The 2022 California Bicycle Summit opens on Wednesday, April 6, from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m., with an Opening Night Mixer at the New Parkway Theater. The mixer will be a miniature film festival with a twist. And you can order food and drinks (and fabulous popcorn) from the New Parkway’s full kitchen to enjoy while you watch.
Bike Shorts
The producers and actors in the documentaries Spokespeople and Biking While Black will be on hand to discuss their movies. Old and new bike-themed music videos will entertain us between the short films.
Pecha Kuchas
A handful of special PechaKucha presentations will showcase quirky and visionary themes ranging from the anthropology of bike-friendly cities to a nearly religious bicycle philosophy.
PechaKucha is a Japanese word that translates as “chit chat.” The term has come to denote a specific type of presentation: 20 slides, each displayed for 20 seconds, giving presenters 6 minutes and 40 seconds to convey their ideas. The constraints of this concise format lead to face-paced, fun, and creative presentations. You won’t want to miss it!
Do you have a revolutionary idea about biking that you’d like to share? Apply for a PechaKucha spot by filling out this form. We will accept applications through March 26, 2022.
Notes for PechaKucha presenters: Presentations must be inspiring, visually enticing, and have some connection to the Summit’s theme: Connecting (feel free to interpret the theme broadly). At the theater, the PechaKucha presentations won’t be controlled by the speaker; they must automatically play.
About the New Parkway Theater
The New Parkway Theater is an intimate venue with comfortable couches and chairs for seating and eating and drinking while you watch the movie. The venue’s restaurant and bar serve delicious food and beverages, including popcorn with a toppings station that is the best in the Bay Area. The event will feature several opportunities for eating, drinking, and mingling, as well as enjoying the entertainment.
If you’re already registered for the full Summit, you’ll have an opportunity to claim a free ticket to the opening night mixer. If you’re not registered yet, reserve your spot today.
A limited number of tickets for the opening night celebration will be available to the general public. Check this space for information on how to buy tickets, coming soon.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/New-Parkway-Theater-2.jpeg720960Kevin Claxtonhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngKevin Claxton2022-03-14 14:48:202023-11-28 12:11:56California Bicycle Summit Opening Night Mixer Celebrates the Vital Work of California Bicycle Advocates and Planners
It’s that time of year again when legislators introduce hundreds of new bills that could change the law in California. As always, as your leading statewide bicycle advocate, CalBike is keeping an eye on this for you. It takes a community of dedicated bike riders to get bike-friendly bills passed (and stop the bad ones)—we couldn’t do it without your support.
Happily, there were many bills that will support safer streets and better biking introduced this year, so 2022 will provide lots of opportunities for engagement and advocacy. We’re following measures that will improve biking and all forms of active transportation, mitigate climate change, and make California more liveable.
The bike-friendly bills list includes several pieces of legislation similar to bills introduced in 2021 coming back for a second try at becoming law, including two CalBike measures that passed the legislature, thanks to thousands of emails from CalBike members but were vetoed by the governor.
Here are the bike-friendly bills CalBike is watching.
Bicycle Safety Stop
AB 1713 (Boerner Horvath) is a reprise of last year’s campaign to pass the Bicycle Safety Stop and will allow people on bikes to treat stop signs as yields. In 2022, however, in response to the governor’s veto message on child safety, the new law will only apply to adults (age 18+). CalBike will be following this measure closely, and we’ll let you know when it’s time to ask your legislators and the governor for support.
Legalizing Safe Street Crossings
AB 2147 (Ting) is the sequel to the Freedom to Walk Act that passed the assembly and senate last year. After Governor Newsom’s veto, Assemblymember Phil Ting revamped the bill to address the governor’s concerns. The revised version will direct police not to ticket for safe pedestrian mid-block crossings (jaywalking). Ending enforcement of safe midblock crossings will reduce opportunities for police encounters that too often become violent for people of color, and CalBike will work to help pass this bill.
Sustainable Transportation Project Streamlining
SB 922 (Wiener) will help agencies install sustainable transportation infrastructure by exempting certain projects from unnecessary CEQA review. It applies to bike lanes, transit lanes and stations, HOV lanes, and related projects, as long as the projects are within existing rights-of-way and do not add automobile capacity. The bill will make permanent a temporary CEQA exemption put in place during the pandemic and add requirements for equity analysis.
Fix Deadly Roads Bill
SB 932 (Portantino) will require cities to adopt significant bicycle, pedestrian, and traffic calming elements when they develop and revise their general plans. General plans serve as blueprints for the future, prescribing policy goals and objectives to shape and guide the physical development of cities. In the past, plans in some communities have ignored the needs of bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders. As our planet warms, we can’t afford to bake unsustainable auto transportation into our city planning. CalBike strongly supports this measure.
Bikes Belong Bill
AB 1909 (Friedman) will change the state vehicle code to facilitate biking across our state. Elements of this legislation include requiring vehicles to switch lanes when passing people on bikes and expanding where it’s legal to ride e-bikes.
Signals for Pedestrian Crossings
AB 2264 (Bloom) requires Caltrans and cities to update all pedestrian control signals to give pedestrians a head start of 3 to 7 seconds. People walking will get to enter an intersection on the green light before cars get the green, which will improve visibility and, we hope, reduce crashes involving pedestrians.
Bicycle Highways
AB 2237 (Friedman) when the governor vetoed AB 1147 in 2021, he said that the critical changes to regional planning it envisioned would be better accomplished through the budget process. Yet, money to implement bicycle highways and 15-minute neighborhoods is not in the governor’s proposed budget. CalBike and our supporters continue to advocate for $2 billion for bikes, which could fund some of the connected bicycle networks in this important bill. This bill is a transformative piece of legislation, and we hope, given a second chance, the governor will sign it into law.
Ending Freeway Expansion
AB 1778 (C. Garcia) will prohibit any state money from funding or permitting freeway widening projects in areas with high rates of pollution and poverty. As decades of research have shown, low-income communities of color are most burdened by highway pollution that causes unnecessary cases of asthma and other major health issues.
Transportation Funding and Climate Goals
AB 2438 (Friedman) requires all transportation projects funded at the local or state level to align with the California Transportation Plan and the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure adopted by the Transportation Agency. This effort will codify California’s efforts to align transportation funding with our climate goals.
The process of passing legislation is messy and complex, so things will undoubtedly change. Provisions may get added or removed from some bills that change CalBike’s position. We will work to strengthen and support these bike-friendly measures, and we’ll keep you up to date as the session progresses. See the status of all the legislation we’re watching on our 2022 Legislative Watch page.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/California_State_Capitol_in_Sacramento.jpg10001500Jared Sanchezhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngJared Sanchez2022-03-03 18:13:582022-06-02 12:15:28All the Bike-Friendly Bills Introduced in California in 2022
Jouke Peutz has split his life between the Netherlands and California. He loves living in the U.S., but his Dutch childhood instilled a deep love of biking. He’s pursuing that passion for biking, in collaboration with CalBike, with a research project to develop best practices and a general framework to improve the partnership between the public and private sector to aid disadvantaged communities through micromobility.
CalBike advocates for the inclusion of shared micromobility in public transportation systems. That will ensure that the cost remains affordable, that micromobility programs serve all neighborhoods equitably, and that there are cohesive support platforms and incentives for users. Jouke’s research will help us make a case for public micromobility.
CalBike collaborates with a researcher inspired by his Dutch biking roots
Jouke Peutz didn’t start a graduate degree in Community Development at UC Davis with a plan to focus on bikes. “I was very set on sticking with buildings since I came from an architecture background,” he says.
Then he took a class on bicycle infrastructure and design that called him back to a childhood where, he recalls, “I had all my freedom on my bicycle. I learned life lessons on my bicycle. I biked through the rain, the sun. I had a deep connection to my bike.” Now, Jouke says, “My whole research has oriented from looking at buildings to looking at bicycling. The funny thing is that they are very much connected.”
His grandparents still ride, regularly going across the border to Germany on their e-bikes. “The bike is what gives them their freedom, too,” he says.
He wants to bring that freedom to biking in the U.S., but he recognizes the challenge. “We’re trying to copy things from the Netherlands, but it never really works,” Jouke says. Intersections that “look Dutch” function very differently here because the U.S. has its own bike culture.
How shared micromobility can promote transportation justice in California
Jouke’s research project is titled “Facilitating market-based micromobility in disadvantaged communities in California,” and will look at how to bridge the gap between government and the private sector to better serve disadvantaged communities. Through a literature review and interviews with key stakeholders, he hopes to answer the question of how California state agencies can develop and coordinate micromobility in partnership with private operators.
Jouke’s research is more than an academic exercise. He sees it as a gateway to improving people’s lives.
“Transportation is a main factor in people’s life success, whether that’s healthwise or economicwise,” he says. “People who don’t live a wealthy lifestyle typically live in communities they get pushed into and they rely on public transportation to get work or groceries.”
He particularly wants to make sure that people in disadvantaged communities don’t get left behind in the transition away from carbon-based transportation. “What does that mean if you’re told you cannot drive anymore or need to buy an expensive EV?” Jouke says. “That’s where micromobility could play an important role.”
CalBike has helped connect him with stakeholders and supported him in his research. “We’re excited to see what Jouke’s research produces,” says Dave Snyder, CalBike’s Executive Director. “CalBike is focused on transforming the way we view micromobility. Bike sharing shouldn’t be viewed as an elite urban amenity but as an essential public transportation connection. Having evidence to show the benefits of micromobility will help us make that case.”
“The beautiful thing about bicycles is they connect the wealthiest people and the poorest people,” says Jouke. “I do really believe micromobility will be a big part of our future in transportation.”
Bike-share in danger in California
Unfortunately, California is in danger of becoming a state with no bike or scooter sharing. A bill moving through the California Senate, AB 371, would impose an unprecedented insurance requirement on all bike-share operators, including public transit systems and nonprofits.
Micromobility is the future, and we can’t let this regressive bill stop it before it reaches its full potential. Please email your California Senator today and ask them to vote NO on AB 371.
Micromobility and much more at the California Bicycle Summit
At the California Bicycle Summit, April 6-9, 2022, in Oakland, we’ll discuss equitable micromobility with Jouke and representatives from companies that provide bike and scooter sharing systems in California. You won’t want to miss that, plus 30 breakout sessions, bike tours, parties, and more. Register today.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/E-bikes.jpg13652048Laura McCamyhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngLaura McCamy2022-02-28 15:56:242022-06-01 17:24:50Realizing the Potential of Bike and Scooter Sharing Systems
Sacramento – The California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike) opposes AB 371 by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer. This bill would impose an unprecedented cost on bike share and scooter share systems by forcing the provider to carry insurance to pay for damage caused by the user. It would put most, if not all, shared micromobility systems out of business, and make it fiscally impossible to subsidize an expansion of the system so that it serves everyone equitably, and not just the privileged residents in wealthy downtowns. CalBike helped defeat a similar provision in the 2020 legislature.
Eliminating shared micromobility programs would be a disaster for California’s climate. They provide affordable transportation and help to reduce vehicle miles traveled by providing an alternative to the car for short trips. Bike and scooter sharing systems also extend the reach of existing transit systems by giving riders a way to get from a transit station to a destination that is out of walking distance.
“We’ve only begun to see the potential of low-cost shared bikes and scooters to enhance public transit and provide low-impact, safe mobility for people who can’t afford cars or who prefer not to drive,” said Dave Snyder, CalBike’s Executive Director. “We should be expanding bike-share, not killing it.”
The bill is currently in the Senate Insurance Committee.
AB 371 imposes an unprecedented insurance burden on shared mobility systems
AB 371 would require micromobility operators (public and private) to acquire insurance that covers negligent conduct of a device rider. This requirement would be a legal anomaly. Rental car companies are not liable for the negligence of their drivers. Basketball court owners aren’t required to carry insurance for injuries caused if a fight breaks out among players. Roller skate shops don’t have to pay for insurance to cover the costs of someone injured by one of their skating customers.
Comparing this proposal to existing requirements for motor vehicles is instructive. Motorists must carry $30,000 in insurance for their own liability. If AB 371 passes, bike- and scooter-share operators would be required to carry $500,000 in insurance for injuries caused through no fault of their own. That disparity is hard to justify when you compare the difference in weight and speed of bikes and scooters compared to motor vehicles.
Pedestrian Safety, Social Equity, and our Climate, are Threatened
Bike share systems have the potential to serve low-income communities with high-quality transportation that is as affordable as public transit but healthier, usually faster, and sometimes even fun. This vision will require the massive deployment of bikes and e-bikes and scooters, substantial subsidy to make it affordable, and the development of safe bikeways. It’s part of a future with much fewer cars, and therefore a safer future, without most of the 15,000 serious pedestrian injuries caused by cars in California last year. This future is not only possible, it’s required if we are to meet our climate goals. In 2021, the Air Resources Board recognized the importance of bike and scooter share systems for low-income people by granting millions of dollars in its Clean Mobility Options program to bike-sharing. This measure would end the programs funded by state grants, putting California at odds with itself. Cities like San Francisco that are considering expanding bike share operations by taking a more active role would have to scuttle those plans.
CalBike urges the legislature to stop AB 371 and save bike-share.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/breeze-bike-share.jpg522789Laura McCamyhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngLaura McCamy2022-02-22 15:11:182022-03-04 15:14:00CALBIKE Opposes AB 371
The 2022 California Bicycle Summit will include an exciting breakout session featuring bicycle activists from Bogotá and scholars of Latin American urban studies. Presenters will include:
Daniel Rodriguez, professor of city and regional planning and the interim director of the Institute for Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley.
Lorena Romero Fontecha, director and project manager for the BiciActiva Foundation based in Bogotá. BiciActiva is a Bogotá-based organization that sponsors BiciActiva Radio, which runs a station for and by bicyclists.
Additional presenters will be announced later.
Rodriguez is one of the coauthors of the chapter on cycling trends in Latin America in the indispensable reference, Cycling for Sustainable Cities. He and Romero Fontecha, along with Carlos Felipe Pardo and Raphael Navarro joined CalBike for an Advance Symposium in December 2021; if you want a preview of this session, you can view the recording.
The value of Latin American experience for California bicycle advocates
Bike advocates in the U.S. often look to the cycling cities of Europe such as Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and now Paris, when we want examples of what might be possible here. However, California, with its diverse population and relatively new cities, may have more in common with our neighbors in Latin America.
For example, the movement for Open Streets began in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and the city’s Ciclovía program remains a model that U.S. cities can only dream of. Founded in 1976, Ciclovía happens every single Sunday, from 7 am to 2 pm, and covers 75 miles of city streets. And Bogotá has a bicycling mode share of 6.6% that only a few California cities can top.
Engaging across borders
Part of the mission of BiciActiva and BiciActiva Radio is to connect the Bogotá bicycling community with people who ride bikes around the world. At the December Symposium, we were joined from the Netherlands by BiciActiva member Raphael Navarro, who was spending time there to report about cycling in Holland for the organization. The organization has invited three CalBike staffers to experience bicycling in Bogotá this March, continuing the cross-border exchange.
We’re excited to welcome these bicycle activists and scholars to share success stories, aspirations, and inspiration from Latin America. It’s a session you won’t want to miss.
Join us at the 2022 California Bicycle Summit for 32 breakout sessions, 5 bike tours, 3 parties, and much more.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BiciActiva-Slide.jpg431766Jared Sanchezhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngJared Sanchez2022-02-11 15:37:362022-02-11 16:04:53Summit Preview: What It’s Like to Bike in Latin America
Thanks to support from our members, CalBike won a $10 million appropriation in this year’s budget to help Californians purchase electric bikes. The California Air Resources Board will administer the program, which must be operating by July of 2022.
The program will distribute vouchers to people who meet income eligibility requirements. The CARB will release a Request for Proposals to implement the program in the next couple of months, detailing important goals and specifications to shape voucher distribution.
CalBike is working with CARB to help ensure that the implementation meets CalBike’s objectives for this program. Here’s what we know so far.
Which types of e-bikes are eligible for the voucher program?
“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.”
Who will be eligible for e-bike purchase incentives?
The Air Resources Board has signaled its intent to restrict eligibility to low-income households (defined as households with income less than four times the federal poverty level, or $51,520 for an individual, or $106,000 for a family of four). The income restriction is not required by law, and CARB’s electric vehicle incentive program doesn’t include any income requirements.
CalBike and the more than 50 organizations that supported the program advocated for at least 80% of the funds to go to low-income households. We wanted 20% of the vouchers available to middle-income families to allow for broader funding distribution. Plus, it would have recognized that, like EVs, e-bikes are a civic good, and the state wants to encourage people to choose this form of transportation.
CalBike supports this initial round of funding going exclusively to disadvantaged people. However, it will take more than a grant to make the program successful. The upfront cost of a quality e-bike will be out of reach for most low-income people, even with a hefty subsidy. To ensure that everyone can access this incentive, we want the program to include an arrangement with a lender to will provide low- or zero-interest loans to buyers so that they can pay for an e-bike in installments.
The role of community-based organizations
A bike purchase incentive program differs from an electric vehicle incentive program because many potential recipients don’t already recognize how a bike could improve their lives. Everyone (almost) wants a car and would welcome a purchase subsidy, but the same is not true for bikes.
That’s why CalBike sees an essential role for nonprofits in distributing the funds. If community organizations serving low-income people are able to make extremely low-cost e-bikes available to their constituencies, they can engage and educate about howto use the bike to replace car trips. A nonprofit can also provide bike safety information and classes, so grant recipients are confident to ride their e-bikes for transportation. With this support, the e-bike suddenly becomes a viable transportation choice and the subsidy a critical lifeline.
Community-based organizations can also help identify the people who would benefit most from a low-cost e-bike and help spread the word among their constituencies. Plus, they can assist with the paperwork to apply for the grants, and they might be able to combine this subsidy with other funding sources to make bikes truly affordable. These groups can also provide feedback to evaluate the impact of the e-bike affordability program.
The impact of $10M for e-bikes
If designed and administered well, California’s new e-bike affordability program could have an impact far beyond the lives of the people who will be able to buy e-bikes.
First, if CARB successfully markets the program, it will increase awareness of biking as a viable and green transportation option. That, we hope, will create demand to expand the program and increase the funding available to help people buy bikes. And the incentives will put thousands more bicycles on our streets, which will raise the visibility of biking, increase the pressure to build safe bikeways, and encourage more people to hop on a bike. Plus, up to 10% of the funding in this program may be used for bicycle education, so it’s a great opportunity to build skills and confidence for more riders.
We’ll keep you informed when there’s more to know about the e-bike affordability program. Sign up below to be the first to know when the e-bike vouchers become available.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Yuba-e-bike-POC-e1616451276226.jpeg10562400Kevin Claxtonhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngKevin Claxton2022-02-09 19:34:332022-02-09 19:34:35Making California’s E-Bike Affordability Program Successful
Each year, CalBike sponsors legislation to make our streets safer and help more Californians choose active transportation. The bills sponsored by state Senators and Assemblymembers are the focus of significant discussion and advocacy, and we ask our supporters to email their representatives and the governor to build support.
Legislative initiatives are essential for advancing the cause, and we will certainly ask you to send emails in support of active transportation and safety legislation this year. But legislation is the tip of the iceberg for CalBike’s advocacy. The work we do out of the spotlight and without a lot of fanfare often has the biggest impact. We meet with officials at Caltrans and other agencies to change regulations and help craft new programs to support biking. We advocate for more funding for active transportation. This effort has led to a doubling of the Active Transportation Program budget and, this year, we might see that figure triple (though perhaps a temporary increase).
In 2022, CalBike plans to pursue several exciting initiatives to increase funding and access for people on bikes. Here’s a preview.
But first, some facts about advocating for change in California
California is one of only 10 states with full-time legislatures. Our state is the most populous of the 50 states, and our economy would be the fifth-largest in the world if we were a country, ranking just above the UK. All of which is to say that doing advocacy in Sacramento is more like pulling the levers of a national government than a state legislature.
CalBike is California’s only statewide nonprofit bicycle advocacy organization, and we are the little engine that could. With a handful of full-time and part-time staffers and help from our members and supporters, we stand for the interests of people who bike to make active transportation a safe choice for all Californians.
Each year, we build on our accomplishments to increase momentum for bicycling, and we expect 2022 to be a big year for progress toward a safer, more joyful, and more equitable California.
The enormous impact of the budget for better biking
Funding for biking and walking infrastructure is crucial to creating safe neighborhoods where active transportation is an easy choice. You may have experienced this when your community was able to build a new bike route or protected bikeway thanks to state funds.
Each funding cycle, the ATP receives hundreds of project proposals. There were so many excellent projects in the latest round that the funding ran out before all of the higher-scoring proposals were funded. CalBike advocated for more funding to build those shovel-ready projects in the 2021/22 budget. Although $500 million was approved initially, the money was pulled back because of a budget impasse between the governor and the legislature.
But budget discussions are back on, and CalBike is now advocating for $2 billion for bikes. So far, the governor’s budget proposal includes an additional $600 million: $500 million for the ATP, on top of about $230 in regular funding, plus $100 million dedicated to active transportation improvements in the Highway Safety Improvement Program.
We’re not giving up on the additional $1.4 billion we want for walking and biking in this year’s budget. CalBike has proposed $500 million for 15-minute neighborhoods, as promised by the governor in his veto statement for AB 1147. We’d also like to see funding for connected bikeway networks and separated bicycle highways.
If California is serious about mitigating climate change, its budget priorities need to reflect that. CalBike is working hard to move the needle on active transportation funding.
Creating an equitable e-bike affordability program
In 2021, with help from our supporters and allies, CalBike won $10 million in funding for an e-bike affordability program. Electric bikes open bicycling as everyday transportation to a broader group of people, but the steep price tag can be a barrier. The program, which will start in July 2022, will offer vouchers to low-income Californians to help them purchase e-bikes. CalBike is working with CARB, which will administer the program the ensure that the model is equitable and accessible. We hope for a successful launch to demonstrate that e-bike subsidies are just as popular as electric vehicle rebates so that the program will get ongoing funding.
Advocating for a better way to use safety funding
In addition to pushing for more money for biking, CalBike also works with agencies to better use the funding they already have.
For example, the California Office of Traffic Safety gives money to local police departments to support Vision Zero. Unfortunately, police departments often use that money to target and ticket people who ride bikes. CalBike is working with OTS to revise its policies, so Vision Zero funding goes to projects that genuinely make streets safer for people biking and walking, rather than harassing bicyclists.
We are also working with HSIP to define the safety elements of highway projects more clearly.
Continuing to push toward decriminalization of commonsense biking and walking
The governor vetoed CalBike’s bills to legalize the bicycle safety stop and end penalties for safe street crossings, but our campaigns for those bills built a groundswell of support for decriminalization. We’ll be building on that momentum in 2022 (and beyond) and continue to work with our allies on critical issues of traffic safety and police overenforcement. We hope to have more to share with you about those efforts later this year.
Working toward bike-share equity
Bike and scooter sharing systems are a terrific solution for last-mile (and often longer) transit and filling gaps in our public transportation systems. However, the costs for some private systems have become unaffordable for many users due to price hikes. And, if cities concentrate micromobility options in wealthier neighborhoods, they miss out on an excellent opportunity to increase transit equity.
CalBike will work toward equity in micromobility in 2022 by advocating for public transit agencies to add bike-share to their offerings, allowing passengers to use transfers and pay fares comparable to other forms of transit. We are also working with a researcher from UC Davis on a study of equity in micromobility. We think that will help move California toward more equitable and sustainable bike and scooter sharing.
A planning change that will make biking more practical
One critical thing to make biking a practical transportation choice is a secure place to park your bike. CalBike is working with other advocates and the California Department of Community Services and Development to develop guidelines for new housing that will require new apartment buildings to include bike parking.
We might not ask you to sign a petition or send an email about these initiatives but look for updates on these vital advocacy projects that could have big effects in communities across California.
Bringing advocates and decision-makers together at the California Bicycle Summit
Every two years, CalBike hosts the California Bicycle Summit. The event brings together people who care about better biking from around the state to share ideas, network, learn, and have a little fun, too. We’ll have 32 breakout sessions, plus bike rides, a bicycle movie festival, and more. The Summit will be held in beautiful Uptown Oakland on April 6-9, 2022. Registration is open. We hope to see you there!
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/pulling-the-levers-in-Sacramento-scaled.jpeg17072560Kevin Claxtonhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngKevin Claxton2022-01-26 15:13:392022-01-26 15:13:40How CalBike Quietly Pulls the Levers of Power in Sacramento
On April 6-9, 2022, we hope you will join us in Oakland to strengthen and grow the movement for sustainable transportation. The California Bicycle Summit, held every two years, always feels like a momentous occasion, but gathering in person after the past two years is even more compelling. The theme for this year’s Summit is CONNECTING.
We didn’t pick the theme just because we are thrilled to get together with all of you (though we are!). CONNECTING is about many different types of connections:
Creating connected neighborhoods where people of all ages can get to school, to work, or to the store without being forced to get in a car
Connecting to our bodies through the joyful movement of riding a bike
Connecting to the planet and creating a transportation system that aligns with the needs of Earth’s natural systems
Connecting the varied issues that we must address together: racism, lack of housing, and streets that are unsafe for many reasons, to name just a few
Connecting across communities and cultures to better understand and support each other
Connecting to create equitable communities where the joy of bicycling is an easy choice
The 2022 California Bicycle Summit is a can’t-miss event for people who care about biking
Speakers at the 2022 California Bicycle Summit will include community activists, California decision-makers, bicycle advocates, industry leaders, and planners designing the next generation of safer streets. They will present 32 exciting breakout sessions on a wide range of topics, including:
The promise and reality of Caltrans shift to support active transportation
Success stories of intersectional bike advocacy
Access to biking for people with disabilities
Two design symposia where engineers and planners will share cutting edge street designs
Accounts from the leaders of ride-outs, the grassroots biking events spreading across the country
The importance of community bike shops: how to make them excellent, how to support them
Black and POC-rooted solutions for mobility and empowerment
The still-growing impact of e-bikes
The intersections of active transportation with housing policy and climate action
Reports from Finland, Latin America, and across California about how to improve bicycle mode share
And much more
The event will also host fun and informational bike rides and social events:
Tours of infrastructure in the East Bay and San Francisco, including visiting the state’s only edge lane road
Visits to outstanding community bike shops
Recreational rides on the Bay Area’s beautiful backroads
A chance to join the famous and fabulous East Bay Bike Party, a rolling celebration of biking, music, and dancing that takes place every second Friday
A movie night featuring California’s best bike-themed short films
We’re delighted to bring the Summit to beautiful Uptown Oakland. Plenary sessions will be in the gorgeous 1926 art deco California Ballroom; breakout sessions will be held at the OakStop, a top-notch locally- and Black-owned event center. Telegraph Avenue in front of the venue will be closed to cars and open for socializing during the Summit.
Oakland, home of the Original Scraper Bike Team, enjoys a vibrant, diverse culture where powerful bike advocates collaborate with bike-friendly leadership in city government. We are proud to showcase The Town’s active and creative bike scene and fabulous art and architecture.
We invite anyone passionate about bicycling to join us—whether you’re a bike advocate, city official, planner, or a CalBike member who simply cares about making the world healthier, more just, and more sustainable and wants to learn more. See you in April!
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Oakstop-overview.jpg360640Kevin Claxtonhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngKevin Claxton2022-01-26 15:10:032023-11-28 12:11:14Announcing the Theme of the 2022 California Bicycle Summit: CONNECTING
A completely unscientific look at the best and worst of California biking in 2021.
Let’s be honest: the competition for the worst in 2021 was fierce. We started the year with such high hopes. It had to be better than 2020, right? Nope. But there were many bright spots for biking in California, even in a crazy year like 2021. And, anyway, 2022 is bound to be a better year. Right? Right???
A bikeway grows in California
Whether fueled by the conversion of pandemic Slow Streets into permanent civic spaces or the fruit of many years of advocacy and local pressure, 2021 had a bumper crop of new bikeways. Here are some of the best, plus a couple of instances where planners let cars roll over their better judgment.
Best quick-build demo that should become permanent: Glendora Ave Complete Streets Demo
For most infrastructure projects, $46,000 would barely make a dent in the budget. But the city of Glendora and the San Gabriel Council of Governments used that amount to install quick-build improvements, including crosswalk striping and planters to create a buffer for separated bike lanes. Glendora plans to expand the project and make it permanent to improve access to a planned rail line extension, but the quick-build demo is helping people bike more safely right now. More of this, please. Read more in Streetsblog LA.
Best Slow Street that became permanent, thanks to quick-build: Doyle Street, Emeryville
Emeryville took advantage of pandemic Slow Streets and the availability of quick-build funding to exclude or restrict traffic on several blocks of Doyle Street. Quick-build allowed the city to quickly make changes to create a joyful, safe space, connecting playgrounds and an off-road bike path, where kids can zoom around on bikes and scooters and neighbors walk and ride. And they got design help from Mr. Barricade.
Best examples of persistence paying dividends—a 2-way tie!
Orange Avenue Family Bikeway
The Orange Avenue Family Bikeway is a grassroots project in an environmental justice community that will implement the San Diego region’s first Bike Boulevard network with traffic diverters. SANDAG leadership halted the project in 2016 to get a freeway-centric funding measure approved, but fortunately, it was saved by community leaders in 2017, approved in 2019, and fast-tracked in 2021.
Bike lanes on Broadway Avenue in Chula Vista
At four miles long in each direction, the bike lane on Broadway in Chula Vista is the longest continuous bike lane ever installed as a single project on a commercial corridor in San Diego County. It took more than eight years to get this project approved and completed. Shout out to City Heights Community Development Corporation for keeping the pressure on for Orange Avenue and Broadway.
Worst abuse of political power to cancel bike infrastructure: North Spring Street Bridge bike lanes, Los Angeles
Los Angeles City Council Members wield a lot of power, including, apparently, the ability to kill safety projects they don’t like. The villain in this story is Gil Cedillo, whose jurisdiction includes the mostly complete North Spring Street Bridge widening. The project should have included bike lanes, but those lanes were delayed, and it now appears that Cedillo has unilaterally canceled them. That change in project scope could affect the validity of the project’s CEQA review and force Los Angeles to return some of the funding that paid for it. Thanks to terrific advocacy from Streets for All and excellent reporting from Streetsblog LA shining a spotlight on Cedillo’s attempt to undermine safe streets.
Best Slow Street that should continue after the pandemic: JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Many of the Slow Streets programs created in 2020 continue as our pandemic life slogs on, but one of the best pandemic Open Streets is on the endangered list: JFK Drive, which cuts through the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The road had been closed to cars on weekends (a result of years of advocacy from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition) and, thanks to pressure from advocates, the city made it car-free 24/7 during the pandemic. Since then, 36% more people have accessed the park, and there have been no accidents or injuries—a Vision Zero success. More than 70% of respondents supported keeping the roadway car-free in a city survey, and the San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board came out in favor. Still, with powerful interests at museums in the park opposed, the future of this fantastic amenity is far from certain.
Worst concession to impatient car drivers: Great Highway, San Francisco
While San Francisco has preserved car-free JFK Drive (so far), the city bowed to drivers who couldn’t tolerate the inconvenience of taking a longer route and allowed car traffic back on the Great Highway along Ocean Beach, despite fierceresistance from biking and walking advocates. The road remains car-free on weekends, and the New York Times recently named it one of its 52 Places for a Changed World. The theme of the annual travel feature is climate adaptation this year, and the Times described the Great Highway as “pointing the way for post-pandemic urbanism.” We hope San Francisco will think better of its decision to trade a locus of recreation, car-free transportation, and joy for the convenience of the people who are literally driving climate change.
The best and worst of everything else
Worst attempt to thwart progress on bikeways through an electoral recall: Nithya Raman
Unfortunately, there was a lot to choose from with a wave of recalls initiated against elected officials in California. The only one that got enough signatures to make it to the voters was the unsuccessful attempt to topple Gavin Newsom from the governor’s seat. But we’d like to highlight the recall attempt against Los Angeles City Council Member Nithya Raman. CalBike heartily endorsed Raman, a transportation justice champion and bike-friendly leader. Her leadership promised to shake things up in the second-largest city in the U.S., so of course, she faced a campaign for her recall. Fortunately, the recall bid crashed and burned shortly after Newsom defeated his recall in September, showing the strong popular support for politicians who support bold changes in traffic safety as part of a progressive package.
Best investigation of biased policing against bicyclists: LA Times investigation of bike stops by sheriff’s deputies
The Los Angeles Times deserves major kudos for its in-depth look at data on bicycle stops and arrests by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department. The Times analysis showed that police disproportionately stopped Latinos and targeted cyclists in poorer neighborhoods. Riders were stopped for minor infractions, largely as a pretext to search them for guns and drugs, but only a tiny percentage of stops turned up illegal items. The investigation has had results: the LA County Board of Supervisors is looking at decriminalizing minor bicycle infractions as a way to end biased policing. The Time’s reporting is another reminder that local newspapers are vital to our communities. Make a New Year’s resolution to subscribe to yours.
Best national conversation about safety: the national discussion of the insanity of jaywalking laws
The governor’s veto of the Freedom to Walk Act wasn’t a complete defeat for the cause. The campaign run by CalBike and our allies at California Walks and Los Angeles Walks, plus stellar efforts by Assemblymember Phil Ting, amplified and advanced a national conversation about the underhanded origins of jaywalking laws, which were designed to make city streets safe for cars, not people. Today, these laws are often used as a pretext for over-policing Black and brown people. The anticipated repeal of jaywalking laws even made it into one of the limericks on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me quiz show. The movement to reform how we police the use of our streets is just getting started, and the campaign to repeal this jaywalking law made great advances in the national conversation toward that goal.
Worst Charlie Brown kicking a football moment for active transportation: transportation budget delay
The e-bike affordability program shouldn’t have been the only positive budget development for biking in Sacramento in 2021. Faced with a historic budget surplus, legislators and the governor were poised to allocate an additional $500 million to the Active Transportation Program. This funding would have allowed about 80 excellent, shovel-ready bike and pedestrian projects to get the green light. But then, like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, the promised ATP funding was snatched away when the governor and the legislature couldn’t agree on High-Speed Rail funding, which was to be part of the same funding package. However, the parties have resumed negotiations, and CalBike is asking for $2 billion for bikes. We’re counting on you, 2022, to give Charlie Brown the chance to finally kick the football out of the park and build more bikeways!
Best funding win to fight climate change: California’s e-bike subsidy program
Sacramento did come through for better biking in the budget, with $10 million for electric bicycle affordability. The program, which launches in July 2022, will offer vouchers to help people buy e-bikes. E-bikes make biking accessible to a broader range of people, and the voucher program will make e-bikes affordable for more Californians. We applaud the governor and legislature for funding this vital program (and a little pat on the back for ourselves, too, for advocacy that helped get it passed).
Best foot forward on regional planning: Hasan Ikhrata and SANDAG
The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has not historically been known for bike-friendly planning. But, with support from the association’s political leadership, Executive Director Hasan Ikhrata has been staking out a different path. In the face of possible funding shortfalls, Ikhrata committed to complete the regional bike plan’s Early Action Program, which includes the projects identified as a high priority. And SANDAG’s latest regional transportation plan represents a significant departure from past planning in the area. It has more emphasis on public transit and adopts the 10 Transit Lifelines developed by San Diego Transportation Equity Working Group. If implemented, the plan might even bring the region into compliance with its state-mandated greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Worst way to prove that traffic jams are a safety measure: bike/ped crashes went up despite traffic going down during the pandemic
In 2021, the data came in: while most of us holed up in our houses in 2020, the smaller number of cars on the roadways managed to kill more pedestrians than the year before. Remember this the next time a traffic engineer or planner tries to justify a road widening by saying it will make it safer. Driving went up in 2021 but traffic was still 22% below pre-pandemic levels. And, while the final crash data for 2021 isn’t in, it’s likely that car crash fatalities for people outside cars will be high once again.
Worst global pandemic that Will. Not. Go. Away!
You know the answer to this one. Mask up, get boosted, stay safe, and let’s hope for better days in 2022!
Did we miss one of your best or worst? Tweet your 2021 California bicycle advocacy hits and misses @calbike.
https://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Doyle-Street-at-64th-scaled.jpeg13402560Kevin Claxtonhttps://www.calbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/calbike-logo.pngKevin Claxton2022-01-14 15:54:412022-01-15 09:59:04CalBike’s Best and Worst of 2021
Biking and walking safety programs get a $600 million boost in Governor Newsom’s proposed budget released last week. The Active Transportation Program gets an additional $500 million, more than double its normal annual allocation, and the Highway Safety Improvement Program gets an additional $100 million. CalBike applauds the governor for dedicating a solid 3% of the discretionary surplus to biking and walking.
The budget also includes a welcome $150 million allocation for freeway removal.CalBike advocated for a $2 billion allocation of the state’s surplus to biking and walking safety, including a pilot program for complete bikeway networks. The governor’s commitment of $600 million falls far short of making the transformational impact we need for bicycling to become a realistic option for most Californians in most communities. Worse, the governor’s budget includes a massive $523 million allocation to gasoline consumers in the form of a reduced gas tax.
“The governor’s budget is two steps forward and one step back,” said Dave Snyder, CalBike’s Executive Director. “Big spending and breathless verbal commitments to address the climate crisis, social inequity, and declining health are all meaningless if Californians are forced to drive a car for most of their trips,” he added. “We look forward to working with the legislators and the governor’s office, with the support of our members, to make the budget reflect the state’s expressed priorities.”
Next, legislators and the public review the budget and advocate for changes until May, when the governor releases a revised proposal based on that feedback and updated economic data. The legislature uses the “May Revise” of the governor’s budget at its starting point for its final budget proposal that must be signed by the governor in June. CalBike has until then to work with legislators and the governor’s staff to get a better result.