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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.

Complete Streets bill passes

Influencing the Active Transportation Guidelines

The California Bicycle Coalition is representing local advocates and bicycle programs as we advise the California Transportation Commission on the guidelines for the new Active Transportation Program. The ATP replaces five other funding sources for which bike projects were  eligible and represents a 35{850a63fa8a72bae4d6bfa3f1eda9f619cddace10f9053ede128e2914f9ca5a15} increase in funding for biking and walking projects. This spring $130 […]

The future of California’s transportation in light of proposed changes

A new federal transportation program has cut dedicated bike/ped funding by a third, but it  maintained the program’s flexibility. The California Transportation Agency has proposed using that flexibility to actually increase bike/ped funding. However, the increase of approximately 30{850a63fa8a72bae4d6bfa3f1eda9f619cddace10f9053ede128e2914f9ca5a15} is part of a plan to eliminate a number of long standing bike/ped programs into a […]

Delivering on the promise of California’s Active Transportation Program

Bicycling and walking will receive a 35% boost in dedicated state funding thanks to a bill just signed by the Governor. The bill restructures pedestrian, bicycle, trails, and Safe Routes to School programs into a single $129 million fund called the Active Transportation Program. The fund represents by far the largest state set-aside for bicycling […]

The Active Transportation Program and Why It’s Important

A major victory for CalBike this year has been the increase in funding of the newly-created Active Transportation Program (ATP). Months of negotiations and hard work have resulted in the increase of the ATP’s budget from $90 million to $129 million. California’s transportation budget is $12 billion. Active transportation in the budget is dedicated towards […]

Brown’s confusing reason for vetoing SB 910 doesn’t make the problem go away

This afternoon Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 910, our bill to establish three feet as the minimum passing distance when drivers pass bicyclists from behind under most circumstances. We share the disappointment of the thousands of Californians who contacted their legislators and the Governor on behalf of this bill and of author Sen. Alan […]

Biking because it’s fun

I love it when the head of the Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 says that “environmental benefits” aren’t even in the top three reasons why he bikes. I met Jared Blumenfeld years ago when he did an amazing job as head of the SF Department of the Environment. Because he was an everyday bicycle rider, I was thrilled to […]

CalBike Supports the ATP, but it’s only a very small step toward the $8 billion needed

The new federal transportation program has cut dedicated bike/ped funding by a third, but it maintained flexibility. The California Transportation Agency has proposed using that flexibility to consolidate a number of programs into the single Active Transportation Program. It eliminated important long-standing programs, like the Bicycle Transportation Account and Safe Routes to School, but increased […]

Budget Deal a bad one for biking

Sacramento lawmakers approved a budget this week that showed no explicit increase for the most efficient transportation investment: bicycling. They did make significant new investments in other elements of sustainable communities — public transit, affordable housing near transit, for example — but they failed to recognize the need for funding to retrofit our streets and […]

Bike Crashes and Police Priority

About a month ago Amelie Le Moullac was killed when a truck driver turned right into her path as she was pedaling east on Folsom Street in San Francisco. As usual, the police showed up, called it an “accident” and no charges were filed. As usual, the bicycle advocacy group and loved ones of the […]

Achieving Gender Equity on Two Wheels

This month I had the life-affirming experience of attending the first ever National Women’s Bicycling Summit in Long Beach. Organized by the League of American Bicyclists, the summit brought together more than 275 women (and not nearly enough men — CalBike’s Dave Snyder was among the few) from around the country to share their stories, successes, and […]

CalBike’s 2011 CTCDC Reform Pays Off as committee approves new bike lane designs and 3-foot law sign

by Chris Kidd In more evidence that CalBike’s work to reform the California Traffic Control Devices Committee (CTCDC) is paying off, last week the committee approved new designs for bike lanes and a new traffic sign notifying motorists of the new Three-Foot Law. Their quick action enables these changes to be included in the new California Manual on […]