California Interregional Blueprint: HOME

To all California Interregional Blueprint/California Transportation Plan Visitors:

All of your previous comments have not disappeared! They have been archived to allow for more focus on the California Interregional Blueprint. For a list of previous comments please send us an email using the "Contact Us" feature on this site.

Thank you!

The new layout is great. It is easy to find maps, documents, and other info through a minimal number of links. I look forward to following the progress of the CIB and CTP through this site.

The State Council on Developmental Disabilities is working on implementing AB.287--the Employment First Policy for disabled persons in California. For AB. 287 to be successful, it needs a foundation of good public transit systems to build on because few disabled persons drive. Good transit is also necessary for the new independent living program being created--Aging In Place--which will let seniors and disabled persons stay in their homes and integrated into their communities instead of making them move into nursing homes. Transit is also of critical importance to making the Clean Air Act work and to making SB. 375--the California Land-Use Planning Act--work.

There should be a process put in place that would be a public-private partnership to allow a swap out of older transit buses for newer accessible models like the SMARTBUS bus that recently completed its new model testing at the Altoona Bus Testing Facility. This bus has a low floor so when the doors open at the bus stop, the bus floor is even with the sidewalk so there are no steps to climb and no need to wait for a wheelchair ramp to be deployed.

Accessible transit needs accessible and safe streets to work well. Accessible streets includes bus stops that are accessible, accessible street crossing signals where the button to press on the pole is within easy reach of a person in a wheelchair and includes anaudible signal for visually impaired persons; crosswalk stripes clearly marked; Refuge Islands in the center of streets large enough to take wheelchairs if there is not enough time for a senior or disabled person to get all the way across the street on one signal; signals timed to allow persons in power wheelchairs time tocross the street while synchronized with other signals on the road to allow smoother traffic flow; the older iorn utility locker doors and covers in sidewalks that are slippery when wet should be replaced with doors and covers with non-skid surfaces and all utilities along streets should be put underground. Sidewalk and pavement cracks and potholes large enough to cause problems for persons with canes, walkers, or wheelchairs need to be repaired and the areas checked periodically by public works departments to detect any problems needing repair.

There should be an emphasis away from gasoline and diesel and to hydrogen and all-electric vehiclepower for all vehicles.