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According to the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, “Marin County Safe Routes to Schools (SR2S) is pleased to announce its new Green Ways to School campaign to combat global warming, funded by a $175,000 grant from the Marin Community Foundation’s Climate Change Initiative. The Green Ways to School campaign will feature the new SchoolPool on-line trip sharing program, new contests, and cash incentives for the schools that show the greatest increase in green trips to school by walking, biking, carpooling or taking the bus.

Building on the success of Marin’s nationally recognized SR2S program, the Green Ways campaign will employ a classroom competition within schools, and challenges between schools with cash awards. Parents will be able to use the on-line SchoolPool program to build a network of friends to share the journey to school modeled after employee ridesharing programs; SchoolPool will provide parents with match-lists of schoolmates who live along their route to school. They can then form a carpool, walk or bike together, or find bus buddies for their children. Walking or bicycling in groups provides safety in numbers and provides socializing time as well as exercise on the way to school, for both the children and the parents. The program will be unveiled on January 21, 2010 at 4 p.m. “

For more information visit www.marinbike.org

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) is proud to announce that their involvement with the cities of Glendale and Burbank have led to momentous results in the two cities becoming bicycle friendly communities.

According to LACBC, “Due to our participation in Glendale as part of the Safe and Healthy Streets PLACE Grant, Glendale has started to take visible steps in becoming more bike friendly.” The most recent advancement is the newly painted sharrows, or shared roadway markings on some of Burbank’s neighborhood streets. These ‘sharrows’ are a relatively new street marking for bicyclists whose main purpose is to guide cyclists to ride outside the car door zone, where they could potentially collide with a door opened by a motorist.

In Burbank, LACBC welcomed the new Bicycle Master Plan that was adopted on December 15th, 2009. According to LACBC, “This plan offers visionary and creative options for the planning of bicycle infrastructure in Burbank and Los Angeles. LACBC was present at the adoption and brought up important points about how Burbank and Glendale could potentially work together to ensure mutually beneficial outcomes and good connectivity between the two cities.”

For more information visit http://www.la-bike.org/

According to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, “We’re pleased that (Mayor) Gavin Newsom announced the 2010 Sunday Streets schedule—with even more routes, dates and neighborhoods than last year!

More than 20,000 San Franciscans enjoyed car-free streets at each of last year’s Sunday Streets by participating in healthy activities ranging from bicycling to dancing, rollerskating to hula hooping. We expect even more people to enjoy the event this year, which will happen on nine Sundays starting in March and ending in October. Check out www.sundaystreetssf.com for the schedule and route details. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition was proud to initiate the idea of Sunday Streets in 2008 and have it championed by a broad coalition including the Mayor’s Office, Shape Up SF Coalition, Livable City, Walk SF and many others. The Bicycle Coalition has worked for years with the Mayor, city leaders and community groups to create more car-free recreational spaces for healthy activities like biking. Car-free recreational areas open minds and show how streets can be used differently—come out and play!” Learn more at www.sundaystreetssf.com.

The 2009 Stanford football season kept Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) volunteers very busy. According to SVBC a season total of 7,500 bicycles were parked over the course of seven home games.

“SVBC would like to thank Ellen Fletcher for once again leading this effort, unhindered by challenges like late games and last minute scheduling.”

See the SVBC website for the game-by-game breakdown and a list of the season’s most dedicated volunteers.

After the San Francisco Superior Court was exposed to a city report stating that bicycle ridership has increased 53% since 2006, the court ruled to partially lift the Bike Plan injunction set three years ago. 

Since the ruling, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) has been working hard to make sure changes are happening and that the City is taking full advantage of the court’s partial lift. Just days following the lift, SFBC welcomed the City’s first bike lane in three years along with its first green-colored “Bike Box” (an advanced stop line that gives bicyclists priority waiting room in front of cars at stop lights). Various neighborhoods have also received additional improvements such as “sharrows” (shared lane arrows), new sidewalk bike racks, a temporary on-street bike parking corral as well as improved bicycle way-finding signage.

These improvements are a step in the right direction but more than 35 bicycle related projects still remain on hold until the injunction is fully lifted. In the mean time, SVBC will continue their efforts and push for a full lift of the injunction with a hearing set for June 2010. To view current improvements, follow the injunction’s process, and more information on SFBC’s involvement, visit www.sfbike.org

On Tuesday November 17th, the City of San Jose adopted its first comprehensive bike plan with the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) playing a strong role in its release.

SVBC, the Department of Transportation, various community organizations, and the general public have long been anticipating the plan which includes a Cal Train bike share program, a cycle track, a doubling of existing bike lanes, new safety signals, bike lockers, and an overall increase in bicycle ridership and safety. The City ultimately hopes to achieve a five percent increase in cycling and a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly ranking from the League of American Bicyclists by 2020.

Corinne Winter, executive director of SVBC said, “We need to ensure that hard commitments and funding streams follow. To turn this plan into a reality, the City will have to put dollars behind developing these bike facilities.” 

SVBC has been an active voice in the planning process and continues to strongly support the plan. They will continue to be persistent in urging financing as well as the implementation of any experimental suggestions in order to expedite the plan in an efficient manner.  To find out more about SVBC’s involvement and track the plan’s progress, visit bikesiliconvalley.org and/or sanjoseca.gov

On November 13th, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition(MCBC) will be honored for its years of improving biking and walking infrastructure with the Marin Economic Commission award.

MCBC has been fighting to ensure that bicycling be recognized as a legitimate form of transportation and over the past eleven years has shown incredible leadership and service, as well as raised over $183 billion for their cause. The funds have, and will continue, to go directly to local City and County projects as well as supporting various agency staff, contractors, and other important players in the design and implementation of biking and walking facilities. MCBC’s incredible feat has been acknowledged by the Marin Economic Commission leading to its recognition and well deserved award.

To find out more about MCBC and how bicycling can be “environmentally, fiscally and physically responsible-while being fun” visit http://www.marinbike.org/Index.shtml

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) — According to a press release issued today by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, “Parents and students will be taking to the sidewalks and forming ‘walking school buses’ all across the city when SF schools celebrate Walk to School Day, Oct. 7th. Walk to School Day is also the kick off for a new program that will help raise a new generation of walkers and bikers. The new two-year Safe Routes to Schools program, funded by a $500,000 grant from the federal government, aims to make biking and walking to school easier for parents and kids through education, safer streets and incentives.

The Safe Routes to School Program is led by the SF Department of Public Health and supported by the SF Bicycle Coalition, SF Unified School District, SF Police Department, and the SF Municipal Transportation Agency. It will be launched at five elementary schools this school year including: Bryant (Mission District), George Washington Carver (Bayview), Longfellow (Excelsior), Sunnyside (Sunnyside), Sunset (Outer Sunset). 68% of the students at these schools live within one mile of their school, so there’s an amazing opportunity to increase the number of kids who get to school by bike and foot. Next year 10 additional schools will be added to the program for a total of 15 schools.

“The Safe Routes to Schools program teaches students and parents about how easy it can be to save our earth by reducing pollution,” says Phyllis Matsuno, Principal of Longfellow Elementary School (SFUSD) Principal Phyllis. “We’re thrilled that Longfellow was selected to participate in this program, it’ll help us promote healthy, active and attentive students.”

Getting more children to walk and bicycle to school is a much-needed solution. In San Francisco, one quarter of children are overweight and studies show that 75% of these overweight children will become overweight as adults, translating into more cases of diabetes, asthma and other chronic diseases. During the past four decades the obesity rate for children ages 6 to 11 has more than quadrupled (from 4.2 to 17 percent), and the obesity rate for adolescents ages 12 to 19 has more than tripled (from 4.6 to 17.6 percent). In addition, communities throughout the U.S. report that as much as 21 percent of morning traffic can be parents driving their children to schools.

The Safe Routes to School is a popular nationwide program that has a proven track record at over 5,440 schools for helping more children and communities become healthy, safe, and green. Schools in Oakland, California reported an amazing 10% increase in students walking and biking to school after just one year of launching their Safe Routes to School.

“Safe Routes to Schools is one of the best ways to improve conditions for walking and biking,” says Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the 10,000-member SF Bicycle Coalition, which promotes bicycling for everyday transportation. “We know that fewer and fewer kids are walking and biking to school today and that this is having a direct, negative effect on kids’ long-term health and habits. Fortunately, we know we can turn this alarming trend around.”

Studies show that 78% of school age children are not getting enough exercise and that this generation will likely be the first to have a lowered life expectancy than their parents. “Bicycling and walking are wise public health investments because they encourage active lifestyles that will help prevent disease,” says Mitch Katz, MD, Director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH).

“Walking is an important part of our day and a great time for us to talk about what she did at school, go over her spelling words and take in the view from the top of Morse and Allyson streets,” says Jacquie Chavez, ‘Walk to Win Wednesday’ co-founder and mother of a first grader at Longfellow Elementary. “My daughter is learning to be safe, smart and independent and we are making the streets safer by not adding another car to the road.”

For more on International Walk to School Day in San Francisco, see: http://www.sfwalktoschool.com. For more information on the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and the SF Safe Routes to Schools Program see http://www.sfbike.org.”

The San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition (SLOCBC) is celebrating a milestone of 15,000 bicycle parked with their Bike Valet Program. According to SLOCBC, “he Bike Valet is a volunteer run bike parking service aimed at making it easier for people to pedal to community events. The Valet works just like a coat check.  Upon arrival at the valet, each rider is given a claim check tag matching the number allocated to their bike.  Their bike is carefully parked in the secure lot for the duration of the event.  When they wish to retrieve their bike they simply hand our volunteers their claim check tag and the bike is returned with ease.”

SLOCBC is celebrating their landmark achievement with smiles, excitement, and a free raffle this Thursday at Farmer’s Market Bike Valet. For a chance to win a Mobile Solar Charger for cells/pods/whatever else, Rickshaw Bag Works ‘Zero’ Messenger Bag, & Gift Certs to Local Businesses, SLOCBC is giving one free ticket to those who ride their bike, two free tickets to SLOCBC members, and five tickets to people who join as new members.

For more information on SLOCBC’s Bike Valet Program visit http://slobikelane.org/cm/programs/BikeValet/Home.html.

Years of advocacy by the Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC) has lead to 2009 being what they call a “banner year for San Rafael bicycle and pedestrian projects being completed or nearing completion.” Projects include the opening of the Cal Park Hill Tunnel in late 2009, opening of the Los Ranchitos bikes lanes in fall 2009, downtown bike and pedestrian improvements, and the Lincoln Hill Pathway. According the MCBC, “When these projects are finished, it will be possible to ride from north San Rafael all the way to Larkspur using bicycle facilities almost the entire way. This segment of the Marin County bicycle network, known as the North-South Bikeway, is rapidly becoming complete!”

For more information, click here…

Bike Alameda is celebrating some,” long awaited, hard fought advocacy results!” A new bike lane segment and sharrows can now be found on Alameda, CA’s Central and Oak Street.  These are the first ever sharrows in Alameda. Also, the diagonal parking was changed to parallel parking resulting in less parking, too!

See the sharrows at bikealameda.org

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