The Sonoma County Transportation Authority (SCTA) will be putting a measure on the November ballot to renew Measure M, the 1/4 cent sales tax funding local transportation. This is an excellent opportunity to influence funding for building and improving bicycle lanes and paths for years to come!
The spending plan for the original Measure M dedicated 4% of revenues to bicycle & pedestrian projects. (Disclosure: SCBC receives Measure M funding for our education & encouragement programs.) The recently released draft renewal plan allocates 11% of revenues to bike/ped projects, and includes a 25% category for “connecting projects” that follow Complete Streets guidelines (which would presumably include a bicycle component).
A coalition of climate change and environmental groups has sent a letter to SCTA asking for an even higher proportion of funds to be allocated to public transit (40%) and bike/ped (20%). (SCTA voted not long ago to declare a climate emergency.) They have also posted it as an online petition which individuals can sign. (While we don’t necessarily agree with every single item in the letter, we signed on as we agree with the spirit – if we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and get people out of their vehicles, we need to make transit and cycling easier and safer!)
The SCTA Board meets Monday February 10 at 2:30 pm at 411 King Street in downtown Santa Rosa. This will be the first discussion of this draft by the full Board. You can send comments directly to the SCTA Board here.