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

The cities of Los Altos, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Cupertino are hosting  a series of public meetings seeking feedback on a study about how and where to complete a multi-use trail in the Stevens Creek corridor between Cupertino and Mountain View.

City representatives will go over features of the Stevens Creek Trail Corridor and solicit ideas for trail connection options.

A total of six public study meetings are planned through fall 2013.

To learn more or to sign up for email updates about the study, visit the Stevens Creek Trail Joint Feasibility Study website at www.StevensCreekTrail. inSunnyvale.com.

Please send any letters of support to BPAC chair, Bruce England. Here's what BPAC is asking the CTC to do:

Comments for City of Mountain View Council Transportation Committee Meeting
May 18, 2011

The new 2010 Highway Capacity Manual (a publication of the Transportation Research Board (TRB)) now contains a tool to measure bicycle, pedestrian and transit Level of Service in addition to motor vehicles.

The City of Mountain View Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) held a special meeting on May 9th to discuss adding bike lanes on San Antonio Road as part of the Center project, and here is a synopsis of what came out of that meeting:

·         We unanimously (with the possible exception Lauren Angelo, who was unable to attend) feel very strongly that bike lanes *must* be included as part of (or along with) the San Antonio Center project plans.

·         For our part (in what we feedback re this issue to the City through the CTC), we feel that the "why" should be emphasized over the "how" (which we chose to leave, as much as possible, open to interpretation by traffic and project planners (the more options they have, the more likely we'll achieve the goal of seeing the lanes added.

The whys include:

·         Even though the existing bike plan doesn't call out the need for bike lanes at that locations, no San Antonio project was in the works at the time, so any omission can be considered merely an oversight. Meanwhile, current thinking and trends now tend in the direction of placing bike lanes in any appropriate and necessary locations.

·         Even though the existing general plan doesn't emphasize multi-modal transit accommodation, the draft mobility section for the updated general plan does, and the "Complete Streets" direction now mandated by the State is called out specifically.

·         The draft Pedestrian Master Plan should include (and is expected to include) the need to separate bike traffic from pedestrian traffic as much as possible.

·         Bike lanes on San Antonio extend bike routes south of El Camino into Los Altos, and create a bike-transit "hub" enabling ease of travel between Mountain View, Los Altos, and Palo Alto bike routes.

·         Mixing two-direction, multi-modal traffic on sidewalks, especially when planter strips are included (thus making it far more difficult for bicyclists to yield to pedestrians as needed) sets up dangerous situations that shouldn't be acceptable in current planning.

·         The nearest north/south bike routes are at Charleston and Rengstorff, neither of which are very near to San Antonio.

·         The Environmental Sustainability Task Force final report recommended prioritizing bike and pedestrian modes of travel (see in particular page 120 in the attached final report segment).

The hows include: Narrowing the median space, narrowing the traffic lanes, eliminating planter strips, and narrowing the sidewalks to allow for (estimated) six-foot bike lanes (noting that bike lane width is dictated, at least in part, by the posted speed limit for vehicular traffic).

Also:

·         We would like to see the bike-lane solution extend between Miller and California, but we do not want a lack of a solution there to compromise setting the proper precedent by completing work between Miller and El Camino.

·         We would like to see infrastructure within the center also provide bike-friendly amenities (including, for example, bike parking structures), which can also enhance the center's aesthetics. We noted that bike riders entering the center are not necessarily going to the center, but might be passing through to other end points, such as Showers and California, the Greenway bike route, transit hubs, etc.

Eat your vegetables. Exercise. Get plenty of sleep. Adopt good city planning policies??

Did you know that the way a city is designed has a huge impact on the health of the people that live there? Want to know how?

Join Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga, the Health Trust and MVCSP as we host Heather Wooten, senior associate and expert on the links between health and city planning with Public Health Law & Policy on Thursday, January 27 at City Hall. The event will be kicked off with a short film about healthy, eco-friendly living being that’s happening right here in Mountain View!

Healthy Communities in Practice and Policy
January 27, 7 p.m.-8:45 p.m.
Council Chambers, City Hall
500 Castro Street, Mountain View
Free admission
Light refreshments will be served

December 6, 7pm-9pm
San Jose City Hall
Room W-120 (located in the Rotunda)

Come check out what is sure to be a very cool event put on by our friends at the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition!

In the US, babies first learn to roll over, crawl, and then walk. In
the Netherlands, there's one more stage that is of utmost importance:
learning to ride a bike.

The Netherlands boasts a 27% bike mode share. How do they do it? And
can San Jose and the region replicate it? Come hear from our panel and
learn about the various land use and transportation strategies being
employed in four different cities, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and
The Hague. Hear about how each city is dealing with the same kinds of
transportation and land use challenges as the Bay Area and how the
Dutch continue to retain and grow their bike culture, protect open
space, grow the economy and preserve a high quality of life.

Join the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition for a panel of local experts
on transportation and land use planning.

Panel Speakers:
Sam Liccardo, San Jose Downtown Council Member
Manuel Pineda, Acting Deputy Director of SJ Department of Transportation
Shiloh Ballard, Vice President, Housing & Community Development at
Silicon Valley Leadership Group

 

Special thanks goes to Bikes Belong who facilitated an educational
trip to the Netherlands.