December 2022 - CalBike

CalBike’s Best and Worst of 2022

December 23, 2022/by Laura McCamy

The past few years have been disappointing in so many ways (because, you know — pandemic, war, climate catastrophes). But 2022 had a lot of bright spots, and for active transportation in California, more highs than lows. And we think that momentum will carry us into even bigger and bolder achievements in 2023 (because we’re optimists!).

Here’s a brief and wholly non-comprehensive compendium of the best and worst developments for biking in California and beyond in 2022.

Best new California law that’s changing the conversation across the nation: AB 2147, the Freedom to Walk Act

The governor’s signature on Assemblymember Phil Ting’s Freedom to Walk Act was a huge step forward for equity on California streets. The victory was the result of a two-year campaign by CalBike and our allies with outstanding leadership from Asm. Ting.

California wasn’t the first to pass a law decriminalizing jaywalking: Virginia passed similar legislation a year earlier and a Kansas City law goes even further than California or Virginia in legalizing safe street crossings. But the passage of this landmark law in the most populous state in the U.S. has sparked a national conversation that may be poised to accelerate the end of outmoded jaywalking laws.

Best law adding bikes to the California Vehicle Code: AB 1909, the OmniBike Bill

Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s OmniBike Bill makes several critical changes to the California Vehicle Code that make people on bikes safer. The most vital is requiring people in cars to change lanes to pass someone on a bike, which will reduce stressful near misses and dangerous collisions. This critical legislation is a big step towards recognizing that riding a bike isn’t the same as driving a car, and we need road rules tailored to smart biking to help everyone share the road more safely.

Most consequential transportation design fail: The Mad Maxification of American trucks and SUVs

We don’t have the statistics for 2022 yet, but the last few years have shown a disturbing increase in bike and pedestrian road deaths. The reasons for the rise are complex, but if you wanted to design a motor vehicle to maximize injury to the human body, you’d build trucks and SUVs with huge front grills and blind spots in the front as well as the rear. Bad for aerodynamics and fuel efficiency, but excellent at increasing severe injuries and deaths in even low-speed collisions. What’s next, car manufacturers? Fenders with metal spikes? Front-mounted swords? Mario Kart-style shell launchers?

Most forward-thinking law that will change the way communities approach traffic planning: SB 932, the Plan for the Future Bill

Streets for All cited Senator Anthony Portantino as a bike champion on the rise in its 2021-2022 Mobility Report Card, and the Plan for the Future Bill is one big reason. This is a bold new law that requires cities and counties to not only update their circulation plans to improve safety for people biking and walking but to implement those changes. It will take several years to start seeing the effects of this measure, but we believe they will be profound, and CalBike is proud to have been a cosponsor on Senator Portantino’s legislation.

Best way to destroy the climate: California’s freeway addiction

According to a recent study, the transportation sector contributes 60% of greenhouse gases in California, yet Caltrans can’t kick its freeway-building habit. Even though study after study proves that adding lanes increases congestion and escalates greenhouse emissions, Caltrans continues to spend millions on freeway widening projects. Caltrans—it’s time to be part of the solution, not the problem.

Best fairytale ending for car-free streets: San Francisco’s JFK Promenade

During the pandemic, San Francisco expanded car-free days from just weekends to 24/7 on the main artery through Golden Gate Park, JFK Drive. The people loved it and organized to turn the road from a “drive” to a “promenade.” They won! The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to make the car-free state permanent. There was much rejoicing on the promenade!

But some didn’t like all the fun that people of all ages had biking, walking, running, and rollerskating and they said, Not so fast, happy people. The road was theirs! To drive their big, fancy cars, not for people to breathe fresh air and enjoy the park! So they put an initiative on the ballot to take the promenade away.

But the people didn’t give up. They put their own initiative on the ballot to keep JFK Promenade car-free all the time. And the persistent pedestrians prevailed! Voters defeated the ballot initiative that killed joy and passed the one that preserved the car-free street. There was much rejoicing on the promenade!

And, seriously, this was a massive win that showed the popularity of slow streets. Congratulations to all involved.

Most unusual bicycle road hazard: Bull attacks off-road bike racers

When the organizers of an off-road bike race in Bakersfield called their challenge “stupidly hard,” they didn’t realize what an understatement that would prove to be. In the middle of the race, a bull decided it didn’t like where this was going and charged riders. Fortunately, the three riders who connected with the bull’s horns weren’t seriously injured, but perhaps next year’s course will be less bullish on animal interactions.

Best way to spend $1.1 billion: California’s Active Transportation Program

California’s ATP provides a dedicated funding source for projects that improve bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. It’s a fabulous program that has benefited many California communities, and CalBike is proud to have advocated for its creation, but as demand for complete streets projects increases, the amount of funding hasn’t kept up.

In 2022, lawmakers increased funding for the ATP by more than 4X with a $1.1 billion infusion of cash. In the most recent funding round, fewer than one-quarter of the projects vying for money will get funded, still falling far short of what we need but much more than would have been possible without the extra cash.

Worst anticipated veto of a bill that should have passed: AB 1713, the Bicycle Safety Stop

In a year when Governor Newsom signed 15 excellent bike-friendly bills into law, Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath pulled the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill ahead of a promised veto. Many states have enacted similar laws with no negative (and many positive) consequences, so the governor’s intractable opposition to legalizing commonsense biking is hard to explain.

Boerner Horvath continues to champion the safety stop for people riding bikes, and she has already introduced AB 73 to create a pilot program to test it in the next legislative session, and CalBike continues to work toward a California safety stop law.

Most unexpected support for the bicycle safety stop: NHTSA says evidence shows “bicyclist stop-as-yield laws to enhance safety and protect cyclists”

If you need proof of the mainstream acceptance of the bicycle safety stop, look no further than a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bulletin released in March that endorses laws legalizing the practice: “Bicyclist stop-as-yield laws allow cyclists to mitigate risk to their advantage, increase their visibility to drivers and reduce exposure.” The fact sheet cites multiple studies showing the benefits of the safety stop and ends with, “Based upon the current research and data available, these laws showed added safety benefits for bicyclists in States where they were evaluated, and may positively affect the environment, traffic, and transportation.” Thank you, NHTSA!

What were your best and worst of 2022? Tweet at us, tell us on Facebook or Instagram, or go old school and send us an email.

California’s Big Bike Year: 2022 in Review

December 14, 2022/by Kevin Claxton

What can we say about 2022? We didn’t get everything we wanted, but thanks to advocacy from CalBike and our supporters and allies, it was a fantastic year for biking and walking in California. Here’s a short stroll down victory lane.

More money for biking and walking

California shows its values where it spends its money. Today, active transportation projects represent just a tiny fraction of the state’s transportation spending, but in 2022, that fraction got a little less tiny.

A diverse constituency advocated for $2 billion for bikes in the budget passed in 2022, and unfortunately, we came up short of that ambitious goal. However, we did secure the most funding ever for active transportation projects: $1.1 billion, a more than fourfold increase from prior years.

As communities across California scramble to fund projects to create Complete Streets and increase safety for people biking and walking, this extra money is crucial. It meant there was $1.6 billion available for the most recent funding round (Cycle 6) of the Active Transportation Program. As Streetsblog reported, this led to many more projects receiving funding and in a few years, we’ll see more protected bikeways and intersections as a result.

Of course, it’s still not enough. Every cycle, the ATP receives more excellent proposals than it can fund and has to turn away a higher number of worthy projects. Cities and towns understand that safe streets for all modes are essential for creating livable, sustainable communities. It’s time for the state to understand that too, and devote more money to bikeways and less to freeways.

Big wins for biking and walking

Our legislative recap provides in-depth coverage of all the bills that passed in 2022, so we won’t go into all the detail. Let’s just look at the effect of a few of those bills:

The OmniBike Bill changes the vehicle code to make people on bikes safer both from collisions with motor vehicles and from police harassment.
The Freedom to Walk Act prevents police from issuing jaywalking tickets unless the person was endangering themselves or others. That will eliminate unnecessary and often biased ticketing that impacts disadvantaged communities the most.
The Plan for the Future Bill gives cities and counties a deadline to update their general plans to make biking and walking safer — and provides funding to implement those plans rather than letting them gather dust.
Legislation on pedestrian crossings will bring Leading Pedestrian Intervals to Caltrans-controlled streets. LPIs give pedestrians (and people on bikes) a head start of 3 to 7 seconds before cars get a green light, reducing collisions and near misses.

The successes of 2022 give us excellent momentum heading into 2023, and we’re working on an even bigger and more ambitious agenda for next year.

Bike champions elected

Eight of the 11 candidates CalBike endorsed this year won election or reelection. Every bike champion elected to the state legislature means one more vote for bike-friendly legislation. Our big legislative wins in 2022 reflect the power of those votes. A big shoutout to all of you who biked the vote this year to help bring more progressive leaders to the California legislature.

Coming soon: Statewide e-bike rebates

We won funding for a statewide Electric Bicycle Incentives Program in 2021, and the program won’t launch until 2023, but CalBike has been hard at work on e-bike incentives this year. We’ve provided input to CARB on the details of the program, gathered and disseminated information to keep people up to date on the latest, and shared details about how to access other bicycle purchase programs. Stay tuned for more exciting developments in the new year.

To support CalBike’s vision for sustainable, healthy communities and to power our work in 2023, make a gift of any amount today.

Bike Champions 2022 Elections Recap

December 13, 2022/by Jared Sanchez

CalBike endorsed 11 candidates for the California State Senate and Assembly, and the results are finally in: Eight won their races, and three lost, including two very close matches. The four incumbents we endorsed, all bike champions, won. And we’re happy to see four new faces in Sacramento who will be great supporters of active transportation.

Most importantly, thank you for biking the vote in 2022!

Streets for All Mobility Report Card gives high marks to CalBike-endorsed candidates

Elections matter. The 2022 legislative session was outstanding for active transportation because of strong leadership from many members of the Assembly and Senate. Not only did we get 15 excellent bills signed into law, but we also secured an extra $1.1 billion in funding for active transportation. That meant that Cycle 6 of the ATP had $1.6 billion to allocate to projects that make biking and walking safer.

Read Streetsblog’s breakdown of Cycle 6 Active Transportation Program funding.

CalBike ally Streets for All recently published a Mobility Report Card that scored state legislators on their support for biking, walking, and transit. Here’s how CalBike’s endorsed candidates ranked (Note: All these legislators had very high scores for bike-friendly voting):

Laura Friedman (AD 43), Ranking: #1: Friedman, a longtime bicycle champion, authored several excellent bills in 2022, including the OmniBike Bill, which requires car drivers to change lanes to pass bike riders. Redistricting shifted her from AD 44 to AD 43; we’re thrilled that voters in her new district returned her to Sacramento.
Phil Ting (AD 19), Ranking: #2: Ting has been a consistent and savvy champion for active transportation. We are proud to have worked with him for the past two years to pass the Freedom to Walk Act, which decriminalizes safe midblock crossings for pedestrians.
Steve Bennett (AD 37), Ranking: #15: CalBike endorsed Bennett on his first run two years ago, and he has proven himself to be a strong ally for people biking and walking.
Tasha Boerner-Horvath (AD 76), Ranking: #35: Boerner-Horvath has championed the Bicycle Safety Stop for the past two legislative sessions, along with other bicycle safety bills. Although the safety stop didn’t pass in 2022, we’re sure she will continue to champion this crucial measure that lets people on bikes treat stop signs as yields.

Four new champions head for Sacramento

We have high hopes for our four endorsed candidates, who have already begun their first terms. Each of these new members of the Assembly or Senate brings a strong background of understanding and supporting the need to expand access to active transportation.

Catherine Blakespear (SD 38): As the mayor of Encinitas, Blakespear has shown leadership in creating protected, safe bicycle facilities in her city. We’re glad to have her leadership at the state level.
Liz Ortega (AD 20): Ortega has been a labor leader for some of California’s most marginalized groups, and she understands that lowering carbon emissions and reducing our footprint is also a social justice issue. She brings a critical perspective to Sacramento.
Gail Pellerin (AD 28): As a lifelong public servant, Pellerin understands the expansion of safe biking and walking to combat climate change, our housing crisis, and healthy and equitable communities.
Dawn Addis (AD 30): As a Morro Bay councilmember, Addis looked to expand biking along the central coast and beyond. We can’t wait to see what she can accomplish at the state level.