In this edition
  • STA Board Approves Solano Rail Hub 
  • STA Board Adopts 2021 Legislative Platform and Priorities
  • Two New Members Join STA Board
  • Eight SR 37 Corridor Public Access Priorities Identified
  • STA Board Approved Allocation of STAF for Older Adults and People with Disabilities Mobility Priorities
  • SolTrans Celebrates 10 Years of Local and Express Bus Service in Solano County
  • STA awarded CARB Grant funding for Equitable, Clean Transportation Options for Vallejo
  • Solano Mobility Update
STATUS Newsletter

The STATUS Newsletter is published every month after the STA Board meeting to inform the public and our stakeholders of what’s happening with transportation in Solano County. 

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  • Remote STA Board Meeting 2/10 at 6:00pm
STA Board Approves Solano Rail Hub

The California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA)’s Shannon Simonds presented the California State Rail Plan to the STA Board, and proposes the Suisun City/Fairfield Amtrak Station as the Solano Rail Hub. The Solano Rail Hub is a key piece of the state’s transportation and land use strategy, enabling local commerce, assisting with meeting regional housing needs, delivering a seamless statewide transportation function, and linking Capitol Corridor, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) trains, and regional SolanoExpress and local buses. As one of the most transit connected locations in Solano County and adjacent to Priority Development Areas (PDAs) in both cities, the development of the Solano Rail Hub presents an important development opportunity for both Suisun City and Fairfield.
 
Robert Padgette, Managing Director for the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA), provided an update of their intercity rail service which provides rail service to the Suisun City/Fairfield Amtrak Station, and the Fairfield/Vacaville Hannigan Station, and also share information on Link21, which proposed the development of a second Transbay Tube and provide one-seat access from the Solano Rail Hub directly into Downtown San Francisco. Link 21 project managers are scheduled to present their plans to the STA Board during the March 10, 2021 meeting.

 For more information on the State Rail Plan, click here.
For more information on the Capitol Corridor intercity rail service, click here.
For more information on the Link 21 project, click here.
STA Board Adopts 2021 Legislative Platform and Priorities

The STA Board adopted the 2021 Legislative Platform and Priorities at their January 13, 2021 Board meeting. This year’s focus will be to secure additional federal relief funding to ensure the continuation of transit services, and the reauthorization of the federal transit bill.
 
To view STA’s 2021 Legislative Platform, please click here.
Two New Members Join STA Board

City of Dixon Mayor Steve Bird and City of Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell were sworn in at the January 13th STA Board meeting. STA Board Chair Ron Rowlett appointed Mayor McConnell to serve as STA Board Vice Chair.
Eight SR 37 Corridor Public Access Priorities Identified

As part of the of the State Route 37 (SR 37) improvement effort, STA planning staff worked with the County of Solano, City of Vallejo, the Solano Land Trust, and a group of community stakeholders to identify public access opportunities located in close proximity to the SR 37 corridor and Mare Island. The stakeholder group identified eight public access and educational opportunities along the SR 37 - between Cullinan Ranch, Mare Island, Napa River Bridge, and the City of Vallejo. These recommendations will provide public access options for the environmental review and future potential permitting requirements for the SR 37 Project. These recommendations have been submitted to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Caltrans for preliminary review and were presented to the SR 37 Policy Committee at their January 7th meeting.
 
Concurrently, STA staff is working with the stakeholder group to develop more detailed project information and costs for the public access proposals. STA staff plans to continue a public review process as the stakeholder group moves forward with project scoping and prioritization of the public access proposals.
 
To view the Solano SR 37 Public Access Fact Sheet, click here. 
STA Board Approved Allocation of STAF for Older Adults and People with Disabilities Mobility Priorities

Earlier this year, the STA Board dedicated $125,000 of State Transit Assistance Funds (STAF) for mobility priorities to be identified by the STA’s Consolidated Transit Services Agency (CTSA) for Older Adults and People with disabilities. The CTSA met on two separate occasions to review and discuss a range of mobility programs. The CTSA unanimously recommended and the STA Board approved funding the following six priority programs totaling $125,000:

  1. Older Driver Medical Concierge Program-Operations
  2. Sutter/Solano Medical Trips
  3. Medical-Other
  4. Veterans Mobility Study
  5. Improve non-profit partnerships
  6. (Tie) Improve Local Bus Stops, (Tie) Older Driver Medical Concierge Program-Marketing
SolTrans Celebrates 10 Years of Local and Express Bus Service in Solano County

At their December 17, 2020 Board Meeting, Solano County Transit (SolTrans) celebrated its 10th year of providing local and regional express bus service to Solano County Residents. In addition to providing local service in the Cities of Vallejo and Benicia, SolTrans also operates the SolanoExpress Yellow and Red Lines, which provide regional service to Walnut Creek BART and El Cerrito Del Norte BART stations; and the newly established Route 82 takes passengers from Vallejo all the way into Downtown San Francisco and back.
 
Congratulations to the SolTrans Board and Staff for their achievement. For more information about SolTrans transit services and bus schedule, please visit: www.soltrans.org .
STA awarded CARB Grant funding for Equitable, Clean Transportation Options for Vallejo

The Solano Transportation Authority was awarded $299,997.59 in planning and capacity building grant money by the California Air Resources Board. The award is one of 11 CARB grants totaling $19.5 million for community-based organizations and local governments across California that will help disadvantaged and low-income communities in Vallejo address transportation needs with innovative clean, sustainable transportation solutions. The Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP) supports both planning and implementation of clean transportation projects in partnership with the City of Vallejo, Solano Community College, SolTrans and Club Stride.
Solano Mobility Update

For the last quarter of the 2020 calendar year, the Solano Mobility Call Center took over 1,600 calls, assisted 7 walk-in clients, and formed two new vanpools for the 2020 calendar year.
 
Thanks to a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, Solano Mobility is in the process of engaging the senior/older adult population of Solano County with stakeholder workshops to help identify areas of safety concern and recommend projects. These efforts are part of the Pedestrian Safety Project for Older Adults.
 
In 2021, Solano Mobility will also be launching new Vanpool incentive and new Bike incentive programs. For more information, please visit solanomobility.org
2021 STA Board Members

  • Ron Rowlett, Chair, Mayor of Vacaville
  • Robert McConnell, Vice-Chair, Mayor of Vallejo
  • Steve Young, Mayor of Benicia
  • Steve Bird, Mayor of Dixon
  • Harry Price, Mayor of Fairfield
  • Ronald Kott, Mayor of Rio Vista
  • Lori Wilson, Mayor of Suisun City
  • Jim Spering, Solano County Supervisor
    
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