Unprecedented statewide alignment behind new strategic plan
The
CalBike Board and representatives from the eleven largest bicycle
coalitions around the state gathered in Sacramento for two days in
November to forge a new vision for bicycle advocacy in California. They
hammered out a new mission, vision and goal, and approved a set of
strategies to implement that goal. It's the first time that the
community of local bicycle coalitions has aligned itself behind a single
statewide agenda, and it gives us unprecedented power in Sacramento. |
|
|
|
|
|
| In the next few weeks the Governor will release his transportation budget. Your donation right now supports our work to make sure bicycling gets its fair share! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
intense weekend retreat in November followed months of outreach: a
survey of more than 225 advocates and interviews with about two dozen
leaders. Six drafts later, the final 2013-2017 CalBike Strategic Plan is released today.
 |
|
Leaders network at a K St. brewpub in Sacramento.
|
Our goal is to double the amount of bicycling in the Golden State by 2017 and triple it by 2020. We have laid out four key strategies for accomplishing that goal:
- Create networks of high quality bicycle facilities and complete streets.
- Mainstream bicycling in California.
- Strengthen legal protection of people who ride bicycles.
- Grow the bicycle advocacy movement throughout California
While
developing consensus among the local coalitions is always important for
the California Bicycle Coalition, it was especially important for our
5-year strategic plan because each of the eleven largest groups also
agreed to a strategic statewide alignment. Uniting
the advocacy goals and efforts of the largest bicycle coalitions with
CalBike will make for a much more powerful voice on statewide issues, helping us achieve progress for all California's communities.
In
the coming months, CalBike will open up at least three new board seats
to affiliate representatives and create a policy council for local
advocates from around the state to discuss statewide issues and
opportunities. Alignment agreements will be made available to smaller
bicycle coalitions, bicycle clubs, bicycle retailers and others in the
near future. Currently aligned organizations are listed here.
|
CalBike to state officials: "now is not the time to cut bike funding."
 |
|
Innovative projects like San Francisco's
green cycletracks could be at-risk without
vigilance from CalBike. Photo: SFBC
|
Brian Annis had never seen such an assembly of leaders for
bicycling and walking in his 24th floor conference room before. CalBike
was there, along with a half dozen of our allies, to give our
perspective on transportation funding before the governor releases his
budget proposal in January. Annis and his colleagues (from the Bureau of
Transportation and Housing (BTH), the Department of Finance and the
California Transportation Commission) heard our pitch for the value of
bicycling investments to meet many of the state's goals: mobility,
injury reduction, public health, greenhouse gas emissions, and economy.Since
Congress killed most of the dedicated funding for bicycling and walking
in the new federal transportation bill, MAP-21, California could
legally stop most funding bicycling. They won't, however, thanks to you
and the rest of the organized California bicycling movement. However,
the state is making big changes that could make our situation worse, or
much, much better. Now is the time to keep the pressure on the Governor and the Legislature. [read more...]
Reforming the California Bicycle Advisory Committee
Established to advise
Caltrans on "bicycle issues," CBAC has operated with no formal charter
since it was founded in 1992. The organizations and individuals
represented have hardly changed in those two decades. Some organizations
rarely attend, and the committee's recommendations do not command the
respect that a more representative and formal committee would garner. As
a member of CBAC, we have led a consensus effort by the committee to
create a formal charter and a new membership structure to better
represent local advocacy while giving Caltrans the authority to select
members. Caltrans is reviewing our proposal now. In the next couple of
months, we should be asking for candidates to serve on the new and
improved California Bicycle Advisory Committee!
|
|
SAN DIEGO: Advocating for Cycletracks
Their latest campaign is on Montezuma Road,
which has seen 57 bicycle crashes between 1999 and 2012 despite having
bike lanes its entire length. This overly broad street has minimal
street parking and curb cuts, making it a strong candidate for cycletracks - bike lanes separated from vehicle traffic by a barrier. Bike SD's efforts have garnered local media attention
and seem to be changing the discussion around innovative bicycle
infrastructure in San Diego. Such innovations, if approved and
implemented in San Diego, could become a model for advanced bicycle
infrastructure statewide.
|
|
Attend the National Bike Summit - for Free
The League of American Bicyclists is hosting a National Bike Summit in Washington DC from March 4-6
in the coming year. More than 800 bicycling advocates and government
staff are coming together to tell Congress about the benefits of
bicycling. Now the L.A.B., in cooperation with the National Bicycle Dealers Association , is offering 25 scholarships for bike shop owners and key staff to attend the National Bike Summit! Find out more about the scholarship program at the LAB's website.
Get Ready for Recycle-a-Bicycle Youth Summit
The
dates have been announced for Recycle-a-Bicycle's national youth
summit. The summit will be held February 15-17 at the New School in New
York City. This national summit has drawn many advocates from
California in years past. Find out more details at their website. |
Green Lane Project reports doubling of protected bike lanes in 2012The Green Lane Project,
an organization working closely with six cities (San Francisco,
Portland, Austin, Chicago, Memphis and Washington, DC) to build
world-class cycling networks, recently reported that 2012 saw a doubling of protected, colored bike lanes
across the country. The Green Lane Project recorded 102 protected bike
lanes in 32 cities around the country, and reports that over 100 new
protected bike lanes will be built in the coming year.
Protected lanes help encourage those "interested but concerned"
bicyclists, estimated to be around 60% of the population, who are
interested in bicycling but consider it too dangerous and inconvenient
to try on our current bicycle networks. Of the 32 cities with protected
bike lanes, however, only 5 of them are in California: San Francisco,
Alameda, San Jose, Palm Springs, and Los Angeles. CalBike is committed
to making it easier to build protected bike lanes across the state,
getting more people out of their cars and onto bikes.
|
|
This issue is dedicated to Ellen Fletcher
 |
| Photo: Richard Masoner |
Ellen Fletcher, one of California's pioneering bike advocates, died of cancer last month at the age of 83. Her leadership is why Palo Alto is as bicycle-friendly as it is today.
She
settled in Palo Alto in the early 1970s and quick got involved in
traffic safety and bicycle promotion. Upset with the city's poor
progress in making bike improvements, she ran for City Council where for
12 years she served as California's most visible and most effective
elected official bicycling advocate. She owned a car -- a 1964 Plymouth
Reliant -- but was famous for almost never using it, filling its tank
about "once a year," she said.
For
her assertiveness, dedication, wit, and humor, she is a hero to all
Californians who want safer, healthier, more livable communities through
bicycling. This issue of the CalBike Report is dedicated to her
honor.
CalBike Welcomes New Officers
During
the November CalBike retreat, the board of directors elected new
officers for the California Bicycle Coalition. Alexis Lantz has been
elected president of the board, Charlie Gandy as vice president,
Samantha Ollinger as treasurer, and Christopher Kidd as secretary.
 |
|
The new CalBike officers, left to right: Samantha Ollinger, Charlie Gandy, Alexis Lantz, Christopher Kidd
|
Alexis Lantz - Alexis Lantz, MA, is a policy analyst with the PLACE Program
at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Previously, she
was the Planning & Policy Director at the Los Angeles County Bicycle
Coalition ( LACBC).
During her tenure at LACBC she conducted the first ever citywide
bicycle and pedestrian count for the City of Los Angeles and had a hand
in shaping policies in the city and county of Los Angeles to increase
infrastructure for bicycling as well as the amount and diversity of
people bicycling for everyday transportation. She also worked to expand
countywide advocacy capacity for bikeways and complete streets through
LACBC's Regional Partnership program and developing the recently
launched Neighborhood Bicycle Ambassador program.
Charlie Gandy - is president of Livable Communities Inc.,
a nationally recognized consulting firm. He has served as mobility
coordinator for the City of Long Beach, as director of advocacy programs
for the Bicycle Federation of America, and as the founding executive
director of the Texas Bicycle Coalition, as well as one of the youngest
people ever elected to the Texas House of Representatives.
Samantha Ollinger
- Last fall, Sam quit her full time job as a financial manager to
devote all her energy toward making San Diego the world's most bicycle
friendly city. She publicizes the current state of bicycling at BikeSD.org. She previously served on the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition board.
Christopher Kidd - is an active transportation planner with Alta Planning + Design
in their Berkeley, CA office. While a graduate student in Los Angeles,
Christopher founded the Los Angeles Department of Transportation's award
winning LADOT Bike Blog and social media strategy.
The
new officers would like to thank the outgoing leadership core of
CalBike: president Chris Morfas, vice president Andrew Casteel, and
secretary Jennifer Stanley. CalBike would like to give special thanks
to Chris Morfas for his dedication in steering the organization through
the process of adopting a new strategic plan and adopting alignment
agreements with the local bicycle coalitions. CalBike would also like
to thank Jennifer Stanley, who is leaving the CalBike board, for her
eight years of invaluable service.
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment