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DO
YOU KNOW
THE
ESSENTIALS OF
SAFE
BICYCLING?
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Learn
more at
BIKESAFECALIFORNIA.ORG
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Around the State
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LA City Council adds 3-foot
passing bill to its legislative agenda
The Los Angeles City Council has
approved a state legislative agenda for 2011 that includes a bill
to require motorists to stay at least 3
feet away from bicyclists when passing. The city asked the CBC for help with drafting
the bill last summer. The bill was suggested at the bike summit
hosted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after he broke his elbow in a fall while riding his
bike to work. This summer the
city also unveiled a public information campaign to
encourage safe passing.
The CBC introduced legislation to
enact a 3-foot passing distance in 2006, but opposition from the
California Highway Patrol
and the trucking lobby killed the proposal during legislative
hearings. The backing of Villaraigosa, a former speaker of the
California Assembly, could improve chances of passage for a bill
this time around. Sixteen other states have enacted 3-foot passing
laws.
Meanwhile, the city has released a
revised draft of its bicycle master plan to kudos from local bike
advocates. The positive reception is welcome news for the city,
which took considerable heat from advocates about an earlier draft
unveiled last year.
An update of a 1996 bike plan that has been readopted twice since
then, the draft plan calls for installing nearly 200 miles of new
bike lanes over the next 5 years, increasing the city's total bike
route mileage to 1,680 miles over the life of the plan. The plan
also contains proposals for educational programs and bike support
activities like parking and maintenance as well as law
enforcement.
Bicycling up 58% in
SF
A count of bicycles passing 33
locations throughout San Francisco in August showed a 58% increase in bike ridership
since 2006. Ridership increased annually by between 3 and
25 percent
during that period.
The gains are particularly
noteworthy because they occurred during the 3-year period when San
Francisco's updated bike plan was suspended under a court injunction. The injunction was lifted in
August, freeing the city to move ahead with plans to add 34 miles
of bike lanes to its 45-mile network.
Caltrans installs its first bike box
This month Caltrans District 5 and
the City of San Luis Obispo unveiled a bike box at the intersection of
Madonna Road and Higuera Street on State Route 227 on the south
edge of downtown San Luis Obispo. It's the first bike box installed
on a state highway in California.
The
California Traffic Control Devices Committee OK'd installation of
the bike box last spring as an experimental facility. City and
Caltrans planners will monitor the intersection to see what
proportion of motorists obey the new lane markings. Bike boxes are
already in use on city streets in Long Beach and San
Francisco.
More officers to receive
training on bike laws
Starting next June, all police
academies in California will begin training future officers on the
portions of the California Vehicle Code that define the rights and responsibilities of
bicyclists. The California Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training, also known as POST, announced the new
curriculum early this month. All bicycle patrol officers in
California receive extensive training through POST, but other
officers are not routinely trained specifically on bike-related
traffic laws.
Bike co-op to open in
Chico
Chico may soon have its own community bike shop, the
city's first. Community bike shops, also sometimes called bike bike
co-ops or bike kitchens, are nonprofit organizations or collectives
that enable cyclists to perform their own bike
repairs.
The shop's founder, Ron Toppi, who
also works at the Chico Natural Foods Co-op, is soliciting
donations of money, bike parts and tools for the shop, which will
be located on the south edge of downtown Chico. California is home
to more than 25 community bike
shops.
Shasta County towns to get
more bike racks
Local businesses,
the city of Redding, Caltrans and a local public health program are
partners in a project to install bike racks throughout central
Shasta County. The locally designed and manufactured racks are
being placed near businesses in Redding, Anderson and Shasta Lake.
Bicycle traffic counts conducted last September showed an 80%
ridership increase at key intersections in Redding since last
year.
Is bike licensing becoming a
thing of the past?
The San Jose City Council has
repealed that city's bike registration
requirement in place since 1974. The city concluded that the
ordinance wasn't being observed. During 2008-09,
when some 22,000 bikes were purchased in San Jose, the city
collected just $636 from bike licenses.
In Long Beach, City Councilman Ron
Garcia has proposed making the city's bike registration requirement voluntary. The
proposal is meant to ease tensions between cyclists and police, who
cited participants in a recent Critical Mass ride for registration
violations, among other alleged offenses. Garcia has asked the city
to report on whether the registration requirement is serving the
city's cyclists.
Appeals Court upholds
mitigation rule that could lead to more
bicycling
Developers in the San Joaquin Valley
must mitigate the air quality
impacts of new large development projects. Last week the U.S.
District Court of Appeals for the Ninth District upheld a lower court ruling that found the San Joaquin
Valley Air Pollution Control District's mitigation rule is legal.
Builders filed a federal district court challenge to the rule in
2007.
The rule gives developers the option of minimizing a project's
construction and traffic-related emissions by paying a mitigation
fee or by adding bicycle lanes, building walkable shopping into the
project and building near public transit, among other
steps.
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Research
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First nationwide parking space
count shows high environmental costs
UC Berkeley researchers estimate
there could be 800 million parking spaces in the U.S. - three for
every car and truck on the road - and that energy and materials
used to build them have significant impacts
on air and water quality. The study grew out of research aimed
at measuring the environmental impact of America's transportation
infrastructure. Existing data only accounted for 100 million
metered parking places, excluding free spaces on streets,
driveways, and parking lots.
"Ninety-nine percent of automobile
trips end in free parking," wrote lead author Mikhail Chester, "and
this has a major effect on people's choice of what means of
transportation to take."
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CBC News
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CBC hires full-time
executive
The California Bicycle Coalition has
hired Dave Snyder as its first full-time executive in more than 4
years. Snyder will lead efforts to secure substantial long-term
funding, strengthen relationships with bike industry
allies and the local bike advocacy community, and increase
California's influence in national
bike advocacy.
The founding executive director of
the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Snyder took the CBC position
early this month after stepping down as CBC president in November.
In addition to having formed two other advocacy organizations since
leaving SFBC, Snyder previously worked for the Thunderhead Alliance
(now called the Alliance for Biking &
Walking) as an executive and organizational development trainer
for bike advocacy organizations.
"The recent midterm elections
signaled a sea-change for the national transportation agenda," said
CBC president Chris Morfas. "Fifteen years of gains for bicycling
nationwide are now under serious threat. This couldn't be a better
time for us to have someone with Dave's skills."
"As an
experienced and enthusiastic advocate with a successful track
record of promoting bicycling for nearly 2 decades, Dave is a great
pick to lead the CBC," said Deb Hubsmith, director of the Safe
Routes to School National Partnership.
The CBC received more than
$30,000 in large donations this year and a $30,000 Alliance for
Biking & Walking grant to help cover the initial cost of hiring
an executive director. The CBC has an office and one other
full-time staff member in Sacramento.
Local advocates attend
'mini-summit'
Early last month CBC board members
and staff met with representatives from local bicycle coalitions
serving Los Angeles, Marin, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo and Santa
Barbara counties, San Francisco, the East Bay and Silicon Valley to
explore ways to strengthen bike advocacy in California and plan for
the 2011 legislative session.
The local advocates made it clear
they look to the CBC to provide technical assistance for local
advocacy efforts and take the lead on a statewide legislative
agenda that reflects issues important to local advocates.
Increasing the number of California advocates who attend the 2011
National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., was one of the near-term
priorities identified by the group.
CBC and local advocates hope to
convene a larger statewide bicycle summit later next year in Los
Angeles.
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Rides &
Events |
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Borrego
Springs
Jan.
1: Borrego Springs
Century
Contra
Costa County
Jan.
1: Mt. Diablo New Year's Day Ride to the
Top
Sponsored
by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition
Los
Angeles
Jan. 7: RIDE-Arc
San
Francisco
Jan. 13: Going Dutch: Creating a
bicycle-dependent city
Sponsored
by the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research
Association
Ocotillo
Jan. 15: 2011 Stagecoach Century
San
Francisco
Jan. 15: Architecture Ride: The Reid Brothers in
SF
Sponsored
by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
Bakersfield
Jan. 16: California State Cyclocross
Championships
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