Announcing CalBike’s 2019 Legislative Agenda
The California Bicycle Coalition enters 2019 stronger than ever, and with the most ambitious legislative agenda ever.
Follow our progress on our 2019 Legislative Watch.
Topping our 2019 agenda is our Complete Streets Bill, which will require all projects using the State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) funding to include bicycle and pedestrian safety facilities if reasonable. If successful, this bill will tap into this over $17 billion dollar funding source for bike lanes, crosswalks, safe transit stops, and other enhancements on some of our communities’ most dangerous streets. This will be the strongest requirement in the nation and a game changer in improving safety for people biking, walking, and using transit on state-owned surface streets that cut through our communities. Learn more about our Complete Streets Campaign.
Another transformative proposal is our Bike Network Grants Bill, an effort to incentivize complete bicycle network planning with grants. If successful, this would mean a large new funding resource would be available to help connect whole communities with a web of protected bike lanes, off-street paths, and quiet neighborhood streets, so that anyone, whether their age is 8 or 80, can safely ride wherever they wish to go.
Other major priorities include several legislative responses to the rapid changes in mobility that are afoot. We’re proposing a bill to keep mopeds out of the bike lane, and another to clean up definitions of light mobility vehicles such as scooters to ensure a safe transportation system for all users. Another bill would include e-bikes in the state’s scrap-and-replace program, so that low-income folks who can turn in a polluting jalopy but who may not be able to afford a new electric car could receive an e-bike voucher instead.
These are our top priorities, but we asked for more. You can see our 2019 Legislative Agenda here. We are seeking champions to join us in working hard to make California the most bicycle-friendly state in the nation.
Our list includes several commonsense proposals to improve and clarify the Vehicle Code to make it more bicycle-friendly: one will make it clear that bicyclists may “take the lane,” another will legalize the very common and safe practice of bicyclists slowing instead of stopping at stop signs when no other vehicle is present, and another to allow bicyclists to go straight from a right-turn-only lane when directed to do so by traffic control devices. We’ll also propose to eliminate local mandatory bike registration programs.
We’re working on legislative and administrative projects aimed at realizing “Vision Zero”, a global initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities; legislation allowing local communities to lower the speed limit to 20 miles per hour where appropriate, such as bike boulevards, and to legalize a pilot program to test automated speed enforcement, as well as working with a new zero fatalities task force that will be an avenue for determining needed legislation to come.
We also didn’t shy away from bold ideas to redirect billions of dollars from cars and toward sustainable transportation. We suggest changing the rules on funding, improving oversight of the California Transportation Commission’s spending decisions, and giving the Air Resources Board approval authority over transportation expenditures.
It’s the most ambitious agenda in the history of the California Bicycle Coalition.
On December 6th in Sacramento, we’re holding a party to formally announce and to celebrate our 2019 Legislative Agenda.
Join us at the home of our generous supporters Jim Allison and Lorraine Garrison for a fun party with great food, beer, and wine. Hear about our legislative agenda for 2018 and learn how you can support CalBike’s efforts to make real change happen across our state.
WHEN
December 06, 2018 from 6pm – 9pm
WHERE
The Home of Jim Allison and Lorraine Garrison
Midtown Sacramento
