December 2023 - CalBike

CalBike’s Best and Worst of 2023

December 22, 2023/by CalBike Staff

After 2020, it seemed like things could only get better, or at least more normal. But weird seems to be the new normal, and 2023 was no exception, with a high-profile firing at Caltrans, cities declaring “e-bike emergencies,” and fast transportation mode shifts caused by freeway shutdowns rather than the ongoing emergency of climate change.

There have also been significant positive moves this year: legislation that will make streets significantly safer for people biking and walking, funding wins for active transportation, and an expanding coalition of groups amping up the pressure for California to turn to green transportation.

This year, we’re mixing things up by adding some (tongue-in-cheek) awards and our first CalBike Wrapped! We hope this holiday season is a time of renewal for you, and you come back in the new year ready to make it the best year ever for biking in California!

Worst attempt to hush up an unsanctioned freeway expansion that drew more attention to the problem and could lead to a whole agency restructuring: Caltrans firing Jeanie Ward-Waller

Caltrans fired Deputy Director for Planning & Modal Programs Jeanie Ward-Waller because she planned to blow the whistle on potentially illegal use of state highway repair funds to build an extra lane on I-80’s Yolo Causeway. The firing of CalBike’s former Policy Director, and one of the strongest voices in support of active transportation at Caltrans, set off a firestorm, leading to calls for greater oversight of the agency. It has also drawn greater scrutiny to freeway expansion projects like the Yolo Causeway expansion that Caltrans was trying to keep under the radar. Well done, Caltrans.

Best response to alleged state agency malfeasance: Community pushback on Caltrans after Ward-Waller firing

Change has been slow to come to Caltrans, which still mostly prioritizes moving cars and trucks over keeping people biking and walking safe and continues to approve projects that violate California’s climate policies. However, we’re encouraged by growing momentum in the movement to change Caltrans after the agency kicked out its most visible advocate for climate-friendly transportation infrastructure. CalBike was one of over 100 signatories on a letter to the governor asking for investigations of Caltrans operations and a halt to freeway expansion projects in the meantime. And there will be more action to come in 2024, with coalitions coalescing around forcing California to live up to its green transportation policies.

The Worst Euphemism Award: “Pavement rehab” by Caltrans

Why is it that highway resurfacing projects like the Yolo Causeway “pavement rehab” end up adding lanes — and VMT — to the roadbed? Hmm….

Sleeper bill that could have the biggest impact in the future: SB 695, Caltrans data transparency

Oversight is the key to changing how Caltrans operates. In the past, data about freeway projects was not only hard to parse but also hard to find. The Caltrans Data Transparency Bill, AB 695, authored by Senator Lena Gonzalez, requires the agency to make data about past and planned projects available on its website starting in 2025. It’s an excellent step toward a more accountable Caltrans.

The Don’t Threaten Us With a Good Time Award: 10 Freeway 6-Day Closure “Crisis”

The City of Los Angeles declared a state of emergency when a fire under an overpass shut down a portion of the I-10 freeway. It was such an emergency that city officials called on residents to do something radical: leave their cars at home and take the Metro. The transit agency even changed signal priority to make trains run faster. While that’s all great — and was all too temporary — it’s ironic a freeway closure led to these changes and not, for example, the ongoing and not easily reversible climate emergency made worse by LA traffic every day. Just saying.

Best budget decisions, state legislature edition: Reinstatement of full funding for ATP in final budget

In 2022, a year of budget surpluses, California put some of its excess funds, $1.05 billion, toward the Active Transportation Program, which funds biking and walking infrastructure projects across the state. As it became clear the State had to cut corners in 2023, the governor’s first draft budget cut half of that additional ATP funding, about $500 million. Happily, thanks to pressure from CalBike supporters who sent hundreds of letters to the budget committees and to our champions in the legislature, that funding was fully restored in the final budget. Of course, it’s still not nearly enough, and many excellent projects weren’t funded in the most recent funding round of the ATP (Cycle 6). We’ll continue to fight for more funding for active transportation in 2024.

Best budget decisions, state agency edition: CARB including $18 million for e-bike incentives as part of its clean transportation allocation

Although the rollout of the statewide E-Bike Incentive Project has been slower than anticipated, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) clearly recognizes that it will be a popular program. In addition to finding an extra $3 million on top of the $10 million allocated for the pilot by the legislature, CARB proposes $18 million for the program in the next fiscal year. That’s still a small amount compared to the size of California and the high demand for incentives, but it’s a significant chunk of CARB’s clean transportation budget and an excellent start as the program ramps up.

Worst response to a driver hitting and killing a bicyclist: Encinitas e-bike emergency after the death of Brodee Champlain-Kingman

What do you do if a person driving a car hits and kills a person riding a bike? What if the person riding the bike followed the rules of the road and “did everything right?” If you’re the City of Encinitas, you declare a state of emergency because — e-bike! Surely it must be the increased number of e-bikes on the road that’s causing drivers to hit them and not the fact that we haven’t built enough safe bikeways and our roads are designed to encourage people to drive fast. It’s the worst kind of victim-blaming that does nothing to address the actual problem.

Worst media take: New York Times elevates e-bike backlash

The New York Times jumped into the anti-e-bike fray with both feet…in its mouth. A series of articles about the dangers of e-bikes (cue scary music) in California, including a front-page article that blamed reckless teenage riders for recent collisions, using a bike rider killed after being rear-ended by motor vehicle driver, while the bike rider was obeying the rules of the road, as an example. With a fight over e-bike licensing looming in New York City, the paper has an opportunity to take a more balanced approach, but will it? Do better, NYT!

Best media response to worst media take: Streetsblog article on how to spot bad bike reporting

The bikelash posts spurred a backlash against the Times’s biased reporting, including CalBike’s guide to reporting on collisions involving e-bikes (and bikes in general). But we take our hats off to Streetsblog USA for the best response: Four Ways To Spot a Bad E-Bike Article by Kea Wilson. Favorite quote: “A Bad E-Bike Article doesn’t just make e-bikes look bad; it erases all the harm that the mode can reduce by replacing car trips, particularly when supported by great infrastructure, policy, and education to match. Until papers of record start telling that story, though, we should probably all remain prepared to call out Bad E-Bike Articles when we see them.”

The Footloose Award: Huntington Beach City Council

This award, named in honor of the movie, is given to the local elected body most committed to the misery of teenagers. Several Southern California cities recently decided that e-bikes are a menace, but Huntington Beach, whose city council likes to dabble in performative provocation, focused its ire on the dreaded youth on an e-bike (cue very scary music). This fall, the City enacted draconian e-bike regulations that single out people under 18. When a juvenile — but not an adult — is found to have violated the ordinance, Huntington Beach can impound their bike. What’s next, HB? A new law taking candy from babies?

Best legislation that will save pedestrian lives: The Daylighting to Save Lives Bill, AB 413

The Daylighting to Save Lives Bill, AB 413, authored by Assemblymember Alex Lee, makes it illegal to park within 20 feet of a marked or unmarked crosswalk. It’s one simple change that will improve visibility at intersections, reduce collisions, and make pedestrians and bicyclists safer.

About Time Award for a proven strategy to slow traffic on dangerous streets: AB 645, speed camera pilot finally becomes law

Finally! After dying in the legislature more than once, Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s automated speed enforcement pilot, AB 645, is moving forward. Starting in 2024, six California cities can use cameras to capture and ticket speeding cars. We look forward to seeing the results of the pilot and hope this is the first step in allowing speed cameras statewide.

Biggest loss for active transportation in the Assembly that could become a win at the federal level: Laura Friedman running for U.S. Congress

Assemblymember Laura Friedman has been a strong supporter of active transportation and an important ally in her role as chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee. Her run for Congress in California’s 30th District is bittersweet. While we’re sure she will do great things in D.C., we’ll miss her voice in California politics.

Best idea we’re not sure will work: Bike czar at Caltrans

Senator Anthony Portantino found bicycling during the pandemic and has become a powerful ally. We like his bold policy positions, including his bill to create the position of Bike Czar at Caltrans, SB 538. We’re just not sure we believe it will work. If Caltrans is willing to give the position power and listen to recommendations from that office, it could be part of a much-needed reorientation. But, given the ouster of Jeanie Ward-Waller and general agency intransigence, we’re going to hold our applause for now.

Worst response to the climate emergency: Every. Single. Thing. We. Do.

Despite an ongoing string of hard-to-ignore climate disasters and another one of the hottest years on record, California (and the whole U.S.) continues to drive with unwavering determination toward the climate cliff. Oh, and there was that climate summit in Dubai, a famously energy-intensive desert city that makes all its money from oil. Go us!

Still, there’s no reason to be concerned. California will build more 15-minute neighborhoods and bikeable, walkable streets. Just give us a decade or two to fight over the plans and figure out if we can give up a few parking spaces. No problem. Mother Nature is famously patient and willing to work within our time frames.

Best event to look forward to in 2024: the California Bicycle Summit in San Diego

The California Bicycle Summit is back and better than ever! The 2024 Summit will be held in lovely San Diego on April 18-19, and we can’t wait to get together and share ideas with all of you to make 2024 a year of many bests. Register now.

New E-Bike Training Resources Come Online

December 8, 2023/by Laura McCamy

Over the past few months, government and nonprofit groups have published three online e-bike riding resources. We’ve reviewed them all so we can give you an overview.

Three e-bike courses

The training resources were created by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), PeopleForBikes (with the League of American Bicyclists and Bicycle Colorado), and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) E-Bike Incentive Program. All three include basic bike riding information that doesn’t offer much new to an experienced rider of any type of bike. However, all three include some helpful e-bike-specific content.

CHP: Electric Bicycle Safety and Training

In 2022, the California legislature passed AB 1946, which required the CHP to “develop, on or before September 1, 2023, statewide safety and training programs based on evidence-based practices for users of electric bicycles[.]” The result is an 11-module online manual which, confusingly, is not on the CHP website, as required by the statute, and doesn’t come up in a standard Google search.

The CHP course is mostly text and graphics, though it includes a few videos from the League of American Bicyclists. Oddly, there’s one question to answer in the middle. When you reach the end of the modules, there’s a button to get a completion certificate, but the link is broken. This course needs some work.

PeopleForBikes: E-Bike Smart

PeopleForBikes is the bike industry’s advocacy organization. Its E-Bike Smart online training is divided into five modules, each with a short video and multiple-choice questions afterward. The longest videos, at around six minutes each, are Rider Safety and Awareness and Etiquette, which cover safe riding on roads around motor vehicles and on shared biking and walking paths.

Pedal Ahead: E-Bike Safety Basics

In discussions with Pedal Ahead, the administrator for the statewide E-Bike Incentive Program, and CARB, the agency overseeing the program, the training required of voucher recipients has gone from 90 minutes to 30, to the video released on the program website that comes in at just under 12 minutes. The resources section of the website also promises an environmental impact module, yet to be released.

The video-only training covers e-bike -specific issues, such as safe battery charging and locking your bike, but devotes more than half its time to safe and courteous biking riding.

Where they overlap

Much of the content of all three e-bike resources is basic bike safety information because, basically, e-bikes are bicycles, and the same rules for safe and legal riding apply. All three include information about the ABC pre-ride checklist (air in tires/brakes/chain, crank, cogs). The e-bike version is ABC-e Quick Check, including checking the electrical components and charge and also ensuring all quick-release levers are securely closed before riding.

All three trainings also included basic information about e-bike classifications and speeds. And all three include extensive information on how to politely pass and share the road on shared paths, perhaps in a nod to complaints about people on e-bikes riding too fast on paths shared with people walking.

Where they differ

The CHP resource includes information about how to decide if an e-bike is right for you and how to pick a bike, but surprisingly, didn’t include any information about safe battery charging and storage. Not surprisingly, it includes more information about what is and isn’t legal, including citations to California Vehicle Code sections relating to bikes and e-bikes. It also includes some scary statistics about crashes the other trainings didn’t have and appears to put most of the onus for avoiding crashes on the bike rider.

The PeopleForBikes resource has a short but thorough and well-illustrated section on proper battery storage and charging. It’s the only one that tests your knowledge with each module, making it feel more like a training.

The Pedal Ahead video recommends taking a bicycle safety class, a suggestion we heartily endorse. It’s the only training to acknowledge that absorbing a short online training might not give new riders the tools and confidence to get the most out of their e-bike experience. Check your local bicycle coalition for upcoming classes; you might learn something valuable, even if you’ve been riding for years.

Which online e-bike training should you take?

If you absorb information best by reading, the CHP training might be best for you. However, it leaves out essential information on battery charging, and its emphasis on legal restrictions and crash statistics may discourage some riders.

For visual and auditory learners, the Pedal Ahead video provides constant narration while illustrating each point, and E-Bike Smart also provides video (though with less narration). If you’d like a little gamification, E-Bike Smart provides bike-sized nuggets and the satisfaction of getting scored.

Bottom line: Each of these resources includes helpful information and could be a good place to start, especially if you’re new to riding a bike. But there’s no substitute for in-person training with a licensed cycling instructor.

California Can’t Be a Climate Leader Until it Stops Building Freeways

December 8, 2023/by Kendra Ramsey

This piece first appeared in Streetsblog California.

Representatives from the State of California are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates right now for COP28, the climate summit where world leaders make agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Our state is promoting itself as a climate leader, and in some respects, that’s accurate. But California can’t claim the mantle of responsible climate stewardship while it continues to build freeways that increase emissions and pollute vulnerable communities.

California’s delegation of high-level state officials discusses wind energy and EVs at COP28; back in California, Fresno residents have had to sue Caltrans for failing to disclose the carbon impact of two new freeway interchanges that will contribute to a significant increase in truck traffic.

While Caltrans spends billions each year repairing and mitigating the damage done by extreme weather caused by climate change, it continues to create the conditions for more harmful emissions. A planned freeway expansion in Yolo County, between Sacramento and Davis, may involve improper environmental review and misuse of state roadway repair funds. The controversy led to the firing of Caltrans deputy director for planning and modal programs Jeanie Ward-Waller, who planned to blow the whistle on the alleged malfeasance.

The Yolo Causeway project is supposedly designed to decrease congestion, but it’s old news that adding roadway capacity induces demand, resulting in more vehicle miles traveled and often more congestion. Calltrans understands induced demand–it even has information on its website–yet it continues to implement projects that will increase VMT without reducing congestion.

Caltrans should be inducing demand for active transportation by building protected bikeways with protected intersections that connect to robust local and regional networks of safe bike routes. It should be adding bus-only lanes and bus boarding islands, widening sidewalks, and improving conditions for people who walk or take transit.

In the middle of the last century, much of California’s identity centered on car culture. We invented drive-thru restaurants. You can even drive through a redwood or drive your car on the beach. We overshadowed once-bustling neighborhoods with freeways and built suburbs without sidewalks.

But California doesn’t have to be defined by its car-centric past. If we are to build a new image as a climate leader, we must move beyond the fragmented, speed-addled landscape dictated by subservience to the motor vehicle. We need to be leaders in mode shift, in 15-minute neighborhoods, in reducing pollution and deaths from traffic, in enhancing existing transit networks and building new ones.

A prerequisite to making these changes is radical change at Caltrans. We can’t let a benighted agency drag us into the past. Only by ending our state’s love affair with road building will we be able to realize the climate-friendly future Californians want and need. CalBike is focusing much of our energy on measures to make these changes a reality. We hope you’ll join us.