Contact: Jared Sanchez, jared@calbike.org, (714)262-0921
SB 960 Complete Streets Bill Hearing in Assembly Transportation Committee Monday, July 1, 2024
SACRAMENTO – The Complete Streets Bill of 2024, SB 960, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, will be heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee on Monday, July 1, 2024, at 2:30 pm.
The Complete Streets Bill requires Caltrans to consider the needs of people riding bikes, walking, and taking transit on our state roadways, many of which serve as local streets. Caltrans policy mandates this, but the agency often doesn’t follow through; SB 960 will codify Caltrans policy in state law and increase accountability.
What is a Complete Street?
Complete Streets are streets that are safe and comfortable for people biking, walking, and taking transit, as well as driving motor vehicles. Protected bikeways, a key element of many Complete Streets, have been shown to reduce fatalities and injuries for road users in all modes of transportation.
“People who get around by biking, walking, or taking transit have the same right to safe passage on our streets as people driving cars. True Complete Streets provide equitable use of our public space regardless of transit mode, economic status, or race,” said Jared Sanchez, policy director for CalBike.
Caltrans and Active Transportation Projects
While Caltrans has made incremental progress in adding more bike- and pedestrian-friendly features to its repaving projects, the 2023 firing of one of the agency’s strongest voices for active transportation shows the need for greater oversight and accountability.
The agency’s Complete Streets checklists treat any element that makes biking or walking even marginally safer as a “Complete Streets” feature, ignoring the fact that a single crosswalk or “Share the Road” sign is often not enough to create a Complete Street.
The Complete Streets Bill requires Caltrans to set objective goals and to better implement comfortable, convenient, and connected facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users on all projects in the [SHOPP funding] program, where applicable.
Background
CalBike sponsored SB 127, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill, in 2019. The bill would have required Caltrans to follow its own Complete Streets Policy and prioritize the safety of everyone who uses our roads, not just drivers, on every repaving, maintenance, and rehab project. Despite overwhelming support in the legislature and from constituents, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the Complete Streets Bill in 2019.
In 2023, CalBike joined with over 100 mobility, climate justice, and transportation organizations to send a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, urging an independent investigation of Caltrans, a moratorium on freeway expansion, and better oversight of the agency.
In 2024, CalBike is sponsoring a Complete Streets Bill introduced by Senator Wiener, SB 960.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RectangleBikes.png7241825Brian Smithhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngBrian Smith2024-06-28 16:12:262024-06-28 16:12:26SB 960 Complete Streets Bill Hearing in Assembly Transportation Committee Monday, July 1, 2024
Two bills in the legislature right now are shining a spotlight on Class III bikeways and how we should and should not deploy them. CalBike has heard from some bike riders who rely on Class III bikeways and don’t want to see them restricted. So we want to take a look at California’s bikeway classification system, what is a Class III bikeway, and how the measures we support would affect people’s ability to take the lane.
Class III in two bills
The Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill (AB 2290, Friedman) includes a provision prohibiting the Active Transportation Program from funding “a project that creates a Class III bikeway unless the project is on a street with a design speed limit of 20 miles per hour or less or the project will reduce the design speed limit to 20 miles per hour or less.” It doesn’t stop communities from building Class III facilities with other funding sources and, since this type of bikeway is often just paint and signs, the costs may be minimal.
Another bill addressing Class III bikeways is SB 1216 (Blakespear). That measure “would prohibit, on and after January 1, 2025, an agency responsible for the development or operation of bikeways or highways where bicycle travel is permitted from installing or restriping a Class III bikeway or a sharrow on a highway that has a posted speed limit greater than 30 miles per hour.” This bill is more comprehensive in its Class III prohibition but with the same goal: to stop slower bicycle traffic from mixing with fast-moving motor vehicles.
The conflicting speed restrictions in these bills are being negotiated now, and they will not ultimately conflict. CalBike supports both bills and the concept of limiting Class III bikeways to low-speed streets.
So what is a Class III bikeway anyway?
California bikeway classifications explained
California has four categories of bikeways. Class I is an off-road or shared-use path. Class II is a bike lane delineated only by paint. Class III is a facility where bike riders and car drivers share space, which is often marked by sharrows showing the preferred bicyclist lane position, or bike boulevard markings or signs.
Class IV is where it gets confusing. The first three classes are progressively less protective, but Class IV takes a couple of steps in the other direction: it’s an on-road facility where bicyclists are physically separated from motor vehicle traffic. The reason for the odd order is that protected bikeways weren’t legal in California until CalBike and other advocates passed a law in 2015.
Each class of bikeway has its uses and pros and cons. Class I paths are the most comfortable and enjoyable for the widest range of users. However, space constraints limit where they can be placed, and their separation from local amenities can make them more suitable for recreation or commuting than running errands.
Class II lanes are often cheap to install and use existing pavement. They require fewer infrastructure changes and take less space on the road than a physically separated bikeway. However, Class II lanes without a painted buffer can put bike riders a few inches of paint away from fast-moving traffic. They are often placed on the margins of roadways, leaving bike riders to navigate a narrow space that may include drainage grates, pavement seams, and debris.
Class II lanes painted next to a row of parked cars can be more dangerous than no bike lane if they direct people on bikes to ride in the door zone. These door zone lanes also create an expectation among car drivers that bikes will stay in the lane, creating conflict when a cautious rider moves away from the door zone.
Class IV bikeways are the gold standard for safe bike space on streets. A Class IV facility can use a number of things to create physical separation from car traffic, including: planter boxes, parked cars, parklets, hard curb, movable curb-like devices affixed to the pavement, or bollards. More communities around California are looking to Class IV as the preferred infrastructure for creating safe bikeways in crowded urban spaces.
Class III bikeways can take many forms. It might be a set of sharrows in the right traffic lane, bike boulevard stencils or signage on a traffic-calmed street, or a wide shoulder on a rural road. Class III allows planners to create space for bike riders on streets that are too narrow to add delineated bike space. On bicycle boulevards, bike traffic takes priority, and bike riders are encouraged to take the lane. On rural stretches of roads like Highway 1, a wide shoulder may provide enough space for a long-distance bike traveler to ride safely; on low-volume rural routes, a shared lane could be considered sufficient if bicyclists aren’t likely to encounter two vehicles passing in opposite directions at once.
Where Class III bikeways cause problems is when they are used as the easy way out when finding the space for Class II or IV bikeways would mean removing parking, a median, or a lane of traffic. Placing sharrows on a street with heavy or fast-moving car traffic can put bike riders in harm’s way. The two bills in the legislature have the right idea, limiting Class III markings to slow streets where mixing between bikes and cars won’t put bike riders in danger.
Who can ride in the street
Bike riders who are confident riding in traffic can still do so, even if Class III bikeways go away on fast streets. California law requires people on bikes to ride as far to the right of the road as is practicable, but bikes may take the lane on narrow streets or to avoid obstacles.
If there is a Class II bike lane, riders are required to use it if it’s safe. (Please note: It’s not safe to ride in the door zone, so stay around 3’ from parked cars, even if that puts you outside the bike lane. You have a legal right not to ride in this danger zone.) People on bikes are not required to stay in Class IV bikeways and can choose to ride in the traffic lane instead, keeping faster riders from being stuck behind slower bicycle traffic.
So confident riders will still be welcome to take the lane, even if AB 2290 and SB 1216 pass, but new riders won’t be lured into dangerous situations, and planners will have one less excuse for not installing all-ages bikeways in their communities.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Sharrow-Long-Beach.jpeg465800Kendra Ramseyhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngKendra Ramsey2024-06-05 17:25:182024-06-05 17:25:19Class III Bikeways: Sharing the Lane
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RectangleBikes.png7241825Jared Sanchezhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngJared Sanchez2024-05-13 16:07:362024-08-06 11:29:13How to Be a Complete Streets Ambassador
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/protected-bikeways-act.jpg6841024Jared Sanchezhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngJared Sanchez2024-05-09 13:48:092024-07-30 09:58:45Sign On to Support the Complete Streets Bill
Time is running out for all of us to deal with climate change. If we keep driving at the rate we always have, we will drive ourselves into climate armageddon. That’s why it’s critical to pass Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill (AB 2290).
The bill will create a quick-build pilot at Caltrans, which takes a notoriously long time to plan and build new infrastructure. The bill also addresses two ways agencies avoid building truly safe bikeways. It prohibits our public agencies from spending state active transportation money on sharrows on roads with high speed limits. And it mandates that these agencies include any bike facilities in their own plans when repairing a roadway — no more using lack of funds as an excuse to shortchange people who bike.
The Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, a place where many excellent measures are quietly killed. CalBike is working with our allies to ensure AB 2290 gets the support of this crucial committee.
SAFER Streets Bills to Be Heard at Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday, April 23, 2024
SACRAMENTO – The Senate Transportation Committee will convene on April 23, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the SAFER California Streets package of bills. The hearing will take place at 1021 O Street, Room 1200, Sacramento State Capitol, and will be televised.
The Speeding and Fatality Emergency Reduction on California Streets (SAFER California Streets) Package, comprising Senate Bills 960 and 961 authored by Senator Scott Wiener, aims to enhance safety and accessibility on California roads for all users.
The SAFER California Streets package will have the combined effect of creating safe passage for people biking, walking, and taking transit through infrastructure improvements and simple vehicle safety measures.
As traffic fatalities surge across the United States, particularly in California, amid a spike in reckless driving since the pandemic’s onset, the urgency for such measures is undeniable. According to a recent report by TRIP, a national transportation research group, California has witnessed a 22% increase in traffic fatalities from 2019 to 2022, compared to the national average of 19%. Shockingly, in 2022 alone, 4,400 Californians lost their lives in car crashes.
“Other nations are making progress to protect road users, while in the U.S., the problem grows steadily worse,” said Jared Sanchez, policy director for CalBike. “CalBike is proud to sponsor the SAFER California Streets bills because the continuing killing and maiming of vulnerable road users on California’s streets must end.”
The SAFER Streets Bills
SB 960: Complete Streets Bill SB 960, The Complete Streets Bill of 2024, mandates Caltrans to incorporate safe infrastructure for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users when repaving state routes serving as local streets. The bill includes provisions for transit needs, facilitating the establishment of more bus-only state highway lanes and transit enhancements on local streets. The Complete Streets Bill requires Caltrans to establish objective goals and prioritize the implementation of comfortable, convenient, and connected facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users.
SB 961: Safe Vehicles Save Lives Bill SB 961 protects vulnerable road users by focusing on vehicle safety enhancements. This bill mandates the installation of truck side guards to protect cyclists and pedestrians from being pulled beneath the rear wheels of trucks during accidents. Side guards also prevent cars from running under trucks during crashes, significantly reducing fatalities.
Additionally, SB 961 requires speed governors or intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology in all passenger cars sold in California from the 2032 model year onwards. ISA technology will warn a driver when the vehicle exceeds the speed limit through visual, sound, or haptic alerts and is expected to reduce fatalities among pedestrians and cyclists, aligning with the state’s Vision Zero goals. The EU has implemented a similar law, with ISA required on new cars starting this July.
These bills represent a comprehensive approach to tackling the pressing issue of road safety in California, addressing both infrastructure and vehicle safety concerns. The outcome of the Senate Transportation Committee hearing on April 23, 2024, holds the potential to catalyze transformative changes that will save lives and make California’s streets safer for all.
The best bike plan on paper is worth nothing unless it’s implemented. Los Angeles has put in only 5% of the bike improvements in the plan it adopted in 2015. “Since 2019, when I started Streets for All, we have been asking, pleading, and demanding that the city adhere to its bike plan,” Streets for All founder Michael Schneider told CalBike.
So Streets for All turned that frustration into action, which culminated in putting Measure HLA on the ballot. The measure will require LA to add improvements for people biking and walking when it repaves a street.
Victory for HLA wasn’t a given, especially in a large city like Los Angeles. Streets for All raised $1 million to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot and another $3 million in the campaign to pass it in the March vote. Streets for All is going to make its template for winning this measure public, so groups in other cities can pass similar measures. The Complete Streets Bill, SB 960, which CalBike and our allies, including Streets for All, are campaigning for this year, would require similar changes on Caltrans-controlled roadways.
Schneider has written a detailed and informative account of everything Streets for All did to win this campaign on Medium.
The result was a resounding victory for Complete Streets and active transportation in LA, as the measure passed by a wide margin with about two-thirds of the vote. “It’s so heartwarming. I don’t feel alone anymore,” Schneider said. “It’s kind of corny, but I feel endeared to my fellow citizens, who aren’t as car-brained as everyone assumed they would be.”
When asked if he thinks this vote represents a sea change in how Angelenos and their elected leaders view mobility in their city, Schneider noted that it remained to be seen whether people will support changes to street configurations in their neighborhoods as opposed to the city in general.
But, he noted, “In the places where these kinds of measures have been put to a vote, they are always really popular.” The loud voice at the community meeting complaining about a new bikeway doesn’t represent the majority view.
And while LA isn’t about to become a biking utopia, Schneider notes that neighboring cities like Santa Monica and Culver City are showing that it’s possible to create bikeable, walkable neighborhoods in the LA region. “I think what this vote shows is when people go to more walkable, bikeable areas, they really like it,” he said.
Schneider hopes the success of HLA inspires advocates in other cities. Someone on Nextdoor — the place he went to eavesdrop on the opposition — expressed a concern that HLA would be “contagious.” “We hope it becomes contagious,” he said.
Bike champions will be on the ballot in November
Electing bike-friendly leaders in local and state government is one of the best ways to ensure more victories like HLA. Five of the eight Assembly and Senate candidates CalBike endorsed will make it to the runoff, and a sixth is currently in second place by a small margin, which is a huge win for bike champions in Sacramento.
In California’s nonpartisan primary, the two candidates with the top vote tallies advance to the November ballot, regardless of party affiliation. Two of CalBike’s endorsed candidates didn’t get enough votes to make the top two for the November ballot: Jed Leano in Assembly District (AD) 41 and Javier Hernandez in AD 53.
In AD 58, Clarissa Cervantes is in second place, less than 100 votes ahead of the third-place candidate. Second place hasn’t been called in that race.
We’re happy to report that the six other candidates we endorsed are either leading their districts or comfortably in second place and headed for the November ballot.
AD 50: Robert Garcia
AD 52: Jessica Caloza
AD 57: Sade Elhawary
AD 79: Colin Parent
SD 25: Sasha Rénee Pérez
Thank you to everyone who biked the vote!
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2024-02-15_HLA_L1170529-scaled.jpg17072560Laura McCamyhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngLaura McCamy2024-03-18 08:29:002024-03-18 12:18:58Measure HLA Wins in Huge Victory for Los Angeles Safe Streets
CalBike’s Complete Streets Campaign launch webinar showed strong support for Complete Streets, with 300 people in attendance. Panelists at Complete Streets on Caltrans Corridors touched on what Senator Scott Wiener’s Complete Streets Bill, SB 960, does, why it’s important, and what people can do to support its passage.
What the 2024 Complete Streets Bill does
Senator Wiener recounted how, when Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed his previous Complete Streets Bill in 2019, the governor said he wanted to give new leadership at Caltrans a chance to implement the agency’s own policies. Senator Wiener said it’s clear now that not enough has changed, and we need legislation to force Caltrans to take the safety of people biking and walking seriously.
Jeanie Ward-Waller, a former Caltrans deputy director and a consultant with CalBike, noted that Caltrans has identified $15 billion in needed improvements in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure on state-controlled roadways. However, the agency only has plans to invest $3 billion in active transportation over the next 10 years and has programmed only $280 million in the next three years. In a state that spends $20 billion on transportation annually, there’s no excuse to allocate so little to active transportation.
Laura Tolkoff from SPUR outlined a provision of the 2024 Complete Streets Bill that’s a revised addition to Complete Streets legislation: a focus on public transit. SB 960 would require Caltrans to add elements such as bus priority lanes on highways, bus boarding islands, and seating at bus stops when it repaves a state route served by transit.
The Complete Streets Bill also removes barriers to adding safe infrastructure where local roads intersect with state routes. Caltrans’ reluctance to upgrade intersections has created danger zones that communities have been powerless to remedy. This is yet another reason we urgently need to pass SB 960.
The fight over El Camino Real
Bringing statewide policy down to the local level, Sandhya Laddha from the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition presented her group’s ongoing struggle to add bikeways on a 41-mile stretch of El Camino Real that connects San Francisco and San Jose. Caltrans has plans to repave half of this stretch in the next five years, but getting safe bikeways included on this critical route has been an uphill battle.
SVBC’s advocacy has won support from local communities and government officials for better bike infrastructure. She said Caltrans is the biggest barrier, calling it a “black hole.”
Laddha envisions an Open Streets event along all 41 miles of El Camino that would show the potential of the roadway, which serves as a main street in 19 cities and towns, to be a vibrant community corridor.
Watch the Complete Streets on Caltrans Corridors Webinar
What you can do to pass the Complete Streets Bill
Attendees were engaged, and the question-and-answer session was lively. One of the most often asked questions was, “What can we do?” Speakers encouraged attendees to contact members of the Senate Transportation Committee, which will hold its first hearing on the Complete Streets Bill on April 9.
If you’d be willing to come to Sacramento on April 9 or take other action to support the Complete Streets Bill, please give us your contact information using the form below.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/protected-bikeways-act.jpg6841024Jared Sanchezhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngJared Sanchez2024-03-13 14:49:382024-08-06 13:35:01Hundreds Attend CalBike Complete Streets Campaign Launch with Senator Wiener
The California legislative session is shaping up to be a busy one, with a large number of new bills affecting active transportation plus a few two-year bills introduced last year and still moving through. We will also continue to advocate for more funding for active transportation in the budget process.
Here are the bills CalBike is supporting, opposing, and keeping an eye on in 2024.
Must-pass bills
If you were following CalBike’s work in 2019, you might remember the Complete Streets Bill. We won a hard-fought victory that year, passing the bill in the legislature, only to see it vetoed by the governor. Complete Streets is back for 2024 and at the top of our list of four top-priority bills.
2024 Complete Streets Bill
SB 960, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, would require Caltrans to implement safe infrastructure for people bicycling and walking when it repaves a state route that serves as a local street. The new version strengthens the measure by adding the needs of transit to the mix, paving the way for more bus-only state highway lanes, as well as transit improvements on local streets. We must show the governor he was wrong to trust Caltrans to implement its own policies since the 2019 veto, and we need to hold Caltrans accountable to make roads safer for all. We hope you’ll join our Complete Streets Campaign.
Safe Vehicles Save Lives Bill
SB 961 is part of Senator Wiener’s safer streets package, along with the Complete Streets Bill. This bill would require two measures to make vehicles less lethal to people bicycling and walking. Truck side guards are metal pieces installed between the wheels of semis and other large trucks. Side guards protect people riding bikes or walking from being pulled under the rear wheels of a truck. This is a too-common scenario, where a truck hits and injures someone but the fatal injuries occur when the truck rolls over the fallen person with its rear wheels. Side guards are a commonsense safety measure advocates have been fighting for at the federal and state levels, so California adopting it could be a big step toward a nationwide requirement. Trucking companies oppose the measure, placing the financial cost above the cost of lives lost.
The second part of this bill is a requirement for speed governors or speed limiters. Starting with 2027 models, passenger cars sold in California would be required to limit speed to no more than 10 mph above the posted speed limit. It’s an easy addition to modern cars, which are already outfitted with sophisticated sensors and programming. Speed is the biggest factor in fatalities of pedestrians and bike riders, with a huge difference in potential for serious injury and death between 20 and 30 mph, so this provision will save lives and move our state closer to its Vision Zero goals.
Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill
AB 2290 by Assemblymember Laura Friedman is another omnibus bike bill. Like Friedman’s OmniBike Bill in 2022, which made four changes to the vehicle code to make streets safer for biking, this measure has three provisions that will lead to — you guessed it — quicker and better bikeways.
The bill will limit state funding for Class III bikeways (or bike routes) to streets with speed limits under 20 mph. These are the least safe bicycle infrastructure, which typically include only sharrows marking a lane shared by car drivers and people on bikes. They provide no protection for bike riders and should be phased out for most uses.
Next, the Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill would remove loopholes and strengthen requirements for creating Complete Streets on state and local street projects funded by the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program created by SB 1. Currently, agencies have an out if there’s a parallel facility nearby. AB 2290 requires bikeways included in bike plans to be added during these repairs.
The bill’s final provision creates a quick-build pilot at Caltrans. Currently, the agency doesn’t allow quick-build techniques, which can add safety elements for people bicycling and walking in months rather than years. We need quick-build upgrades to make dangerous roadways safer before more lives are lost. Quick-build is also essential for California to build out its bike networks and make bicycling an appealing and safe alternative to driving in time to avert climate disaster.
No Freeway Expansions for Freight
California needs fewer freeways, not more. But Caltrans often justifies adding lanes to accommodate freight traffic, even though that inevitably leads to induced demand, more traffic, more congestion, more pollution, and more greenhouse gases, particularly in marginalized Black and Brown communities. Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s AB 2535, sponsored by the Charge Ahead California coalition, limits highway expansions for freight traffic, a critical step toward reducing our freeway dependence.
A license to discriminate
Assemblymember Tasha Boerner has authored a number of bike-friendly bills, including sponsoring the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill and pushing for the budget to launch California’s E-Bike Incentives Project. But we can’t support her most recent measure, AB 2234, the E-Bike Licensing Bill, which prohibits youth younger than 12 from riding an electric bicycle and requires all riders to carry either a driver’s license or state-issued ID with a waiver showing they completed a CHP safety course.
The bill is a response to safety concerns about e-bikes, but it does nothing to make people riding e-bikes safer while increasing the chances of harassment, particularly for Black and Brown bike riders who are already disproportionately stopped by the police. It creates an onerous requirement that will discourage people from riding bikes at a time when we should be encouraging a switch to active transportation. The bill would require police to judge the age of a rider and whether they are on a classic bike or an e-bike, both distinctions that can be hard to make. CalBike will do all we can to stop this misguided measure.
The Active Transportation Slate
CalBike is supporting an additional slate of 12 active transportation bills.
AB 6, Friedman, Regional Prioritization for Clean Transportation: This measure requires regional transportation agencies to prioritize and fund transportation projects that significantly contribute toward regional and state climate goals.
AB 7, Friedman: Project Selection Process: A bill that requires state transportation agencies to incorporate environmental and equity principles into their project selection process.
AB 73, Boerner/Friedman, Bicycle Safety Stop: The campaign to legalize stop-as-yield for bike riders aged 18 and older continues.
AB 833, Rendon, Neighborhood Unification Bill: This bill requires Caltrans to prepare a plan for adding caps to freeway segments to reunite disadvantaged, underrepresented urban communities.
AB 2086, Schiavo, Caltrans Accountability and Transparency Bill: This bill will develop guidelines for Caltrans to determine whether the use of the funding made available is advancing the Core Four priorities of safety, equity, climate action, and economic prosperity established by CalSTA. It will also create a public online dashboard to display annual project investments, bringing much-needed public oversight to Caltrans projects.
AB 2259, Boerner, California Bike Smart Safety Handbook: This bill requires the DMV to create a bicycle safety handbook that includes information on, among other things, existing laws regulating bicycles and e-bikes. It’s a small step forward for safety.
AB 2583, Berman, Lowering Speed in School Zones: This bill would establish a default speed limit of 15 miles per hour in school zones during certain hours. It’s a vital measure that will protect children, who are among the most vulnerable to traffic violence.
AB 2669, Ting, No Bridge Tolls for People Walking and Biking: This bill ensures that people walking or bicycling across a toll bridge in California will never pay a fee. It makes permanent a temporary measure that sunsets next year.
AB 2744, McCarty: Bike Lane Protection Act: This bill prohibits the addition of a right-turn lane within 20 feet of a marked or unmarked crosswalk where there is not already a dedicated and marked right-turn or travel lane. Additionally, it would only allow the right turn of a car if the right turn is from an exclusive right-turn lane. It would also prohibit parking in Class II or IV bikeways (parking is already illegal on Class I separated bike paths).
SB 689, Blakespear, Bike Lanes in Coastal Areas: This bill would make it easier to convert an existing motorized vehicle travel lane into a dedicated bicycle lane near the coast, ending requirements for a traffic study to process a coastal development permit or an amendment to a local coastal program.
SB 1216, Blakespear: Prohibiting Class III Bikeways: This bill would prohibit public agencies and the ATP from installing a Class III bikeway (sharrows) on a street that has a posted speed limit greater than 30 miles per hour. It conflicts with some provisions of the Quicker and Better Bikeways Bill, and we expect the authors will work out the issue as both bills are revised.
SB 1271, Min: E-Bike Battery Standards: This bill sets minimum safety standards for batteries on all e-bikes sold, rented, or leased in California. It’s an excellent measure for preventing battery fires, which are most often caused by substandard manufacturing, and bringing some clarity to the growing e-bike market.
CalBike’s legislation watchlist
The deadline to introduce legislation was February 16, but many bills aren’t fully formed when they’re introduced. We’re watching 13 bills that may evolve into measures to add to our Active Transportation Slate or to oppose, depending on revisions in the legislative process. We’ll add more information about these bills as their trajectories become clearer, and we might add more bills to our watch, support, or oppose lists as their language evolves.
Stay up to date on bike-friendly legislation on CalBike’s Legislative Watch page.
On March 6, 2024, from 9:00 am to 10:30 am, CalBike will host a panel discussion on Zoom: Complete Streets on Caltrans Corridors. The webinar, an advance session for April’s California Bicycle Summit, is free, but advance registration is required.
State Senator Scott Wiener will join the conversation, along with Jeanie Ward-Waller (Fearless Advocacy), Kendra Ramsey (CalBike), Laura Tolkoff (SPUR), and Sandhya Laddha (Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition). The discussion will center on Wiener’s 2024 Complete Streets Bill, SB 960, and the campaign to make Caltrans-controlled roads safer for people biking, walking, and taking public transit.
Why Caltrans Complete Streets matter
Complete Streets is the term for streets that meet the needs of people using all modes of transportation, not just those driving in cars. Too many of our roadways were designed with moving vehicles quickly as the only consideration, making them unfriendly and dangerous for people walking and biking.
To turn a street into a Complete Street, upgrades need to include more than a crosswalk here or some green paint there: a Complete Street is one that includes all the elements required to allow people who aren’t inside cars to travel safely and comfortably along the corridor. That could include bus boarding islands, protected bikeways, bulb-outs to reduce crossing distances, protected intersections, traffic calming measures like chicanes or speed humps, and more. In addition, Complete Streets are inviting to people of all ages, abilities, and races.
Local governments across California have adopted Complete Streets policies and begun creating corridors that invite people to get out of their cars and use active transportation. But state routes that serve as local thoroughfares through many cities have remained an obstacle to local progress.
Caltrans-controlled roads are often among the most dangerous in an area — high-injury corridors with fast-moving traffic. The agency has been reluctant to devote resources to redesigning these routes, despite local desires for safer streets and the agency’s own Complete Streets policies.
Senator Wiener’s Complete Streets Bill will require Caltrans to consider the needs of all users when it repaves a section of roadway. It will also bring much-needed transparency to an agency whose operations are in desperate need of some sunshine.
CalBike’s allies in the Complete Streets Campaign
The Complete Streets Bill is CalBike’s top legislative priority in 2024. We have retained Jeanie Ward-Waller, a powerful advocate with experience in and out of Caltrans, to help pass this critical measure.
Many other organizations have committed to help win Caltrans Complete Streets, including bill co-sponsors SPUR and Streets For All. Our allies include environmental and social justice organizations that recognize the central role of safe streets in achieving climate and transportation justice. And we have many local partners, including the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, which is waging its own campaign to add safe bikeways as Caltrans repaves El Camino Real (State Route 82).
We need your help to win passage of the Complete Streets Bill. A strong movement in support of safe passage for all Californians will help sway legislators and the governor. We hope you can join us on March 6 to jumpstart the Complete Streets Campaign.
