Communities Over Highways
April 2025
We are writing to urge the Legislature to implement a revised Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund spending plan that puts(California’s most underserved communities front and center. Moreover, we are seeking sustained investments in these communities that continue to be marginalized through funding opportunities in the bonds, state budget and Cap-and-Trade policies, and are the most impacted by the climate crisis and higher gas prices associated with compliance costs from the Cap-and-Trade program.
The state and the nation’s fiscal outlook is, at best, uncertain and more realistically significantly distressed. The opportunities for California to invest in the health and improved economic well-being of our most vulnerable populations are diminishing while the effects of the climate crisis, homelessness, poor air quality and financial burden remain as constants in the communities where these populations reside.
Recommendations for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Investments
April 2025
Endless highway expansions are pulling our country into an environmental, budgetary, and public health crisis. It’s time to end this destructive, unsustainable practice. The 128 organizations of the Communities Over Highways Coalition call on members of Congress to adopt a responsible transportation bill that stops reckless highway spending and builds a future that puts community needs first.
Community-first infrastructure means increasing frequent, reliable, and accessible public transportation. It means investing in policies that build homes close to jobs and amenities. It means providing clean air and water and making neighborhoods healthier, quieter, and safer. It means fostering small businesses and creating places for people to gather.
Support Letter: AB 736 Affordable Housing Bond of 2026
April 2025
The Affordable Housing Bond of 2026 (AB 736, Wicks) comes at a crucial time for California. Historically, the state has used voter-approved General Obligation bonds to fund the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing. However, the $3 billion in funding authorized by the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018 was fully allocated by the end of 2024. Additionally, the Governor’s January budget proposal does not allocate funding for the state’s affordable housing and homelessness programs, making the need for a new, stable funding source even more dire. Without additional state resources, we cannot draw down unlimited 4% federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, leaving billions of dollars of federal assistance on the table.
The 2026 Affordable Housing Bond Act would place a $10 billion affordable housing bond on the June 2026 ballot to fund affordable housing development for the following four years.
SB 1121 State and Local Transportation System Needs Assessment Comment
April 2025
The State and Local Transportation System Needs Assessment required by SB 1121 covers two areas: a needs assessment for multimodal transportation in California and a discussion of how to address the decreasing gas tax revenue due to electrification and fuel efficiency. However, there is a big disconnect between these two sections, and we are concerned that the discussion of needs fails to prioritize any of the needs identified in state or regional plans based on their alignment with statewide goals. The discussion of decreasing revenue fails to address how revenue should be raised or reprioritized to address the needs of transit, active transportation, climate resilience and electrification. The report focuses on policy recommendations for replacing the gas tax, primarily used for the state highway system and local streets and roads, which will only address one portion of the gap between needs and revenues.
Advocates Urge $2 Billion in State Funding for Transit
March 2025
Unfortunately, while many transit agencies work toward new local funding solutions, they still continue to face significant fiscal pressures. These pressures come from the lingering effects of the pandemic on remote work, ongoing impacts of the pandemic on local and regional economies, safety concerns of transit riders and operators, capital costs associated with maintenance, modernization, replacement, and expansion, as well as rising operating and capital costs.
Therefore, the undersigned organizations respectfully urge the state to provide $2 billion in new funding over two years for public transit beginning in fiscal year 2025 -2026 until other solutions are secured. Because recovery has been uneven and no two agencies are alike, it is critical that both operating needs and capital projects are eligible uses of the funding.
Broad coalition urges sustainable priorities for Cap-and-Trade funds
March 2025
The undersigned transportation, housing, environmental, and equity organizations are writing to communicate our priorities surrounding the potential renewal of California’s Cap-and-Trade Program.
Funding affordable housing and sustainable transportation is fundamental to addressing climate change, encouraging economic prosperity for all Californians, and advancing equity. Housing and transportation represent 59% of all household costs for moderate-income households in California. A large majority of low-income Californians are severely housing burdened, and 18% don’t own a car, underscoring a need to live in communities well-served by public transportation. The transportation and housing sectors have an enormous impact on our climate and thus provide an enormous opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: taken together, passenger vehicles and housing account for 34.2% of the total state greenhouse gas emissions.
2025 Equity Principles for the CA Road Charge
February 2025
California is at a crossroads. The success of nation-leading clean vehicle policies means that Californians are breathing cleaner air and saving money at the pump. However, reducing fuel consumption could mean a projected drop in gas and diesel tax revenues that support road maintenance and public transportation by over $4 billion annually in the next decade.
Urgently seeking a solution to this fiscal gap, California is piloting a Road Charge – a distance-based driving fee – that could replace the gas tax. A Road Charge allows drivers to support road and highway maintenance based on how many miles they drive, instead of how many gallons of gas they use.
Urgent Request for $2.9 Billion in Housing Investments
February 2025
Our statewide coalition of affordable housing, homelessness, and housing justice organizations greatly appreciates the work that the Administration and the Legislature have done in recent years to address California’s housing and homelessness crises, and we share your commitment to ensuring that all Californians have a safe and affordable place to call home. However, we are deeply concerned by the alarming absence of funding for affordable housing and homelessness in the Governor’s proposed January budget. Our coalition respectfully urges the Administration and the Legislature to invest a minimum of $2.9 billion in essential affordable housing and homelessness programs – only about 1 percent of the Governor’s proposed $229 billion General Fund spending plan.
Restore $400 Million to the Active Transportation Program
November 2024
Our state faces pressures from climate change, poor air quality, congestion, lack of accessibility, and increasing fatalities on our roads. California is making progress with more and more people transitioning to zero-emission vehicles each year, yet more is needed to significantly reduce emissions from the transportation sector, improve the quality of life for all Californians, and meet state climate mandates under SB 32 and AB 12791. As you prepare your next budget, we ask
you to honor your commitment to increase funding for the Active Transportation Program, and we outline three options for how you can deliver greater investment in this highly successful and deeply oversubscribed program.
Climate, environmental justice, sustainable agriculture, conservation, and other organizations support $10 billion climate bond
July, 2024
We write in support of Senate Bill 867. This bill would place a first-of-its-kind, $10-billion Climate Resilience Bond on the November 5, 2024 ballot. We know you agree: California’s future sits on the edge of a knife. We cannot credibly provide Californians with clean water, clean air, healthy lands, and protection from floods, fires, extreme heat, and other devastating climate impacts with a second year of budget cuts and funding delays. The truth is, even with this bond, every year the legislature and Administration will need to prioritize investments in making vulnerable communities safer and more resilient.
Coalition Outlines Multiple Reasons to Oppose New Highway 101/SR92 Connector
May, 2024
Thank you for your work in service of the transportation needs of San Mateo County residents. We are writing in support of the No-Build Alternative for the recently proposed US 101 / SR 92 Interchange Direct Connector Project in San Mateo and Foster City. We oppose all three Build Alternatives as they will be expensive, ineffective, bad for the environment, and fail to address the most pressing transportation needs of San Mateo County taxpayers.
Sustainable transportation advocates respond to governor’s May budget revision
May, 2024
As organizations that advocate for building a more sustainable, equitable transportation system in California, we are grateful for the Governor’s continued support for last year’s SB125 transit funding package. Maintaining the $5.1 billion in critical funding for California transit agencies that was previously approved is critical to maintaining essential transit service and keeping major transit capital projects on track. However, the administration’s proposed $600 million in cuts to the Active Transportation Program and $75 million in cuts to the Highways to Boulevards program threaten to undermine our progress towards an equitable transportation system aligned with California’s climate goals.
REQUEST TO IMMEDIATELY LIFT TEMPORARY SPENDING FREEZE ON PUBLIC TRANSIT FUNDING
May, 2024
On behalf of the undersigned organization, we respectfully request that the Administration immediately lift the current spending freeze on the funding appropriated for California’s transit agencies as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023- 24 Budget Act, which had been scheduled to be released on April 30th. We further request that your Administration lift the spending freeze on TIRCP Cycle 6 grants, approved under the FY 2021-22 Budget Act and awarded in early 2023.
We strongly support a transportation revenue measure authorized by SB 1031 (Wiener, Wahab) that delivers needed funding for our region’s transit system, roadway repair, safer streets and active transportation to advance climate and equity throughout the Bay Area.
March 22, 2024
As organizations committed to environmental sustainability and equitable transportation, we strongly support a transportation revenue measure authorized by SB 1031 (Wiener, Wahab) that delivers needed funding for our region’s transit system, roadway repair, safer streets, and active transportation to advance climate and equity throughout the Bay Area. As our global climate crisis continues, we know that a thriving transit system, safer streets, and active transportation networks are imperative to meet the Bay Area and California’s goals for equity, climate, safety, and economic prosperity.
Protect Funding for Transit, REAP 2.0 and Other Critical Housing Programs
March 7, 2024
TransForm strongly supports the Governor’s January budget proposal honoring last year’s agreement on transit funding. We are grateful for the legislature and Governor’s actions in the 2023-24 budget to give transit agencies breathing room to retool and reinvent transit service to meet residents’ current needs.
Communities Over Highways Call For Action
February 6, 2024
“Endless highway expansions are pulling our country into an environmental, budgetary, and public health crisis. It’s time to end this destructive, unsustainable practice and set a responsible course toward a cleaner and more equitable future.” TransForm joined with almost 200 organizations to call on our elected leaders to prioritize investments in infrastructure that puts communities and people first by divesting from both current and proposed highway expansion projects.
Letter to MTC: No Dollars for Freeway Widening in Regional Transportation Funding Measure
January 11, 2024
As organizations committed to environmental sustainability and equitable transportation investments, we appreciate MTC’s work toward a potential transportation revenue measure. The need for significant new funding for our region’s transit operators is critical to prevent severe service cuts and enhance overall service quality. We are in the midst of a global climate crisis and a thriving transit system is imperative to meet the Bay Area’s sustainability objectives and to reduce our region’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Budget Request for Climate-Smart Transportation Investment
December 19, 2023
We request a fiscally-responsible transportation budget that meets the most vulnerable Californians’ needs while reducing traffic and the cost of commuting, especially given potential budget constraints the state may be facing. We are not requesting new funding. On the contrary, we ask that existing funding be put to more efficient and equitable uses that fully aligns with our state’s climate and environmental priorities.
Strong support for the implementation of AB 645
June 15, 2023
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to express our strong support for the implementation of AB 645, enabling a safety system pilot program in California.
Working Families, the California Economy, and Environmental Sustainability All Depend on Healthy Public Transit
June 23, 2023
Dear Governor Newsom,
We write to you to today to urge your support for the Legislature’s two-party agreement on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24 budget, captured in SB 101 (Skinner). SB 101 would maintain the full funding commitment for the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) established in the FY 2022-23 budget…
Budget Deal a Step Forward For Transit: Advocates call for additional funding so transit can survive and thrive
June 12, 2023
By allocating $1.1 billion in largely cap-and-trade funds flexible for transit operations, making the $4 billion in Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) funds flexible for transit operations, and reversing the governor’s proposed $2 billion cut to transit capital funds, California’s leaders have affirmed the state’s commitment to public transit operations across the state…
Proposed Legislative Budget Actions and Additional Needs for Transit Operations Funding
June 2, 2023
Dear Governor Newsom, Pro Tempore Atkins, Speaker Rendon, Senator Skinner, and Assemblymember Ting: We write to you today to thank the Legislature for its commitment to public transit, as reflected in recent budget actions, which would maintain the full funding commitment….