Category Archives: State

ACTION ALERT: Tell our elected officials to stop taking oil money

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As you might have seen a few weeks ago, the California Assembly Transportation Committee killed a bill that would have ensured that our neediest communities are represented in state transportation decision-making. Apparently, some on the Transportation Committee think the interests of the freight industry are more important than those of disadvantaged communities.

The fact is, oil industries dump millions of dollars into ensuring that they can continue polluting our communities and limiting people’s transportation options to the one mode—driving—that requires buying more gasoline. The oil industry spends more money on lobbying in California’s capital in one year than the California Bicycle Coalition spends on our entire operation in twenty years. Our state lawmakers take money from the oil industry, and then roll over and play dead when pressured by their lobbyists.

Sign your name immediately to tell lawmakers: You represent us, not Big Oil.

As some California lawmakers are more willing than ever to take bold action to work to help our communities be less dependent on automobiles, lawmakers backed by secretive PACs and oil companies regularly disappoint us. Most recently they killed our bill to ensure the most environmentally burdened communities are represented on the California Transportation Commission; they gutted the provision of SB 350 that would have cut petroleum use in half by 2030. The members that take oil money talk about “pavement health” more than public health.

That’s why the California Bicycle Coalition is teaming up with a dozen partnering organizations in getting our collective members to demand that California’s elected officials stop taking money from oil companies.

Take action now. Demand that California lawmakers stop taking oil money.

Thanks for your support,

Jeanie Ward Waller
Policy Director
California Bicycle Coalition

PS–share this message with your friends on Facebook and Twitter to spread the word!

Cynthia Rose and Mobility Plan 2035 Are LACBC’s National Advocacy Award Winners!

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We are thrilled to announce that Cynthia Rose and LACBC have been awarded multiple Advocacy Awards by the Alliance for Biking & Walking at this year’s National Bike Summit & Women’s Forum in Washington DC!

After receiving five nominations, Monday night we took home:

  • Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award - Cynthia Rose, Santa Monica Spoke

  • Winning Campaign of the Year - Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Mobility Plan 2035

Cynthia Rose rides a Breeze Bike Share bike with Countri Bike's Jeffrey Tannenhaus around Santa Monica. Photo: Santa Monica Spoke.

Cynthia Rose rides a Breeze Bike Share bike with Countri Bike’s Jeffrey Tannenhaus around Santa Monica.

Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award

This award commemorates Susie Stephens, one of the Alliance’s founders and an enduring inspiration for many members of the bicycle and pedestrian movement. The honor goes to an individual who carries on Susie’s passion for advocating for bicycling as a fun and economical means of transportation, as well as creating a safe biking and walking environment for all.

  •     Cynthia Rose, Santa Monica Spoke

I feel so incredible honored to have received this award that commemorates the dedication and inspiration of Susie Stephens. I am so grateful to her and her inspirational mother who has carried on her daughters enthusiasm with her own commitment and dedication. With that I must say that like any successful advocacy – there are many to thank. Those that preceded us and make our work and successes possible, those that continue today working with us side by side, and in Santa Monica to our wonderful, talented community and civic partners that help and support us in creating a safer environment that encourages more people to walk and bike. I am deeply appreciative of all these partners every single day. 

Thank you to the Alliance of Biking and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists for their national leadership and support of local advocacy — and to our regional and state partners at LACBC and the California Bicycle Coalition. 

“Together We Lead” our communities to a healthier, safer, more equitable future biking and walking.

— Cynthia Rose 

From the Alliance for Biking & Walking: “Cynthia Rose, a co-founder of Santa Monica Spoke, is also known to many in the Los Angeles area as ‘Purple’ (her favorite color) — but her vibrance spans the spectrum of bicycle advocacy. She played a key role in helping launch the first public bike share program in Los Angeles County: Breeze Bike Share, and pioneered the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Local Chapter program. She is an educator, an advocate and a rider leader, but even her actions are outdone by her joyful enthusiasm. Her bright smile and infectious attitude have invited countless new riders into the movement by making bicycling welcoming and fun. As her nominator summed up: ‘Cynthia truly is an inspiration.'”

Winning Campaign of the Year

This award goes to an organization for a winning campaign, in the last year, which has had the biggest impact on walking and biking. Their victory will dramatically increase active transportation in their state/ community or will dramatically shift the way that walking and biking are considered.

  • Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Mobility Plan 2035

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From the Alliance for Biking & Walking: “With 300 miles of protected bike lanes, the adoption of Vision Zero and a central commitment to safety, the Mobility Plan 2035 passed by the Los Angeles City Council in 2015 marked a major transformation for big city transportation. Behind the scenes, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition helped to lead that charge with a thoughtful, strategic and multi-year campaign to increase access and safety for all. Their inside-outside game, rallied the public and LACBC members to engage with their policymakers, brought new partners to table and authentically considered the need of all road users, from bicyclists to bus riders. Read much more about their effort here.”

We would like to thank all of our members, partners, and supporters for making these wins possible! These wins (plus our additional nominations) are recognition of every call to action you’ve responded to, every meeting you’ve attended, every letter or email you’ve written, every public comment you’ve made, every hour of time you’ve volunteered in the office or on the streets, every hashmark recorded for our bike and ped counts, and every bike light installed as a member of Team Firefly, not to mention every mile you’ve pedaled either with us or on our behalf. We hope you’ll help Santa Monica Spoke, LACBC and all our local chapters continue this work to make Los Angeles County a great place for all people from all communities to ride their bikes everywhere, safely and conveniently, by becoming a member of LACBC and a local chapter or renewing your membership.

Congrats to Cynthia and all the other winners: Living Streets Alliance (Tucson), Fernando Martinez, and Community Cycling Center (Portland). Read more about all the winners on the Alliance for Biking & Walking blog.

Election Survey: California Bicycle Coalition

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10898011_768627483174762_7302232925429568161_nMake Your Voice Heard!

On June 7th, Californians will vote to elect new members of the state legislature and to choose candidates in the presidential primaries. There are 35 races where the California Bicycle Coalition could endorse a candidate. Locally you can get information and give input via Bike The Vote L.A and follow them on twitter @BIKETHEVOTE.  It’s vital that the bike community speak up and come together to elect bike champions to office. Together we gain the political capital in Sacramento to win the ambitious agenda led by the California Bicycle Coalition. With the right people in office, we can win huge increases in bike funding to complete networks of low-stress bikeways, win complete streets policy with teeth, not just simply disjointed projects with bike lanes here and there.

We invite you to be heard and do your part to help get the right people in office.

1. Register to vote now (especially if you’ve moved in the past year)
2. Fill out this survey so California Bicycle Coalition can learn how best to involve you, politically.

The California Bicycle Coalition enables more people to bicycle for healthier, safer, more prosperous communities for all.

California Bicycle Coalition is a 501(c)(4)
Santa Monica Spoke, LACBC and it’s chapters are all a 501(c)3 that can not and do not endorse political candidates.

NON-PROFIT BIKE-VOTE-INFOGRAPHIC

AB 902, Bicycle Traffic Violation Diversion Programs signed into Law!

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The California Bicycle Coalition has been working with lawmakers, including the bills author ur own Assemblyman Richard Bloom in Sacramento throughout the legislative session to get California to allow bicycle ticket diversion programs for adults*. The diversion programs allow the option to reduce fines for people ticketed on bikes. People ticket on bikes will now be able to take a bicycle education class in the same way drivers of motor vehicles have been allowed to opt for “Traffic School”.

We have good news: Thanks to the work done by California Bicycle Coalition - We won!

Yesterday Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 902, to allow reduced fines for adults who take a bicycle education class. This is huge news and one we have been championing in Santa Monica for many many years. Now with this new law it can further encourage bike riding, make enforcement more equitable, while also helping boosting people’s confidence, knowledge and skills. The California Bicycle Coalition couldn’t have won this bill without it’s members, affiliates and outspoken advocates. We urge you to join the California Bicycle Coalition and help us win more laws that encourage bicycling.

Now that we have won at the state level, implementing diversion programs in Los Angeles and Santa Monica is now in our court. AB 902 goes into effect on January 1, 2016, and it’s up to us and our local partners, advocacy groups and you to make sure that our local police departments adopt diversion programs in our city.

We invite you to support the California Bicycle Coalition, and our local bicycle advocacy. We can only move this work forward with supporters like you!

*Currently only minors can opt for traffic diversion for bicycle traffic tickets.

Call to Action: Bills to transform how California funds bikeways

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Calbike FundingOur California Bicycle Coalition has two hugely important bills that will transform how California funds bikeway projects. Here’s what these laws would do:

  • Implement a Complete Streets policy for state funding: We are thankful to Senator Jim Beall for including sensible complete streets provisions in SBX 1-1 that will make the wisest use of road maintenance funding by including “new bicycle and pedestrian safety, access, and mobility improvements” in every project funded by the state. It calls for sidewalks and protected bike lanes or bike paths in transit-dense areas on most roads with a speed limit over 25 miles per hour.
  • Increase dedicated funding for biking and walking: Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, Autumn Burke, and David Chiu’s ABX 1-23, doubles the size of the Active Transportation Program (ATP) with a $125 million increase. The ATP is the sole source of state funding dedicated to biking walking and Safe Routes to School projects. Last year, the ATP was underfunded by nearly $800 million for shovel-ready walking, bicycling and safe school access projects. ABX 1-23 also includes a bike network grants program that will support local agencies to build whole networks that connect every destination in communities like yours with an unbroken web of bike paths, protected bike lanes, and quiet bicycle boulevards.

Now we need your help. Contact your state Senator and Assemblymember now to let them know that you support implementing strong “complete streets” policies to ensure that state funding is being spent to build protected bike lanes, increasing the Active Transportation Program, and creating a state program to give cities large grants to build out entire bike networks.