At the April meeting, the coalition selected three issues that will be the focus of SacMoves for the coming year.

Transportation funding: How can money be raised to invest in neglected portions of our transportation system, walking, bicycling and transit. Roadway capacity expansion has received the majority of funding in the past, but that must shift toward more active and sustainable modes.

SACOG Blueprint 2025: SACOG (Sacramento Area Council of Governments) is updating the MTP/SCS (Metropolitan Transportation Plan / Sustainable Communities Strategy, called the Blueprint). A primary criteria is making transportation investments that reduce VMT (vehicle miles traveled) and GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) by the state mandated 19%. The transportation element, already adopted, and the land use element, to be adopted in June, bring the region close to that goal. However, there is resistance to the progressive assumptions for transportation and land use from some members of the SACOG board.

No highway expansion: SacMoves believes that any highway expansion (not just freeways, but other high volume high speed roadways) takes us further away from our climate, safety, and livability goals. The Sacramento region is host to a large number of recent, ongoing, and proposed projects: I-5 south recently expanded, some I-5 to the north ongoing and much more proposed, Hwy 50 expansion (now in its fourth year), Southeast Connector widening and completion (piecemeal to avoid accountability), I-80/Hwy 65 expansion, and of course Yolo 80 widening. Other parts of I-80 and Hwy 50 were widened in recent years. There are efforts at the state level for a moratorium, but there must be strong advocacy at the regional level to oppose expansion.

The coalition will be going into depth on each of these top issues during our regular coalition meetings, and likely with committees established to research and propose. We will also be working with our member organizations to support them where appropriate and to lead when that is our best role.