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CalBike’s blog — sharing the biking news you need to know

Stay informed about the bicycling movement in California by reading this blog and subscribing to our monthly newsletter, the CalBike Report. Keep apprised of which bills we are supporting with our Legislative Watch page, which we update regularly.

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Governor Gavin Newsom
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SF in line to lead the state with Vision Zero campaign

Last year, the 21 people killed while walking or biking in San Francisco represented the highest count since 2007, as noted a statement from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Walk San Francisco. In response, the SF Bicycle Coalition, WalkSF, and over twenty community groups are calling on the Board of Supervisors, the SFMTA and Mayor Ed Lee to […]

Stop caring about auto congestion in environmental analysis, says OPR

A new law changes a perverse aspect of the California Environmental Quality Act that required local agencies to consider delays to motor vehicles worse for the environment than negative impacts on bicycle safety. The Governor’s Office of Planning & Research is writing new guidelines to comply with the law, eliminating “automobile level of service” as […]

Advice to Council submitted

The California Bicycle Coalition has submitted two letters to the Strategic Growth Council with feedback on their proposed guidelines for administering the $130 million “Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities” grant program. The program is intended to support measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing vehicle miles traveled and could play an important role in […]

New GHSA Report Gets It Wrong

A recent report by the Governors Highway Safety Association attracted a great deal of attention, but the way they present the data is misleading. The report implies that riding a bike in California has gotten more dangerous in the past few years. In fact, bicycling is almost twice as safe in California as it was […]

New GHSA Report Gets It Wrong

A recent report by the Governors Highway Safety Association attracted a great deal of attention, but the way they present the data is misleading. The report implies that riding a bike in California has gotten more dangerous in the past few years. In fact, bicycling is almost twice as safe in California as it was […]

Caltrans Developing Protected Bike Lane Guidelines

Your California Bicycle Coalition is advising Caltrans on the guidelines for protected bike lanes as part of a select committee that is reviewing the current draft. The committee is working fast to meet the official deadline of December 31 set by our bill, the Protected Bikeway Act of 2014 (AB 1193, Ting), that defined a […]

Caltrans sets familiar-sounding goal to triple bicycling by 2020

Last week, Caltrans released a new Strategic Management Plan to chart the course of the Department’s work for the next 5 years. The Plan outlines five cross-cutting goals and dozens of strategic objectives that Caltrans aims to achieve by 2020, under categories that range from ‘safety and health’ to ‘sustainability, livability, and economy’. There are a number […]

ATP Funded projects have been released

Comment by Dave Snyder The California Transportation Commission (CTC) released the list of projects recommended for funding in the first part of the first cycle of the Active Transportation Program, the only state pot of funding dedicated exclusively to walking and biking. So far, we can draw three conclusions: The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) staff can do […]

Governor’s May revised budget ignores Active Transportation Program

On May 14 (Bike to Work Day in LA and the Bay Area), the Governor released his “May revise” budget proposal, and despite over $1 billion in new available revenues, we were disappointed that the Active Transportation Program (ATP) did not see an increase in funding. Earlier this spring, 120 organizations statewide called for an […]

SSTI review of Caltrans scathing and hopeful

I just took advantage of a long plane trip to finish reading this long and thorough review of Caltrans written by the State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI). It’s surprising to see such stinging criticism of a state agency commissioned by another agency and it’s hopeful to see a roadmap for transformation of the agency. SSTI calls for a major […]

SSTI Independent Caltrans Review 1.28.14

SSTI Independent Caltrans Review 1.28.14 This report, commissioned by the California State Transportation Agency, thoroughly reviews Caltrans and finds an agency in dire need of a culture change. Its indictment of the agency’s processes and perspective is scathing but it also provides a roadmap to leverage the agency’s strengths to transform it into an modern […]

How NYC is Stifling the Critics

According to a new study, bicyclists are more law-abiding since the City revitalized its infrastructure with bikeways, bike sharing, and a commitment to Vision Zero. It seems that when bicyclists are respected by the City, they respect the City’s laws in kind. In New York and elsewhere, significant opposition to pro-bike initiatives has been justified with the perception that […]