The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is pleased to announce the release of Draft Fast Forward 2040 Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy for public review and comment. In accordance with Gov. Code Section 65080(b)(2)(F)(iv), SBCAG is circulating the draft for a 55-day comment period to conclude on July 7, 2017. Comments may be submitted by email or letter to comment@sbcag.org or SBCAG, 260 N. San Antonio Road, Suite B, Santa Barbara, CA 93110. Additionally, SBCAG will conduct a public hearing on May 18, 2017 to accept public comments. The public hearing will be conducted during SBCAG’s Board of Directors’ Meeting:

Thursday, May 18, 2017, at 9:30 AM
Board of Supervisors’ Hearing Room
511 E. Lakeside Parkway
Santa Maria, CA

Remote testimony will be available from:

Board of Supervisors’ Hearing Room
105 E. Anapamu Street, 4th Floor
Santa Barbara, CA

A second public hearing is scheduled for August 17, 2017 in Santa Barbara.
 
Draft Fast Forward 2040 is available for review on SBCAG’s website (http://www.sbcag.org/rtp.html), at SBCAG’s office, and at local libraries.

SBCAG, with the assistance of a consultant, has prepared a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) to assess the environmental impacts of draft Fast Forward 2040, the region’s Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy. Comments will be accepted until 5:00 PM on May 31, 2017. A public meeting will be conducted on May 4, 2017 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM to accept comments on the Draft SEIR.  The meeting will be held at:

SBCAG
Wisteria Conference Room
260 N. San Antonio Road
Santa Barbara

You may review the Draft SEIR by accessing it under the “Documents” header on the Fast Forward 2040 web page. Please click here to view the Notice of Availability which contains instructions for submitting comments.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments will be holding a public hearing to learn about the transit needs of the residents of the North County.  Please plan to attend and present your comments or concerns about transit service in the North County.

When: Thursday, January 19, 2017 @ 10:00 AM
Where: Board of Supervisors Hearing Room
511 E. Lakeside Parkway
Santa Maria, CA

It's Easy!

Simply come to the public hearing on January 19, 2017 by 10:00 AM.  Fill out a comment card located on the table in the back of the Supervisors Hearing Room.  Staff will forward your card to the Chair, who will call your name for you to come to the podium and express your views. 

You may also send your comments in writing by January 27, 2017 to:

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments
260 N. San Antonio Rd., Suite B
Santa Barbara, CA  93110
-or by email to-
comment@sbcag.org

The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG), San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) and the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), are seeking proposals from qualified consultants with the expertise, experience, capacity, and resources to provide professional services for the development and implementation of a Central Coast Supra-regional Activity-Based Model Framework.

Although the Central Coast is composed of three, separate metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) and three, distinct regions covering five counties, geographically, the three-MPO supra-region as a whole exhibit many similarities with respect to land use patterns, growth, and socio-demographic and travel behavior. A common state-of-the-art, activity-based travel modeling framework will achieve more consistent, reliable travel predictions and modeling results while reducing the overall costs of maintenance and development associated with isolated model implementations. The MPOs will benefit from integration of enhancements envisioned by each agency partner and a common platform should expand the modeling knowledge base.

Under this project, the selected Consultant will analyze recent travel behavior survey data to develop, calibrate, validate and forecast passenger travel using daily simulated activity patterns. The selected Consultant will then use the newly developed activity-based model (ABM) framework to replace AMBAG, SLOCOG and SBCAG's separate, existing (4-Step) regional travel demand models, which will allow for the evaluation of transportation policies and performance of the transportation system to meet MPO travel demand modeling needs.

A copy of the Request for Proposal (RFP) and resource materials are available to view/download here.

All questions on the RFP can be submitted in writing to Bhupendra Patel, Director of Modeling, AMBAG via email: bpatel@ambag.org or fax: (831)-883-3755, no later than January 19, 2017, 5:00 PM. PST.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is updating the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The RTP plans how the region will invest in the transportation system over the next 20+ years. The RTP also includes a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS).

SBCAG is soliciting input on the scope and content of the environmental analysis that will be included in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) for the RTP-SCS. SBCAG has prepared a separate Notice of Preparation of the SEIR for circulation.

Comments on the SEIR scoping may also be submitted in writing to Peter Imhof at SBCAG, 260 North San Antonio Road, Suite B, Santa Barbara, CA 93110 or pimhof@sbcag.org no later than Thursday, December 22, 2016.

The California Transportation Commission (CTC) staff has recommended approval of $6.8 million to construct the Rincon Multiuse Trail Project in Carpinteria. Funding for this project will be allocated from the State of California’s Active Transportation Project (ATP) grant program. The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments’ (SBCAG) sponsored Rincon Multiuse Trail Project received a score of 87 out of 100 in the competitive statewide grant program and will be recommended for approval by the Commission at its December meeting. CTC staff are recommending the state ATP funding be available in fiscal year 19-20, the first year cycle 3 funds are available. Construction of the Rincon Multiuse Trail Project is scheduled to be completed before the Linden and Casitas Pass Interchange Project in Carpinteria is finished in July 2020.
 
The project is a multi-use pedestrian and bicycle trail approximately 4,500 feet in length connecting Carpinteria Avenue to Rincon Beach Park and a Class I trail at the Ventura/Santa Barbara county line. It will fill a gap between established bike paths that are part of the California Coastal Trail. A Class II bike path on Carpinteria Avenue dead-ends at U.S. 101 and the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) right of way, leaving pedestrians and cyclists three options: travel along the shoulder of the 65 mph, 6-lane US 101; travel unsanctioned foot paths down the bluffs and cross the Union Pacific Railroad tracks; or navigate a circuitous 4-mile inland route to bypass US 101 and UPRR right of way. The project will construct a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks connecting Carpinteria Avenue to the park. The park is the northern terminus of a 5-mile Class I bikeway between the community of La Conchita and Rincon Beach County Park in Santa Barbara County. A park-and-bicycle lot will be strategically located at the end of Carpinteria Avenue as part of the project to attract day-ride visitors. The project will eliminate the last location within 100 miles of Los Angeles where bicyclists and pedestrians on the California Coastal Trail use the shoulder of U.S. 101.
 
Jim Kemp, SBCAG’s Executive Director said “We are very pleased to have CTC staff support for funding the Rincon Multiuse Trail Project. The project will provide a world-class trail to the world-class beach at Rincon. It completes a critical missing link of the California Coastal Trail and connects Santa Barbara’s South Coast to Ventura and Ojai for bicyclists and pedestrians.”
 
The CTC staff has also recommended funding three other projects in Santa Barbara County. The City of Santa Barbara is recommended to receive $4.5 in FY 19-20 to construct the Eastside Green Lanes & Bike Boulevard Gap Closure Project and $2.7 million in FY 20-21 for construction of the Westside Bike Boulevard Gap Closure. The City of Buellton’s Safe Routes to School Project at the intersection of Highway 246 and Sycamore Drive is also recommended for $684,000 in ATP funds for FY 19-20. The total ATP funding recommended for Santa Barbara County is $14.7 million. Projects from Santa Barbara County used $1.2 million in local funding to leverage $14.7 million in state ATP funding.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments will be holding a joint workshop in conjunction with the City of Goleta, UCSB, County of Santa Barbara, and Caltrans for the US 101 Goleta Ramp Metering Study.
 
This Study will evaluate the effectiveness of a systemic application of ramp metering on US 101 to improve traffic flow and mobility within and through the Goleta Valley and study several, possible alternatives. The Study will evaluate whether ramp metering can be a cost-effective tool for reducing congestion and increasing safety on US 101 without negatively impacting operations on local streets.
 
You are invited to attend our first workshop to help us identify existing operational and/or safety issues on US 101 and SR 217 ramps and the local street network.
 
For additional information please contact:

Julio Perucho
Transportation Planner
jperucho@sbcag.org
805-961-8906

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is providing notice of its intention to amend the 2040 Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP-SCS). The purpose of the amendment is to create a separate, programmed project in the RTP-SCS for the preliminary engineering phase of project SB-IL-100, which is currently an illustrative project. The amendment also reduces the scope of the overall SB-IL-100 project from an interchange reconstruction at the US 101 and San Ysidro Road interchange to the construction of a roundabout and other intersection improvements at the ramp termini of the US 101 and San Ysidro Road interchange, reducing  the project cost estimate from $50 million to $10 million. The amendment programs $325,000 from unobligated federal demonstration funds for the preliminary engineering phase of SB-IL-100. However, Amendment No. 1 does not make a commitment to the construction phase of SB-IL-100, which remains an illustrative project, and the RTP-SCS remains fiscally constrained.
 
SBCAG is holding a hearing to receive public comment on this amendment.
 
The hearing will be held:

Date: Thursday, September 15, 2016
Time: 10:30 AM
Place: Board of Supervisors Hearing Room
511 E. Lakeside Parkway
Santa Maria, CA

Remote testimony is also available at the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 105 E. Anapamu St, Fourth Floor, Santa Barbara, CA.

If you cannot attend the hearing, you may still submit written comments up until Wednesday, October 12, 2016. You may e-mail them to comment@sbcag.org or mail them to SBCAG at 260 North San Antonio Road, Suite B, Santa Barbara, CA 93110.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals needing special accommodations to participate in the meeting should contact SBCAG at least three working days prior to the meeting at (805) 961-8900. 
 
For more information, call SBCAG at 961-8900. Favor de llamar a SBCAG al 961-8900, para más información del reunión.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) invites you to public workshops being conducted in support of Fast Forward 2040, the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS).  The purpose of the workshops is to inform the public on the progress of developing Fast Forward 2040 and seek the public’s input on the selection of the region’s SCS. 
 
SBCAG will be conducting two public workshops:

Thursday, September 15, 2016, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Santa Maria Public Library – Shepard Hall
421 South McClelland Street, Santa Maria, CA

Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Santa Barbara Public Library – Faulkner Gallery
40 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, CA

Come share your thoughts about the future of transportation and land use in Santa Barbara County.
 
If you cannot attend, and would like to submit comments, please provide written comments via email to mbecker@sbcag.org, or via mail to SBCAG, 260 North San Antonio Road, Suite B, Santa Barbara, CA 93110 no later than Friday, September 30, 2016. 
 
Please see the Fast Forward 2040 website for additional project information.