We hope you can join us for a fun and informative bike ride through Rengstorff Park Area.

Great Streets Rengstorff Park (http://greatstreetsrp.wordpress.com) invites you to a Bike Tour on Saturday, March 2nd from 9AM to 11AM (starting at the Mountain View Senior Center, 266 Escuela Avenue. Mountain View)!

Enjoy a leisurely morning ride and learn about how Rengstorff Park neighborhood streets are key assets to building stronger social ties, economic success, and a healthier community in Mountain View. You’ll travel approximately 4 miles with stops along the way that highlight stories from neighborhood residents who will share with you some issues and the many opportunities to create safer and more attractive places to walk, bike and congregate in the city’s highest density neighborhood.

We encourage you to forward this email to anyone interested in safer streets in Mountain View or a lovely morning ride.

Don’t have a bike – no problem! Let us know, we have a few available.

Please RSVP to [email protected] no later than February 26th.

Sincerely,
Wendee Crofoot & Jarrett Mullen

Caltrain Office, 2nd floor auditorium
1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos
6-8pm, Wed., Feb. 27

Palo Alto City Hall
Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto
6-8pm, Thurs., Feb. 28

Santa Clara VTA HQ, Auditorium
3331 N. First St., San Jose, 6-8pm, Tues., Mar. 5

San Francisco City Hall, Board of Supervisors Chambers
1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl., SF
6-8pm, Thurs., Mar. 7

Anyone interested is welcome to attend the presentation by Google's contractor Peter Ingram on the Google Crossings project to the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail.
Thursday Feb 28 at 7pm at McClellan Park Ranch house - 22221 McClellan Road, Cupertino, CA 95014. It is in the old house just inside the park entrance, home to the Audubon Society. This presentation will focus more on the trail.
Thanks.
Aaron Grossman, Executve Director
Friends of Stevens Creek Trail

On February 26th, the Silicon Valley Bike Summit will address the ways each of us can play a significant role in making our streets safer for all. We all want to see roads that both motorists and bicyclists can enjoy in safety and in comfort, yet the combination of antiquated design, poor maintenance, and aggressive behavior by a small minority of road users can keep some people from considering riding a bike.

Location: Oshman Family Jewish Community Center - Schultz Cultural Arts Hall, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto
 
These are challenges that require participation from all types of roadway users to solve. To bridge the gap between motorists and cyclists, the Summit will feature a panel discussion and audience question and answer session that explores road safety from multiple perspectives. The panel features members of our Roadway Safety Solutions Team, a multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency collaborative, as well as local innovators who are working to change the roadway environment in our area. Join us to learn about recent progress and upcoming strategies in promoting bicycling through improving safety.
 
The panel will include:

• Derek Chan, Social Media, Online Content & Outreach Manager, California Department of Motor Vehicles
• Mark Gainey, Co-Founder, Strava
• Hans Larsen, Director, Department of Transportation, City of San José
• Commissioner James Madden, Traffic Trial Commissioner, Santa Clara County Superior Court
• Captain Mike Maskarich, California Highway Patrol
• Lee Taubeneck, Deputy District Director, Transportation Planning and Local Assistance, California State Department of Transportation
• Chris Waugh, Senior Lead, Health and Wellness Practice, IDEO

We need you to take part in this engaging dialogue! The strategies discussed will help you become a stronger advocate for yourself and other roadway users.
 
Registration has been extended until February 21! Please RSVP at http://svbikesummit2013.eventbrite.com

Climate Action Plan passed 6-1 (Inks, No).  The traffic signal between Sizzler and Diddams, compelled by the State, is to be installed starting tomorrow, including specs that a left turn from Clark onto ECR not be allowed, and that there be crosswalks across ECR on both sides of the intersection. Passed 6-1 (McAlister, No).

February 12th, 6:30pm, Council Meeting – CLIMATE ACTION PLAN!!

Fully funded through grants secured by Santa Clara County, the City has an opportunity to develop a Climate Action Plan (CAP) as part of a collaborative effort with six other local agencies. While we have a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program (GGRP) that mitigates the environmental impacts of the General Plan for CEQA compliance, and itself establishes per-capita GHG reduction targets for 2020 and 2030, the City currently lacks a plan for reaching the 2015, 2020, and 2050 voluntary but absolute GHG reduction targets set by Council in late 2009 and early 2010. Thus, developing a CAP would provide a roadmap, or “menu of options,” for reaching our absolute targets, should the Council decide it wants to begin moving in that direction.
 
In addition, the City currently has numerous documents/plans guiding its sustainability activities (e.g. ESAP-2, General Plan Action Plan, GGRP), with different authors, focus areas, timelines, update cycles, etc., so developing a CAP would enable the City to consolidate its sustainability activities into an over-arching, long-term focused plan.
 
If you can spare a few minutes the evening of February 12th, consider attending the meeting and making any relevant remarks. Showing up at Council meetings REALLY does make a difference!

The next Council Environmental Sustainability Committee (CESC) meeting is set for the first half of March, date to be confirmed shortly. The CESC will discuss whether to propose funding in the FY 2013-14 budget to continue Energy Upgrade Mountain View beyond June 2013.

Tuesday, February 12
Technology and Society Committee luncheon meeting
11:45 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Hangen Szechuan Restaurant (second floor)
134 Castro St., Mountain View
Lunch (good Chinese, family-style) is optional, for about $12.

Bruce Liedstrand, a former City Manager of Mountain View, is the founder of Common Sense Community Design (visit commonsensecommunitydesign.org), a Mountain View based training resource to help improve the livability of cities. His recent op-ed piece in the Mercury News urged the Mountain View City Council to include residential development as an option when studying how to cope with transportation issues in a rapidly expanding North Bayshore area.

Bruce will lead attendees in a roundtable discussion on the premise that the community infrastructure platform that supports Silicon Valley businesses is out of date and needs a substantial upgrade. Issues to be discussed include how outdated development patterns (suburban sprawl, auto dependency) combined with increased density of office development have overloaded the suburban system, leading to high home prices, long commutes and traffic congestion. This makes the key business supply line of employees getting to work vulnerable to disruption. Also, work, the workplace and the relationship between work and the rest of life are changing. Instead of a conventional single-family suburban home, many young people want to live in a vibrant compact neighborhood where they can enjoy life with their friends, and where a car is an option, not a requirement.

In addition to discussing issues and ideas for the future (transit oriented development, networked transportation systems, integrated public/private decision-making, etc.), we will look at the role technology currently plays and might play in the future.