The Alliance for Sustainable and Equitable Regional Transportation (ASERT) and the Community Environmental Council have teamed up with former Democratic presidential nominee and public transit advocate Michael Dukakis for a forum tackling sustainable transportation.
The forum — Seizing the Moment: Sustainable Transportation in the Obama Era — will be held 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Santa Barbara Central Library’s Faulkner Gallery, 40 E. Anapamu St. There is no charge for the event, which also is sponsored by Noozhawk.
Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor who was beaten by Vice President George Bush in the 1988 presidential election, will lead a panel of experts exploring the forces shaping the future of sustainable and equitable regional transportation in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. From economic stimulus plans to local sales-tax initiatives to green jobs and sustainable growth, all of these challenges and opportunities will have an impact on regional transportation planning.
A second, companion regional transportation forum will be held next week in Ventura. That forum — Moving the Central Coast Forward: Regional Transportation Action Forum — is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to noon Jan. 31 at Ventura College, 4667 Telegraph Road, Ventura. There is no charge for the event.
The project was initiated by the Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST) and funded by a grant from the McCune Foundation.
Tom Roberts is coordinating the transportation forum.