Greenway has again been denied participation in Bike Santa Cruz County’s (BSCC) Open Streets. The fact that BSCC, a non-profit operating a program on public streets with grant funding from the RTC, should pick and choose who should be allowed freedom of speech is concerning. 

A number of real facts have emerged in the last few weeks which shed a harsh light on the plans advocated by the RTC and FORT, which have long been considered "serious" by Commissioners and rail with trail advocates.  We are now seeing the truth emerge as the RTC, FORT and their supporters like the Land Trust, Ecology Action, and Bike Santa Cruz must actually implement what they have been advocating for years. 

Several speakers at the Silicon Valley Bike Summit on August 22nd challenged local leaders to make brave choices. It’s time to create equitable communities that encourage people of all ages and abilities to bike, walk, and use other healthy non-auto modes by making these options truly safe and convenient.

The SMART train is analyzed by Mike Arnold, a practicing PhD economist and former lecturer at the University of California Berkeley Dept. of Economics.

During a meeting this past June in the Watsonville City Council Chambers, I witnessed something that really rattled my cage. In a packed house, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC)  voted on whether to agree to a 10-year contract with a Minnesota freight company called Progressive Rail.

The Capitola City Council voted 5-0 at its meeting last night [Aug. 9, 2018] to add the Greenway Capitola Corridor Initiative to the November 2018 ballot. The initiative aims to empower the City to do everything within its power to advocate for an entirely off-street bicycle and pedestrian route that continues across the Capitola trestle.

Santa Cruz County Greenway, a local non-profit organization, filed a lawsuit against the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission. The complaint details concerns over the Commission’s June 14th decision to enter into a ten-year contract with a new operator for its Santa Cruz Branch Railroad line, which runs from Watsonville to Davenport.

Although Greenway believes using most of the 32-mile rail corridor that stretches from Watsonville to Davenport as a wide separated pathway makes sense, it’s only one aspect of our vision for the county. We also care about other meaningful transportation improvements including safe, connected routes for people biking and walking; serious improvements to the Metro bus system; and achievable solutions to address the gridlock nightmare.

George Dondero, the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, on June 8, 2018 directly responded to a series of well researched and documented stories by Santa Cruz County Greenway. Here Greenway responds to Mr. Dondero’s memo.

Progressive Rail is not the type of company our environmentally conscious local leaders should endorse. Yet they are about to sign a 10-year contract with them. Learn how our Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) arrived at this ironic juncture and why they must pivot while they still can.

Some benefit from Progressive’s operations, others raise safety, health, traffic, and environmental concerns.

The five-year financial plan provided by Progressive Rail is inconsistent with historical operations along the Santa Cruz Branch Line. Why is the RTC gambling on either another money-losing freight operation or new use of the tracks that will hinder real transit solutions for the community?

An analysis of the proposed contract with Progressive Rail which mirrors most of the 2010 Iowa Pacific contract with additions and deletions that create unacceptable risks.

Three Progressive Rail executives are named in an ongoing July 2017 class action lawsuit related to a U.S. Securities lawsuit alleging widespread fraud.

RTC staff strongly favored hiring Progressive Rail well before Iowa Pacific had even announced it would like to get out of its contract.

The rationale for signing a new operator agreement is based on a manufactured sense of urgency that does not match the facts.

For years FORT has been pushing the plan that its name indicates—“Friends of the Rail and Trail.” In fact, a slide presented by FORT to the Scotts Valley City Council in January 2018 is titled, “Rail + Trail = Best Way.” The name change to “Trail with Transit” is a marketing gimmick to dress up the old plan to retain the tracks, even though there is no viable train plan.

Progressive Rail has played a major role in expanding the frac sand industry in Chippewa Falls, WI. Patricia Popple, a retired school teacher, and administrator, has been actively working to protect community safety, health, and the environment as a result for the past decade. 

Lakeville, MN had the opportunity to turn a rail corridor into a greenway many years ago. If only they had gone that route, they would be enjoying the corridor rather than policing it. Pam Steinhagen, who runs a daycare that backs up to the train tracks, has been a vocal community advocate speaking out about safety concerns caused by "out of use" cars that Progressive Rail has been storing for 9+ years just outside residents' backyards.

The Friends of the Rail and Trail (FORT’s) “top ten reasons” along with reasons to build Greenway instead.