CalBike at the National Bike Summit

As I prepared for my first California Bicycle Summit since becoming CalBike’s executive director, I had the wonderful experience of going to the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. I got to experience the city’s bicycle infrastructure on a tour, heard inspiring speakers, and helped present an award to retiring Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer.

Learning from D.C. innovations

Our nation’s capital is a biking city, and it’s done numerous things to make getting around by bike safe, convenient, and comfortable. 

First, the city-wide speed limit is 20 mph unless otherwise marked. Speed is a major factor in road fatalities, and a 20 mph limit is a sensible safety measure I’d like to see more of in California. CalBike advocated for a law making it easier for our cities to lower speed limits, but we still have work to do at the state level to enable local safety improvements.

The bike tour I took included advisory bike lanes, a shared-travel lane marking that creates space for bikes on roads too narrow for separate bikeways and requires all users to work together to share the road. The ones in D.C. — in a residential neighborhood not far from the well-known monuments — seemed to work well.

We also rode the separated bikeway in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue. While that concept has not worked on Valencia Street in San Francisco, it created a separated bicycle thruway that was fast and fun. 

A growing movement for speed governors

This July, the EU will require intelligent speed assistance (ISA), also called speed limiters or speed governors, on all new cars sold in member countries. ISA alerts drivers, through sound or vibration, when their vehicle exceeds the speed limit, and it’s a growing movement in the U.S. D.C. passed a law requiring ISA for drivers with multiple speeding tickets. Ventura County installed ISA on municipal vehicles. As a speaker at a session on tackling the problem of traffic violence noted, at 40 mph, there is no crosswalk marking bold enough to get a car driver to stop.

CalBike is sponsoring the Safe Vehicles Save Lives Bill (SB 961), which would require ISA on new cars sold in California starting in 2027. It was exciting to feel momentum for this sensible safety feature building at the National Bike Summit.

Awarding a career bike champion

Representative Earl Blumenauer is one of the fiercest bicycle advocates in Washington. He founded and co-chairs the Congressional Bike Caucus and has been championing funding for active transportation for three decades. 

I was honored to join in presenting Blumenauer with a lifetime “bikepartisanship” award from the League of American Bicyclists, in my role as president of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. The event included inspiring speeches by elected officials and others, including this comment from Massachusetts Representative Ed Markey that summed it all up: “Enough is enough. Complete Streets save lives.”

Looking forward to the California Bicycle Summit

I attended many more fantastic sessions at the National Bike Summit, including a panel on best practices for effectively working with government agencies and success stories from local advocates. The lobby day was a powerful experience; there’s nothing like meeting face-to-face to get your message across to elected officials.

I’m excited to join another group of passionate and dedicated advocates, planners, elected officials, and bike professionals this Thursday at the California Bicycle Summit. When we brainstorm together, we lay strong foundations for change. I hope to see you there.