In response to the AB 285 report: ClimatePlan co-sponsors AB 2438, providing real solutions to align CA transit dollars with climate.

In our commitment to ensure state spending is aligned with our climate goals, ClimatePlan will be co-sponsoring AB 2438. This long overdue legislation will require more alignment between our visionary state plans and transportation infrastructure.  This bill helps resolve some of the findings from the AB 285 report that was just released on February 18, 2022 by the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) and University of California Institute of Transportation Studies (UC ITS).

How we got here: AB 285

When AB 285 was passed in 2019, many partners in the ClimatePlan network were excited about the possibility of a report that would address why transportation decision making is so complicated. Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s AB 285, directed SGC to get to the heart of why our transportation system is not able to align with climate goals. SGC and the UC ITSs read thousands of pages of reports and conducted various interviews across the state and developed 5 papers that tackle some of the most complicated issues of our transportation decision making structure.

Some high level findings taken directly from the UC ITS AB 285 report: 

• Misalignment between climate ambitious targets for transportation and current spending of transportation dollars. 
  
  
• Decentralization of transportation planning and decision making processes that make it complex and difficult to achieve statewide climate targets. 

• The lack of emphasis of health, equity, and climate on many of the funded state and local programs.

• Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) don't have purview over local transportation spending and land use regulations and have to rely on state and local jurisdictions to achieve mandated goals.  Most MPOs are spending money on projects centered on auto investments versus on projects centered on active and/or mass transportation. 

• Given the influx of federal and state monies available, there are more opportunities for California to re-envision our transportation planning and projects. 

How AB 2438 will help

ClimatePlan is co-sponsoring AB 2438, a bill authored by Assemblymember Laura Friedman, which tries to address many of the concerns in the AB 285 reports. California has set ambitious climate goals but it has not been at the core of transportation planning and investment spending. We must integrate climate, health, and equity into our transportation planning in order to create a transportation system that works for the environment, economy and those that have been historically excluded from the planning process. 

AB 2438 is the bill that will set California on course to meet our targets. Below are goals of AB 2438 that will address findings of the AB 285 report:   

1. Require the guidelines/plans for SHOPP, STIP, SCCP, TCEP, LPP, and LSR to align with:
   • CTP
   • CAPTI
   • AB 32 and SB 375

1. Require CalSTA, Caltrans, CTC, ARB, and SGC to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2025, that comprehensively reevaluates transportation program funding levels, projects, and eligibility criteria with the objective of aligning the largest funding programs with the goals set forth in CTP, CAPTI, AB 32, and SB 375, and away from projects that increase vehicle capacity
   
   
2. Require the CTP to include a financial element that summaries the cost of the implementation of the CTP, and a realistic projection of available revenues. The financial element must also include recommendation for allocation of funds.

How to get Involved

• Sign up for ClimatePlan’s new dedicated mailing list to stay updated and engaged specifically on AB 2438 . 

Register for the California Strategic Growth Council’s  AB 285 virtual stakeholder forum on April 20th to discuss the AB 285 report, where you can provide comments and questions to help develop policy recommendations and implementation measures.