Congresswoman Doris Matsui has represented the city of Sacramento and its surrounding areas since 2005. As a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, she serves on the Health and Energy subcommittees and is the Vice Chair on the Communications and Technology subcommittee. She is committed to strengthening Sacramento’s flood protection, ensuring quality, affordable health care for all, promoting a clean energy economy, and creating a vibrant region where families can live, work, and play.
By safely linking neighborhoods through investments in our region’s transportation infrastructure, we connect all of our residents to jobs, promote a sense of community, and ensure that no one is left behind as Sacramento continues to grow.
In addressing Sacramento’s transportation needs, the Congresswoman is committed to the mutual alliance of federal, state, and local agencies that have come together to build and grow our region’s infrastructure. The Sacramento Region Blueprint, put forth by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), is helping to make the Sacramento region’s streets an example for the nation.
In Washington, Congresswoman Matsui has used Sacramento’s Blueprint plan as a model as she advocates for a federal complete streets policy that would ensure our roadways are designed with all users in mind – including bicyclists and pedestrians, children, seniors, and the disabled.
Congresswoman Matsui works with all levels of government to address Sacramento’s ongoing transportation priorities, including the Port of West Sacramento, operations at the Sacramento International Airport, light rail expansion and the development of an intermodal station. The intermodal station will help foster connections between nearly all modes of transportation – from bicycle to bus, light rail to car, train to sidewalks. It is a long term vision that is taking place in phases. Phase 1 of the project was completed in August 2012 and Phase 2 of the project, during which Sacramento Valley Station was renovated, was completed in 2017. Congresswoman Matsui has helped to secure $52 million in federal funding for the intermodal project.
Additionally, the Congresswoman has been an advocate for bringing streetcars back to Sacramento. For more than 70 years, streetcars rolled through downtown Sacramento, and the Congresswoman has a vision for building on that history and bringing streetcars back to the region. The streetcar project will help connect West Sacramento and Sacramento, and provide more options to residents and tourists who are looking to move more efficiently between neighborhoods. In February 2016, the Obama Administration recommended that Sacramento’s streetcar initiative receive funding in his budget request.
Congresswoman Matsui also supports California’s High Speed Rail project. This project is an opportunity to invest in our state’s infrastructure, create new jobs, boost American manufacturing, and work towards a greener future. And, the federal funding allocated for California’s high speed rail line and our intercity passenger rail system are creating important momentum in Sacramento and the rest of the state.
These investments will help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create jobs, ease the congestion on our roads, and meet the demands of our growing population.