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How to Access State Funding for Bike Share and Micromobility for Your Community

September 29, 2019/by Kevin Claxton

Join us for a free webinar on Tuesday October 8, at 10:00 a.m.

Are you working on bringing bike-share or scooter-share to your disadvantaged or low-income community? Can your community benefit from micromobility services but hasn’t seen any investment yet? You may be eligible for funding from the $20 million Clean Mobility Options for Disadvantaged Communities program, a program of the California Air Resources Board that supports these options as well as electric car-share and electric vanpool services. The program’s administrator, CALSTART, will start accepting applications in early 2020. Funding is first-come, first-serve, and applications submitted would need to meet minimum criteria to qualify.

Join us for a free webinar presentation to learn how you can bring bike-share and micromobility to your community. The webinar will be presented by Margarita Parra, Clean Mobility Equity Project Lead for GRID Alternatives. GRID is part of the Clean Mobility Options for Disadvantaged Communities Program administrator team that also includes CALSTART, Shared Use Mobility Center, and Local Government Commission.

Click here to register for this free webinar on Tuesday, October 8 at 10:00 am.

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Metro_Bike_Share_7th_and_Bixel_Los_Angeles-1.jpg 777 1024 Kevin Claxton https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Kevin Claxton2019-09-29 15:24:482019-10-01 17:46:59How to Access State Funding for Bike Share and Micromobility for Your Community

70 Organizations Urge Gov. Newsom to Sign SB 127

September 25, 2019/by Kevin Claxton

Last weekend, 70 organizations signed a support letter sent to Governor Gavin Newsom, asking for his signature on SB 127, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill. The letter highlights the ways in which this law will support California’s climate and transportation goals. In particular, this bill aligns closely with the Governor’s recent Executive Order and gives a direct action step to the goals listed, including reducing vehicle miles traveled and “funding transportation options that contribute to the overall health of Californians and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as transit, walking, biking, and other active modes.”

The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill requires Caltrans to add features that benefit people who walk or bike when it repairs or repaves a local street. If a project can’t include Complete Streets, the bill requires more transparency from Caltrans on why the department can’t provide such features. SB 127 is a cost-effective, commonsense way to build the green infrastructure California needs.

The organizations supporting the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill represent a range of interests including seniors, environmental groups, bicycle advocates, pedestrian advocates, and more.

If you support Complete Streets, email or call Governor Newsom today and tell him to sign SB 127.

Downloadable PDF of SB 127 Support Letter

Complete Streets sign-on

Complete Streets sign-on

Complete Streets sign-on Complete Streets sign-on

SB 127 support letterComplete Streets sign-on

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Complete-Streets-sign-on-p-1-scaled.jpg 2560 1978 Kevin Claxton https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Kevin Claxton2019-09-25 14:56:112019-09-26 19:36:4470 Organizations Urge Gov. Newsom to Sign SB 127

These City DOT Leaders Get It. What’s Standing in Their Way?

September 16, 2019/by Kevin Claxton

Many city leaders have come to realize that making their streets and sidewalks more walkable and bikeable is key to a better city: more prosperous, more equitable, more healthy. They have appointed changemakers to be city DOT leaders, in charge of their streets: people with careers dedicated to advancing that transformation. 

The Opening Plenary of this year’s California Bicycle Summit, held October 15-17 in Los Angeles, features three such leaders. Seleta Reynolds is the General Manager of LADOT. Before that, she was in charge of bike and pedestrian programs in the Liveable Streets section of the SFMTA. Ryan Russo moved from a position as Deputy Commissioner working on bike projects for NYCDOT to become the first director of the newly-formed Oakland DOT.  Kome Ajise is the Executive Director of the Southern California Association of Governments. Before that, he was a Chief Deputy Director at Caltrans, where he was a strong ally to our work to make projects bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly. 

A History of Cutting-Edge City DOT Bikeway Projects

Russo’s tenure at NYCDOT saw a huge expansion of public space, with the addition of pedestrian plazas at several locations, including Madison Square and innovative projects such as protected center bike lanes to help bicyclists ride onto the Manhattan Bridge.

As a result of bold, innovative projects like these, the number of bike riders in New York City tripled between 2003 and 2018. The city now has 330 miles of bike lanes, including 82 miles of protected bikeways.  

Since Russo became head of OakDOT in 2017, Oakland has developed a new bike plan that proposes adding 219 miles of bike lanes to the existing 164. The city has opened a two-way protected bikeway by Lake Merritt that might be the best urban protected bikeway in California. 

Reynolds moved to LADOT in 2014 and presided over the opening of LA’s first two-way protected bikeway on Spring Street this year. Under her watch, the My Figueroa project proposes to add three miles of a bikeways to a reconfigured Figueroa Street that also includes safety upgrades for pedestrians. 

City DOT Progress Denied

Despite these improvements, a 2018 article in Bicycling Magazine called Los Angeles the “worst bicycling city in America,” pointing to a rampant car culture and organized opposition to bike infrastructure. Opposition led by the City Councillor forced the city to scale back the My Figueroa project. Entitled motorists got so enraged about delays caused by a safety project on Vista del Mar in Playa del Rey that in 2018 they attempted to recall the City Councillor who supported it. That effort failed and Mark Bonin remains in office and an ally, though somewhat scarred. Vista del Mar, unfortunately, saw its traffic lanes restored and safety improvements eliminated.

Oakland has avoided the reversal of a bike lane project but not the delay of one. A planned extension of Oakland’s wildly successful Telegraph Avenue parking-protected bike lanes was only recently approved after more than a year of delay. Still, there is constant pressure to reject additional expansions, according to officials. 

How Do We Speed Up the Process for City DOT Leaders?

The exact right people are in the exact right positions to make change in Oakland and Los Angeles, yet progress is slow and pushback remains a strong force against safer streets. How do these leaders overcome resistance from entrenched interests, both inside and outside of government? How can bicycle advocates support their work? And, since Reynolds and Russo are working to achieve statewide goals, is there a role for the regional or statewide agency that Kome Ajise leads? What incentives, rewards, and punishments can Caltrans or a regional agency administer to get the result we’re seeking? 

Moderated by the California-focused leader at the National Association of City Transportation Officials, this session at the California Bicycle Summit will help us learn from allies in positions of power what they need to be more successful. Register for the California Bicycle Summit: Intersections to join the conversation.

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/redondobikelane.jpg 387 600 Kevin Claxton https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Kevin Claxton2019-09-16 14:09:532019-09-16 17:50:34These City DOT Leaders Get It. What’s Standing in Their Way?

Complete Streets Bill Passes Legislature!

September 11, 2019/by Kevin Claxton

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Contact:

Linda Khamoushian, California Bicycle Coalition, 916-668-9401, linda@calbike.org
Tony Dang, California Walks, 510-464-8052, tony@calwalks.org
Jamie Morgan, American Heart Association, 916-431-2359, Jamie.Morgan@heart.org
David Azevedo, AARP, 626-616-9539, dazevedo@aarp.org
Jonathan Matz, Safe Routes Partnership, 323-422-4948, jonathan@saferoutespartnership.org

SB 127, the Complete Streets Bill Sent to Governor Newsom

SACRAMENTO, CA –  This afternoon, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (SB 127) championed by Senator Scott Wiener, was passed by the state legislature and now heads to the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature.

The bill would require Caltrans to consider bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements when it repairs or repaves state routes that serve as local streets. This bill aims to ensure state roads that run through local communities (e.g. 19th Avenue in San Francisco, Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, San Pablo Avenue in the East Bay, Santa Rosa Street in San Luis Obispo) are safe for people to walk and bike along those routes.

The Complete Streets Bill has strong support. A recent poll found that 78 percent of California voters support a policy requiring safety improvements when improving a road. They want children to be able to safely walk or bike to school. Hundreds of schools exist within a half-mile of a California State Route and these streets remain some of the most deadly in the state. The interim leadership of Caltrans opposes the bill.

Complete Streets advocates celebrated a victory for safety.

Linda Khamoushian, California Bicycle Coalition:

We commend the leadership of Senator Weiner and the Assembly in response to the overwhelming support from California voters. Caltrans is responsible for more than just the fast movement of cars and trucks. Dangerous state-owned roads that cut through our communities can become streets where people going to school, work, and shopping will be able to safely walk and bike. Streets designed for safe travel for people young and old are long overdue.

Jonathan Matz, Safe Routes (to School) Partnership:

SB 127 lays out a process for implementing what the State has long identified as a goal: providing safe infrastructure for people walking and biking on the stretches of the State Highway system that function as local streets. SB 127 will give the Department of Transportation the tools it needs to serve all Californians more effectively. We thank the legislature for recognizing the cost efficiency and potential to save lives when routine repaving projects include Complete Streets improvements, and we urge the Governor to demonstrate California’s commitment to safe infrastructure and transportation alternatives by signing SB 127.

Nancy McPherson, AARP California:

As a longtime advocate for Complete Streets policies in California, AARP is pleased to see SB 127 pass the Assembly today. Legislation like SB 127 is critical to ensuring our roads are safe for people walking, biking, and taking public transportation, thus allowing older adults to live healthy, active lives in their communities. Thank you, Senator Wiener, for your leadership on this critical issue, and to all members of the Legislature who have supported SB 127.

Tony Dang, California Walks:

Crossing the street should never be a matter of life or death–that’s why we applaud the Assembly’s passage of Senator Wiener’s Complete Streets Bill. SB 127 will bring an unprecedented level of accountability at Caltrans to ensure that our kids and families can walk and bike without fear on local and main streets that just happen to be owned by the state. We’re grateful to Senator Wiener and his colleagues in the Senate and Assembly for standing up for complete streets to make our communities safer, healthier, and happier.

American Heart Association:

“Creating more complete streets in all neighborhoods will help encourage people to take the first step to living a longer, healthier life,” said Joe Aviance (aka Papa Joe), an American Heart Association volunteer who took to the streets and walked to lose 250 pounds. “I was 450 pounds when I decided to make a change for the better and started walking. Fortunately for me, I live in a neighborhood that has sidewalks and pedestrian-friendly streets, so the sidewalks became my treadmill. Access to safe, walkable streets is not an available option for some communities of color where investment is sorely needed. Our leaders in Sacramento have taken a big step to help Californians live healthier lives by passing SB 127. I urge the Governor to do the same.”

COMPLETE STREETS BACKGROUND

In California from 2007-2013, nearly 1.7 million people were injured in traffic incidents, including 95,758 while walking along or across the street. In those crashes, 22,117 people were killed, with pedestrians accounting for one-fifth of the total persons killed. The problem is often concentrated around Caltrans roads that go through low-income neighborhoods where more people get around via transit, biking, and walking.

Caltrans often claims to make streets safer when they repair them. But in practice, they prioritize fast traffic over the communities demanding more livable streets almost every single time. Caltrans needed stronger direction from the Legislature. The Complete Streets for Active Living Bill will provide that direction, and force the safety improvements necessary to stop the killing and maiming on state-owned roads.

The bill is not strict. Caltrans won’t have to implement safety improvements if they’re not appropriate for some reason—for example, if they’re too expensive. And the law only applies to sections where you’re likely to see people walking and biking, about 17% of the total system. But it will force Caltrans to implement safety improvements when it’s cheapest to do so: when they’re repaving the street anyway.

SB 127 Co-Sponsors:

California Bicycle Coalition, California Walks, American Heart Association, AARP, Safe Routes Partnership

Supporting Organizations:

350 Bay Area Action, 350 Silicon Valley, Active San Gabriel Valley, American Lung Association in California , Alameda County Transportation Commission , Berkeley Climate Hub, Bike Bakersfield, Bike Concord, Bike East Bay, Bike Monterey, Bike San Diego, California Alliance for Retired Americans, California City Transportation Initiative/NACTO, California Democratic Party, California Interfaith Power & Light, California Park and Recreation Society, California ReLeaf, CALSTART Inc., CALPIRG, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Stockton, Cedars, Center for Climate Change and Health, Central California Asthma Collaborative, City of Encinitas, City of Half Moon Bay, City of Long Beach, City of Sacramento, City and County of San Francisco, City of Santa Monica, City of San Luis Obispo, Climate Action Campaign, ClimatePlan, Climate Resolve, Coalition for Clean Air, Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, Compton Unified School District, Cultiva La Salud, Davis Bike Club, Day One, East Bay Recreational Park District, Elders Climate Action (NorCal), Environment California, Fossil Free California, Inland Empire Biking Alliance, Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, La Verne Bicycle Coalition, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Local Government Commission, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Los Angeles Walks, Lyft Inc., Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Napa County Bicycle Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Natural Resources Services Division Redwood, Office of the Mayor, San Francisco, Orange County Bicycle Coalition, Office of the Mayor, San Francisco, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, Planning and Conservation League, PeopleforBikes, PolicyLink, Public Advocates, Redwood Community Action Agency, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Rural Counties Representative of California, San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, San Francisco Transportation Municipal Agency, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco Planning Department, SFBA Families for Safe Streets, Santa Monica Spoke, Save The Bay, Seamless Bay Area, Shasta Living Streets, Sierra Club California, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Sunflower Alliance, Transform, Transportation Agency for Monterey County, Trust for Public Land, Walk Bike Berkeley, Walk & Bike Mendocino, Walk Sacramento, Walk San Francisco, and Walk Long Beach.

 

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/38654265346_7cafe4e8bc_k.jpg 1365 2048 Kevin Claxton https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Kevin Claxton2019-09-11 18:30:202019-09-16 17:28:03Complete Streets Bill Passes Legislature!

More than 185 Streets Affected by SB 127

September 11, 2019/by Laura McCamy

CalBike research has revealed the broad scope of streets that could be positively affected by the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill (SB 127 – Wiener). The bill requires Caltrans to consider adding features that keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe when they repair or repave a highway that is surface street. SB 127 would bring the public into the Caltrans planning process, for greater transparency and community input. 

Most of the 50,000 lane miles that Caltrans manages are freeways. Freeways are not affected by SB 127. However, Caltrans maintains many surface streets that are state highways and run through neighborhoods where people live. While only about 17% of Caltrans-controlled roadways have been identified as the kinds of local streets addressed in SB 127, these routes are important thoroughfares at the heart of local communities.

CalBike’s research has found 187 state routes that double as local streets in 44 of California’s 58 counties. This list is not comprehensive; there may be additional routes that we have not yet identified. If we missed a state route that runs through your town, please let us know: email policy@calbike.org.

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/kidsonbikes-e1568830330939.jpg 907 1910 Laura McCamy https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Laura McCamy2019-09-11 18:25:572023-05-11 12:59:10More than 185 Streets Affected by SB 127

E-Bike Vouchers Bill Signed by Governor Newsom

September 6, 2019/by Kevin Claxton
Read more
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Cargo_bike_2354411983.jpg 300 400 Kevin Claxton https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Kevin Claxton2019-09-06 17:15:082019-09-06 18:02:25E-Bike Vouchers Bill Signed by Governor Newsom

Governor Newsom Signs AB 1266

September 4, 2019/by Kevin Claxton

For Immediate Release: September 4, 2019

Contact:

Dylan Lomanto, legislative aide to Assemblyman Rivas, (916) 319-2749, Dylan.Lomanto@asm.ca.gov

Dave Snyder, California Bicycle Coalition, (415) 216-7393, dave@calbike.org

AB 1266: Governor Signs Bill to Make Intersections Safer for Bicyclists

State Capitol, Sacramento, CA – Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill today that will make it safer for bicycle riding in California at busy intersections. The bill requires Caltrans to develop a street marking or design that allows cyclists to go straight from a right or left turn lane and to safely cross outside of the high-traffic lanes.

“AB 1266 bill will make our roadways safer for everyone by matching street design with the already practiced, safe behavior of cyclists at busy intersections. I’m committed to making sure Californians have safe, healthy, and non-polluting transportation choices as we expand our efforts to combat climate change,” said Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister).

“This bill authorizes a bicyclist to travel straight through a right or left-hand turn only lane and requires Caltrans to develop standards for lane striping, pavement marking, and appropriate regulatory signs to implement this bill. It will save lives,” said Dave Snyder, director of the California Bicycle Coalition.

About AB-1266 Traffic control devices: bicycles

Currently, cyclists approaching an intersection may thread the needle between the right-hand turn lane and the adjacent go-straight lane. However, legally, like cars, cyclists should proceed through an intersection in a go-straight lane and are prohibited from going through an intersection from the right-turn lane. Cyclists traveling in a bicycle lane that disappears, converting into a right-turn lane before an intersection, must merge left into the go-straight lane, proceed through the intersection, and then, if the bicycle lane resumes after the intersection, merge right back into the bicycle lane.

This bill will fix that problem by allowing bicyclists to cross intersections straight ahead from the relative safety of a right or left turn lane. This will be marked on the street or via sign, so all road users understand the rule.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/combined-bike-lane-turn-lane-billings-mt.jpeg 380 640 Kevin Claxton https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.png Kevin Claxton2019-09-04 19:03:002021-06-15 10:59:49Governor Newsom Signs AB 1266

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