program on the table this year, Transform is focused on identifying additional funding for climate solutions. As recent climate disasters such as the LA fires show, we don’t have a moment to spare to reduce emissions.
https://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/homeless-RV-housing-scaled-e1736899313657.jpg6431920Zack Deutsch-Grosshttps://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Company-Logo.pngZack Deutsch-Gross2025-01-14 16:09:272025-01-15 14:03:39Governor’s Proposed Budget Falls Short on Housing, Transportation, and Climate
As we near the end of the year and the halfway mark in the school year, it’s a good time to reflect on all the partners, champions, and supporters without whom our work wouldn’t be possible.
Safe Routes champions
Transform’s Programs Team, which leads site coordination on the Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools Program, works to bring the freedom and fun of active and shared mobility to thousands of young people in Alameda County. Our work wouldn’t be possible without our amazing champions. Safe Routes champions are parents, teachers, principals, and school staff who help make events like Ruby Bridges Day and International Walk and Roll to School Day possible. They are volunteers who give their time to improve the health and wellness of their school community. Your dedication, enthusiasm, and joy keep us going.
Katie
Legislative heroes
In 2024, Transform partnered with Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo to sponsor the Transportation Accountability Act, AB 2086. The bill brings much-needed transparency to where California’s transportation dollars go. That information will strengthen Transform’s work to shift our spending from climate killing highway expansions to infrastructure for the green transportation future our state needs.
It’s not easy to get a bill through the legislature. There are many hurdles along the way and countless opportunities for a measure to fail. The steadfast support of the bill’s author, along with Transform’s tireless advocacy and our partners at the Greenlining Institute, got this measure signed into law. We salute Assemblymember Schiavo and all our elected officials who work to make California more climate-friendly and equitable.
Powerhouse partners
Transform’s work is all about partnerships, both in our on-the-ground programs and our policy initiatives. We work with other nonprofits, housing developers, and community members to bring meaningful change to Bay Area communities.
On the program side, our fantastic partners in Richmond’s Nystrom neighborhood, Betty Ann Gardens (First Community Housing) and Lion Creek Crossings (East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation) affordable housing developments have made the final year of Mobility Hubs a huge success. The residents who worked with us as Site Level Team Members extended the reach and effectiveness of the pilot, which brought green mobility options home to over a thousand people.
The organizations that provided on-the-ground coordination at sites have also been invaluable allies in moving the program forward. Thank you, Richmond Community Foundation, First Community Housing, and East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation. We’re grateful to have worked closely with the folks at California Air Resources Board, who administered our grant through the California Climate Investments, and the project team at staff Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Shared Use Mobility Center, who saw the Mobility Hubs pilot through from conception to implementation.
As we wrap up this project, we share our achievements with all our amazing partners who put so much time and energy into distributing free bus passes, connecting residents with Lyft ride credits, distributing bikes, and getting EV car sharing up and running.
Our policy team’s work is much stronger and richer for our collaborations. We partner with too many groups and individuals to name here, but we’ve worked closely with one group on a priority campaign: Voices for Public Transportation (VPT). Transform helped found VPT, which is a coalition of advocacy, labor, and transit rider groups and individuals. VPT has been a strong voice in developing a regional transportation funding measure that can ensure the future of the Bay Area’s regional transportation network and begin the process of transit transformation. We are far from achieving our goal, but we continue our campaign for a robust and equitable funding measure with the members of VPT.
Our SPOT SJ work to reform parking and land use in downtown San Jose is a collaborative effort. We work with community groups, other nonprofits, building management, and business owners, and funding from the Knight Foundation makes this ambitious project possible. We look forward to exciting new developments in 2025, thanks to the rich, intersectional partnerships that make this project effective.
An amazing staff and board
Our committed team at Transform makes showing up for work delightful. This year, we welcomed new board members and staffers and, working with our board and many other partners, completed our new strategic plan. The plan is a roadmap for our terrific board and staff, who continue to deepen and expand Transform’s vision of a world where people of all incomes thrive, safe from climate chaos.
Another integral part of our team is our supporters: Everyone who signed a petition, called an elected official, sent an email to an elected official, or donated to further our mission. We couldn’t do it without you.
Wishing all our Transformers a wonderful holiday!
https://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Red-and-Green-Holiday-Photo-Christmas-Card-copy-e1734751560967.png7151426Transform Staffhttps://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Company-Logo.pngTransform Staff2024-12-20 19:31:272024-12-20 19:31:29Thank You and Happy Holidays from the Transform Team
Our multi-year Car Sharing and Mobility Hubs Pilot Project is wrapping up at the end of this year. This pilot is one of the first of its kind in the nation, and we’re now turning our focus toward evaluation and sharing our lessons learned. Our project is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that “puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities.”
A deep, community-led evaluation process
From the start, we’ve had a community-centered, resident-informed model. The transportation offerings at each of the three Mobility Hubs sites were tailored based on input from an initial resident needs assessment. Throughout, our resident Site Level Team (SLT) members have served an important role in sharing their knowledge, advice, and vision to help design a project that will work best for all residents. SLT members also conduct outreach and serve as ambassadors of the project to their neighbors. SLT members are compensated for their time and expertise.
Our evaluation has a similar community-centered approach with a final program survey and focus groups. Site partners First Community Housing, Richmond Community Foundation, and East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation helped us develop the final survey design and participation incentives. Our resident SLTs have been instrumental once again, doing outreach about the survey and focus groups to their neighbors. They have done everything from door knocking to phone calls to collecting program surveys in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese.
Gathering input from many voices
At Lion Creek Crossings in East Oakland, we hosted a special in-person group survey event for the senior residents. The event, immediately following the seniors’ weekly chair exercise group, offered seniors one-on-one support in filling out online surveys on their phones, tablets, or laptops. Transform staff, Resident Services coordinators, and a professional interpreter were on hand to answer questions, and residents helped each other out too.
To gather more qualitative information, we hosted focus groups in San Jose and East Oakland with simultaneous interpretation. One resident at Lion Creek Crossings shared that Lyft credits and an AC Transit Easy pass gave her more freedom and independence — she was less reliant on friends and family to drive her. At Betty Ann Gardens, a resident shared that having EV carshare on site has been a godsend when her typical transportation falls through. Many residents appreciated that Mobility Hubs offerings saved them money on transportation costs, which can take up 15% of a household’s income.
Informing future mobility outreach
Thanks to residents’ willingness to share their time and expertise, we’re learning firsthand the barriers to using shared and active transportation, finding out more about the most effective outreach methods for new mobility technologies, and gaining a better understanding of the impacts of mobility hubs on people’s lives and livelihoods. We’ll be summarizing all we’ve learned with the help of our project team from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Shared Use Mobility Center. Stay tuned for our Mobility Hubs final evaluation report in spring 2025.
https://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Senior-surveys-for-Mobility-Hubs-at-Lion-Creek.png457720Carrie Harvillahttps://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Company-Logo.pngCarrie Harvilla2024-12-19 15:20:042024-12-19 15:21:02Mobility Hubs: Finishing Strong, with Community at Its Center
If you’ve lived in the East Bay long enough to remember I-80 before Caltrans added lanes, you know that the congestion now is…about the same as it was before the new lanes. Only, now more cars and trucks inch along, producing more greenhouse gas emissions and deepening the climate crisis.
The failure of this particular highway widening to achieve its stated goal of relieving congestion is no surprise. Engineers have known for decades that wider roads lead to more driving — induced demand — that soon erases any gains from the additional capacity. But knowing and acting on that knowledge are two different things. New “congestion relief” projects on I-680 near Walnut Creek, US 101 along the Peninsula and Highway 37 in the North Bay will throw more money and resources into additional lanes, providing temporary congestion relief while worsening climate change and air pollution. So it’s worth taking a deeper dive into highway widening, the science behind induced demand, and effective solutions to traffic congestion.
Why doesn’t widening relieve congestion?
Induced demand is the concept that if you build more road capacity, more people will drive until congestion reaches the same levels as before you widened the roadway. UCLA postdoc Amy Lee, in a recent interview with Yale Climate Connections, said her research shows that what she calls “induced travel” brings congestion back to pre-widening levels in five to 10 years.
Several factors lead to induced demand. With less congestion initially after a highway is widened, existing drivers make more frequent trips and travel at peak hours when congestion is the worst. Additionally, people who would have traveled by other modes, such as walking, biking, or public transit, shift to driving. A wider highway could encourage developers to build more housing or businesses to locate jobs in far-flung suburbs because the commute appears short enough. And studies show that wider highways don’t shift traffic from other roads; they lead to more driving overall.
So induced demand leads to more driving and more vehicle miles traveled (VMT), which slowly ratchets congestion back up, at which point the solution is to…add even more lanes?
Highway widening to reduce congestion seems logical on its face. If 1,000 cars an hour want to move through a section of roadway that can only handle 500 cars per hour, the extra traffic will cause backups that slow everyone down. If you widen the highway so it has a capacity of 1,000 cars an hour, traffic flows freely, and the problem is solved.
Then drivers see traffic flowing freely, and some who previously avoided the congested section decide to drive on it. Before long, the traffic exceeds the capacity of the highway. Versions of this scenario have been repeated multiple times throughout the United States since the advent of driving.
We can push our bloated highways to their maximum width, funneling more people into single-occupant vehicles and worsening the climate catastrophe California has committed to ameliorate. Or we can accept that highway widening isn’t a truly viable solution for traffic congestion. Instead of waiting until we’ve paved every possible square foot of land, we could look in a different direction now.
Solving for climate and congestion
The solution to our congested roadways is twofold: internalize the true cost of driving and provide better alternatives. The all-lane tolling and road user charge options currently being studied by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and piloted at the California Transportation Commission would make driving more expensive in a way that drivers will feel directly, as opposed to the costs of gas, insurance, maintenance, and parking, which people often discount when they’re calculating the economics of their commutes. Any revenue generated from pricing could be reinvested in driving alternatives and discount programs that lessen the burden for lower-income people who still need to drive.
Offering viable alternatives to driving also relieves congestion. Riding a BART train through the tunnel under the bay is faster than driving across the bridge, and passengers don’t have to pay for parking at their destinations. For transit to be an appealing option, however, it needs to be frequent and reliable. When trains or buses come every few minutes, people know they can show up at the station or stop and hop on. If there are long gaps between trips, taking the bus could add significant travel time, making driving more appealing. People — especially vulnerable passengers such as women, people of color, and seniors — also need to feel safe taking transit. Reliable, frequent buses and trains contribute to safety.
Instead of planning for new highway widening projects that take years to design and build, cost millions of dollars, and don’t solve congestion, California should be focusing on providing better transit, walking, and biking options for all.
A longer-term solution that’s equally critical is to reverse the sprawl that highway widening facilitates and build affordable, dense infill housing near transit, jobs, schools, and community amenities. Rather than forcing low-income residents farther and farther to the edges of the Bay Area, infill development reduces commute times and saves money. BART is moving forward with transit-oriented developments on top of several stations in the East Bay. The regional housing bond measure Transform championed in 2024 would allow many shovel-ready affordable housing projects to break ground; it was pulled from the November ballot, but we hope it comes to voters soon.
Building more compact neighborhoods and cities is a long-term project but a necessary one. Housing policy can have as big an impact on climate as transportation. Combined with fees or tolls to reduce VMT and enhanced public transit, these solutions will create healthier, more appealing neighborhoods instead of inhospitable cement wastelands of ever-widening highways.
https://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/urban-highways-scaled.jpeg10801920Zack Deutsch-Grosshttps://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Company-Logo.pngZack Deutsch-Gross2024-12-19 14:31:532024-12-19 14:31:54The Illogic Behind the Drive to Widen Highways
SAN FRANCISCO – After months of deliberation, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) failed to identify a clear path forward for a much-needed regional transportation measure.
“We can’t let the unthinkable happen and let transit services collapse. It will be a domino effect, stripping the Bay Area of the public transit that’s the lifeblood of our region,” said Transform Transportation Policy Director Zack Deutsch-Gross. “Everyone suffers when transit service goes away. But low-income and BIPOC people, who often have the fewest transportation choices, will bear the brunt of diminished or absent public transit, with reduced access to jobs, education, and necessary services.”
The Bay Area’s transit agencies face a fiscal crisis, with massive service cuts expected if the region doesn’t secure an additional revenue source by 2027. BART could be forced to reduce train frequencies to once an hour during off-peak times, while Muni would suspend up to 20 routes, and AC Transit would have to cut their entire service by up to 30%.
Time is running out to develop a unifying vision for a regional transportation revenue measure that can be approved by the legislature in 2025 and go on the ballot in 2026. With today’s vote to advance two different funding concepts — both lacking full-throated support from the Commission and select committee — Bay Area residents are entering the 2025 legislative cycle without a clear path forward to keep their buses and trains running.
One of the scenarios (1a) would not even fully address the fiscal cliff for Muni or AC Transit, despite the fact that these two agencies carry approximately 75% of the transit ridership in the Bay Area.
Both scenarios are funded through a regressive sales tax. A sales tax measure would further burden low-income residents, especially in Alameda County, which already has the highest sales tax in the Bay Area.
“Affordability is a top concern for voters, but a half-cent sales tax would burden those with the least ability to pay without fully addressing the fiscal cliff,” said Transform Transportation Policy Advocate Abibat Rahman-Davies. “It’s incredibly disheartening to see civic leaders like the Bay Area Council threaten to kill any measure that is not a sales tax.”
The Bay Area cannot give up on regional transit. If any of our transit systems is forced into drastic service cuts or ceases operation, we will lose a vital link in a transit chain, stranding residents from throughout the region. As a member of Voices for Public Transportation, Transform will continue to work with MTC, Bay Area transit operators, and the state legislature to advance authorizing legislation to support a robust, vibrant, connected transit future for our whole region.
https://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/People-transit-Brandon-Matthews-6-e1724967017831.jpg12671920Abibat Rahman-Davieshttps://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Company-Logo.pngAbibat Rahman-Davies2024-12-09 17:49:442024-12-09 17:52:33MTC Indecision on Regional Transit Funding Measure Leaves Riders in the Lurch
In partnership with the San Jose Downtown Association (SJDA), Transform conducted a survey of local businesses on the topics of parking and transportation access. The results make it clear that San Jose business owners are excited about creative street uses and see the value in investing in them as a way to help support their businesses.
The survey underscores the importance of the priorities of Transform’s work in San Jose. Our SPOT SJ project uses parking tech tools to make more efficient use of existing spaces, creating more vibrant streets, and then in term reducing the cost of housing, increasing transportation options, and reducing car traffic and GHG emissions.
Transform and SJDA collected responses from 52 local businesses, including restaurants, gyms, art galleries, real estate firms, and offices. We were able to glean concerns local business owners had about parking availability and collect input and ideas from owners about the benefits of creatively repurposing street space to entice customers to their businesses.
Creative solutions to parking problems
While over half of respondents agreed that the amount of available on-street parking is an obstacle or problem to their business’s success, business owners also had many suggestions for how to tackle the issue. Over 80% of respondents were interested in more maps and data on parking availability downtown, highlighting the need for a resource like Parknav, which is an app that is intended to help guide users to available parking and show heat maps of available parking. In addition, 72% of respondents who indicated they were not aware that the city of San Jose has several managed parking garages expressed interest in promoting the ParkSJ resource.
Over half of the respondents agreed that parklets or outdoor eating areas, along with public plazas and additional plants and trees, would help their businesses succeed if they were able to use some space currently occupied by on-street parking. One business owner shared, “Our priority should be on making the walking and living experience world class. No one evangelizes the ease of parking, they evangelize the destination.”
It is clear business owners are key stakeholders in transitioning street parking to other uses that attract more people downtown. Transform and SJDA will continue to work with local business owners to help support their goals and, therefore, the vibrancy of downtown San Jose.
SJDA and Transform are collaborating on additional resources for local businesses to improve the transportation and street access experience for their customers, so stay tuned for future updates on how to implement parklets, landscaping, interactive signage, and community activation events to help San Jose and its local businesses thrive.
https://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/San-Jose_Michael-Halberstadt-e1720566946253.jpg12801920Julia Gerasimenkohttps://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Company-Logo.pngJulia Gerasimenko2024-12-04 18:59:542024-12-04 18:59:57San Jose Parking Survey Shows Business Support for Reform
The Bay Area has two problems with the same solution: highway congestion and the climate crisis. Both require us to drive less and use other transportation modes more. However, incentivizing people to choose other modes can be a challenge.
In 2022, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) launched the Next Generation Bay Area Freeways Study with the goals of “analyzing the feasibility, costs, benefits, and public support for tolling certain Bay Area freeways as a strategy for delivering reliably high-speed travel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by passenger vehicles.” In September and October 2024, MTC briefed and solicited feedback from Transform staff on the options it’s studying.
What is tolling?
Toll roads are not a new concept. In other parts of the country, you can find many highways where drivers must pay a fee on entering or exiting. This may be a flat fee or based on the distance traveled.
Studies have found that introducing tolls can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Tolls on highway travel have the added benefit of reducing congestion, making travel faster for those who still need to drive. In fact, tolling is a better long-term solution for congestion than adding highway lanes. New lanes, even HOV or tolled lanes, lead to more driving, more greenhouse gases, and — within five to 10 years — more congestion.
Getting around in a private vehicle imposes an external cost on everyone, whether they drive or not, by creating pollution and contributing to a warming climate. Tolls place more of the true costs of driving back on the driver. Tolling is an excellent strategy for the Bay Area to explore. However, as the study notes, the MTC doesn’t currently have the authority to impose tolls; it would need state legislation to do that.
Two tolling options
The MTC study includes six pathways that they studied but really focuses on two main pathways. The first is all-lane highway tolling, which means all lanes of all major highways during weekday rush hours from 6-10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. would be tolled. The second is a mileage-based user fee that would charge drivers on all roads in the Bay Area based on the number of miles they drive during all hours.
When it comes to affordability, reliability, equity, and safety, each option has its pros and cons, according to modeling MTC staff uses to estimate the costs and benefits. For example, all-lane tolling would potentially:
Decrease overall vehicle miles traveled by 4%
Decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2%
Decrease highway peak travel times by 14%
Increase transit usage by 0.3%.
The tolling option would also be more affordable for families as tolls for households below 200% of the federal poverty level would be capped at a maximum of $70 annually.
A mileage-based user fee would:
Decrease overall vehicle miles traveled by 2%
Decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2%
Decrease highway peak travel times by 2%
Increase transit usage by 0.7%.
A mileage-based user fee would be less affordable for families than all-lane tolling, as households below 200% of the federal poverty level would pay as much as $300 annually before they reached the cap.
The all-lane tolling option could increase local street usage by 11%, according to MTC’s modeling, bringing more smog and pollution to our local roads. It could also cause local roads to need more frequent repairs, which would upset local politicians. However, it is important to note that tolling freeways doesn’t just divert all the traffic to local roads. It’s also more likely to reduce overall demand for driving, so even though MTC’s modeling shows an increase in local road usage, we might not see this big of an increase on local roads when it’s applied in real-world conditions. This option would decrease vehicle miles traveled on highways by much more than a mileage-based user fee, but the user fee does not increase local street usage at all. In fact, it decreases street usage by 2%.
Increasing transit usage is an important cornerstone of Transform’s philosophy, and the mileage-based user fee would increase transit usage more than highway tolling because it would generate more revenues than highway tolling. Therefore, more transit investments could be made by reinvesting revenues from the mileage-based user fee for transit for the same amount of GHG reduction. The user fee has a lower initial financial cost to implement because it comes with zero capital costs and brings in an annual net revenue of $2 billion. All-lane tolling would require $2.3 billion in capital costs to implement and would bring in an annual net revenue of $550 million.
Equitable tolling
For Transform, equity is an essential component in all policy changes. Tolling and increasing transit ridership are imperative in reaching our state climate goals and decreasing climate change globally. If structured equitably, these measures can also redress past transportation harms and avoid burdening already struggling families.
One of the best ways to mitigate harm to lower-income drivers is by capping the amount of money low-income families will pay in new tolls. MTC has proposed monthly caps on toll expenditures where households earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level — $62,400 for a family of four — only pay a maximum of $30 a month, while households at 200-300% of the federal poverty level would only pay a $60 maximum per month.
Additionally, highway tolls could result in a large increase in the use of local streets. While this model states that equity priority communities — Census tracts with a significant concentration of underserved populations, including people of color and households with low incomes — would not be disproportionately impacted, we remain cautious that the increase in vehicle miles traveled on local streets doesn’t disproportionately impact communities already burdened by pollution.
Equity includes ensuring that all regions of the Bay Area benefit from the money raised through tolling. Therefore, it is concerning that, in the highway tolling option being studied by MTC, the North Bay would only get 6% of the revenue from regional tolling for transit, local roads, and reparative infrastructure (investments in highway-adjacent low-income communities, such as urban greening and highway pedestrian crossings). We are all one region, so re-investment should not be exclusively tied to the percentage of county-generated revenue but allocated with the need and the importance of regional connectivity in mind.
All-lane tolling must also be equitable in how revenues are spent. MTC has proposed that 50% of the revenue from all-lane tolling will go to transit improvements, while 30% will go to roadway improvements and 15% to ‘reparative community investments.’ Since low-income and marginalized communities disproportionately use transit and have been harmed by past transportation decisions, the expenditures from all-lane tolling as proposed are progressive and would be an important step toward a more equitable transportation system.
Next steps for tolling
In a November 2024 policy advisory council meeting, MTC staff stated that while they are not saying one specific policy is better than another, they recommend that for Plan Bay 2050+, MTC should maintain the highway all-lane tolling option as a strategy in the plan and update it with the “latest strategy specifics to better balance tradeoffs between mobility, environmental, and equity outcomes.” In its upcoming implementation plan, MTC will identify actions to address some of the challenges mentioned in this blog.
While potential implementation of these tolling or user fee options would not start until 2035, MTC will be giving recommendations and an implementation roadmap during the fall and winter of 2024 and 2025, so this is a vital time for Transform to weigh in. We have been selected to be part of a diverse group of stakeholders participating in this process and have consistently reiterated the importance of equity in all tolling policy recommendations.
It’s critical to move forward on all-lane tolling, but Transform remains committed to ensuring an equitable solution moves forward.
https://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/daniel-lee-dzi83tDenUY-unsplash-scaled-e1721781696850.jpg19201280Abibat Rahman-Davieshttps://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Company-Logo.pngAbibat Rahman-Davies2024-12-04 14:59:522024-12-04 15:32:55MTC Tolling Study an Important Step Forward, But Equity Concerns Remain
Elizabeth Madrigal, who joined Transform’s board of directors last year, knows firsthand the power of affordable housing to change a family’s trajectory. In her day job as a Policy Manager at MidPen Housing, she works to create and preserve high-quality, affordable homes. “For me, it’s a personal story,” she said. Her family’s move to affordable housing provided the stability that allowed Madrigal and her sisters to go to college, providing the stepping stones for her current career.
Crucial voices in the affordable housing movement
Madrigal noted that while the majority of residents served by affordable housing developments are people of color, most people working in the field don’t identify as BIPOC. She is committed to changing that and to being a voice for those with lived experience of affordable housing.
Madrigal grew up in the Salinas Valley. Her parents were farmworkers and didn’t have much money, so they moved around a lot when she was young. Then, they were able to move into an affordable housing development in Gonzales, ending their housing insecurity. That gave Madrigal a foundation to launch from, starting with community college classes in Salinas.
In a Chicano studies class, Madrigal saw a presentation from a community development worker and stayed in touch with him after she transferred to UC Berkeley. He connected her with the Bay Area Housing Internship Program, which seeks to help people of color with experience living in affordable housing into the field. That started her on a career path to help more people experience the transformative power of stable, affordable housing.
Transportation + housing
Transform works at the intersection of transportation and housing, and so does Madrigal. She serves on the Equity Advisory Council for Link21, which she describes as “a megaregion initiative to connect the Bay Area.” The initiative, run by BART, is exploring connections beyond the nine Bay Area counties to Monterey Bay, Sacramento, and the Central Valley by passenger rail. Possible plans include a second transbay tube to serve San Francisco’s Richmond neighborhood or more stations in underserved areas such as Oakland’s San Antonio neighborhood.
The goal of Link21 is to connect people outside the Bay Area to the transportation options that Bay Area residents enjoy. Many people commute from Monterey and other far-flung areas to work in Bay Area cities, and they should have more transportation options than just driving solo.
“The Equity Advisory Council advises BART staff on what we think should be included in the plan,” Madrigal said. It’s working on anti-displacement guidance to make sure that new services for some residents don’t come at the expense of others. Her committee is also working to ensure coordination among the regional transit agencies touched by the plans.
Her connection to public transit is personal. Madrigal loves the opportunity to meet a stranger on a bus, to have a window into other people’s lives.
Working with Transform toward transportation that serves underserved communities
“I don’t think there’s any organization comparable to Transform,” Madrigal said. She noted that people want to live closer to their work but can’t afford housing, so solving for housing and transportation benefits everyone. However, public transit riders come disproportionately from more disadvantaged communities. “It’s really exciting to me that they are going to get to see the benefits of [Transform’s work],” she said.
Madrigal serves on the board recruitment committee. “It really excites me getting that new level of talent in and people whose voices aren’t usually heard,” she said. “I chose to be a part of the board because the staff and the ED Jenn really care about those values.”
A vision for the future
Madrigal’s hope for the future is “a transportation system that works for all of us and is integrated.” She’s also invested in one of Transform’s top legislative priorities: “I would love to see the regional transit bond pass so we won’t have to worry about whether transit will live another decade.”
She wants to see BART and AC Transit use empty lots they own to create more affordable housing, adding to ones that have already been built. “It makes me happy to see the way the residents in those developments are flourishing,” Madrigal said.
She’s excited about a pilot project of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) that gives a free pass, valid for all Bay Area transit agencies, to residents in some of the developments she works with. They have used this Bay Pass in Alameda, Solano, San Mateo, and Santa Clara developments with excellent results. It’s a program employers can purchase for their employees as well.
When she’s not busy dreaming up housing and transportation solutions, Madrigal, who lives car-free, likes to hop on a bus. “I love exploring different neighborhoods on transit,” she said. For example, she had never been to Montclair and recently took the bus there and got off to explore. “To me, the best way to explore neighborhoods is walking.”
https://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Elizabeth-Madrigal-sunset-cropped.png10231920Laura McCamyhttps://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Company-Logo.pngLaura McCamy2024-11-22 13:18:252024-12-02 12:48:18Board Member Profile: Elizabeth Madrigal Has Her Eye on the Megaregion
Most people have been focused on the results of last week’s presidential election, so it can be easy to miss the results of state and local ballot measures that could be consequential. Transform endorsed several state and local measures that will move forward our agenda for transit and housing equity and climate resilience. It wasn’t all good news, especially at the state level, but there is still a lot to celebrate.
California proposition results: some hope in an atmosphere of anxiety
California showed the complexity of its political landscape in the results for propositions on the November ballot. Voters added the right to same-sex marriage to the state constitution but supported a punitive anti-crime measure and refused to outlaw forced labor in prisons. The measures Transform supported at the state level faced the same fate, with a mix of positive and disappointing results.
A win for climate
Proposition 4, a $10 billion bond to fund climate change mitigation projects, passed with 58.9% support. This measure is a fraction of the amount California needs to spend on making our communities more climate-resilient, but it shows that Californians understand the seriousness of climate change and are willing to invest in mitigation measures.
We see this vote as an affirmation of our mission to ensure underserved communities can live healthy lives, free from fear of climate catastrophe.
Additionally, Proposition 33 failed and the related Proposition 34 passed. Both Prop 33 and Prop 34 received a lot of media attention and heavy advertising, causing confusion among voters and highlighting the influence of special interest groups.
Prop 33 would have repealed the restrictive and outdated Costa-Hawkins Act and allowed California cities and towns to determine the best local rent control regulations. With the failure of Prop 33, communities are still hamstrung in their efforts to protect existing affordable housing stock by the restrictive state law, which prevents rent control on homes built after 1995, condos, and single-family homes.
Proposition 34, which restricted spending of a single charity, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, narrowly passed. Transform opposed this bill as it was written by special interest groups trying to limit the housing related advocacy efforts of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
California voters are usually more savvy, rejecting efforts by special interest groups to sway their vote, but in 2024, the message appears to have landed.
Local ballot measures include landmark victories
Transform supported local ballot measures relating to transit, housing, active transportation, and open space in several Bay Area communities. Voters concurred with Transform’s endorsements on local ballot measures everywhere except the North Bay, where all but one of the measures we endorsed went the opposite way.
San Francisco ballot measures
San Francisco voters supported community amenities, safety, car-free spaces, and transit.
Prop B: Transform supported this bond measure to fund community health centers, shelter beds, and street and sidewalk safety. It needed a two-thirds majority to pass, and it made that with a comfortable margin.
Prop G: Transform supported this affordable housing funding measure, which passed with more than 55% voting yes.
Prop K: Transform supported this ballot measure to permanently turn a stretch of the Great Highway near Ocean Beach into a car-free bicycle and pedestrian path. It has passed by an 8% margin, showing strong support for more car-free spaces.
Prop L: Transform endorsed this funding measure to tax ride-hail operators and use the money to fund the city’s Muni public transit system, which is struggling to preserve services amid a funding crisis. The measure passed by more than 13%, showing significant support for transit funding. However, because Prop M gained a larger percentage of votes, Prop L will not be implemented. Prop M is set to overhaul how business taxes are implemented and, therefore, negates Prop L’s proposed new tax structure.
East Bay ballot measures
East Bay voters supported funding for active transportation infrastructure and stronger tenant protections.
Albany
Measure C: Transform supported this local measure to levy a tax to provide funding for sidewalk and path improvements. It passed with almost 70% of the vote.
Berkeley
Measures BB and CC: Transform supported BB to expand tenant protections and opposed CC to limit tenants’ rights. If both measures had passed, the one with the most votes would have gone into effect. However, voters decisively rejected Measure CC, and Measure BB is ahead in the vote count and appears headed for victory.
Measures EE and FF: These two competing measures to fund safe streets would also implement the one with the most votes if both passed. Transform supported the stronger measure, FF, and opposed EE. Voters agreed, passing FF and voting down EE.
Measure W: Transform supported this parcel tax to fund homeless services, and so did Berkeley voters.
South Bay ballot measures
East Palo Alto Measure JJ: Transform supported this measure to fund rental assistance and affordable housing preservation. Voters supported it overwhelmingly, with more than 76% in favor.
North Bay ballot measures
The North Bay followed a statewide trend opposing tenant protections but supported a measure limiting sprawl.
Fairfax
Measure I: A strong majority supported this measure to repeal existing eviction and rent stabilization laws. Transform opposed this measure.
Measure J: Transform supported this bond measure for infrastructure improvements such as crosswalks and protected bike lanes. If approved, it would have allowed Fairfax to qualify for millions of dollars in federal grants, but it needed a two-thirds majority to pass and got less than 50% support.
Larkspur
Measure K: Transform supported this grassroots initiative to bring rent control to Larkspur, but voters rejected it by a large majority.
Petaluma
Measure Y: Petaluma residents supported this measure, which Transform endorsed, to reduce sprawl and preserve farmland with an urban growth boundary.
San Anselmo
Measures N and O: Transform supported two measures to bring rent control to San Anselmo and affirm existing tenant protections in the city. However, voters rejected both measures by wide margins.
The high school students who volunteer for the Safe Routes to Schools (SR2S) Youth Task Force care a lot about safety and the environment. We recently asked them about why they joined the Youth Task Force and how their attitudes about active transportation have changed since they were in elementary school. The two most common reasons they cited for getting involved were safety concerns or wanting to do something positive about climate change. They shared their inspiration through artwork and text.
This is part two of a two-part series. Read part one here.
Safety first
For some students, safety, including concerns about crime and about traffic violence, was a reason to get involved with the Youth Task Force (YTF).
Ryan, from Encinal Jr. Sr. High School in Alameda, told us: “I’m motivated to do SR2S work because of the crime and danger that is prevalent in Alameda and the cities around Alameda, like Oakland. When I go to places like Oakland Chinatown with my family or even when I’m taking a walk by myself, it’s really sad to see so many harmful things around me — especially when children walk on those same sidewalks. Being able to create change for the people and students around me is something that’s motivating to me. When I was still in elementary school, the only thing that likely would have motivated me was money and YouTube screen time — which is a stark difference compared to now.”
Sammy, who also goes to Encinal Jr. Sr. High School, said: “I’m motivated to do SR2S because I constantly see how dangerous biking can be and that some bikers don’t know road rules. I’d like to educate students on road rules to keep them more safe on the streets. This differs from my elementary mindset because I was all about ‘save the world!’ and ‘don’t use a car to limit pollution.’ While I’m still very much for the delay of further global warming, I realize that I should focus on things that I can do to impact my community.”
Safety concerns span Alameda County. Claudia, a student at Tennyson High School in Hayward, joined YTF to “Make the environment for students safer. I hear students are concerned about walking to school, and I want to help students feel safe and secure in the environment they live in! I became more aware of this stuff in the beginning of high school.”
The Safe Routes to Schools programs run by Transform in Alameda County make students safer by teaching them how to safely walk, roll, and take transit to school. And the larger Safe Routes movement augments that safety with grants to cities to build biking and walking infrastructure that helps students get to school safely.
Saving the planet
Not surprisingly, environmental concerns motivate many students to join the YTF. For example, Soundharya, a Fremont student who goes to Irvington High School, participates because “a big part of student government is service, and I’ve been wanting a way to focus on environmental service, and this is a good way to do that!”
Youth are clear-eyed about the role that biking and walking play in combating climate change. Logan from Alameda High School in Alameda said, “What motivates me to do SR2S work is just trying to make biking better, and making public transportation better, and create a bigger community. I’d like them to be more acknowledged and utilized so we can help the planet!” And Marley-Marie, who goes to the Alameda Community Learning Center, told us, “The environment needs to be more healthy! I feel like for future generations, it’s not going to be great if we keep on going down the same road we are.”
Today’s high school students have been environmentalists from an early age. Jasmine, a student at Washington High School in Fremont, said, “I’ve always had an interest in the environment. In elementary school, I was in the organization that organized the bins (trash/compost/recycling). In high school, that morphed into more adaptive versions of how I can help the environment (like Safe Routes).” Another Washington High student, Ruhi, told us, “When I was in elementary school, I had a teacher who loved talking about the environment and about cars and the impact on the environment. I’ve always told my parents I want an electric car! In the morning, there is so much traffic that cars can’t even complete turns, which is why I joined Safe Routes.”
OakTech Youth Task Force members
Amalia from Oakland Technical High School in Oakland recalled, “In elementary school, I used to bike to school every day. I think climate change and the environment were motivating factors back then. Now I have more experience with different types of transportation, and seeing the lack of quality in public transportation and biking, I want to make it better and easier for students in high school.” And another Oakland Tech student, Harper, noted, “In elementary school, I would have been more motivated by clean, non-carbon emissions transportation. I scootered to school as a kid. Now I have more experience with lots of different transportation options.”
The Youth Task Force members of today are the climate and transportation leaders of tomorrow. They inspire us every day with their creativity, dedication, and thoughtfulness.
https://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Gauri-cropped.png6961080Michele Walkerhttps://transformca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Company-Logo.pngMichele Walker2024-11-13 14:54:492024-11-13 16:11:01Youth Task Force Members on Street Safety and Climate Dangers
