As elected officials, transportation is one of the issues we hear about every day.

People are spending more time in their cars than ever before – and with limited resources, it is difficult to fix this problem. But over the past two years, elected officials from every city and county in our region have worked with thousands of residents to come up with more transportation options.

Our region is going to add more than a million residents over the next three decades, so we have to do more than just add lanes and buses to our roads. As we update our general plans, cities and counties are putting jobs, shops and services closer to where people live and giving people more housing choices, which means less time in our car and more

time with our families.

From sidewalks to streetcars and rural road maintenance to carpool lanes, the Metropolitan Transportation Plan for 2035 we have just adopted invests in a mix of transportation options serving our diverse six-county region. The Metropolitan Transportation Plan spreads $42 billion among road improvements, transit, bicycle and pedestrian access, and grant funding for our communities to implement land use and air quality improvements.

With an average of $1.5 billion per year, the plan will bring changes you can see, such as high-occupancy vehicle lanes for those who carpool or use express buses, auxiliary lanes on freeways for shorter trips, streetcars from downtown Sacramento to West Sacramento and in Rancho Cordova, improved streets with sidewalks and bike lanes, light rail to Sacramento International Airport and Cosumnes River College, improved road connections between Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova and El Dorado County, a network of bicycle and pedestrian routes, and widespread and frequent bus service.

We couldn’t have done this without the input of nearly 8,000 people who contributed plans and ideas, so on behalf of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, thank you for helping us give people more choices for how they get from home to work, school, or just around town.

You can see the entire plan at www.sacog.-org/mtp2035 or by calling (916) 321-9000.

SACOG coordinates transportation planning, funding and project delivery for Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba counties and the cities within them. SACOG also engages elected officials in land use and other regional issues.

– Tom Cosgrove is chairman of the SACOG board of directors and a member of the Lincoln City Council. Rusty Dupray is past chairman of the SACOG board and an El Dorado County supervisor.