SACOG honors SABA for arena work

SACOG salutes awardWhat an incredible honor to be recognized by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments with a SACOG Salutes award for our part in the collaborative effort to prevent ‘carmageddon’ during the opening of Golden 1 Center!

We are one of seven recipients of a special regional collaboration award, which also went to the City of Sacramento, Downtown Sacramento Partnership, Sacramento Regional Transit, Roseville Transit, Yolo County Transportation District (Yolobus) and the Sacramento Kings.

The group that received the award represents the complexity of creating a vibrant public place that integrates fully into the fabric of the community. The Golden 1 Center is located in a part of the Sacramento downtown grid where travel by bike is significantly challenging, due to one-way streets, intense traffic heading to and from I-5, streets with light rail tracks, multiblock building complexes (including the Golden 1 Center) that complicate crosstown travel, and most important, minimal bike infrastructure such as bike lanes and well-designed public bike parking.

sacogsalutesaward_2016We participated in the intensive Golden 1 Center planning process on behalf of people on bikes and while our efforts produced only modest results, we loudly made the case for the benefits of planning for bicycle transportation — not just by Kings fans and Golden 1 Center ticketholders, but by Golden 1 Center employees, other downtown workers, residents and visitors traveling past the arena.

We currently have a contract with the Golden 1 Center to provide Bike Valet services for Golden 1 Center events, which has further clarified the needs and challenges of traveling by bike in this part of the city, not least because the Golden 1 Center was built without a place for high-volume bike parking. We continue to work with the Kings and the City of Sacramento to solve this challenge.

Congratulations to all the SACOG Salutes award recipients and many thanks to SACOG!