Transportation in Toiyabe Chapter: Our Work in 2020 and the Future

January 14, 2021

Over the last year, transportation has become a focal point for chapter advocacy in our region. This sector is the single leading source of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in Nevada, and with two of the fastest warming cities in the nation (Las Vegas and Reno), there is no more time to waste in reforming our transportation systems to meet 21st Century needs. In addition, sprawl continues to threaten both Las Vegas and Reno. Reform is also needed in urban planning to reduce the need for single-vehicle travel in our cities. In short, we see transportation as the tantamount climate issue in the state.

To tackle these challenges, the Toiyabe Chapter formed a Transportation Team in fall of 2019 to bring together passionate transportation minds to help plan and execute our work in the state. This team has prioritized three main sectors for our advocacy;

  • Public transportation and urban planning
  • Transportation electrification
  • Rail

For all of our priorities, we are working to ensure the environmental injustices and carbon intensity of past planning practices are acknowledged and addressed as new solutions are adopted in the state. By working closely with the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition, we have submitted multiple letters to local and state level agencies to call for inclusive public outreach that centers the needs and voices of our communities when drafting new plans, and will continue to call for environmental justice to be addressed in all the work that we do in 2021.

With our transportation team and partners, our successes for transportation in 2020 include:

  • Hosted eight educational webinars on climate, transportation, and air quality, these reached more than 1,700 people. You can find links to these webinars on our facebook page
  • Submitted three letters opposing the Clark County Lands Bill (CCLB) and detailing the climate and environmental justice impacts of the sprawl this bill would bring, resulting in a postponement of the bill's introduction in 2020
  • Submitted two public outreach recommendation letters to Clark County and the state’s Nevada Climate Initiative. These directly resulted in both programs adding spanish language options and offering public meetings at various times of day to meet all schedules
  • Submitted ~20 public comments at various local and state level governing bodies

Our work was featured in the following news stories:

We also submitted the following recommendations to the Nevada Climate Initiative. Many of these were included in the Nevada State Climate Strategy

To learn more about this work, you can find the following blog posts on the Toiyabe Chapter website:

We are also creating a passenger rail vision for Northern Nevada, which we will promote in 2021.

We have also attended numerous stakeholder meetings throughout the state to advocate for transportation reform.

Looking forward, there is still much work to be done to ensure our region is transitioning to sustainable transportation systems on a timeline that will stave off local climate impacts. In 2021, our work will focus on:

  • Supporting or opposing transportation bills in the 2021 Nevada Legislative Session through citizen lobbying and public education
  • Support the adoption of Clean Car Standards in NV
  • Advocate for sustainable urban development at all levels of government
  • Conduct statewide public education campaign on what status quo urban planning and further sprawl actually mean for the future of Nevada
  • Continue to build grassroots power for transportation and urban planning reform
  • Build support for our transportation team’s Northern NV Rail Proposal
  • Continued participation in local level transportation and urban planning initiatives

We could not accomplish this work and be successful without you, the supporters of our Chapter. Thank you for helping ensure our chapter can continue to show up and fight for a just, climate stable future for Nevada.

Please donate generously to support this important work.

All money donated will stay in Nevada and the eastern Sierra to benefit this region's lands, wildlife and communities.