News

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Nominations are now open for SCAG’s 2025 Sustainability Awards. The SCAG Sustainability Awards recognize projects for contributing to the goals of the Connect SoCal Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy and for achieving progress toward a more mobile, sustainable, and prosperous region.

The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) awarded $2.28 million in grant funding to SCAG to improve transportation safety, including funding for a new regional safety data analysis and modeling platform and continued work on the Go Human regional traffic safety and community engagement program. 

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has been awarded $6 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) to improve pedestrian safety and access leading up to the 2026 World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl, and 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games. 

SCAG is pleased to announce that the 2025 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) has received official federal approval from the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration. This approval marks a significant step forward for transportation projects across the SCAG region.

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Throughout 2024, Go Human directed resources to community-led safety and engagement strategies, particularly in communities disproportionately affected by traffic violence and historically excluded from transportation investments. Go Human collaborated with community leaders, nonprofit organizations, cities, and local agencies throughout the region to help build safer and healthier places by:

SCAG staff and local and subregional partners are making progress implementing the Connect SoCal 2024 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy, as outlined in a staff report presented to the SCAG Regional Council and policy committees at the beginning of November.  

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The “2024 Southern California Economic Update” is now available online. SCAG publishes this annual economic update with analysis covering the entire region as well as providing specific insight into the economies of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties.

On Dec. 5, the Regional Council approved the 2024 Sustainable Communities Program (SCP) – Active Transportation and Safety “Project List and Contingency Project List,” a major milestone for a call for applications process opened in July.

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Public education, planning and designing safer streets and closer collaboration with law enforcement pare keys to reducing a growing number of fatalities and serious injuries from traffic collisions throughout Southern California, experts said Wednesday.

Appearing at the Traffic Safety Leadership Symposium, sponsored by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), experts in planning, safety and urban design said more needs to be done to make roads safer for everyone who walks, bikes and rides.

Overall, more than 1,500 people die and 136,000 are injured in collisions in Southern California each year. Most of those collisions (71%) occur on local streets – not freeways.

The Southern California Association of Governments on Friday formally launched Connect SoCal, the agency’s 2020-2045 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy.

At its annual Regional Conference and General Assembly in Palm Desert, SCAG announced a series of public workshops across the six-county region beginning this month to engage residents and stakeholders in the planning and visioning process for the 25-year plan.

The Regional Council has voted to approve the Scholarship Committee recommendations for the 2019 SCAG Scholarship Program Awards. This year, SCAG received 111 applications from high school and community college students from across the region. 10 outstanding students were selected for scholarships, representing all six of SCAG’s member counties. The SCAG Scholarship Program provides each winner with both a monetary award of $4,000 and a two-week internship with SCAG or a local planning agency, in order to help students build the foundation for a career in urban planning and local government.

Demographic experts warn that Southern California’s housing crisis will only worsen until and unless there is a significant increase in the number of new homes built.

Speaking at the 30th annual Demographic Workshop sponsored by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy, researchers said housing supplies aren’t keeping pace with a growing population and other factors that have increased demand and pushed costs skyward.

Residents, businesses and stakeholders soon will have the opportunity to weigh in on three options for determining local housing needs as part of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process.

The three allocation methodology options were presented Monday to the RHNA Subcommittee of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), which must develop a proposed plan for how to allocate existing and projected housing need once the six-county region’s overall need is determined. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is expected to announce that regional number in late August, covering the planning period of October 2021 through October 2029.

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) today opened the public comment period on how best to allocate local housing need – a critical step forward in addressing an affordability crisis that has broad ramifications on our region’s prosperity and quality of life.

SCAG will conduct four public hearings and accept written comments over the next several weeks for residents, businesses and stakeholders to weigh in on three options for determining local housing needs as part of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process.

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) offered its gratitude and congratulations to its First Vice President, Randon Lane, who has resigned to accept a presidential appointment in Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, Lane announced his resignation as Mayor Pro-Tem of the City of Murrieta, as well as his appointed roles at SCAG, the League of California Cities and the Riverside Transit Agency, to accept a role within the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“Randon has shown extraordinary leadership on regional transportation issues throughout Southern California. His city and our region will miss him, but we know he will accomplish great things in Washington,” said SCAG President Bill Jahn.

Yesterday, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) transmitted the final Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) Determination​ of 1,344,740 total units for the six-county SCAG region. This number reflects the number of housing units the region must plan for in the October 2021 – October 2029 planning period.

Specifically, the regional determination was comprised of the following four income categories:

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) has been awarded a $1,000,000.00 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to fund continued work on its Go Human traffic safety program next year.

Southern California has some of the highest levels of injuries and fatalities involving people walking and biking in the country. In the six-county SCAG region (Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties), more than four people die every day in traffic collisions, on average. People walking or riding bikes account for 27 percent of those deaths while only comprising 12 percent of all trips. SCAG data shows that 70% of all collision are on local roads.

On Nov. 7, SCAG’s Joint Policy Committees and Regional Council will consider releasing the Draft Connect SoCal plan, the 2020-2045 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy, for public review and comment. Connect SoCal is a long-range visioning plan that seeks to meet the region’s air quality and greenhouse gas reduction goals, while balancing future mobility and housing needs with economic, environmental and public health goals, and SCAG is excited to be able to share this with the public.