Six Things to Prepare for a Bike-Friendly 2018, #4: Show Your Local Advocacy Organization Some Love.

Most of the decisions about whether your street is going to be safe for biking are made at the local level, by city councils or County Boards or regional agencies. They are fights over real estate on the street. State policy matters—we work hard for policies that make it easier for locals to win those street fights—but the fights are local. So join your local advocacy organization today. If you don’t know who they are, check out our list of local partners.

Local advocates had some great wins in 2017. Two highlights include California’s entry in the People for Bikes list of the best new bikeways in the U.S.: Bancroft Way. It’s a short stretch, but a hard-won and beautifully built protected bikeway filling a dangerous gap in Berkeley’s bike network. Congratulations Bike East Bay on this win brought about by your passionate advocacy. And cheers to Sacramento Area Bike Advocates for convincing Caltrans to completely rebuild the Arden Way/Capitol City Freeway providing a new, direct connection between the nearest Light Rail transit stop in the underserved neighborhood of North Sacramento and the major retail job centers along Arden Way on the other side of the freeway.

Plus, it’s time to welcome three new executives to the helms of local advocacy organizations: Erik Jansen took over at the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition; Joey Juhasz-Lukomski heads Bike Ventura; and the one and only Marven Norman takes an executive policy role at the Inland Empire Biking Alliance.