CalBike Summit Highlights

Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens met with constituents Sharlene Liu and Tim Oey on Lobby Day.

CalBike, the California bicycle advocacy group, hosted a fantastic summit last month.   I thoroughly enjoyed lobbying state legislators, learning from active transportation professionals, and meeting bicycle advocates from all over the state.  Here are some of my favorite experiences from the summit.

Attendees got to participate in Lobby Day, meeting with their state representatives to ask for support for bike-friendly bills. This year, there are many e-bike bills, each trying to regulate some aspect of e-bike operation or access.  Tim Oey and I met with our assemblymember, Patrick Ahrens, to ask that legal e-bikes continue to be allowed while illegal e-motos be restricted. We asked for more funding for the state's Active Transportation Program, and that bike infrastructure projects near transit centers be given priority for funding.  Lucky for us, Assemblymember Ahrens is on the Transportation and Budget Appropriations Committees, so he was well-versed on these bills. He was supportive of our cause.

One presentation at the CalBike Summit was particularly entertaining and inspiring  -- on citizen-led ballot initiatives.  Three luminaries from across the state shared their successful campaign stories.  Los Angeles passed a ballot measure to require complete streets whenever streets are repaved.  San Francisco saved the Great Highway and JFK Drive for people young and old to enjoy walking and biking.  Berkeley generated income for bike infrastructure through a parcel tax measure.  These ballot measures were successful because of the passion of individuals to reclaim our streets for people.  Each campaign lasted about a year and involved gathering thousands of signatures and raising millions of dollars.  In LA, the ballot measure required gathering 100K signatures and spending $4M !

At the Summit, my one-on-one conversations with other attendees were equally fruitful.  I learned from the maker of UC Berkeley's safeTREC Safe Speeds Toolkit that Hollenbeck Avenue's speed limit could be lowered to 25 mph from 30 mph along its entire length, with pockets of 20 mph near schools.  From the CEO of an e-bike incentive program administrator, I learned how to design an e-bike rebate program, and got the idea to try one out for Fremont High students in north Sunnyvale.  I got an update on a bill proposal to bring biking and walking safety education to K-12 schools all over California (see Walk Bike Roll California).  I enjoyed meeting other south bay advocates who I had heare of before and met in person for the first time at the Summit.  I look forward to collaborating with them on local issues.

We are all part of the bike movement in California.  If you would like to push the envelope on bicycling for transportation, consider attending next year's CalBike Summit.

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About the Author

Sharlene Liu is Founder and Chair of Sunnyvale Safe Streets. She is dedicated to making Sunnyvale's streets safe for walking and biking. She enjoys learning about the advancements for biking that are going on across the state.