Tag Archive for: decriminalize jaywalking

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

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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.

Senate Transportation Committee to Hear Bill to Decriminalize Jaywalking

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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.

Call to Action for Bike-Friendly California Legislation

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The many bike-friendly bills CalBike is tracking and the one bad bill we are opposing are moving through the Senate after passing the Assembly. Several of them have hearings in the next two weeks. CalBike is reaching out strategically to our members who have legislators on key Senate Committees: Transportation, and Judiciary. If you are one of those people, your call or email to your State Senator could make the difference in making California more bikeable, our streets safer for all users, and future generations safer from the climate crisis. 

If your senator isn’t on one of those committees, we’ll be sure to tell you when the issue is up for a floor vote and it’s time for you to reach out.  

Want to do something now? Make a donation to support this critical work. Any amount makes a difference.  

Here’s your guide to emailing and calling to help push bike-friendly bills forward.

AB 371: Save Bike-Share

This bill would impose burdensome and unprecedented insurance requirements on bike-share and scooter-share operators. CalBike would like to see bike and scooter sharing become elements of public transportation systems, operated by transit authorities and priced like other forms of transit. AB 371 would take California in the opposite direction. If it passes, no shared mobility systems, public or private, will be able to operate in our state.

Status:

In the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Hearing Date:

TBD (postponed from 6/22)

Take Action:

  • Use CalBike’s tool to email your senator and tell them to vote NO on AB 371.
  • The bill will come before the Senate Judiciary Committee soon. If your senator is on the committee, call them and urge them to kill AB 371 in committee. Here’s the list of committee members:

AB 122, the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill

Also known as the Idaho stop, the bicycle safety stop allows people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields. The safety stop has been proven to reduce collisions involving bicyclists in states that have adopted it. AB 122 (Boerner Horvath) easily passed the Assembly, but it’s meeting more opposition in the Senate.

Status:

In Senate Transportation Committee

Hearing Date:

Tuesday, 6/29/21

Take Action:

AB 1238, the Freedom to Walk Act

The Freedom to Walk Act would repeal California’s unjust jaywalking laws. These laws shift blame for unsafe driving from car drivers to walkers, are unfairly enforced against Black Californians, and initiate potentially deadly police interactions. AB 1238 (Ting) is an essential step toward safer streets for all.

Status:

In Senate Transportation Committee

Hearing Date:

Tuesday, 6/29/21

Take Action:

AB 117, the E-Bike Affordability Act

CalBike’s E-Bike Affordability Program would help 10,000 low-income Californians buy the cleanest electric vehicle: an electric bike. AB 117 (Boerner Horvath) creates the program, and the budget process will provide the funding to make it happen.

Status:

In Senate Transportation Committee and ongoing budget negotiations

Hearing Date:

Thursday, 6/24/21

Take Action:

AB 1147, Reform Regional Active Transportation Planning

This visionary bill would pave the way for 15-minute neighborhoods and bicycle freeways. AB 1147 (Friedman) will incentivize the kinds of changes California needs to make our communities more livable and climate-resilient.

Status:

In Senate Environmental Quality Committee and ongoing budget negotiations

Hearing Date:

Thursday, 7/1/21

Take Action:

  • Sign CalBike’s petition in support of AB 1147’s forward-thinking active transportation planning reforms
  • If your senator is on the Environmental Quality Committee, contact them and ask them to vote YES on AB 1147:

More bills to watch

AB 43 (Friedman): Changes the 85 percentile rule to allow communities to set lower speed limits

Status:

In Senate Transportation Committee

Hearing Date:

Tuesday, 7/13/21

AB 1401 (Friedman): Ends mandated parking minimums for new buildings near transit, moving California away from the car dependency that’s driving the climate crisis.

Status:

In Senate Governance and Finance Committee

Hearing Date:

Not yet set

Take Action:

  • Sign CalBike’s petition in support of AB 1401 and ending parking minimums near transit.

Contact the Senate Transportation Committee

Senate Transportation Committee members:

Join CalBike’s list to get timely updates on all the bills you care about.

Check out CalBike’s Legislative Watch page for an update on all the bills we’re working on.

Full Assembly to Vote on AB 1238, to Decriminalize Jaywalking

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May 31, 2021

For Immediate Release

Contact:

AB 1238 To Decriminalize Jaywalking to California Assembly Floor Vote

Sacramento – The Freedom to Walk Act, a bill to eliminate jaywalking laws in California, will be up for a vote on the Assembly floor this week. Authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting of San Francisco, AB 1238 will make it legal for pedestrians in California to make mid-block crossings and cross against traffic lights, provided they don’t interfere with traffic.

“The Freedom to Walk Act is a necessary step to right historic injustices,” said Jared Sanchez, CalBike Senior Policy Advocate. Jaywalking citations are disproportionately issued to Black Californians – they are up to 4.3 times more likely to be stopped than their white counterparts. CalBike is a leader among a coalition of more than 85 groups and individuals who support the repeal of jaywalking laws.

“Decriminalizing jaywalking will remove an opportunity for biased policing, and get rid of an unjust burden from 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,” Sanchez said.

“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. We look forward to the work ahead,” shared John Yi, Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks.

“We must correct historical wrongs.  We hope our legislators commit to 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. 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, and Los Angeles Walks are sponsoring the Freedom to Walk Act, which has strong support from a broad base of community organizations. Supporters include the Greenlining Institute, NACTO, ACLU California Action, and Disability Rights California. 

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Webinar: A National Discussion on Decriminalizing Jaywalking

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On May 3, 2021, CalBike co-hosted a national panel discussion on decriminalizing jaywalking. Leading academics, advocates, and legislators discussed local efforts to end the enforcement of jaywalking. They shared lessons learned and steps to success. 

CalBike has joined a surging national movement to repeal unjust jaywalking laws by co-sponsoring the Freedom to Walk Act (AB 1238, Ting). More and more cities and states are rethinking rules that criminalize walking. From Virginia to California to Kansas City, decriminalizing jaywalking is no longer a radical idea but an increasingly viable policy proposal. 

The discussion included:

  • Nine reasons to decriminalize jaywalking from Charles Brown of Equitable Cities
  • Michael Kelley on how BikeWalkKC used a review of the municipal code ordered by Kansas City’s mayor as an opening for decriminalizing mobility
  • Writer Angie Schmitt on shifting the responsibility for safety from individuals to system designers
  • And much, much more

You can watch the full presentation here:

These national efforts highlight the need to protect vulnerable pedestrians against racially biased, pretextual policing, inequitable fees and fines, and unnecessary and potentially lethal interactions with law enforcement. More and more cities, counties, and states are considering repealing jaywalking laws. And the movement to ensure that safe and accessible walking is a key component of a sustainable transportation system continues to grow stronger.

Kansas City becomes the first to repeal jaywalking laws

Since our national discussion, Kansas City, MO, became the first city in the country to repeal its jaywalking laws. This repeal followed strong efforts from BikeWalkKC. We hope that CalBike’s campaign will make California the first state to decriminalize jaywalking statewide.

Eliminating jaywalking laws is an important step towards a more just society. Protests following George Floyd’s murder by a police officer led to a movement to re-examine the role of policing in our communities. As part of this reflection, jurisdictions began to look at discriminatory enforcement of jaywalking laws. Examination of jaywalking citations in Kansas City clearly showed that Black pedestrians were disproportionately targeted. The City Council’s repeal removes a tool for biased policing. 

CalBike is committed to reforming traffic laws to reduce inequities and racially biased policing. Eliminating laws against jaywalking is an essential step toward this goal. By co-sponsoring the Freedom to Walk Act, we hope to end the enforcement of unjust jaywalking laws in California. At the same time, this will facilitate healthy and safe travel modes that are necessary to meet California’s environmental goals.

Decriminalize-Jaywalking-graphic

CalBike to Host National Panel on Decriminalizing Jaywalking

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On May 3, 2021, at 1:00 pm Pacific time, CalBike will join our cosponsors of the Freedom to Walk Act (AB 1238, Ting) and leading experts on pedestrian safety to host a national panel discussion on decriminalizing jaywalking.

The discussion will be held on Zoom and all are welcome to attend. The event is free but preregistration is required.

CalBike is committed to reforming traffic laws to reduce inequities and racially biased policing. Eliminating laws against jaywalking is an essential step toward this goal. By co-sponsoring the Freedom to Walk Act, we hope to decriminalize jaywalking in California. But this movement should be national, so we created a webinar to connect people working on this issue from across the country.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Dr. Charles Brown of Equitable Cities and John Yi from Los Angeles Walks, a co-sponsor of AB 1238. The panelists are Angie Schmitt, Author of “Right of Way,” Caro Jauregui from California Walks (also a co-sponsor of AB 1238), Patrick Hope, a delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates, and Michael Kelley from Bike Walk Kansas City. Jared Sanchez from CalBike will introduce the session. Additional hosts are 3MPH Planning + Consulting and Arrested Mobility.

We look forward to this opportunity to build a national movement to decriminalize jaywalking. We hope you will join us.

Jaywalking Webinar flyer

Assembly Transportation Committee Supports Freedom to Walk Act

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April 26, 2021

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Assembly Transportation Committee Supports Freedom to Walk Act

First Step to Decriminalize Jaywalking in California

Sacramento – The California Assembly Transportation Committee voted 12-2 to support AB 1238, the Freedom to Walk Act. This measure will eliminate jaywalking laws, making it legal for pedestrians to make mid-block crossings and cross against traffic lights.

The Freedom to Walk Act, sponsored by Assemblymember Phil Ting, is a necessary step to right historic injustices. Jaywalking citations are disproportionately issued to Black Californians, and policing these infractions provides an opportunity for biased and pretextual policing. Decriminalizing jaywalking will remove an unjust burden from low-income Californians, who can least afford to pay the fines. Low-income residents are also more likely to live in neighborhoods that lack infrastructure for people who walk, making jaywalking unavoidable. 

‘’We applaud the Assembly Transportation Committee for advancing this important bill,” said Jared Sanchez, CalBike Senior Policy Advocate. “Their strong support is a sign that California is ready to leave these regressive and oppressive laws in the dustbin of history, where they belong.”

“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. We look forward to the work ahead,” shared John Yi, Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks.

“The decriminalization of “jaywalking” is the first step in ensuring a culture of belonging on our streets for all road users. We will continue to work towards ending the current dangerous car culture across the state that is accepted as the norm and prioritizes drivers, “ said Caro Jauregui, Co-Executive Director of California Walks. 

CalBike, California Walks, and Los Angeles Walks are sponsoring the Freedom to Walk Act, which has strong support from a broad base of community organizations. To date, more than 85 groups and individuals have signed on to a letter supporting AB 1238. Supporters include the Ella Baker Center, Courage California, Disability Rights California, and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. Elected leaders supporting the measure include Berkeley City Councilmember Rigel Robinson, Albany Mayor Ge’Nell Gary, and Albany Vice Mayor, Preston Jordan.

On May 3, CalBike will join Los Angeles Walks and California Walks to host a national discussion on decriminalizing jaywalking. All are welcome to attend.

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BLACK LIVES MATTER

California will never have the equitable, prosperous and inclusive communities that CalBike advocates for until we address and redress anti-Black violence. We want to actively contribute to ending systemic racism, especially in transportation policy, and most especially in bicycling advocacy. We promise to listen and learn how we can best do this work. To our community members who experience the violence of racism on a daily basis: we see you, we hear you, and we stand with you.

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