Congestion
Highway Widening--Crazy Business
11/18/16 Filed in: Transportation
Planning
TRANSDEF
submitted comments on Caltrans’ proposal to add
lanes to Highway 101 in San Mateo and Santa Clara
Counties. The letter details how futile it would
be to add more lanes to the highway, thereby
further continuing dependence on solo driving, the
cause of congestion in the first place.
Protecting Niles Canyon
03/03/17 Filed in: Transportation
Planning
TRANSDEF
submitted comments today on Caltrans’ proposal to
replace the 89 year-old bridge over Alameda Creek
on SR 84, to allow higher speeds “to meet driver
expectations.” i
CA is not Serious about VMT Reduction
02/05/17 Filed in: Climate
Change |
Transportation
Planning
TRANSDEF’s
organizational focus is the reduction of GHG
emissions from transportation. Much of our work has
involved the state’s policy-setting agency for
climate change, the California Air Resources Board,
or ARB. ARB has produced generally excellent climate
change plans, called Scoping Plans. However, it has
consistently been weak in the area of reducing GHG
emissions from transportation, despite determining
that nearly half of the state’s GHG emissions are
generated by the transportation sector.
Read
More...
TRANSDEF Opposes CCTA Sales Tax Measure X
09/04/16 Filed in: Transportation
Planning | Climate
Change
The TRANSDEF Board has voted to formally oppose
Contra Costa Transportation Authority’s (CCTA’s)
transportation sales tax measure. Our ballot
arguments were selected to be the Oppose position in
the Voter Guide. Our
campaign website
was posted today.
TRANSDEF Opposes VTA Sales Tax Measure B
09/04/16 Filed in: Climate
Change |
Transportation
Planning
The TRANSDEF Board has voted to formally oppose the
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA’s)
transportation sales tax measure. We have No
Confidence in VTA. Check out the websites of our
allies
Sierra Club
and
BayRail Alliance!
Measure B would double VTA’s sales tax. This is intolerable, when the Measure fails in three distinct policy areas:
Measure B would double VTA’s sales tax. This is intolerable, when the Measure fails in three distinct policy areas:
- BART to San Jose and Santa Clara is a horribly wasteful and ineffective response to the commuting challenges of Santa Clara County residents.
- The continued funding of highways is ultimately futile, as congestion will merely continue to get worse. See this study to learn how highway widening increases greenhouse gases over the long run.
- While Silicon Valley desperately needs great transit, VTA continues to operate a hopelessly ineffective transit system. Its plans allocate little of the Measure A proceeds to an Santa Clara County transit network.
Marin Clings to Status Quo
10/12/15 Filed in: Transportation
Planning | Climate
Change
As the Transportation
Authority of Marin was determining what projects to
submit to the 2017 Regional Transportation Plan,
TRANSDEF’s President testified, “Highway performance
is at near-crisis levels. Mobility is severely
impaired. Yet you are being offered more of the
same.” See that testimony and the rest of the
Marin
page. TAM
didn’t discuss whether there was a problem, and
adopted staff’s status quo proposal.
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Mill Valley Traffic--Bursting at the Seams
09/15/15 Filed in: Transportation
Planning
With traffic in Mill
Valley reaching record levels of congestion, the City
Council designated a Mill Valley Traffic Task Force
to look for solutions. TRANSDEF’s President offered
these thoughts to the Task Force, indicating that
solutions would not be found that restore past
conditions:
I'd like to offer you a mental frame for the traffic issue, one you've probably never heard:
We're at the point where the roadway system in developed areas has reached a state of maturation. The fiscal and environmental costs of expanding capacity are so high that it is mostly out of reach. Yet vehicle trips keep increasing. This results in ever-increasing congestion all over the Bay Area, which is significantly worse here.
Mill Valley is something like a pressure cooker, because of its isolation from the rest of the county. Because of that, Mill Valley is at the bleeding edge of this change. Read More...
I'd like to offer you a mental frame for the traffic issue, one you've probably never heard:
We're at the point where the roadway system in developed areas has reached a state of maturation. The fiscal and environmental costs of expanding capacity are so high that it is mostly out of reach. Yet vehicle trips keep increasing. This results in ever-increasing congestion all over the Bay Area, which is significantly worse here.
Mill Valley is something like a pressure cooker, because of its isolation from the rest of the county. Because of that, Mill Valley is at the bleeding edge of this change. Read More...
TRANSDEF Proposes New Approach at TAM
04/24/14 Filed in: Transportation
Planning
TRANSDEF appeared at
the Transportation Authority of Marin to propose a
strategic approach to operating the agency. In
particular, the time has come to recognize that the
era of the single-occupant vehicle is over. There
isn’t enough roadway capacity to accommodate all
those solo drivers, and there isn’t enough money or
right-of-way to feasibly do that. Rather than having
a congestion problem, Marin has an expectation
problem, in which people expect to be able to drive
alone.
Read More...
Read More...