STA is here for all your Solano County transportation needs
By Matt Larson
Commuting in the Bay Area is getting more and more difficult with every year, but hey, that’s the price we pay for living in such an amazing place! At least for us here in Solano County, traffic doesn’t get too bad, but it does seem there’s been a bit of an influx. At first, that may sound like bad news, but the reason we’re noticing more and more traffic here in Solano County is actually for a great reason! For the most part, it’s because our economy is doing well.
However, whether you’re gridlocked on SR-37 or you’re stuck in the middle of I-80 and find yourself wondering if there’s ever going to be a solution to some of this traffic congestion, rest assured—there’s a team of people over at the Solano Transportation Authority (STA) who are constantly working toward improving the quality of life for all of our county’s commuters: they’ve implemented the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on I-80 in Fairfield with more to come; they’re facilitating all the work being done at the I-80/I-680/SR-12 interchange, which is a multi-year, multi-phase project; thinking long term, they’ve partnered with Napa, Sonoma, and Marin counties to come up with a game plan for what to do with that SR-37 congestion … they’ve got a lot going on over there.
“Our main function is to set priorities for the county in terms of transportation—highways, regional streets, bike paths, transit, rail, ferry—any mode of transportation,” said STA’s Executive Director Daryl K. Halls. “We do a lot of extensive public outreach, we welcome public comments, and we do take them seriously. A lot of what we do is facilitate things to happen; sometimes we actually do it, or sometimes we bring the parties together so that we can make sure that it gets done.”
All seven Solano County mayors, plus Solano County Supervisor Jim Spering, make up STA’s board of directors. The board has had pretty good stability over the years, but mayors do come and go, so the board adapts accordingly. “Getting new ideas is a good thing, but there’s also a lot to learn,” Halls explained. Board members must work together, and no project goes forward without a consensus so it is truly a team effort.
“Our board members work really well together,” he added. “They understand that our goal is to get more money into the county for Solano and that they’re all part of an overall transportation system that doesn’t end at any individual city.” Of course, that doesn’t stop them from campaigning on behalf of their own city’s issues, and Halls laughed as he told us that if you ask all seven mayors, they’ll tell you why their city’s the best! The county as a whole, however, is the focus here for everyone.
STA must carefully plan how they’ll be developing the county’s connectedness as we’re getting more and more popular every day. “We have a robust Bay Area economy, and we have a county which is a nice place to live and is very affordable, but we don’t have enough jobs to employ all the people that live here,” Halls said. He explained that we have about 110,000 residents commuting out of the county every day, about 60,000 commute into the county, and 50,000 or so have a commute that remains within the county. “So we’re exporting a lot of people,” he said. “We’re trying to improve mobility, not just to help people get to work outside the county, we’re also looking at projects that benefit this county so that we can bring more jobs here.”
Years ago, STA funded a project at Vacaville’s Leisure Town Road. “That interchange opened up that area for some employment expansion in Vacaville,” Halls said. “It improved mobility for people getting to work, to shop, and it makes it more accessible for jobs.” For similar reasons they completed some work on the Green Valley Road interchange that built a new connector from westbound I-80 to westbound SR-12, braided with a new onramp from Green Valley Road to westbound I-80 (which was Package 1 of their I-80/I-680/SR-12 Interchange project). They’re also looking at improvements to the SR-37 interchange at the Solano County Fairgrounds near Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.
Money, of course, is the main thing to consider with all of this. STA relies heavily on federal, state, regional, and local dollars, and with Prop 6 coming up on the ballot this November, some of that funding could be in jeopardy. “Last year, Senate Bill 1 passed which dedicated gas tax and other funds to transportation,” Halls said. “Prop 6 is intended to repeal that … whether it passes or doesn’t pass it’s going to make a big difference on available state transportation funds in the future.” For example, if Prop 6 passes and it repeals SB 1, their I-80/I-680/SR-12 Interchange project either gets delayed or canceled, Solano County cities would collectively lose $14 million in road money every year, and funding for maintaining and improving our highways will also decrease dramatically … so make sure to vote this November.
STA has been putting its funds to some great use and is actively promoting some very interesting programs that are all designed to help people get to where they’re going in a variety of ways. STA’s Safe Routes to School program encourages students to walk or bike to school, collaborating with local schools, police, public health staff, city traffic engineers and other community members to ensure a safe path for kids to get to school on their own. All of Solano County’s school districts are involved with this program. “It’s a very collaborative process and we’re making great progress,” Halls said. “It’s taken a long time to get here, but we have a lot of people working together to promote safety, walking and being healthier.”
They’ve also had a countywide bike plan for more than 20 years. Initially, STA’s focus was on connecting cities with bike paths between Vacaville and Dixon, or between Vallejo and Fairfield. “Our focus right now is making it easier to walk and bike to high-activity centers like shopping and employment areas,” Halls said. “As we plan for some of these facilities to grow we’re trying to make sure it’s also easy to walk there, bike there, and get your car there.” STA is constantly working with every city in Solano County to make sure that mobility is of utmost consideration for every major economic development.
For any hiking and biking enthusiasts, head to STA’s website to see their interactive map for the Top Ten Bike Rides in Solano County, organized by difficulty level. “We’ve got a really good bike network so we thought we should promote it!” Halls exclaimed. “We did that a few years ago, and this past year we did our Top Ten Walks & Hikes.” So for anyone looking to get some exercise and do some local exploring click the “biking and walking” tab at sta.ca.gov.
Solano Mobility is a program that Halls highly recommends the public take more advantage of. “There are a lot of different transportation options that people aren’t aware of,” he said. “So what we tried to do with Solano Mobility is help let people know what’s out there. We’re helping commuters, but also seniors, people with disabilities, families—trying to promote to them that there are different ways you could actually get to where you’re going without having to drive your car if you don’t want to.”
STA’s website is a pretty awesome resource for all things mobility throughout Solano County. It’s very extensive and has information on all of their current projects, be it a board agenda, information on their clean air programs or road developments, details on budgets and comprehensive plans—there’s plenty to see there and even more to learn. Head to sta.ca.gov to see for yourself, and if you have any questions about how to better get around Solano County you can reach their Mobility Call Center at (800) 535-6883; their main phone number is (707) 424-6075, and their address is One Harbor Center, Suite 130, Suisun City 94585.
Also as of July 1st of this year, you can find a new and improved SolanoExpress bus service, coupled with changes happening at SolTrans you can get from Sacramento to Pleasant Hill BART or El Cerrito BART to Suisun City without a car. So again, check their website. If you have any ideas or want to get involved in any way give them a call or an email (info@sta.ca.gov) and they’ll let you know how to make your voice heard.
Larson is an actor/comedian/director from Vallejo who lives a double life between the Bay and LA. When he’s not writing for Local Happenings Magazine he could be editing a short film or working on his next rap album—who knows!
Keep up with all things Larson at: www.MarsLegstrong.com.
