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We're at the State Capitol so you don't have to be.
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California
Bike Commute Week
May 11-15, 2009
A project of the
California Bicycle Coalition
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Help wanted: web developer (pro bono)
Are you a successful, eco-friendly web developer with strong graphic design skills, a solid portfolio, and an affinity for CBC's mission? Help us create a new, CMS-based website that will raise CBC's profile and improve
the way CBC communicates with the world. We have the vision and the content -- what we really need is your creative genius.
To learn more, contact CBC Communications Director Jim Brown at 916-446-7558 or jimbrown@calbike.org
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| Federal economic stimulus funding |
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CBC calls for spending on bike/ped projects
Now that Pres. Barack Obama has signed a $789 billion economic stimulus plan that includes funding for state transportation projects, CBC is calling on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to ensure that California spends a share of its funding on ready-to-build bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects.
The stimulus plan includes $27.5 billion for transportation projects, of which 3% or about $825 million must be set aside for so-called "transportation enhancements." California can expect to receive about 10% of the set-aside or about $82 million. Bicycle and pedestrian projects are two of the 12 categories of projects that can receive transportation enhancement funding.
Congress is requiring each state to submit a list of transportation projects to be built with the stimulus funding. As of December, California's draft list showed $1.4 billion in projects, but included no bike/ped projects.
At a recent joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly transportation committees in Sacramento, CBC called for spending 100% of funding for transportation enhancements on bike/ped projects. Other spending categories include acquisition of scenic easements, archeological planning and creation of museums, which have less job-creating potential than infrastructure construction jobs.
With Caltrans proposing to route all "highway" stimulus funding through the Surface Transportation Plan program, CBC also called for maintaining existing allocation formulas, which would provide 10% of the funding, or about $250 million, to transportation enhancements.
According to America Bikes, a coalition of national bicycle advocates, there are at least $700 million worth of ready-to-build bike/ped projects in California that could be built within a year, and most of those within 90 days of receiving funding.
"Not only would bike/ped projects provide skilled construction jobs, but in these difficult economic times, they will enable more people to choose affordable transportation options like bicycling or walking for getting to work and school," said K.C. Butler, CBC's executive director.
"And many of these projects can be built as part of other roadway projects at a lower cost that building them separately later," Butler said. "With public funds so limited, we should insist on getting the best value for taxpayers."
CBC has called on its members to contact cities and counties to make the case for bike/ped projects and to send letters to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Caltrans Director Will Kempton urging them to include bike/ped projects on California's project list.
CBC also joined some 20 transportation and environmental advocacy organizations to propose specific funding priorities for California's share of stimulus funding in a letter sent recently to Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.
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| CEQA reform
Motor vehicles could lose CEQA preference
The preference given to preserving motor vehicle traffic flows under the California Environmental Quality Act could soon be history.
The Governor's Office of Planning & Research has dropped "level of service," or LOS, as a "significance threshold" from its preliminary draft guidelines for implementing the California Environmental Quality Act, a first step toward dropping it permanently. OPR regularly issues updated CEQA guidelines.
LOS is a measure of operating conditions for motor vehicle traffic at specific locations and times. Under current CEQA guidelines, a project that would significantly increase traffic volumes or congestion must mitigate the impact or be subject to an environmental impact report.
Yet such accommodations often complicate or stall projects that have genuine environmental benefits. At a workshop hosted by the Office of Planning & Research in December, planners from four California cities described how maintaining a specific level of service often compromises efforts to develop high-density in-fill neighborhoods, implement bus rapid-transit, build bike facilities, safeguard pedestrians, and preserve open space and sensitive habitats.
Implementation of San Francisco's bicycle master plan has been stalled for several years by a lawsuit that forced planners to prepare an environmental impact report to address impacts on LOS.
OPR dropped LOS from the preliminary draft CEQA guidelines it issued under a Resources Agency regulation that gives OPR until July 1, 2009, to issue guidelines for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and their effects. Final guidelines must be certified by the Resources Agency by Jan. 1, 2010.
OPR and Caltrans have convened a working group to further address the issues surrounding LOS.
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| Complete Streets |
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Marin cities embrace Complete Streets
Last October California became the nation's second state--and by far the largest--to adopt Complete Streets policies covering every public street, road and highway.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 1358, the Complete Streets Act sponsored by CBC. At the same time Caltrans released a revised internal directive that makes Complete Streets a guiding policy for state highway projects.
AB 1358 takes effect Jan. 1, 2011, but individual cities and counties are already embracing Complete Streets.
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition launched a campaign to have the county's 11 incorporated towns and cities as well as the unincorporated regions of the County adopt Complete Streets policies or ordinances. The campaign began after the Metropolitan Transportation Commission adopted a resolution in 2006 which requires projects receiving MTC funding to consider the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians.
In the past year, the jurisdictions of Corte Madera, Fairfax, Novato, and San Anselmo, as well as unincorporated Marin County, have passed Complete Streets resolutions or ordinances in junction or as part of their bicycle and pedestrian master plans. The other cities have yet to adopt their updated bicycle/pedestrian master plans, but will likely have a Complete Streets resolution included as part of that process.
Meanwhile, MCBC is working to have Complete Streets language adopted as part of any general plan update. This already took place for the County of Marin, and could happen first for cities in Fairfax, Corte Madera and San Rafael.
"In Marin we've had success in showing that complete streets improve safety, benefit all roadway users, and save money for local jurisdictions in the long run," says Deb Hubsmith, MCBC's advocacy director.
"With the adoption of AB1358, California can institutionalize the inclusion of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in roadway construction and reconstruction projects. It's going to take initiative and advocacy, but in the years ahead we can take a huge step forward toward completing bicycle networks throughout the state, which will improve health, livability and safety."
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| Sharing the road |
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Bicycles and NEVs coexist uneasily
The growing popularity of neighborhood electric vehicles, or NEVs, presents the newest challenge to bicyclists trying to share the road.
These compact, lightweight motor vehicles are licensed for use on roadways with speed limits of 35 miles per hour or less. Communities can petition the Legislature to approval of plans that allow NEVs to use streets with higher speed limits. NEVs are particularly popular in suburban and retirement communities.
Lincoln and Rocklin, two neighboring cities east of Sacramento with large retiree populations, have Legislature-approved NEV street networks. On streets with speed limits over 35 MPH, NEVs are confined to NEV-only lanes (sometimes located adjacent to bicycle lanes) or shared NEV-bicycle lanes.
At a public workshop hosted by the city of Lincoln last month to solicit comment on its NEV plan, bicycle advocates presented information about some of the hazards posed by NEVs:
- In shared NEV-bicycle lanes, it's unclear how NEVs and bicycles should share the lane, especially when an NEV overtakes a bicycle.
- On streets where NEVs operate in conventional vehicle traffic, some timid NEV drivers choose to hug the right edge of the street where bicycles must operate.
- In the absence of statewide standards for NEV-related signs and lane markings, out-of-town drivers may not recognize an NEV-only lane, inadvertently forcing NEVs into the path of bicycles.
"We fully support NEVs as an important green technology, but we're disappointed that NEV users restrict themselves to restricted lanes," said CBC board member Jim Baross, who spoke at the workshop in his role as vice-chair of the California Bicycle Advisory Committee, which advises Caltrans. Noting that bicycles are not restricted to bicycle lanes, Baross suggested that NEV use could be encouraged by treating NEVs like any other slow-moving vehicle.
Earlier this year, at the urging of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, Assembly Member Jared Huffman of San Rafael shelved proposed legislation that would have established a statewide pilot program for NEVs.
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| Federal bicycle commuter benefit |
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Bike commuter vouchers available soon
One of the first products to enable employers to provide the new federal bicycle commuter benefit will be introduced next month by the nation's largest provider of employee transit benefit services.
On March 10 Commuter Check will begin selling $20 vouchers to employers that choose to offer the benefit. The company provides tax-free transit benefit services to more than 10,000 employers nationwide.
Last fall Congress authorized employers to begin reimbursing employees for up to $20 a month in bicycle commuting costs such as equipment purchases and monthly storage fees.
The vouchers are valid for 13 months, which enables an employee to spend the annual $240 benefit at one time, and can only be redeemed at bike shops. Shops can contact Commuter Check to request a guide to redeeming the vouchers.
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| Education |
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Upcoming bicycle safety classes
Saturday, Mar. 7, 5-9 pm
1380 Lead Hill Blvd # 201, Roseville, CA 95661
$20
Santa Monica
SmartCycling: Street Skills 101, Part 2
Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009 9am - 3pm
Ocean Ave. and Hollister, Santa Monica, CA 90401
$25 for LACBC members/$30 all others
Oceanside
Traffic Skills 101
Saturday & Sunday, Mar. 27 & 28, 2009 Pacific Coast Highway and Civic Center Drive, 300 N. Coast Hwy., Oceanside, CA 92054 $65 To learn more about these and other courses being offered throughout California, visit the League of American Bicyclists website and select "Courses" and "California." | |
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