About Us

CalBike’s Mission and Vision

CalBike advocates for equitable, inclusive, and prosperous communities where bicycling helps to enable all Californians to lead healthy and joyful lives.

We are guided by a vision of California where:

  • Our public spaces, especially our streets, are safe, appealing, and accessible for Californians of every economic status, race, gender, immigration status, or ability.
  • Our communities are prosperous, whether rural, urban, or suburban, and all Californians enjoy a high quality of life and freedom from poverty, violence, and oppression.
  • California communities are able to invest in affordable housing safely connected on foot or by bike to the places we learn, work, play, and access healthcare.
  • Our cities build convenient and affordable public transit networks.
  • All neighborhoods have access to abundant green spaces that cool our streets and provide open space.
  • Decisions about transportation in California are made by those who are most impacted and burdened by our current system. Low-income communities and communities of color no longer bear the greatest burdens of the environmental and public health and safety impacts of transportation.
  • Bicycling is loved and appreciated by everyone for its role in supporting prosperity, health, safety, and joy that all Californians benefit from.
  • California streets are full of bicycles!

CALBIKE’S COMMITMENT TO MOBILITY JUSTICE

CalBike is committed to working to undo the structural racism and inequity built into California’s transportation infrastructure and policymaking. Transportation planning and policies have historically discriminated against, segregated, and displaced immigrants, low-income people, and communities of color, bolstering racial and class inequalities. Current mobility planning processes and decisions often perpetuate these harms.

CalBike is committed to advancing equity through infrastructure, expanding decision-making processes bringing underrepresented communities to the table, working to end the over-policing of Black and brown Californians, and more. We recognize that it is only by addressing and redressing anti-Black violence and violence against Indigenous groups, women, and other marginalized peoples that we will be able to achieve the equity, inclusion, and prosperity that all California communities deserve.

We work to reframe and shift the dominant discourse on transportation planning and policies to relieve historical and current burdens on low-income communities of color and to provide affordable, reliable, and safe transportation options that improve neighborhoods and opportunities in marginalized communities. We collaborate with, learn from, and center marginalized peoples and intersectional allies on issues of mobility justice.

At CalBike, we advocate for bicycling not only because we love the bike as a machine but also because we love how bicycling can make our communities better: more equitable, prosperous, healthy, connected, and inclusive.

STRATEGIC PLAN 2017-2022

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Transportation Justice

We elevate low-income communities to shape and have more control over transportation policy.

1. Prioritize underserved communities in transportation spending and policy decisions

Win explicit priority for low-income communities and communities of color in state transportation spending. Win a set-aside for community needs.

Improve decision-making at the state, regional, and local levels through more transparency and more democratic representation. Improve and reform the California Transportation Commission and related bodies.

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Streets for Everyone

We push to connect neighborhoods with safe and complete networks for biking, safe walking, and great transit.

2. Improve the built environment for biking, walking and transit

Increase funding for biking and walking networks. Win new funding programs, strengthen and expand complete streets policies.

Change design practices to encourage biking and walking. Make protected bike lanes the new normal. Get Caltrans to publish a world-leading bike and pedestrian design guide.

Expand access to bikes. Make high-quality bikes including e-bikes affordable for more people. Expand bike share to all regions and make it accessible to all communities.

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Healthy Climate & Communities

We elevate bicycling to its important place in easing pollution and inequities that threaten our climate and community health.

3. Change our transportation policies to support an equitable, environmentally sustainable, and safe future

Reduce vehicle miles traveled by 30% by 2022. Equitably reduce subsidies for driving.

Ensure that the impact of autonomous vehicle networks is to increase walking and bicycling and affordable, equitable, and safe public mobility. Advance smart regulations.

Reform enforcement as a safety strategy. Advance automated speed enforcement. Support community-based approaches that counter racial profiling. Improve district attorney treatment of violations. Reduce tickets issued against people walking and biking.

Increase bicycling especially to support economic prosperity and sustainability. Support community bicycles shops for neighborhood empowerment and job skills development. Encourage bicycle tourism especially in economically deprived areas.

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A Stronger Movement

We bolster the movement for transportation justice by supporting allies—from neighborhood activists to elected officials.

4. Strengthen the power of the transportation justice movement

Coordinate and strengthen a network of local, regional, and state organizations dedicated to transportation justice. Be a follower, an ally, and a leader as appropriate, with diverse organizations.

Strengthen local partners. Share best practices. Provide trainings and technical support. Develop a bicycle awareness license plate to fund local organizations.

Elect allies to office. Recruit qualified candidates. Activate the CalBike PAC.

Support increased education and encouragement as an opportunity to strengthen advocacy. Increase funding for advocacy-oriented outreach. Encourage and support more diversion programs. Continue support for youth education and organizing.