Category: Education/Webinars

Categories
California Policy Education/Webinars GHG Reduction Livable Communities Mentorship Metropolitan Planning Sustainability

Film Trailer Released for “Policy in Motion: Growing Beautiful Communities” :: August 2012

“People-oriented development” – POD – is about creating communities with access to affordable living near quality jobs, food, schools and health services. We can use the process of POD to foster sustainable communities while at the same time meeting California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals under AB 32 and SB 375. Check out the trailer for Policy in Motion: Growing Beautiful Communities and stay tuned for the August 2012 release of the film!

**Special thanks to filmmaker Jeremy Gray, Senior at the Met Sacramento High School**


Categories
Education/Webinars Federal Policy GHG Reduction NewsFlash US DOT

ICF Webinar: Transportation Performance Management – Addressing Energy & Environmental Goals (2/29)

ICF International – Webinar

Learn: Transportation Performance Management – Addressing Energy & Environmental Goals

Reauthorization of the federal surface transportation program is anticipated to include a focus on performance management approaches to support effective decision making and increase accountability.

Energy and environmental goals are likely to play a role in this performance-based approach, potentially addressing issues such as energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water and air quality, and habitat and wildlife.

Join ICF for a webinar that addresses the challenges and opportunities surrounding energy and environmental goals for a performance-based framework.

The webinar both builds on the work ICF has conducted exploring these issues for the Bipartisan Policy Center and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program and explores the categories of environmental measures appropriate for inclusion in transportation decision making.

Learn more about this webinar and register.
EVENT DETAILS
Date: February 29, 2012
Time: 12-1 p.m. EST
Location: Online
Register Now

 

PRESENTERS
Michael Grant

Frank Gallivan

 

Categories
California Policy Education/Webinars GHG Reduction Livable Communities Mentorship NewsFlash Public Health Publications Research Safe Routes to School SB 375

Interns in Motion :: Seeking Graduate Student for Spring Mentorship Program – Become a “POD” Leader!

You’re doing a good service to the field by helping them get established.  We need energetic blood!

— Office of the Secretary, United States Department of Transportation

Policy in Motion’s “Career Development” Mentorship Program is designed to mentor youth, college students and emerging professionals with an interest in public policy and sustainability planning into careers in transportation or urban planning. The program leverages Sacramento as a learning ground by engaging Mentees in the firm’s current local/state/federal policy research and transportation planning projects. It is designed as a work exchange where students provide project and research support for hands-on learning in business development and policy implementation,  as well as personal mentorship into career networks around California’s Capitol. Aligning with Policy in Motion’s vision for fostering the growth of “PODs” — people-oriented development — this program seeks to mentor budding leaders in the field of sustainable transportation planning and policy.

YOUTH IN MOTION

Jeremy Gray is a senior at the Met Sacramento High School.  With the Met, he has worked at several internship sites which have shaped his interest in film making.  He collaborated with teens and made a documentary on state health insurance through the state organization California Voices.  He was the boom microphone operator on the set of A Cure for the Dead, a miniseries from Misfire Productions.  During the summer of 2011, Jeremy worked on an entry for the Sacramento Film and Music Festival’s 10 x 10 Film Festival.  He co-created the film with Noah Damiani, winner of the festival’s Emerging Filmmaker award.  Currently, Jeremy is starting a youth-run bicycle collective at the Met as his Senior Thesis Project.  As Policy in Motion’s Media Intern, he will be applying his filmmaking skills and interest in sustainable communities towards creating a Policy in Motion Documentary to be released August 10, 2012.

UNDERGRAD STUDENTS IN MOTION

EVELYN :: Local Planning Intern

Evelyn Garcia is currently a senior at UC Davis majoring in Community and Regional Development and minoring in Education.  Evelyn served on advisory board as a liaison for Redwood City’s downtown revitalization efforts and worked closely with City government officials in hopes of bridging the gap between youth and adults in the community.  She mentors independent studies high school students in Sacramento in pursuing higher education and preparing for college admissions through a UC Davis organization called Success Through Educational Mentoring (S.T.E.M.) She is actively involved in her Latina community in promoting professional and educational development while also promoting the advancement of Latinas in higher education to young middle school and high school girls all over the Davis, Woodland, and Sacramento area.  Through Policy in Motion she hopes to gain proper guidance and skills in order to develop her interests within community development and urban planning. As a Local Planning Intern for Policy in Motion she provided support for the Solano County Transportation for Livable Communities Plan Update which focuses on the relationship between transportation and land use through the promotion of smart growth development and sustainable transportation projects in Solano County.

FORMER STUDENTS IN MOTION

AMANDA :: Policy Research Intern

Amanda Bradshaw is currently completing a dual-degree in Latin American studies and urban planning at Columbia University in New York City.  She received a B.A. in economics and a B.A. in international development studies from the University of California, Berkeley. During her undergraduate career, she served as a research assistant for a U.S. Economic Development Administration-sponsored study which assessed labor markets within California’s green economy, as well as a study conducted by the Transportation Sustainability Research Center. As a graduate student, Amanda’s research interests include environmental and transportation planning, especially as they pertain to North and South America. In January 2012 she will begin conducting research in Brazil for her thesis which focuses on Brazilian environmental governance and urban reform. As a Policy Research Intern at Policy in Motion during Summer 2011, Amanda provided research support for the a Caltrans statewide planning project – California Interregional Blueprint – focusing on the implementation of AB 32, SB 375, and SB 391.  Additionally, she provided significant editing contributions to Lauren Michele’s new book, “Policy in Motion: Transportation Planning in California after AB 32.” Amanda is currently completing her M.S. research in São Paulo, Brazil where she is comparing the state environmental policy approaches taken in California and São Paulo — Amanda expresses that her Policy in Motion internship has been the most impressive component to her resume reviewers.

MINDY :: Green Business Intern

Melinda (Mindy) Bacharach is a recent graduate from the University of California, Davis with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning. During her time at UC Davis, Mindy studied abroad in Cambridge England and participated in the University of California DC internship program where she interned at Governor Schwarzenegger’s Washington DC Office. She is now looking forward to a new chapter in life where she will utilize her college experiences and education to pursue a career in environmental policy. It is her goal to attend business school in the future with an environmental policy emphasis. As Policy in Motion’s Green Business Intern over Summer 2011, Mindy learned about the financial and structural operations of a small business through her involvement in the Solano County Transportation for Livable Communities Plan Update overseen by the firm’s principal/owner, Lauren Michele.  Mindy is now working for the California Department of Transportation Headquarters as a Transportation Planner for the Division of Transportation System Information in the Office of Data Analysis and GIS — she was told that her Policy in Motion recommendation review during the interview process was a critical component in the decision to hire her.

 


Categories
California Policy Education/Webinars GHG Reduction Metropolitan Planning SB 375

UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies to Host Former Graduate Student Lauren Michele for Winter Seminar



 

 

 

 

Time: February 10,2012 , 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Location: 1065 Kemper Hall, UC Davis

Speaker:  Ms. Lauren Michele, Principal/Founder of Policy in Motion

Title: Policy in Motion: Transportation Planning in California after AB 32

Follow these steps to view a seminar remotely live:

  • On Friday at 1:30 p.m., log into this web site
  • The login window will appear. Select Enter as a Guest.
  • Enter your name and Enter Room.
  • Wait a few moments to be accepted into the meeting room. Your name will appear as a guest as long as you are logged into the seminar.

 

Abstract: While state and federal actions have been taken to set new requirements for vehicle efficiency and fuels, tackling travel behavior policies that reduce vehicle-miles-traveled and improve transportation network management is needed if California is to reduce its transportation sector’s 38 percent contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. California’s unique democracy and global economy is unparallel to any other union. The State is setting new policy directions for sustainable living through transportation planning, but outdated regulatory frameworks must be aligned with supporting paradigm shifts if California is to move forward in a truly unified vision for people-oriented development and transportation. In a time where both state and federal efforts are pointing toward sustainable planning, Lauren Michele covers five key topics that are necessary for policymakers and practitioners to understand in order to implement sustainable transportation solutions at all levels of government:

  • The Four Circles of GHG Reduction Strategies from Travel Behavior:
    categorizes the existing literature on GHG reduction ranges from land use and transportation strategies into four major themes
  • Planning Theory and Frameworks in California: analyzes how environmental review frameworks, funding structures, and the land use/ transportation planning process work at the local, regional, state, and federal levels
  • Implementing SACOG’s Blueprint and Metropolitan Transportation Plan: reveals what aspects of California government need policy reform in order to successfully implement SB 375’s ”Sustainable Communities Strategies” through an analysis of SACOG’s Blueprint process, successes, and challenges
  • Recommendations for New Policy Frameworks in California: contains suggestions for statute changes, agency actions, and framework reforms that support AB 32, SB 375, AB 857, and SB 391 objectives
  • Creating a Federal Framework for Integrated Planning: provides recommended language for evolving federal climate/energy bills and the transportation reauthorization to support GHG reduction through the planning process

Biographical Sketch: Since the passage of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act in 2006 (AB 32), Lauren Michele – Principal/Owner/Author of Policy in Motion, has worked with government agencies and varied stakeholders from the local to federal level on crafting and implementing transportation plans and regulatory frameworks which work toward community sustainability and people-oriented development. A graduate of ITS-Davis and analyst with the Institute’s Urban Land Use and Transportation Center, Ms. Michele’s background extends from working as a local transportation planner in California’s capital city to a federal climate policy analyst in Washington D.C. Her research and strategic analyses have been shared with the Federal Highway Administration; State of California Department of Transportation, Air Resources Board, Energy Commission, Strategic Growth Council, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, Assembly and Senate; as well as regional and local transportation planning agencies developing integrated land use and transportation sustainability plans pursuant to Senate Bill 375 (Steinberg, 2008). Her recent book, ‘Policy in Motion: Transportation Planning in California after AB 32 was released on August 10th of 2011, including a foreword by Dr. Daniel Sperling. ”This book examines California’s transportation planning initiatives since AB 32, with a nuanced eye toward the State’s particular rules, laws, politics, and institutions. Lauren Michele provides insights and lessons for policymakers and practitioners-in California and elsewhere-as they strive to create more sustainable communities and transportation systems.”– Dr. Daniel Sperling; Director/Professor, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.

 

 

Categories
Education/Webinars Livable Communities NewsFlash

GreenTRIP Webinar for APA Certification Maintenance Credits

GreenTRIP Webinar - Great Access: Deep Affordability
Your Host:

Ann Cheng
Message:

Walkable, transit-oriented communities are seen as an antidote to unfettered sprawl. But outdated city codes vastly overestimate how much people drive and require excessive parking in these transit areas, especially for low-income families and seniors. This leads to oversize parking lots, fewer and more expensive homes, bad design and community opposition. GreenTRIP is an innovative certification program that is overcoming these barriers and ensuring it goes one step further; getting developers to include free transit passes, car share and other strategies to make truly low-carbon, affordable developments that are embraced by the community.

Learn about GreenTRIP’s success and TransForm’s plans to bring it to scale to improve development in California and eventually the country. Join Switzer Fellow Stuart Cohen, Executive Director of TransForm, and Ann Cheng, GreenTRIP Program Director for this informative and inspiring webinar.

Wednesday, January 11
10 – 11am Pacific Standard Time (1-2pm EST)

Register for the webinar here:
(link)
What:

GreenTRIP Webinar – Great Access: Deep Affordability

Where:

https://www3.gotomeeting.com/r egister/904921542

American Planning Association is offering Certification Maintenance Credits!

CM | Pending
When:

January 11th, 2012, 10am – 11am

Categories
California Policy Education/Webinars Federal Policy Transportation Funding

Dec 8th Webinar: 2012 Federal Sustainability Policy and Funding Outlook

Applied Solutions Webinar: 2012 Federal Sustainability Policy and Funding Outlook

Date: December 8, 2011

Time: 9am Pacific/Noon Eastern

In 2011, local governments have seen concerted efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to slash and cut important federal sustainability programs that benefit cities and counties. In efforts toward deficit reduction, Congress has sought to eliminate funding for renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean vehicles, smart growth, green infrastructure and more. This federal investment is critical to local efforts to reduce energy use, curb greenhouse gas emissions, improve air and water quality and decrease vehicle miles traveled. As communities have demonstrated, federal sustainability funding enables cities and counties to leverage additional public and private dollars, and helps to create new jobs and economic growth.

As local governments prepare for 2012, several key questions should be asked:

  • What types of federal sustainability funding will be available, and how can localities prepare to be competitive?
  • What types of technical assistance will be available from EPA, DOE, DOT and other federal agencies?
  • What federal sustainability policies are likely to be debated in Congress, and how will they impact cities and counties?

This webinar will last approximately one hour, and there is no cost to participate.

Speakers include:

Supervisor Valerie Brown, Sonoma County, California

Supervisor Brown will discuss the value of a local government voice at the federal level.

Michelle Wyman, Executive Director of Applied Solutions

Ms. Wyman will give an introduction to the Applied Solutions Webinar Series.

Andrew Seth and Matt Ward, Climate Communities

Mr. Seth and Mr. Ward will identify opportunities for cities and counties to support local priorities with federal sustainability funding next year, and provide an overview of the federal sustainability policy landscape in 2012.

Click here for more information and to sign up for the webinar.

About the Learning Network 

The Sustainable Communities Learning Network is a service for local officials offered by the Institute for Local Government in partnership with the Information Center for the Environment at the University of California, Davis, with support from the Strategic Growth Council and The California Endowment.

www.ca-ilg.org/SCLN
Categories
California Policy Education/Webinars GHG Reduction Metropolitan Planning Research SB 375 State Policy

SB 375, RTP & SCS Course on 11/9/11 with Bill Higgins, J.D. (Lauren Michele Guest Lecturer) :: UC Davis Extension

Regional Planning and Sustainable Communities Strategies: The Road So Far

SB 375 has been hailed as a new standard in planning for transportation, housing, land use and climate change mitigation. Get up-to-speed on this significant legislation with this “just the facts” approach to the implementation and application of the law, including how SB 375 was integrated into the Housing Element Law and CEQA, and the potential impacts this will have on local government and other state policy. Review the different strategies being developed by metropolitan planning organizations to achieve statewide greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and the implications they have for land use and resource management planning. Examine the availability of implementation resources; and how traffic, economic and demographic data will be used to measure strategy effectiveness.

button

Instructor(s):

Bill Higgins, J.D., serves as the executive director for the California Association of Councils of Government, a statewide membership organization of councils of government and transportation planning agencies. Previously, he was a senior staff attorney and legislative advocate for the League of California Cities where he represented the League on issues relating to housing, land use and eminent domain.

Lauren Michele, M.S., will be contributing as a guest lecturer on “SB 375 Lessons Learned” where she will be providing an overview of the challenges and successes California has seen during its multi-staged SB 375 process.  She will discuss this in the context of what has led up to SB 375, how legislative developments in other western states highlight California’s efforts, and why groundwork today sets the stage for future progress.

When:

Nov. 9: Wed., 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Where:

Sutter Square Galleria, 2901 K St, Sacramento, CA

Directions:

Map

Fee:

$290.00.

Special Discount fee:

10% discount for organizations enrolling three or more people at the same time in the same course. All registrations must be submitted at the same time and fees paid with one check, credit card or purchase order.
10% discount for BIA Member

Credit:

.6 CEU, 6 MCLE Hours, 6 AICP Hours

Section:

112LUP167

button

 

Categories
Education/Webinars Public Transit

ICF Webinar on Public Transportation Performance Measures

ICF International

Attend: Public Transportation Performance Measures Webinar

Join ICF for a webinar that highlights the results of a report on current and best practices in the use of public transportation performance measures by state departments of transportation (DOTs) recently completed by ICF for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP).

Drawing on results from a nationwide survey of state DOTs and interviews with staff at state DOT public transportation divisions, this report presents findings on the types of public transportation performance measures being used by state DOTs and how public transportation performance measures are being applied, as well as motivations for using performance measures and challenges faced in linking public transportation performance measures to investment decisions.

This is the second webinar in an ICF series on Performance Measures. Learn more.
EVENT DETAILS
Date: September 14, 2011
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. EDT
Location: Online
Register Now

 

 

Presenters
Michael Grant
Principal—Transportation
ICF International
Stephanie Trainor
Transportation Planner
ICF International

 

Ask Us How…

Metropolitan planning organizations and transportation agencies are using performance measures to promote sustainability in transportation decision making. Learn the details in this webinar.

Transportation Planning for Operations Webinar Series

The National Transportation Operations Coalition is hosting a webinar series on special topics in transportation planning for operations. Watch the first webinar, moderated by ICF International, on “Statewide Opportunities for Integrating Operations, Safety, and Multimodal Planning.“


 

Categories
Education/Webinars Local Government

FREE Planning Commissioner Training Workshops by APA, SACOG and SJCOG

Open to All Interested Parties
New workshops presented by California’s foremost transportation planners have just been announced as part of the Planning Commissioner Training Workshop Series sponsored by the Sacramento Valley Section of the American Planning Association (APA), the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) and the San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG).

Session #5: Mobility/Transportation Workshop
Thursday, June 2, 6-9 p.m. at Rocklin City Hall (3970 Rocklin Road)
Presenter: Ronald T. Milam
How do you move residents of your community using all forms of transportation? How to you deemphasize auto movements? Where do you plan bicycle paths? You have a level of service for autos but what happens to bicycles and pedestrians? How to you prepare a complete streets program in your general plan? What is the best method for analyzing mobility in a plan or a project? How do you read a traffic report? Get answers to these questions and discuss transportation planning can improve the quality of life of your residents.

Ronald T. Milam, AICP, PTP is a Principal with Fehr & Peers located in the Roseville, California office. He is involved in a wide variety of project work and also co-leads the firm’s research and development efforts. He has an extensive background in travel demand model development and applications, traffic operations analysis, micro-simulation modeling, and transportation impact studies involving NEPA and CEQA. Mr. Milam currently provides traffic forecasting and operations analysis for the I-80 HOT Lanes project in Placer and Sacramento Counties, managing the Sacramento River Crossing Study for the Cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento, and assisting Caltrans in the development of new CEQA/NEPA Transportation Analysis Report (TAR) guidelines for project development and environmental impact studies

Session #6: Mobility/Transportation Workshop (Repeat of Session #5)
Saturday, June 25, 9 a.m. to noon at Rancho Cordova City Hall, 2729 Prospect Park Drive
Presenter: David B. Robinson

David B. Robinson, a Senior Associate with Fehr & Peers’ Roseville office, has over 17 years of transportation planning experience and is a registered traffic engineer. Mr. Robinson’s areas of expertise include travel modeling, transportation planning, and operations analysis. He has developed several city and countywide travel demand forecasting models. In addition, he has applied his knowledge of travel modeling to numerous project types, including interchange planning studies, corridor studies, area-wide transportation circulation studies, CEQA and NEPA analysis, and several large master-planned developments in California.

WORKSHOP REGISTRATION

Register online at http://www.sacog.org/projects/planning-workshops/, or contact Greg Chew, SACOG Senior Planner at gchew@sacog.org or at (916) 340-6227 if you have further questions. Participants may also show up to the workshops unregistered, but seating will be limited to the capacity of the facility.

Categories
Education/Webinars GHG Reduction Metropolitan Planning NewsFlash Publications Research

New York Times Business Journalist Interviews “Growing Wealthier” Co-Author Steve Winkelman

New York Times

January 20, 2011, 11:02 AM

Growing Without Driving

By DAVID LEONHARDT
Image Source: Growing Wealthier, Center for Clean Air Policy, January 2011
VMT, in the chart (left), stands for “vehicle miles traveled.” So what changed in the early 1990s to cause the growth of driving to fall behind the growth of gross domestic product?

Was it simply that economic growth was so fast in the 1990s? Perhaps. But that doesn’t seem the most likely explanation. The gap between G.D.P. and miles driven continued to grow last decade, when economic growth was mediocre. And the rapid economic growth of the 1960s did not outpace the increase in driving.

The Center for Clean Air Policy — a Washington group that advocates for walkable cities, public transportation and other so-called smart growth policies — released the chart at a briefing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. I asked Steve Winkelman, the center’s director of transportation and adaptation programs, what he thought explained the divergence of economic growth and driving growth. Excerpts from his reply follow:

… a couple of months back I took a quick look at relative economic growth in sectors that I guessed were less travel intensive (data limitations hamper assessment of the VMT intensity of specific economic sectors). It is interesting note that from 1998-2008, knowledge- and service-oriented economic sectors such as information, finance, real estate and health care were responsible for more than two thirds of GDP growth, while extracting, manufacturing, transporting and selling physical goods generated less than one third of GDP growth over that period. In the previous decade, these more physically-intensive sectors contributed more than half of all GDP growth…

Transportation planners have been predicting saturation in travel for decades, for example once women fully penetrate the workforce. Perhaps that saturation is finally happening. The big demographic trends are aging of the baby boomers, increasing numbers of households without children and increasing proportion of minority and immigrant households, who typically have lower travel. We’ve also seen strong growth in transit ridership: up 38% percent since 1995, vs. population growth of 14% and highway VMT growth of 21%….

The jury is still out on the net impact of telecommuting and e-commerce on travel demand. While the number of telecommuters increased from about 3 million in 1993 to 6 million in 2008, that’s still only 4% of work trips, and work trips are only about a quarter of all VMT. In fact, VMT for work has decreased from 1969-2009, but shopping VMT almost quadrupled. So, while Amazon.com and Netflix are changing the way we’re shopping and entertaining ourselves, there’s a sense that the internet can both substitute trips but generate others….

The center’s report, arguing that building more roads is not the best way to produce more economic growth, is available on its Web site.