Breakout Sessions Round 4 – 4:15 PM – 5:30 PM

New developments at Caltrans in support of more bicycling

With our ongoing emphasis on multi-modal planning, Caltrans supports a variety of non-motorized strategies such as Complete Streets and the integration of bicycle facilities into the Highway Design Manual (HDM). In support of its primary strategic goal of safety, Caltrans is also investigating new approaches to the design and building of bicycle facilities. This session will cover implementation of the Complete Streets policy, a review of the new Active Transportation Program and changes to the HDM, new initiatives in the Caltrans Bicycle Program, and some specific designs currently being planned and used on the State Highway System such as bike signals and green bike lanes.

Alyssa Begley, Chief, Caltrans Office of Community Planning; Paul Moore, Caltrans Bicycle Facilities Program Manager; Beth Thomas, Senior Pedestrian and Bicycle Coordinator, Caltrans District 4

Presentation

Open Streets in the Bay Area: Oaklavia in “the Town” and Sunday Streets in “the City” and Berkeley

Following on the presentation about Los Angeles’ CicLAvia, presenters will share the stories of the Open Streets events in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley. Each has transformed miles of city streets into temporary car-free spaces for people to enjoy, but each has done so uniquely. Discussion will focus on the evolution of these events from their origin in Bogotá and how to start a similar event in communities across the state.

Jess Strange and Chris Hwang, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland; Susan King, founding director of SF Sunday Streets; Emunah Hauser, Founding Director of Sunday Streets Berkeley

Bikes as a tool of revitalization without displacement

Bicycle advocates have worked tirelessly to make neighborhoods more inviting places to live and work, but clear correlations between growth in cycling and bike infrastructure with housing price increases and white in-migration are unmistakable. If bicycling has become a symbol of cosmopolitan affluence, that affluence has often come at the cost of displacing low-income residents and people of color from neighborhoods where bicycling has become popular. How can bicycle advocates adapt our goals to those of policymakers eager to use bicycling as an economic development tool without displacement and gentrification? We’ll examine past practices and discuss what the future might hold for a different kind of bicycle advocacy.

John Stehlin, UC-Berkeley; Jenna Burton, Red, Bike & Green; Ryan Snyder, Principal, Ryan Snyder Associates

Stehlin Presentation

Stehlin Abstract

Best practices in retailer bicycle advocacy

Local bike shops are a vital link to almost every cyclist in town and therefore vitally important for local bike advocacy. For local elected officials, bike dealers represent the active living economy. Their business thrives when their customers have safe and plentiful places to ride bikes and the community embraces cycling. This panel will share what advocacy strategies are working to improve local riding conditions and what could be accomplished with more coordination.

Vanessa McCracken, owner, Sunnyside Bicycles, Fresno; Zack Stender, owner, Huckleberry Bicycles, San Francisco

McCracken notes

McCracken Presentation

Perfect bicycle parking: Model regulations for private homes and businesses, public buildings, transit, on-street corrals, and events

Everything you wanted to know about the policies and regulations that will ensure the perpetual security of your beloved steed. Panelists will discuss San Francisco’s model policies that require bicycle parking in new and existing buildings and garages, that have sparked the construction of over 40 bike corrals and the installation of thousands of bike racks; and which which prohibit building owners from barring bicycles in their buildings. Panelists will also discuss replicable models, based on a survey of best practices throughout the United States.

Marc Caswell, Former Program Manager of the SF Bicycle Coalition; Ryan Dodge, Planner, SF Municipal Transportation Agency; Kimia Haddadan, San Francisco Planning Department; Karen Kramer, ChangeLab Solutions

“City Staff and advocates discussed successes and challenges related to a variety of bicycle parking innovations found in San Francisco including: On-Street Bicycle Corral designs and outreach; the Employee Bicycle Access Bill; and updates to the city’s Planning Code to require bike parking in all new buildings and major renovations. ChangeLab Solutions discussed their Model Ordinance to help other advocates and cities replicate best practices from around the country.“ -Marc Caswell

Presentation Haddadan

Presentation Dodge

Big Presentation

“The presentation covered the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) on-street bicycle parking corral (bike corral) process through request, review, survey, legislation, design and installation, as well as how bike corrals fit into the SFMTA’s overall strategy of meeting the bicycle parking demand throughout the city.”

Read more on the sf planning website

Breakout Sessions Round 5 – Saturday Nov. 9th, 10:30 AM–12:00 PM

How we won a 35{850a63fa8a72bae4d6bfa3f1eda9f619cddace10f9053ede128e2914f9ca5a15} increase in active transportation funding in California and what’s next for active transportation

California is about to enact a new Active Transportation Program (ATP) that increases funding for active transportation by 35{850a63fa8a72bae4d6bfa3f1eda9f619cddace10f9053ede128e2914f9ca5a15} compared to last year, but comes with a wide-open structure that consolidates a number of previous programs that funded bicycling, walking, trails, and safe routes to school. CalBike and other members of the ad hoc Coalition for Active Transportation Leadership will discuss the work that led to the new program, then after a short break, we’ll open it up to a broad and provocative discussion about the future of active transportation funding in California.

Jeanie Ward-Waller, California Advocacy Organizer, Safe Routes to School National Partnership; Deb Hubsmith, Director, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, Laura Cohen, Western Region Director, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy; Dave Snyder, Executive Director, CalBike; Wendy Alfsen, Executive Director, California Walk; Chione Flegal, Associate Director, PolicyLink; Chris Morfas, CalBike Board member

Presentation Cohen

Presentation Cohen 2

Dave’s Presentation

Bay Area Bike Share: A case study from concept to operations

Learn how five cities and several regional agencies partnered to launch a bike share program with 1,000 bikes at 100 stations across the Bay Area’s peninsula. How did the concept originate? How were participating cities identified? What funding sources were used? What was the process to select the operator and technology? How were station locations identified and permitted? What public outreach was involved? What were some of the stumbling blocks and how can other cities avoid them? What role can CalBike play to expand bike share across the state?

Karen Schkolnick, Air Quality Program Manager, Bay Area Air Quality Management District; Heath Maddox, Transportation Planner, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency; John Brazil, Active Transportation Program, City of San Jose

Presentation

Who is mainstream? Expanding representation in Los Angeles

Multicultural Communities for Mobility advocates for safe, alternative transportation access in underserved communities of color within greater Los Angeles. MCM will share strategies including how they engage participants in an interactive visioning activity, improvisational techniques in small groups to maximize the sharing of ideas and discuss how they organize Community Rides that educate and inspire participants to effect change in their neighborhoods.

Miguel Ramos and Laura Torres, Multicultural Communities for Mobility

Objectives of the workshop:   

1. Exploring a common vision to get more people on bikes
2. Expanding the understanding of who cycles to move toward a more inclusive mainstream of cycling
3. Sharing strategies to grow the bike movement

Having a fun and inventive workshop In addition to sharing the strategies that have successfully worked for MCM in Los Angeles, the workshop will include an interactive diagram that will guide a visioning activity and dialogue. Participants “do” activities rather than passively watch them. Interaction allows participants to practice new skills as they learn them through this diagram of inclusion and non-hierarchical practice. Having an interactive workshop breaks away from just listening. Overall allowing for participants to catch their breath and refocus. Aspire and leap in to action when they return to their communities.

Investigation and prosecution of bicycle crashes: Problems and solutions

A well-known issue in creating safer streets is ensuring fair enforcement and thorough investigations of crashes involving vulnerable users. This panel will include the parents of a woman killed while bicycling, legal workers, and bicycle advocates, all of whom are working to change the way enforcement and investigations are handled by police. Active audience participation throughout the discussion is encouraged.

Stephen Bingham, lawyer and father of Sylvia Bingham, killed in a truck/bicycle in 2009; Miles Cooper, personal injury lawyer; Lois Heaney, President, National Jury Project; Leah Shahum, Exec.Director, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition; Ken Theisen, paralegal at Bay Area Legal Aid

Summary

Best practices in regional integration

Todays bicycling and walking advocates apply political power at all levels of government. The advocacy infrastructure is getting more sophisticated to coordinate this collective power. The Los Angeles County Bike Coalition (LACBC) has built an innovative framework to support these groups bringing them under the wing of LACBC’s organizational umbrella, supporting local advocacy in a county with 88 municipalities. At the same time similar unique collaborations have occurred in San Francisco and San Diego. Learn about this innovative blueprint and how to use it as a template for integrating city, county, and regional advocacy organizations from the leaders in the state.

Cynthia Rose, Santa Monica SPOKE; Morgan Kanninen, East Bay Bicycle Coalition Board of Directors; Jonathan Bair, Walk Oakland Bike Oakland

Presentation 1

Presentation 2

Presentation 3 (Big)

Breakout Sessions Round 6, 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM

New advocacy for changing times – How the bike party and bike trains reach beyond the margins of traditional bike advocacy in San Jose and Los Angeles

The popularity of the San Jose Bike Party and its many spin-offs has empowered a new type of potential bicycle advocate: those typically at the cycling’s margins; families, women, non-European ethnic groups, and those who must ride for transportation. One of the spinoffs, the United Bicyclists of San Jose, hopes to present a new voice for bicycling at city hall and at the voting booth. In Los Angeles, innovative “bike trains” provide a fun way to include diverse communities in surveying and improving our communities.

Carlos Babcock, Chair of San Jose BPAC and Caltrain’s BAC; Joe Tate and Justin Triano, San Jose Bike Party; Nona Varnado, Co-Founder, LA Bike Trains

Closing the gender gap in cycling leadership

Women account for only 1 in 4 cyclists nationally. In positions of leadership in transportation agencies, bicycle industry and retailers, and even in bicycle advocacy, the situation can be even more stark with few women executives. This panel of female leaders from government, industry, retail and advocacy address the question of how we get more women into leadership at all levels and how that will spark transformation in who we see on bicycles on our streets every day.

Renee Rivera, Executive Director, East Bay Bicycle Coalition; Tilly Chang, Executive Director, San Francisco County Transportation Authority; Rita Borelli, Product Line Manager, Specialized; Julie Harris, Retail Sales Director, REI

Presentation TBA

Cutting edge digital media – The ‘killer app’ for bikes

Learn about some leading experiments in digital media and community engagement related to bicycling in Los Angeles. Offer your own experiences and contributions on how mobile technologies are (and are not) transforming cycling. The panel will discuss community engagement efforts, including maps as neighborhood storytelling, experimentation with digital bike badges that make visible key identities within the community, and glimpses of efforts from other cities from Berlin to Atlanta. Participants will prototype “engagement mechanics” in a group workshop to make the examples real and actionable.”

François Bar, Annenberg Innovation Lab, USC; Otto Khera, Center for Scholarly Technology, USC; Benjamin Stokes, Doctoral Researcher at USC and co-founder Games for Change

Presentation TBA

Building a strong movement through membership

A massive membership base is a strong source of political power, flexible funding and volunteer support. Learn from a leader in bicycle advocacy membership development how she doubled the membership of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to 12,000 people, fully 1.5{850a63fa8a72bae4d6bfa3f1eda9f619cddace10f9053ede128e2914f9ca5a15} of the city’s population and how you can grow and retain a strong membership base for your organization using the best practices for nonprofit success.

Kate McCarthy, Nonprofit Development Consultant, CCAH; CalBike Board member

Presentation

Breakout Sessions Round 7, 2:30 PM – 3:45 PM

Health dollars 101: Bringing together advocates, the healthcare industry and public health agencies with resources to increase active transportation

This panel will provide an overview of current health initiatives and how they can provide resource to advance active transportation options. It will address how some in the public health community have re-discovered the importance of supporting active transportation in the fight against chronic diseases and the best practices for advocates seeking to connect with these allies and funding sources they control.

Carla Blackmar, Public Health Alliance of Southern California; Alexis Lantz, CalBike Board President; Theresia Rogerson, County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency

Word file

Raising the next generation of cyclists + engaging youth

This panel will discuss ways different parts of our community benefit our movement by grooming the next generation to care about bicycle advocacy and street safety. Oakland SPOKES provides youth with access to mentors, green jobs, mobility, accountability, and community partnerships. They coordinate the Family Bike Collaborative, valet bike parking, and the Spokeshop bike shop and training center. Marin County Safe Routes to Schools has been teaching the youth about bicycling and transportation alternatives for over a decade. From crossing the street in second grade to bicycle field trips in high school, students grow up with the skills and motivation to get on a bike!

Brian Drayton, Oakland SPOKES; Gwen Froh and James Sievert, Marin Safe Routes to School

Presentation TBA

Bicycle advocacy in the California Endowment’s Healthy Communities Initiative

Building Healthy Communities is a ten-year, comprehensive community initiative in 14 California communities that is creating a revolution in the way Californians think about and support health in their communities. In this workshop, we’ll bring together the grassroots activists from two of those communities — Richmond and Oakland — to talk about the role of bicycling in creating healthy communities.

Najari Smith, Executive Director, Rich City Rides; Jenna Burton, Red, Bike & Green; Dave Snyder, Executive Director, California Bicycle Coalition; Renee Rivera, Executive Director, East Bay Bicycle Coalition

Getting new local funding for bike projects: Sales taxes, bonds, other sources

Existing funding sources for bicycle programs typically provide paltry sums relative to the need, (even though facilitating bicycling is the most cost-efficient transportation investment the public could make). Successful regions and cities will innovate with new funding sources. Learn from San Diego’s success in securing $200 million by borrowing against future revenues and from San Francisco’s plans to score up the $500 million they need to grow bicycling to 20{850a63fa8a72bae4d6bfa3f1eda9f619cddace10f9053ede128e2914f9ca5a15} of all trips. Speakers will discuss bonds, vehicle license fees, and new taxes such as sales taxes.

Kit Hodge, Deputy Director, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition; Stephan Vance, CalBike board member and planner, San Diego Association of Governments

“California counties can vote to increase their sales tax for transportation purposes, but passing such a measure requires 2/3rds of the voters to approve. This high threshold should give bike advocates leverage to have a seat at the table when the terms of these sales programs are being crafted. In San Diego, advocates were able to win support for two percent of the funds for active transportation projects (currently almost $5 million per year), and another two percent to support smart growth incentive program that also funds bike and pedestrian infrastructure. With a long-term revenue stream in place like this, San Diego advocates also were able to win support for a financing strategy that will borrow against future active transportation revenues to make $200 million available in the next five years to accelerate development of the high priority projects in the Regional Bike Plan.”- Stephan Vance

Presentation

Style as a strategy for media placement & movement building

Our outreach style in language use, imagery and video creation, as well as social media, makes all the difference to whether or not we successfully engage the media for story placements and connect with new audiences. Panel members have a proven track record of success including media placement in Atlantic Cities, Bicycling Magazine, Boston Globe,Christian Science Monitor, CNN blogs, KABC Channel 7, KCAL 9, Los Angeles Magazine, O.C. Weekly, Salon.com, the Wall Street Journal and more.

Melissa Balmer, Director Pedal Love/Women on Bikes California; Carolyn Szczepanski, Director of Communications, League of American Bicyclists/WomenBike; Janet laFleur, “One Women. Many Bikes” blog/columnist Mountain View Voice; Evan Dudley Art Director for Mission Workshop; Jim Brown, Executive Director, Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates

Presentation laFleur Presentation Balmer

Breakout Sessions Round 8, 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM

Creating your own Biketopia: Community engagement workshop through play

A fun workshop to end the summit’s hard work, this one-hour session is timely, uncomplicated, entertaining, and a good model to use in your own work. Play freely with thousands of small objects to redesign your community based on your personal experience, needs and wishes. Participants will investigate their own personal relationship to their neighborhood and identify physical challenges and produce solutions into a miniature landscape. Each participant will have one minute to present his or her solution, which is translated into standard planning terms. After all the presentations, participants collaborate in teams for fifteen minutes to create a conceptual community bike plan.

James Rojas, urban planner, artist, founder of the Latino Urban Forum

“The one-hour workshop is timely, uncomplicated, as well as entertaining. The workshop is hands on and for twenty minutes participants amuse themselves playing freely with the thousands small objects redesigning their community based on their personal experience, needs and wishes. They investigate their own personal relationship to their neighborhood and identify physical challenges and produce solutions into a miniature landscape. Each participant has one minute to present his or her solution, which is translated into standard planning terms. After all the presentations, participants collaborate in teams for fifteen minutes to create a conceptual community bike plan.” -James Rojas

Presentation

Some pictures of the workshop

Promoting safe active transportation in schools and communities

Safe Moves will present an overview of its multi-faceted programs to excite, inspire and motivate students, parents, teachers and school officials on active transportation programs for elementary, middle and high schools. These include interactive workshops per grade level; walk, ride & roll rodeos; parent-focused efforts; bikes-for-jobs programs; bike share; murals; rides; and student advisory committees. Cynthia Rose will emphasize the essential role that advocacy plays in school-based education programs so that they truly engage the community and maintain momentum after the program is done.

Pat Hines, Director, Safe Moves; Cynthia Rose, Santa Monica SPOKE

Presentation