Celebrating 30 Years of CalBike Advocacy

We’ve accomplished a lot in three decades of working toward a more bikeable, livable, equitable, and joyful California.

The California Bicycle Coalition Turns 30

In 2024, CalBike celebrates its 30th anniversary. That’s 30 years of advocacy in Sacramento for policies that make it easier to fund and build active transportation infrastructure in communities throughout California.

But we’re not resting on our laurels. We’re planning for the next 30 years. Our mission today is more imperative than ever, as we need to move away from car-choked, climate-destroying roads and build a resilient, climate-friendly, transportation system that gives Californians many mobility options beyond driving a car. Won’t you join us?

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Kendra Ramsey and Jeanie Ward-Waller 2024 CalBike Summit

1994:

CalBike Founded
A group of everyday bicyclists founded the California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike) to empower Californians who wanted more bicycle-friendly communities.
1997:
Bicycle Lane Account Funding
In 1997, CalBike tripled the amount of money in this account.

1997:
1999:

Safe Routes to Schools
CalBike advocated for and helped establish the first statewide Safe Routes to Schools program.
1999:
California Mobility Fund founded
CalBike’s sister organization, originally called the California Bicycle Coalition Education Fund, focuses on charitable work supported by tax-deductible donations.

1999:
2003:

First Biennial California Bicycle Summit Held
Every two years, CalBike brings together advocates, local and regional planners, elected leaders, and agency staffers to chart the course for better biking in California.
2013:
Active Transportation Program Established
CalBike’s advocacy leads to the establishment of California’s Active Transportation Program, which provides funding for biking and walking infrastructure across the state.

2013:
2013:

Three Feet to Pass
CalBike helps pass the Three Feet to Pass law, giving bike riders a margin of safety when cars are passing them on the roads.
2014:
Protected Bikeways Law
CalBike’s Protected Bikeways Law has ushered in an revolutionary era of safer bikeways, protected from moving cars by hardscape, bollards, parked cars, or other streetscape elements.

2014:
2017:

More Funding for Bikeways
CalBike helped pass SB 1, which provided $100 million for the Active Transportation Program. We later fought off a challenge to SB 1, and, in 2022, got a one-time cash infusion of $1 billion for bikes.
2022:
Freedom to Walk
CalBike was instrumental in passing the Freedom to Walk Act, which decriminalized safe midblock crossings, reducing police encounters that can end in violence for BIPOC Californians.

2022:
2024:

Complete Streets
CalBike sponsored and helped pass the Complete Streets Bill, which requires Caltrans to build infrastructure for people who bike, walk, and take transit, in addition to people driving motor vehicles.

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OUR HISTORY

Complete Streets

In 2008, CalBike and AARP won legislation to require local agencies to include Complete Streets policies in their general plans. In 2022, we helped pass a bill that requires updates of city and regional general plans to include safe biking and walking in the circulation plan. In 2024, the Complete Streets Bill we sponsored became law, requiring Caltrans to set goals for biking and walking infrastructure on state roads that are also local streets and to create transit-priority policies.

California Bicycle Summit

A vital pillar of CalBike’s work has been gathering advocates, administrators, planners, industry representatives, and thought leaders in active transportation to share ideas and success stories, making our movement stronger. Beginning in 2011, that gathering became the California Bicycle Summit, a two-day conference that has been held every two years since then, with the 2021 Summit bumped to 2022 because of the pandemic. The Summit alternates between locations in Southern and Northern California.

Budget for Bicycle Infrastructure

CalBike’s ongoing efforts to win more funding for safe bicycle infrastructure started in 1997 when we more than tripled the budget allocated to the Bicycle Lane Account, the only Caltrans account dedicated solely to bicycle projects at the time. We were instrumental in creating the Active Transportation Program, a dedicated funding source for projects that make California streets safer for people biking and walking, in 2013 and have won increased funding for the ATP.

$1 Billion for Bikes

In 2022, we secured $1.1 billion for active transportation projects, more than four times the funding from previous years. In subsequent years, as the governor has tried to claw back the extra funding from the Active Transportation Program, we have continued to fight to restore it and to get more funding for Complete Streets.

Freedom to Walk

CalBike sponsored the Freedom to Walk Act, which decriminalized mid-block crossings and was signed into law in 2022. That same year, we helped pass legislation that requires car drivers to change lanes to pass people on bikes, removed some e-bike restrictions and bike licensing laws, and added leading pedestrian intervals to state-controlled crosswalks.

California E-Bike Incentive Program

In 2021, CalBike secured $10 million in e-bike subsidies for California’s first statewide e-bike incentive program, administered through the California Air Resources Board. We continue to advocate for equitable distribution of funds and for more funding to help Californians afford the greenest electric vehicle.

Riding Out the Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most retail in 2020, CalBike got bike shops designated as essential businesses. We also created resources for safe biking, provided guidance for Slow Streets, and collaborated on a Quick-Build Guide to create more safe streets for biking and walking.

SB 1: Funding for Active Transportation

In 2017, CalBike worked in coalition to win $100 million for biking and walking infrastructure and billions more for safer roads, better transit, and more local control of transportation spending as part of Senate Bill 1, a landmark transportation package.

Protecting Bike Lanes

Before CalBike advocacy succeeded in getting Caltrans to establish an experimental process for allowing protected bike lanes in 2012, bikeways protected by parking, planters, or bollards weren’t legal in California. Protected bikeways have since become the gold standard for bicycle mobility. Studies have shown that protected bikeways reduce injuries and fatalities for people walking, taking transit, and driving, as well as biking.

Laying the Groundwork

CalBike has been instrumental in creating conditions to allow more people to get around by bike. For example, in 2003, CalBike helped create the “Bicycle Blueprint,” California’s first master plan for bicycling. CalBike helped change the rules about electric bicycles to treat them more like bicycles than mopeds in 2015, paving the way for more people to get access to e-bikes.

Safe Routes to Schools

CalBike co-sponsored legislation to create the first statewide Safe Routes to School program in 1999. In 2007, we won an indefinite extension of California’s Safe Routes to School Program. Since the pioneering work of California advocates, including CalBike, Safe Routes programs have expanded to provide funding and programming across the country, sparking a national movement.

CalBike Begins

In 1994, a group of bicyclists founded the California Bicycle Coalition to advocate for more bicycle-friendly communities. With support from the Bicycle Federation of America, they worked with political and community leaders to win more funding for bicycle infrastructure and education.

Check out our more recent work

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