Category Archives: Press

Breeze Bike Share Systems Testing Continues YEY!

We have some GREAT News!

_1240766_1As Breeze Bike Share enters the next phase installing the full city wide station network It has been decided that Breeze Bike Share test bikes will remain in the field for continued use through at least the end of October! Yippee!!
Throughout the testing phase there has been a tremendous amount of positive feedback both at Breeze HQ and to our Breeze Outreach Teams. Even before the system test launched people were expressing real enthusiasm about bike share. Since the test bikes hit the street the enthusiasm has expanded to include their experiences using the bikes. Keeping the bikes on the street will provide more opportunity to give input and feedback and will also provide additional benefit for the Founding Members to continue to ride Breeze bikes as the installation begins of the complete network of stations in Santa Monica and into Venice.
It has been great fun and a pleasure seeing so many of Breeze Bikes around town.  Don’t mss out: You can still become a founding member at the special annual price of $99 and get all the extra benefits.

If you have any question or comments, please look for our Breeze Outreach Teams around town in bright green Breeze t-shirts or you can send questions and comments to info@breezebikeshare.com or call them at (310) 828-2525.

Join our Breeze Outreach Team and you get to be a System Tester!

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2015 Commuter Challenge – Beyond just bikes?

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Friday
 marks the start of Santa Monica’s 2015 Commuter Challenge Bike Month.

From May 1st to May 31st, folks working or living in Santa Monica can compete on a team or individual basis to save the most CO2 and/or obtain the highest rates of participation by logging their commute trips on CommuteSM.com.
At the end of the month, individuals, teams, and companies with the greatest CO2 reductions and participation rates will be awarded numerous prizes from local businesses.
Santa Monica’s 2015 Commuter Challenge is sponsored by RideAmigos, Urban Trans, Paradise Consulting, the City of Santa Monica, Santa Monica Spoke, Laemmle Theaters, McCabe’s Guitar Shop, Magicopolis, American Cinematheque, Lemonade, Dethrone Basecamp, Caffe Luxxe, IZIP Store, the Santa Monica Bike Center, Bike Attack, Pedego Santa Monica, Cynergy Cycles, Zone 3 Multisport, Helen’s Cycles, SM Spoke, and Downtown LA Bikes.

Individuals can participate in the Bike Month Challenge by visiting www.commuteSM.com, and registering with their employer network. Santa Monica residents employed outside of the city can join the SM Residents Employed Outside of City network..

Happy Commuting!
Ma’ayan DemboAnd to all those people on bikes – don’t forget to join us in the National Bike Challenge! Find out more here – join the team here!
For more information on the Commuter Challenge, visit www.commuteSM.com

TAKE ACTION: Support Safer People, Safer Streets at Council Tuesday 3/17

ActionAlertSMSpoke

 

 

 

Tell Santa Monica City Council you support SAFER STREETS for EVERYONE with an email now!

You are invited to attend the meeting and speak!

This Tuesday, March 17th Santa Monica City Council will consider the official adoption of US
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx’s challenge of mayors and local elected officials to take significant action to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities over the next year.

With pedestrian and cyclist deaths accounting for a rising share of U.S. traffic fatalities and Congress not exactly raring to take action, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is issuing a direct challenge to America’s mayors to improve street safety. Foxx unveiled the “Mayors’ Challenge for Safer People and Safer Streets” at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Transportation Committee meeting in Washington.

Mayor McKeown and Councilmember O’Connor have submitted a request to Santa Monica City Council to authorize Santa Monica’s participation in the US Department of Transportation’s “Mayors’ Challenge for Safer People, Safer Streets” (see agenda item request below)

Mayor McKeown attended the Mayors’ Summit for Safer People, Safer Streets last week in Washington DC, where cities have join together to commit to spend the next year helping their communities undertake seven activities to improve safety. The challenge is based on the 2010 USDOT Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation. Click here for an executive summary of the Mayors’ Challenge.

March 17th City Council Agenda Item13-E:
Request of Mayor McKeown and Councilmember O’Connor that the Council authorize Santa Monica’s participation in the United States Department of Transportation’s “Mayors’ Challenge for Safer People, Safer Streets,” and reaffirm that pedestrian and bicycle mobility and safety are of the utmost importance by pursuing a multi-departmental approach to complete streets and safety. The goal of complete streets is to make streets safe and convenient for all road uses and for people of all ages and abilities. Santa Monica’s Bicycle Action Plan and Pedestrian Action Plan should incorporate best practices from complementary initiatives such as Vision Zero (no loss of life acceptable), and 8-80 Cities (if a city works for persons who are 8 years old and 80 years old, it will be good for all).

Use this template or email directly to send your support – please feel free to add your personal comments.

Send email directly to: Council@SMGov.net, Clerk@SMGov.net, BikePlan@SMSpoke.org

[emailpetition id=”5″]

VOTE 2014 STREETSIE AWARDS: Santa Monica Locals Nominated, Cynthia Rose and more!

 Vote for Your 2014 Streetsies
Then Donate to Streetsblog!

streetsie_2014Santa Monica Spoke’s own Cynthia Rose has been nominated for outstanding contributions for advocacy and leadership as a finalist for the Streetsies 2014: Deborah Murphy Award for Excellence in Advocacy. What an incredible line up of finalists they have again this year!

VOTE FOR CYNTHIA!

We are so honored and excited with the nomination. Equally exciting is Santa Monica’s Strategic Planning & Transportation Manager Francie Stefan being nominated in the Civil Servant of the Year category. Francie Stefan has been one of the major motivating forces behind the city’s vision for truly shared streets. Whether it is at the conceptual level, the community planning process, or in the implementation, Stefan has been a strong advocate for complete streets in Santa Monica” 

VOTE FOR FRANCIE!

STREETSBLOGLA
[Award for Excellence in Advocacy]…the hardest Streetsie to narrow down the nominees. The hardest Streetsie to vote.
Voting for all categories will close on Friday, January 2, 2015, at noon. Reader voting accounts for one-half of the scoring this year, with one-quarter going to staff voting, and another one-quarter going to a board vote.

Cynthia RosePurple on Brompton - As Director of Santa Monica Spoke, Cynthia has worked tirelessly to make Santa Monica a better place to bike, walk, and live – all in an unpaid volunteer capacity. As a founder, she has built SM Spoke into a highly respected voice for change via numerous local and regional alliances. The organization has become a key partner for the city, credited with playing a key role in the creation of the city’s Bicycle Action Plan. Cynthia has also been at the forefront of forming the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s Local Chapter Program, of which SMSpoke is the inaugural chapter. The Local Chapter Program is key in reaching all 88 municipalities in vast Los Angeles County. Does that sound familiar? It might. This is the text for Rose’s nomination for the Alliance for Walking and Bicycling’s Advocate of the Year Award in 2014.

In another stiff competition, Cynthia Rose was nominated for the Alliance of Biking and Walking National Advocate of the year for 2014.

Additionally – in the Liveable Streets Sustainable Business category is a nomination for the Santa Monica Bike Center.

VOTE FOR BIKE CENTER

 

Introducing, the new Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

Introducing LACBC’s new Executive Director, Tamika Butler!

Screen Shot 2014-12-17 at 11.50.10 PMAfter an extensive national search, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has selected Tamika Butler to lead LACBC into the next phase of continued growth as we further our mission to make the Los Angeles region a healthy, safe and fun place to ride a bike.

“I’m really proud of the process and results of the search and couldn’t be more excited about Tamika as our next Executive Director,” says LACBC Board President Steve Boyd. “Tamika is the ideal leader to write LACBC’s next chapter.”

Tamika brings to LACBC a proven track record of sustainably expanding and running programs and organizations, as well as a policy and advocacy background. She spent three years as an employment lawyer at the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center and most recently comes from Liberty Hill Foundation, where she was the Director of Social Change Strategies. She first made her mark in Los Angeles as the California Director at the startup policy and advocacy organization Young Invincibles, where she managed the west coast regional staff, was the media and policy spokesperson, organized and led coalitions, developed curriculum and trainings, and fundraised to expand the organization’s presence on the west coast. She also developed relationships with community leaders and state and local lawmakers to advance the organization’s policy goals.

“I am thrilled to have the privilege to become the next Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and look forward to continuing the success, growth and cutting edge Screen Shot 2014-12-17 at 11.50.27 PMwork of the organization. Biking in Los Angeles County has personally changed my life and deepens my love of the region every time I go for a ride. We’re lucky to live and bike in a county full of diverse communities that motivate this talented staff and me to push towards building a healthier, more vibrant Los Angeles County. I am excited to start pedaling, dig deep, and get to work with our members and partners, within and across sectors, as we race to the front lines of the nationwide movement to create bikeable, safe and sustainable neighborhoods.” One of Tamika’s top priorities is to grow the diversity of LACBC staff and coalition membership.

When Jen Klausner started as Executive Director in 2007, there was only one other employee at headquarters and it was a real struggle to keep doors open. Jen and the organization faced an uphill battle at City Hall to pass the Los Angeles Bicycle Plan and get pavement striped with room for bikes. Seven years later, under her leadership, there are now twelve employees working on your behalf with a LOT of successes! Our growing roster of twelve local chapters will extend that reach even further as we strive to more fully represent the diversity of those who bicycle and want to bicycle in all neighborhoods across Los Angeles County. Tamika brings deep experience in social justice work and looks forward to working with the full range of communities across the county. We couldn’t be more excited.

Jen says, “Our new Executive Director Tamika Butler brings a fresh perspective to the leadership of LACBC, and one that is so relevant to the growth of the bike-ped movement and to important dialogues happening here and in cities across the nation. I am confident in Tamika’s ability to take LACBC to the next level, and I, for one, will be staying tuned and keeping my membership current, because this organization is poised to do great things in the coming years. Please join me in extending a very warm welcome to Tamika!”

Jen Mishory, Executive Director of Young Invincibles, agrees that Tamika will make a great Executive Director: “Tamika is a dynamic, innovative leader who will be a huge asset to the LACBC team. She brought Young Invincibles to new heights and I know that she’ll do the same in her new role!”

We look forward to introducing Tamika to our members, partners and supporters at the first available opportunity in January. Look for announcements of those opportunities in our weekly newsletter, on the website, and through Facebook and Twitter. And don’t forget—as part of our end of year campaign, any donation at the $250 level and above will get you an invitation to our January 22nd Donor Thank You Party—an intimate gathering with our brand new Executive Director, Tamika Butler, in attendance. Hope to see you there!