The Bay Area Bicycle Coalition is seeking an experienced professional with experience in developing, leading and managing a non-profit advocacy organization to join our team as Executive Director.  Candidates should have experience with event coordination, corporate sponsorship, organizational development, advocacy, and transportation policy.  Applications must be emailed to resume(at)bayareabikes(dot)org by September 17, 2010 at 5PM PST to be considered for interviews, which will take place during the week of September 20.

Download the full BABC Executive Director job description and application instructions

After nearly four years of legal wrangling, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter Busch lifted the city's bike injunction this afternoon, freeing the SFMTA to begin working on implementing the remaining projects in the Bike Plan, and soundly rejecting the objections made by plaintiff Rob Anderson and his attorney Mary Miles. Read More.

THE SMART board made the right decision this week when it rejected the Marin civil grand jury's recommendation to scrap the bicycle and pedestrian path along the rail line to save money. Read More.

SAN FRANCISCO — The majority of San Francisco residents support an additional annual fee for their vehicles that would go toward transportation projects, according to a new poll.

A $10 vehicle license fee, which 62 percent of San Francisco residents supported in the new poll, is projected to raise $5 million annually. The funding would pay for street work, with an emphasis on San Francisco’s bicycle and transit networks, sidewalk improvements and upgrades to transit stations and stops.

Read More - SF Examiner

Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit officials on Wednesday rejected a Marin County grand jury recommendation to defer building a pedestrian and bicycle lane as a way to deal with a funding deficit that jeopardizes the ability to open the rail line on time.

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Caltrans, Oakland, the Bay Area Toll Authority and six other agencies are trying to provide more fun, scenery and character to the East Bay shoreline with ambitious plans for a waterfront park with eye-catching attractions for visitors and bridge users.

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Oaklavia transformed a swath of downtown Oakland to a vibrant streetscape Sunday, in its first ever ciclovia-style event, with café seating in the streets, yoga classes, dancers, musicians, food carts and games. More than two thirds of the estimated 3,000 - 4,000 people who turned out to experience the joy of car-free streets were people who rode their bicycles.

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On June 21st, BABC's Executive Director, Andrew Casteel, and Dave Campbell of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition (EBBC) joined SB1061's sponsor, State Senator Loni Hancock, to urge the State Assembly's Transportation Committee to approve SB1061, which allows for the use of local bridge tolls to fund the west span bicycle-pedestrian-maintenance pathway on the bay bridge.  Our statements of support stressed the importance of completing shore-to-shore pedestrian and bicycle access to fighting congestion, increasing tourism and reducing pollution.  The committee voted 7-3 to approve SB1061, which will now go to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and then a full Assembly vote.  Our thanks go out to Senator Hancock for sponsoring this important legislation and all our partners whose continued support of SB1061 through letters, testimony and phone calls have brought the bill and the dream of shore-to-shore access closer than ever before.  BABC is already mobilizing support for SB1061's approval by the Appropriations Committee as we continue our work to ensure shore-to-shore access for all road users.

West Span Bay Bridge Bike Lanes Clear Hurdle - CBS 5

On Monday, we shared an alert from the Safe Routes to School National Partnership with you warning you about the possibility that the federal Safe Routes to School program could be targeted for a House floor vote to cut the program. Rep. Cantor (R-VA) had identified Safe Routes to School as one of five options that the public could vote on cutting through his YouCut initiative. Fortunately, Safe Routes to School will not be subject to a vote this week as one of the other YouCut options, selling off excess federal property, got the most votes.
 
On very short notice, advocates across the country sprang into action and contacted their Members of Congress to ask them to vote against any effort to cut Safe Routes to School.  More than 1150 people used the League of American Bicyclists' advocacy system in a 24-hour period to contact their Members of Congress via email.  We also heard from many others that made phone calls or contacted a Congressional staff person directly that wouldn't be included in that tally.
 
BABC would like to thank the Safe Routes to School National Partnership for their leadership and all the national, state and local organizations that helped quickly spread the word about this threat.  And, thank you to everyone who took the time to contact their Members of Congress.  Even though there was not a vote this time, it helped raise awareness about the importance of Safe Routes to School and the wide support it has across the country.
 
However, we will have to remain vigilant.  This isn't the first time Rep. Cantor has attacked bicycling and walking, and his press secretary has stated that bicycling and walking will likely be the subject of future YouCut votes. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation has made safety its number one priority, and Safe Routes to School is critical to improving safety for some of our most vulnerable citizens.  More than 6,500 schools and communities have received grants made available from the federal Safe Routes to School program to make important safety improvements—such as putting in sidewalks, pathways or crosswalks—to make it safer for children to walk and bicycle to school. Studies have shown that Safe Routes to School improvements reduce bicycle and pedestrian collisions by 49%.