The Latest – CalBike

CalBike Insider: High-Speed Rail Funding Dispute Holds Up Transportation Spending

July 27, 2021/in CalBike Insider /by Dave Snyder

Some of the most significant work to further better biking, active transportation, and healthy communities in California happens out of the spotlight. CalBike Insider shines the light on some of these critical developments in Sacramento and beyond. Scroll down for more insider stories.

CalBike Insider: July 26, 2021

High-Speed Rail Funding Dispute Holds Up Transportation Spending

A disagreement over the allocation of high-speed rail (HSR) funding is holding billions of transportation dollars hostage in Sacramento, including the Active Transportation Program, California’s only dedicated source of funding for critical biking and walking infrastructure. But don’t worry — a solution to the impasse has begun to take shape.

Governor Newsom and the legislature are engaged in a particularly Californian fight. The governor wants to put the available HSR funding into building the core section already under construction in the Central Valley. (In 2020, CalBike’s Central Valley Project drafted plans to help improve biking and walking access to planned HSR stations in Merced, Bakersfield, and Fresno.) Legislators want the funding to go toward electrification of and improvements to existing rail services at the terminuses in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

The resolution may come from the extra revenue in California’s coffers, thanks to higher than expected interest income. Legislators may be enticed to make a deal with the governor if the package includes funds to support popular projects in their districts. This could, in fact, work in favor of active transportation. Bike and pedestrian projects are very popular with constituents and the legislators know that, so the deal could include a significant additional investment in those projects.

The ATP provides $220 million in annual funding for active transportation projects across the state. The current budget already includes an additional $500 million in ATP funding. CalBike would love to see another funding boost on a similar scale, but nothing is certain at this point. Additional funds would be a welcome boost for the program, especially since at least $1 billion in good projects didn’t make the cut in the last ATP round because there was not enough money.

In addition to the extra ATP money, CalBike is pushing to increase the amount of funding allocated to build the connected bike networks and bike highways envisioned in AB 1147. This funding is separate from and in addition to the ATP monies.

CalBike Insider: June 17, 2021

E-bike incentive program budget request

CalBike, joined by dozens of allied organizations across the state, submitted a letter of support for Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath’s request for a budget allocation to implement the proposed e-bike incentive program. The letter and its accompanying fact sheet express the consensus of a diversity of organizations that a $10 million investment in helping Californians get e-bikes is a great way to advance very many goals: climate change reduction, social equity, health and happiness, local economic sustainability, and traffic safety.

Dozens of organizations signed on, including statewide, regional, and local advocates for environmental sustainability, equity, and transportation justice; as well as influential public officials and agencies.

CalBike Insider: June 4, 2021

The 12-bill limit puts a damper on the 2021 legislative session

COVID-19 put a severe crimp in the 2020 California legislative session, reordering priorities and forcing many good bills to wait another year. And the pandemic is still affecting legislation in 2021. It’s the justification for a new rule: each assemblymember and senator can only move 12 of the bills they authored out of their house of origin. The pandemic has made debate harder, so the legislature simply won’t consider as many bills. This is further evidence that our system for keeping the essential work of government moving in a crisis is suboptimal.

Status report: where are the bills to watch?

Today marks the deadline for bills introduced by one House to be approved by a majority of its members to advance to the second House. All of CalBike’s bills happened to be Assembly bills this year. Our three sponsored bills passed the Assembly; we went 3-1 on the bills we actively supported and 0-1 (so far) on a bill we opposed. CalBike is working hard to help create the world you want to see while working within a system that is not nearly as small-d democratic as we might like it to be.

The imposition of deadlines can force votes before legislators have a chance to fully understand the implications of the bills. We’re sure that’s why the bill we opposed passed so readily. The assemblymembers did not know its impact. Thankfully, the schedule is more generous while the bills are in the second house, giving us time to educate the Senators. Committee meetings will start in a week and continue until July 16, and then a one-month recess will provide some breathing room before the legislators return to vote on the bills in late August.

The distribution of power in the California legislature

Another undemocratic factor is the power of key legislators. It’s bad enough that merely 40 people in the Senate represent nearly 40 million Californians; it’s worse that a few of those elected officials (usually the ones who can raise lots of money) have extreme power compared to their colleagues. The Appropriations Committee is a good example. Its Chair has nearly independent control over whether a bill gets out of the committee and onto the floor where the members have a chance to vote on it. Two of the bills we love suffered harm in Assembly “Approps.” The committed killed bill to allow speed safety systems outright and weakened our e-bike affordability program through amendments, both without public debate. Even if the leaders of these committees are fantastic representatives who usually fight for everything we love, the process is not very democratic, and we wish that it were.

For details on these bills, and others, see our halftime legislative agenda update.

CalBike in the news

CalBike’s E-Bike Affordability Program has been getting the attention of the press. An editorial in support of the E-Bike Affordability Program was picked up across California and beyond:

Our bill to decriminalize jaywalking also generated headlines as it passed the Assembly. And Streetsblog ran a piece on our petition in support of ending parking minimums for new buildings near transit (AB 1401, Friedman). You can add your name to the petition here.

E-Bike Affordability Program on Chinese news:

CalBike Insider: June 1, 2021

Fending Off an Attack on Shared Bikes and Scooters

Shared bikes and scooters are under attack, again. Last year, CalBike defeated a bill that would have imposed an unprecedented insurance requirement on providers of shared mobility services. The cost of the insurance mandate was so steep it would have put them out of business. By marshaling a coalition of environmental organizations to oppose the bill, we got that provision removed at the last minute.

Assembly Bill 371 has revived this same bad idea. The bill requires providers to carry $1 million in insurance to cover the liability of a user who injures another party. It includes another provision that is a good idea: requiring providers to have identification Braille markings on scooters and shared bikes so that vision-impaired people can report dangerously parked devices. But there will be no shared bikes and scooters if the bill passes with the insurance provision intact.

The insurance requirement will apply to private providers like Lyft as well as public shared mobility operators like LA Metro and nonprofit services like many bicycle libraries around the state. It would put them all out of the shared micromobility business and kill this promising low-impact, low-cost transportation mode. This comes just when we need it the most and when bike share systems are reporting record ridership.

The Assembly Transportation Committee didn’t hear the bill, so AB 371 passed the Assembly without much education of the legislators about the bill’s impact. CalBike, along with the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, has met with Senator Lena A. Gonzalez, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, to urge her to call the bill to her committee hears this bill. That will be our best chance to remove the micromobility-killing insurance requirements.

Ending Car Parking Mandates in New Buildings

AB 1401 (Friedman) would end minimum car parking requirements for new buildings within a half-mile of transit. This legislation is an excellent example of the intersection of housing, biking, and walking issues. CalBike supports this excellent bill.

People who live near transit hubs can often commute without cars. In walkable, bikeable neighborhoods, like the 15-minute cities envisioned by AB 1147, residents can do all or most of their errands car-free as well. Yet many cities require new buildings to include at least a minimum number of parking spaces, often one per unit or more. Worse, some buildings link each housing unit to a parking space, so people without cars are forced to pay extra for an amenity they don’t need.

Parking minimums drive up the cost of construction, adding an average of $24,000 – $34,000 to the cost to build a unit, according to UCLA Urban Planning Professor Donald Shoup. Plus, they waste valuable space that could be used to add more units and create the kind of density that creates vibrant neighborhoods and reduces carbon footprints.

By making residents face the actual costs of parking, reducing parking minimums incentivizes people to use other transit modes. That’s good for the climate, and fewer cars will make the roads safer for people biking and walking.

It’s hard to imagine anyone opposing legislation that will make housing cheaper and more plentiful in California, but forces are working against the Parking Minimum Reduction Bill. Livable California, a NIMBY group, is working against the bill because, well — we need more cars or something.

CalBike will be on the side of those working to pass this vital legislation, which will come up for a vote in the Assembly very soon.

Reform the MUTCD

Now we step deep into the weeds for a topic that is as important as it is obscure to all but the most loyal transportation nerds: the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The MUTCD, produced by the Federal Highway Administration, is the governing document for traffic engineers around the country. If a road striping scheme or intersection treatment is not in the MUTCD, it’s hard to convince public works departments to put it on the street.

Historically, this design manual has emphasized safety and convenience for motorists traveling at high speeds. It has been slow to include elements to make the streets safer for people who bike and walk. A draft of the 11th edition of the MUTCD is currently accepting public comment. Despite a climate crisis and a historic surge in biking and walking over the past year and despite NACTO providing a roadmap for how to do bike- and pedestrian-friendly street design, the MUTCD update is still far too car-centric.

CalBike has signed onto a letter along with several other active transportation organizations. The text of our sign-on letter is below. If you’d like to advocate for a more bike-friendly road manual, People for Bikes has an action page that lets you easily send a comment letter.

Here’s the letter that CalBike and our allies sent.

CalBike Insider: May 21, 2021

Caltrans is Making Progress

Changing a huge bureaucracy is often difficult. It’s been a slow process to transform Caltrans from an agency that safeguards the interests of cars to one that responds to our current challenges, and there is much more work still to be done.

However, under the leadership of Toks Omishakin, Caltrans has impressed us with structural changes. One great example is the creation of a high-level Division of Safety Programs and the appointment of longtime bicycle advocate Rachel Carpenter as its Chief Safety Officer. Carpenter previously worked on Livable Streets at SFMTA and she’s a regular bike commuter. The division will bring additional focus to the goal of zero traffic deaths. This should have influence over other offices within Caltrans which impact safety, such as Traffic Operations and the Division of Design.

Budget surplus provides an opportunity to fund active transportation projects

California’s May Budget Revision showed a $76 billion surplus, with $38 billion in discretionary spending. The competition for that money is fierce. It’s the source of the $600 checks that most Californians will receive, and a welcome boost to early childhood education and afterschool programs. It’s also a great source for infrastructure funding, especially since it’s a one-time boost. The competitive statewide portion of the Active Transportation Program is funded annually at about $220 million. In 2020, California communities submitted applications for $2.3 billion of projects. It desperately needs an infusion of cash.

Yet active transportation advocates had mixed reactions to a proposal from a cohort of California Transportation Commissioners with ties to the road-building industry. The commissioners asked for an incredible $2 billion infusion into the ATP. However, their intention was to derail an earlier proposal suggested by the California State Transportation Agency in its draft “Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure” that called for an ongoing increase in the ATP by taking a little bit from other programs that mostly fund highways.

Advocates promote an alternate proposal for the budget surplus

CalBike and our allies made an alternative proposal to the Budget Committees, seeking $1 billion for the ATP and an additional $1 billion for other active transportation projects, such as the 15-minute neighborhoods and bicycle highways envisioned by AB 1147.

The governor’s May revision proposed a $500 million augmentation to the ATP and $500 million for regions to implement the goals of AB 1147, although the governor’s proposal is not as visionary as that bill imagines.

This week, CalBike is advocating to win our original request of $1 billion for the ATP and $1 billion for other active transportation projects. The coalition of road builders has joined us in asking for $1 billion for the ATP, but we parted ways on the additional funding for the programs that expand highway capacity that the road builders wanted.

Whatever happens, it looks like the ATP will get a huge infusion of funds. By law, half of the funds enter the statewide competition and half are distributed to local agencies. The state’s portion of the funding will help to implement scores of projects that were unfunded in last year’s round. Also, CalBike will continue to advocate for a longer-term solution to the underfunding of the ATP. The governor’s proposed expenditures on transportation in the next fiscal year are $32.6 billion. Unfortunately, much of this is for highways and other subsidies for driving that make bicycling and walking harder. The ATP does not stand a chance to achieve its goals unless the balance of funding shifts.

CalBike endorses speed camera bill, but the Appropriations Committee does not

AB 550 proposed a pilot project to test the efficacy of speed cameras in several California cities. The bill would have required local agencies to develop guidelines for the program with strict limitations that ensured the system would not increase inequities in California. Fines would have to be low, and only charged at speeds 10 mph or more over the speed limit. Fines could not have additional fees tacked on. The car owner would get the fine, like a parking ticket. Police would not be allowed to be involved. The bill also put privacy controls in place.

The bill’s author, Assembly Member David Chiu, did such a good job addressing these equity concerns that we were excited to support it. Camera speed enforcement reduces crashes and saves lives, and it might be the only acceptable solution to scofflaw speeders on certain streets.

However, the Appropriations Committee killed the bill at its May 20 hearing. The committee didn’t offer any clues for their reason for killing this bill, but the demise of AB 550 is a loss for safe streets. CalBike supports the concept of speed safety systems. If another bill is introduced that addresses equity concerns as comprehensively as AB 550, we’ll support it.

Remembering CalBike Founder Thomas S. Higgins

July 21, 2021/in The Latest /by Dave Snyder

We are sad to report that CalBike founder Thomas S. Higgins passed away on Monday, July 12th, 2021, after a battle with cancer. CalBike extends its deepest condolences to Tom’s wife Glenda, daughter Alexandra, brother Charles, and his entire family. All those who knew Tom were touched by his exceptional kindness, boundless good cheer, and fierce dedication to public service.

Tom was a longtime Capitol legislative staffer and bike commuter who understood bicyclists’ daily challenges, the potential for bicycling to transform our communities, and the power of organizing for change. With vision and determination, Tom founded CalBike in 1994 and began establishing the organization as an effective representative in Sacramento for all those who love bicycling.

“Tom was a treasured colleague and friend. I hope everyone who rides a bike in California will pause for a moment today and give thanks to Tom for all he did to make bicycling better,” said former CalBike Executive Director Chris N. Morfas.

A love of bikes and travel while working for the greater good

Tom Higgins loved to travel, go on adventures, and help others. Here’s an excerpt from his obituary, written by his brother Charles:

“Tom was known for his warmth, wisdom, and sense of adventure. From an early age, in San Francisco, Monterey, and Marin counties, Tom engaged the world around him and developed a drive to know more and make this life more interesting and better for everyone he encountered.

“After receiving his B.A. in political science from San Francisco State University in 1983, Tom dove into a career of campaigns and public policy that included the founding of the California Bicycle Coalition and work on pioneering legislation to improve the environment, public health, education, and justice.

“While serving as Chief of Staff to the California Senate’s Chairman of the Task Force on Youth and Workplace Wellness, he developed strategy and legislation for a statewide, groundbreaking effort to promote physical fitness and improve food and nutrition for schools, workplaces, and communities. During his twenty years in the state Capitol, Tom found ways to add adventure to his work. This included a helicopter trip to a floating platform pumping oil from a sunken tanker off the California coast with Senator Torlakson; a private train ride across the Mexican border with Senator Killea; and numerous showdowns with Caltrans and special interest groups about improving conditions for bicycles.”

Tom’s daughter, Alexandra, shared these memories of her father’s love of bicycling throughout his life:

“He loved riding the slow streets in SF during the pandemic. With his wife Glenda, he did a two-week bicycle trip in Vietnam that he often remembered and told stories about. The Halloween Critical Mass rides in past years were some of his favorite SF nights. He loved his Gitche Gumee Gary Fisher commuter and rode it all over Sacramento in the middle of the night, around SF during long stays in the city, and all around the hills near Bolinas.”

A remembrance of Tom Higgins from CalBike’s first executive director

Chris Morfas shared the story of how Tom came into his life — and forever changed it:

“The mid-1990s event promoting a greenway along the Sacramento River was a rather sleepy affair. A colleague and I were staffing a booth for a local environmental organization, but we weren’t seeing much action. There was a table for something called the California Bicycle Coalition. As a recent convert to bike commuting, I ambled over to see what they were all about.

“Tom Higgins and Ed Cox introduced themselves. Tom, a staffer at the state capitol, enthusiastically pitched the idea of a statewide bicycle advocacy organization he was launching that would work to pass legislation to create better places to ride. I shared with him some experiences I had had as a campaign organizer, and soon enough, he had me in the office fundraising off the organization’s then-tiny membership list—bless you all—during my summer off from teaching high school math. The response was favorable, and soon enough, I was hooked. Three themes of my life—bicycling, politics, and ecology— had come together as one in the form of bike advocacy.

“A couple of years later, CBC (as we knew CalBike back then) was ready to hire an executive director. I tossed my hat into the ring, and when nobody else was crazy enough to take the job, I was offered the gig and eagerly accepted. We—staff, board, allies, members, volunteers—had a good run, passing a handful of bills that created the Bicycle Transportation Account and Safe Routes to School Program, which later became key elements of what is now the Active Transportation Program that is investing hundreds of millions of dollars annually to make bicycling and walking safer and more attractive transportation options for all Californians. That’s the stuff of legacy. Along the way, I met some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever known.

“That’s how Tom Higgins changed my life.”

Memories of Tom from the early days of CalBike

A few people who knew Tom during those early CalBike days shared remembrances:

“Tom Higgins founded CalBike, and I was honored to try to keep up with him as the contract lobbyist. I vividly recall walking the halls in the CA State Capitol with Tom. Bike helmets and bags in tow, we wore bike-friendly suits (skirt for me). Tom loved his community with his vision and drive to lead and succeed when others would not take a risk for right. Every time we create change for good, Tom lives on. Miss walkin’ the halls with you, Dude.”
Aimee Rutledge, CalBike’s first contract lobbyist who played an expert role in guiding us to many of our early legislative successes

“When bicyclists in progressive states started organizing advocacy organizations for sustained political initiatives, Tom Higgins was the go-to strategist in Sacramento. His expertise led the fledgling California Bicycle Coalition to some early political wins, creating trust among the founders and momentum for the organization. He was humble, gracious, funny, and smart. Tom knew how to lead leaders.”
Charlie Gandy, who played a seminal role identifying and nurturing leaders for the bike advocacy organizations that were sprouting during the 1990s

“When Tom’s leadership led to the formation of the California Bicycle Coalition, there were many people who knew that we had the groundswell, the passion, and the vision to push for greater advocacy at the state level. However, I don’t think we would have gotten there without Tom’s political acumen, ability to bring people together, and patience to sit through long meetings with ornery bicyclists.”
Carolyn Helmke, CalBike Board President circa 1999-2000

“Thank you, Tom. We ornery bicyclists will carry on the fight.”
Chris N. Morfas, CalBike Executive Director 1997-2003

Honoring Tom Higgins

A celebration of Tom’s life is planned for October 23 in Stinson Beach.

Instead of sending flowers, Tom’s family asks that people make a donation in his name to one of these causes that he cared about:

California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike)

Commonweal Garden – Natura Institute for Ecology and Medicine

Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (SABA)

Clean Mobility Options Awards Will Bring Bike Sharing to Underserved Communities

July 20, 2021/in The Latest /by Dave Snyder

CalBike applauds California’s Clean Mobility Options (CMO) program for its latest round of zero-emission transit grants, one-third of which are for bike share programs or include a bike sharing component. The program will distribute $18 million to provide cleaner and better transit options in underserved communities and $2 million for Native American tribal governments. One of the recipients is Downtown Bikeshare in Redding, administered by Shasta Living Streets, a fiscally-sponsored project of Calbike.

Shasta Living Streets delivers on a decade of vision and planning

Shasta Living Streets is delivering on a ten-year vision of a set of coordinated services and amenities that make biking a real option for people in Redding and the surrounding area. Although the region is home to hundreds of miles of gorgeous wilderness biking, the City of Redding didn’t offer good connections between those trails and destinations in town. Redding’s Sacramento River Trail has been named one of the four best biking trails in the U.S. by the Rails to Trails Conservancy, but locals and visitors couldn’t reach them by bike.

Shasta Living Streets Redding Bikeway Celebration — Shasta Living Streets Downtown Redding Bikeway Celebration

Shasta Living Streets hosted a grand opening in collaboration with the City of Redding and other partners on July 15, 2021, to celebrate the completion of the first safe, two-way protected bikeway connecting Downtown Redding to the Sacramento River Trail. A complete 5-mile Downtown Connector Loop Trail is planned, and when completed, the bikeway will take riders past the Shasta Bike Depot, which will be run by Shasta Living Streets. The Depot, which will be a hub providing a gathering place and services to help connect riders and help get more people on bikes, is scheduled to open in Spring 2022. Read CalBike’s full article on the Shasta Bike Depot.

The current plan is for the new bike sharing system to launch within a few months after the Shasta Bike Depot (though pandemic delays have added an extra layer of uncertainty to opening dates). In addition to bike share, the Depot will provide e-bike tours, long-term bike parking, in-person information, and community-building events.

Downtown Bikeshare offers Redding clean, active mobility options

The $1 million CMO grant will allow Downtown Bikeshare to deliver services including community engagement, planning, and launch plus 70 bikes, stations, staff, administration, and maintenance of Downtown Bikeshare operations for four years. Shasta Living Streets is partnering with the Redding-based McConnell Foundation to administer the CMO grant. Shasta Living Streets Executive Director Anne Thomas is thrilled that the grant gives her organization funding to work with residents to create a bike share system that truly serves the community.

“This grant focuses us on the downtown community and addressing what people need,” Thomas said. “We know that nonprofits managing bike share is a model that has proven to be effective. Now that we know we have the funding, we can work directly with the community on planning.”

The Shasta Bike Depot location near the core of downtown Redding is an ideal location for outreach. Downtown is an opportunity zone with many residents living in affordable housing. Thomas plans to have staff meet with residents in their buildings to discover how Downtown Bikeshare can best serve them and learn what they need to overcome barriers to using the system. The CMO grant will allow her organization to help people learn to ride, find the best bike routes, understand how to carry groceries on a bike, or whatever assistance they want.

Thomas applauded the CMO for recognizing that bike share systems can benefit smaller cities as well as dense urban areas. “What’s special about this funding is that the CMO administrators recognized the needs of underserved communities like ours and helped us with this money,” she said. Thomas sees Downtown Bikeshare as an essential transit option for residents. Bikeshare is, she notes, “the cheapest transit you could ever get” if communities recognize it as transit.

AB 371 Goes Dormant and Bike Share Lives — for Now

July 19, 2021/in The Latest /by Dave Snyder

Thanks to CalBike and the “all-powerful bicycle lobby,” AB 371, the Kill Bike Share Bill, has halted its journey through the California legislature. The bill included a burdensome and unfair insurance requirement for bike and scooter sharing systems that would have ended shared micromobility in California. The bad news is that we might have to fight this fight all over again next year.

Kill Bike Share Bill could return in 2022

AB 371 isn’t technically dead — it is a two-year bill, which gives it another chance to pass the legislature in the 2022 legislative session.

A lot could happen between now and 2022. The bill’s author could decide not to bring it back, or he could revise it to remove the insurance requirement. CalBike will continue to work hard for one of those outcomes.

However, unprecedented bike share operator indemnity seems to be a zombie idea that just won’t die. CalBike and our allies succeeded in excising a similar insurance requirement from a bill in 2020, and yet it came back again in AB 371.

Contradictory California policies

California desperately needs more carbon-free transportation options to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. To further that goal, the state’s recently-announced Clean Mobility Opportunity (CMO) grants included several bike sharing programs.

Ironically, the insurance requirements in AB 371 are at odds with the state’s policies because they would put an end to all bike share in California. The insurance requirement, as currently written, would make system operators liable not only for accidents related to equipment failure but for those caused by bike share users. Such an insurance policy doesn’t currently exist and, if it did, it would be so expensive that it would make bike and scooter sharing systems impossible to operate. This would not only put venture capital-backed systems like Lime and Lyft out of business; it would also end the LA Metro municipal bike share and close down the very projects California’s CMO has funded.

Bike sharing systems have a tremendous safety record. A 2016 study found that bike share riders are less likely to get into accidents than people on their own bikes. If legislators are worried about traffic injuries not covered by insurance, shared micromobility is not the target with the most significant impact.

About 16.6% of California motorists are uninsured — the tenth highest rate in the nation. That’s almost 2.5 million uninsured, 3000-pound, gas-powered vehicles on our streets. There’s a problem worth solving.

Advocates and Elected Officials Urge Senate Appropriations Committee to Pass Jaywalking Repeal

July 15, 2021/in The Latest /by Jared Sanchez

On July 14, 2021, CalBike joined more than 90 others to send a letter to Senator Anthony J. Portantino, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, asking him to move the Freedom to Walk Act (AB 1238, Ting) forward. The bill, which will repeal California’s unjust jaywalking laws, is currently in the suspense file at the Appropriations Committee. Unless it comes off suspense, this crucial piece of legislation won’t get to the full Senate for a vote.

The Senate Appropriations Committee evaluates the budget implications of each bill. The committee appropriately passed one of CalBike’s other bills, the Bicycle Safety Stop (AB 122, Boerner Horvath), because allowing people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields will have little or no impact on the state budget. However, any bill with fiscal implications of $50,000 or more is automatically placed in suspense. The bill’s author and supporters advocate for it to come off suspense and get a committee vote. The committee, especially the Appropriations Chair, has the power of life or death over the bills that reach them. If a bill doesn’t come off suspense, it dies in Appropriations. That’s why it’s so crucial that the Chair should allow the Freedom to Walk Act to come off suspense and get a vote.

The letter to Senator Portantino, which was signed by California and national NGOs, and elected representatives from California communities, urges the fiscal committee to support the Act’s critical social implications, in light of the major hidden social costs of pretextual policing and racism.

How to correctly calculate the fiscal impact of ending jaywalking tickets

It might seem obvious that the Freedom to Walk Act will negatively impact California’s budget by removing a revenue source. However, the truth is more complex. Police don’t write a jaywalking ticket when someone in a wealthy suburb makes a mid-block crossing to visit a neighbor. People in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to be ticketed for jaywalking, particularly because their communities are less likely to have adequate infrastructure.

Because of this, as we note in our letter, the dollar amount of fines levied for jaywalking doesn’t provide an accurate accounting of the fiscal impact of AB 1238. In fact, the Judicial Council of California estimates that less than 15% of the fines are collectible.

Besides, any consideration of the financial impact needs to offset the revenue from jaywalking tickets by the cost of police time to write the tickets and the cost of collection efforts. When you add those factors, jaywalking citations may be a net loss for the state.

Jaywalking tickets also create harms that are harder to quantify. If someone can’t pay the fine, the penalties for nonpayment can lead to cascading damages. The burden of this unnecessary debt is borne by both society and the state, as well as the individual and their family.

Jaywalking fines and penalties extend racist policies from the past, and it’s time for them to end

Black Californians are as much as four times more likely to be ticketed for jaywalking than their white neighbors. Jaywalking citations perpetuate a system of racial oppression that diminishes all of us without making our streets safer. Jaywalking citations, in effect, are one of the many ways our criminal justice system raises revenue on the backs of the most oppressed. This must end.

Ending unjust jaywalking laws is an essential step towards building a just and equitable California. CalBike and our allies ask the Senate Appropriations Committee to do the right thing and send the Freedom to Walk Act to the full Senate for a vote.

Read the letter to Senator Portantino.

Victory! $10 Million E-Bike Affordability Program Included in State Budget

July 2, 2021/in Press Release, The Latest /by Nicolay Kreidler

Update, 7/14/21: Governor Newsom signed the budget, ensuring that CalBike’s $10 million e-bike affordability program will be funded! CalBike is continuing to work with legislators and program administrators to make sure the program is implemented equitably.

For Immediate Release: 7/2/21

SACRAMENTO – CalBike is thrilled to announce that legislators approved a $10 million e-bike incentive program in next year’s state budget. Funded as part of the state’s campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, the program will help thousands of Californians get access to e-bikes to replace car trips. Bikes eligible will include bikes “designed for people with disabilities; utility bicycles for carrying equipment or passengers, including children; and folding bicycles.”

CalBike Executive Director Dave Snyder said, “E-Bikes are a great climate investment not just because they don’t emit carbon dioxide, but because thousands of people will learn how safe and fun it can be to replace short car trips with bike trips.”

CalBike, joined by more than 80 allied organizations across the state, submitted a letter of support for Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath’s request for a budget allocation to implement the proposed e-bike incentive program.

“Making e-bikes more affordable is one of the most effective ways to get Californians out of their cars and reduce emissions,” said Assemblymember Boerner Horvath. “I’m thrilled that the full funding I requested for purchase incentives, education, and training is included in the budget we approved. This program represents a priority shift in the right direction and, once implemented, will help folks from all backgrounds choose a healthier, happier way to get around.”

“E-bikes are a key alternative to the automobile for short trips and everyday errands,” said Assemblymember Richard Bloom. “Advanced technology and broad availability are making E-bikes more accessible every day. This funding will provide an incentive that will reduce both traffic congestion and pollution. I am elated that I could play a part in making clean e-bikes more accessible to every Californian.”

The budget language includes:

Electric Bicycle Incentives Project, no later than July 1, 2022, to provide financial incentives for purchasing electric bicycles. Up to 10 percent of the total funding for this purpose is available to support related programs such as safety education programs. Electric bicycles eligible for the incentives include, but are not limited to, those designed for people with disabilities; utility bicycles for carrying equipment or passengers, including children; and folding bicycles.
In the 2023–24 fiscal year, the board shall report to the Legislature on the progress and outcomes of this program, including: (A) the number of rebates awarded, (B) the location of sales for which rebates were awarded, and (C) the estimated climate impact of the program, including estimated greenhouse gases abated.

“E-bikes can be the centerpiece of California’s strategy to replace gas-powered car trips to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions while also advancing equity, promoting public health, reducing traffic, and helping working families save money,” said Dave Snyder, executive director of CalBike. “Until now, California has focused its efforts on electric cars. This new program breaks that funding dam and begins investing in a technology that is a known carbon crusher, E-bikes. E-bikes are the cleanest EV.”

Californians use their cars mostly for short trips, 60% of all trips are six miles or less. Electric bicycles can easily replace those trips. Electric bicycle users take children to school, haul hundreds of pounds of equipment or groceries, and travel long distances and over steep hills, without breaking a sweat.

But electric bicycles are not nearly as widespread as they should be because they are expensive. Safe electric bikes of respectable durability cost from $2,000 to $5,000 depending on your need.

The Electric Bicycle Incentives Project incentive will enable the switch, simultaneously serving California’s VMT reduction goals and improving the economic security of the recipient. California families burdened with the costs of car ownership can save money by owning an electric bike.

Bicycle Safety Stop & Freedom to Walk Acts Pass CA Senate Transportation Committee

June 29, 2021/in Press Release, The Latest /by Nicolay Kreidler

Senate Transportation Committee to Hear Bill to Decriminalize Jaywalking

June 25, 2021/in Press Release, The Latest /by Jared Sanchez

For Immediate Release: June 25, 2012

Contact:

CalBike: Jared Sanchez, jared@calbike.org | 714-262-0921

California Walks: Caro Jauregui, caro@calwalks.org | 562-320-2139

Los Angeles Walks: John Yi, john@losangeleswalks.org | 213-219-2483

Freedom to Walk Act to Decriminalize Jaywalking in Senate Transportation Committee, June 29

SACRAMENTO – The Freedom to Walk Act, a bill to eliminate jaywalking laws in California, will be heard on Tuesday, 6/29/21 in the California Senate Transportation Committee.

AB 1238 will make it legal for pedestrians in California to cross mid-block and against traffic lights, provided they don’t interfere with traffic. The bill is authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting of San Francisco. CalBike and a coalition of more than 85 groups and individuals support the repeal of jaywalking laws.

“The incredible rate at which pedestrians are dying from crashes should compel us to understand why fellow Californians navigate as such, not criminalize them. This is just the first of many steps in our fight to provide all those who walk and roll with a little more dignity,” shared John Yi, Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks.

Jared Sanchez, CalBike Senior Policy Advocate said, “Jaywalking citations are disproportionately issued to Black Californians – they are up to 4.3 times more likely to be stopped than their White counterparts. Decriminalizing jaywalking will remove an opportunity for biased policing, and get rid of an unjust burden on low-income California residents, who can least afford to pay the fines and who are more likely to live in neighborhoods that lack infrastructure for people who walk, making jaywalking unavoidable.”

“Creating safe public spaces by changing policies that have disregarded the safety, existence, and joy of primarily low-income people of color across the state is overdue. This bill will begin to do that by ensuring that people forced to ‘jaywalk’ are not punished due to the decades of intentional poor infrastructure in their neighborhoods,” said Caro Jauregui, Co-Executive Director of California Walks.

CalBike, California Walks, Los Angeles Walks, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area are sponsoring the Freedom to Walk Act, which has strong support from a broad base of community organizations. Supporters include the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto, Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement, and Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice. Several city officials have expressed their support for decriminalizing jaywalking, including the Emeryville City Council.

AB1238 was passed by the California State Assembly with a floor vote of 58-16 on June 2, 2021.

CA Senate Transportation Considers Bicycle Safety Stop

June 25, 2021/in Press Release, The Latest /by Dave Snyder

For Immediate Release: 6/25/21

Contact:

Dave Snyder, 916-251-9433, dave@calbike.org

Jared Sanchez, 714-262-0921, jared@calbike.org

CA Senate Transportation Considers Bicycle Safety Stop on Tuesday, June 29

SACRAMENTO – The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath, Friedman, Ting) will be heard in the California Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.

The bill will replace the requirement that people on bikes stop at stop signs with a requirement to yield and slow and stop if necessary for safety, including to yield the right of way to pedestrians. More than 75 organizations across the state signed a letter in support of the bill. The California Bicycle Coalition created a v ideo that explains how bicycle safety stops work in the real world. The bicycle stop-as-yield is proven to increase safety for people on bikes.

“The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill doesn’t change existing right-of-way laws. Instead, AB 122 reforms the rules of the road to accommodate the safe and logical bike riding that people are already doing. It also removes a pretext for police to harass Black Californians,” said Dave Snyder, Executive Director of CalBike.

“To cut down on car emissions, promote healthy living, and improve equity, we need neighborhoods that encourage safe bicycle riding,” said Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath, the bill’s original author. “We know from the example of other states that when riders are allowed to yield at stop signs, they choose safer streets and will spend less time in dangerous intersections. It’s time for California to live up to its values and start encouraging — not penalizing — smart riding in our state.”

In April, the California Assembly voted 53 to 11 in favor of the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill.

If AB 122 becomes law, California will join the list of states that have implemented the safety stop: Idaho, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Delaware, Arkansas, Utah, and North Dakota. None of those states has reported any safety problems with the new rule. A recent study in Delaware found that collisions involving bicycles at intersections decreased by 23% since the safety stop became legal.

Unnecessary laws that are difficult to follow pose a risk of traffic stops with tragic endings for people riding bikes, especially Black people.

Bicycle Safety Stop Has Support of California Cities

June 23, 2021/in The Latest /by Jared Sanchez

The Bicycle Safety Stop Bill (AB 122, Boerner Horvath) passed the Assembly with solid support in April, but opposition is building in the Senate. So elected city councilors across California are voicing their support for the bill. They recognize the importance of having state laws that conform to the ways their residents safely bicycle through intersections with stop signs: yielding as appropriate, stopping when necessary, but otherwise safely rolling through.

“The state should be doing everything in its power to encourage more people to bike in order to reduce driving and climate change impacts from transportation, improve public health, and improve air quality,” said Katie Valenzuela of the Sacramento City Council. “AB 122 aligns with the sustainability goals of the City of Sacramento by removing obstacles to safe and reasonable biking. We should be encouraging — not penalizing — smart riding in our state.”

Bob Blumenfield of the Los Angeles City Council says that AB 122 is “common-sense legislation that will align State law with the way that people safely ride their bikes today and, at no cost, make our local neighborhood streets more conducive to bicycling.” He is careful to add that it’s also important that Los Angeles is “working to build out a network of bike paths, bike lanes, and other physical infrastructure.”

Rigel Robinson of the Berkeley City Council notes that his city’s deprioritizing enforcement against bicycles who yield but don’t stop at stop signs is not enough. “State action is needed to fully exempt bicyclists from this law and focus instead on motorist behaviors that pose a true threat to safety,” he said.

These officials represent just a few of the cities whose city councils have quickly managed formal votes in support of AB 122. Numerous California cities have taken positions in favor of the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill, including:

Berkeley
Corona
Cupertino
Emeryville
Encinitas
Folsom
Los Angeles
Sacramento
San Luis Obispo
Santa Barbara
West Hollywood
West Sacramento
Woodland

League of California Cities Transportation Committee Supports AB 122

Another indication that city leaders understand the importance of the bicycle safety stop is the June 4 vote to support AB 122 by a committee of the League of California Cities, a statewide policy and advocacy organization that opposed a similar bill in 2017.

Its Transportation, Communications, and Public Works Policy Committee includes John Bauters, Emeryville Council Member and a lifelong cyclist. He came prepared to explain the benefits of the Bicycle Safety Stop to his fellow committee members. He explained how stopping at stop signs can endanger bike riders because stopping and restarting increase the chance of a rider stumbling and falling and because impatient car drivers are more likely to cut bikers off. He explained how the average person on a bike travels through an intersection at 5 to 7 mph and can quickly stop if necessary and explained that car drivers are more likely to see a moving bike rider because movement makes objects easier to spot.

As one of the only regular bike riders on the committee, he understood that the bicycle safety stop isn’t intuitive for non-riders. He answered questions from his fellow committee members and gave a shout-out to them on Twitter for being willing to ask questions and understand the issue.

After an hour of robust discussion and debate, I’m pleased to report that the League of Cities Transportation Committee, on a vote of 22-7, has recommended support for #AB122, which will legalize Idaho Stops. I fielded tons of questions today and am grateful to my fellow members.
— John J. Bauters (@JohnBauters) June 4, 2021

The Committee voted 22-7 in favor of AB 122. The League’s executive committee still must weigh in before the organization takes an official position.

“I’m hopeful that the League Executive Board will support the recommendation because it’s a smart measure for cities,” Bauters said. So are we.

“After COVID, cities have seen that more and more people are relying on active transportation to perform and complete daily trips and tasks,” Bauters said. “AB 122 is a sensible measure that will make the roads safer to Californians who bicycle.”

What you can do to support the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill

If you want to see California join Oregon and Washington states (among others) in making the safety stop law, there are several ways to get involved.

Lobby your town or city to take a position in favor of AB 122 (and let CalBike know if you succeed).
Email your senator and ask them to support the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill. It just takes a minute to send an email with our action tool.
Post your support on social media using the hashtag #BicycleSafetyStop. Feel free to add the graphic below to your post.

We are optimistic that we can pass the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill this year – but we’ll need your support to make it happen.