TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORTATION CALIFORNIA SPEAKS TO 2020 PRIORITIES AS IT RELATES TO SB 1 FUNDING By Brian Hoover, Construction Marketing Services, LLC
C
alifornia maintains almost 400,000 lanemiles of freeways, highways, local streets and roads, along with 25,000-plus bridges. According to the 24th Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation, the California highway system ranks 43rd in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition. The Golden State is in the bottom 10 of all states in 7 of the 13 total metrics. This includes a ranking of 48th in traffic congestion, 47th in urban interstate pavement condition, 45th in rural interstate pavement condition, 49th in urban arterial pavement condition, and 40th in spending per mile. These rankings are not surprising when you consider that vehicle travel has grown 10 times faster than lane capacity over the past 10 years. California’s roadways carry 1.3 billion tons of freight annually, while residents continue to drive more than 300 billion miles each year on these state roads. The lifeblood of California’s economy relies on the continued well-being of its transportation system, and that requires continued adequate investment. California Legislators signed Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) into law April 28, 2017, to repair roads and bridges, improve public safety, and to expand public transit systems. SB 1, also known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, invests approximately $54 billion over the next decade, 6
but who is ensuring that SB 1 is honored and implemented as passed by Legislature and signed by Governor Brown. Transportation California was formed in 1990 as a not-for-profit 501 (c)(4) organization to support Propositions 108 and 111, which created the Transportation Blueprint for the last decade of the 20th century. For the past several decades, Transportation California has worked in concert with a broad coalition of labor, management, local governments, and others to address the need for greater investment in California’s transportation system. Transportation California is also now fully engaged in the implementation of SB 1 while defending and protecting the landmark legislation against attacks or misuse. They remain
vigilant and continually monitor legislative, budget, and regulatory proposals to ensure that they do not weaken SB 1 and its ability to deliver on the promises made to tax-payers and voters. As the Executive Director of Transportation California, Kiana Valentine has more than 15 years of policy experience in transportation, housing, land use and local government issues. With a deep understanding of transportation policy and funding, she has played a role in the passage and implementation of all major state transportation policy and funding decisions for more than a decade including Proposition 1B (2006, $19.9 billion transportation bond), the 2010 transportation fuel tax swap, and most recently the successful passage of SB 1 – the The Conveyor • 2020 Winter Issue
