Climate
The dedicated bike lane on the upper deck of the Richmond-San Rafael bridge has been a bone of contention between cyclists and motorists since it opened as a four-year pilot project in 2019. While its life has been extended to a fifth year, its days may be numbered. Next month, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission may reduce the bike lane to a weekends-only feature, a move the cycling community opposes. Since it opened, the bike lane has remained accessible to…
Early next year, Richmond will begin developing its Sea Level Rise Adaptation and Resiliency Plan to address the risks of rising sea levels. It will involve city officials, environmental scientists, engineers, and community members implementing strategies to protect and restore the Richmond shoreline after decades of heavy industrial activity. This initiative gives the city a head start on the planning process mandated by California’s new sea level rise legislation, which requires local governments to have a plan in place by…
Richmond aims to become the first Bay Area city to advance a neighborhood green energy initiative, with plans to convert homes in a pilot neighborhood from gas to electric energy. The Richmond Clean Energy and Healthy Homes Project calls for replacing gas appliances with high-efficiency electric ones in a low-income neighborhood that PG&E would help the city identify. Upgrades will include heat pumps, electric panel enhancements, onsite solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, and battery storage. The pilot would include…
Richmond City Council has awarded a contract of up to $250,000 to a British consulting firm to help the city make its vehicle fleet emission-free. The contract, passed unanimously on Oct. 22, entrusts Arup US Inc. with formulating a “Zero Emission Vehicle Fleet and Infrastructure Transition Plan” to replace approximately 400 city vehicles with vehicles that do not burn fossil fuel. To support a clean energy fleet, the plan also will include estimates on installing infrastructure such as charging stations…
“People of Richmond” is a regular series in which reporters pose a question to people in the community. Answers are presented verbatim, though sometimes edited for brevity. Q: Are you prepared for fire season? Lucas Hernandez “I think so. I do have a go bag. I had bottles of water next to the go bag in a case, but I drank them. My spare car keys are in there, and I think I have rope. I packed it a long…
Transit agencies in the East Bay are promoting California Clean Air Day on Wednesday, with several providing free fares to encourage riders to use public transit. The goal of Clean Air Day is to encourage residents to participate in more sustainable activities to minimize air pollution. The agencies offering free rides include the San Francisco Bay Ferry, WestCAT, Wheels and County Connections. But the largest transit agencies in the Bay Area — AC Transit, BART, and MUNI — will not…
White Pony Express was trying to develop an app that would make it easier for grocery stores, restaurants and other small businesses to alert volunteer food runners when they had excess food that could be redistributed. So the nonprofit, which is based in Concord, applied for and received $100,000 from the Contra Costa County Innovation Fund grant. “It made a lot of things possible because we were a little bit stuck, where we had the technology, but the technology needed…
Despite setbacks caused by COVID-19, AC Transit expects to meet its 2023 goals to convert 10% of its bus fleet to zero emission vehicles. The California Air Resources Board enacted a regulation in 2018 that requires all public transit agencies to transition from diesel fuel to 100% zero‑emission bus fleets by the end of 2040. AC Transit set an internal goal of converting 10% of its 630 buses to zero emission technology by the end of this year, said spokesperson…
On a bright October morning in Lucas Park, dozens of community members — some with silver hair and some younger — move around in dirt, sweat and chatter. Loosely divided into small groups, the volunteers hold onto pots and branches to lift up small trees — each around 8 feet tall — and carry them to designated locations. And then they circle around with shovels, and dig. This was an Arbor Day activity for Groundwork Richmond, an environmental and youth…