Transportation Streamlining Bill Advances

On Tuesday (April 8), the Bay Area Council cleared a big hurdle in making it easier to build sustainable transportation projects when our sponsored bill, SB 71 (Wiener), secured a unanimous vote in the Senate Transportation Committee. Council Vice President Emily Loper served as a lead witness to advocate for the bill, which will make permanent a current CEQA exemption for clean transportation projects.

It is clear that California will not meet its climate goals without shifting more people from single occupancy vehicle trips to sustainable modes of travel, yet public agencies who seek to build infrastructure to promote transit, biking, and walking have often been mired in a CEQA process that leads to significant costs and delays that often make these projects prohibitively expensive to build. This bill will make permanent a proven CEQA exemption that expedites the implementation of these clean transportation projects that improve mobility and vibrancy of neighborhoods while also protecting the environment. To learn more about the Council’s transportation work, contact Vice President Emily Loper.