The Bay Area Bicycle Coalition (BABC) promotes safe and enjoyable bicycling for everyday transportation and recreation throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.  To learn how BABC is working to improve bicycling in your community visit our Current Priorities.

Help Save Safe Routes to Transit

Downtown Berkeley BART Bike Station is being expanded with SR2T funds.  Click here to see what other projects are being funded by SR2T.
Downtown Berkeley BART Bike Station
See More SR2T projects

The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) adopted by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) in April 2009 promised $50 Million each in funding over the next 5 years for Safe Routes to Transit (SR2T) and Safe Routes to School (SRTS) as part of their Climate Action Plan.  However, in MTC’s recent proposal for programming federal funding, they have limited their funding for SR2T to evaluation of the program with no money to continue to build improvements to ensure safe and easy access to regional transit.

It is unacceptable to completely eliminate funding for such an important program as Safe Routes to Transit that was promised to the public in the RTP. We need your help to ensure that MTC invests in making transit safer and easier for bikes and pedestrians to access.  Heres what you can do:


Sign the Safe Routes to Transit Petition

Show MTC that there is strong demand for safer access to TransitClick Here to Sign

Share Your Ideas for Making Your Transit Commute Safer
Next time you are walking or biking to transit and you see something that could be made safer or easier to navigate, let us know where it is and how Safe Routes to Transit funds could help fix it, take a picture if you can and then share it with us in one of the following ways.  We'll be presenting all the responses we get to MTC's December 9th meeting to help make the case for funding Safe Routes to Transit.

Speak Up In Favor of Safe Routes to Transit at MTC December 9th
Join us in voicing your support for safer and easier access to transit at the December 9th Programming and Allocations Meeting at MTC. For more information contact Andrew Casteel at 415.814.9247 or savesr2t@bayareabikes.org.

BABC Receives National Philanthropy Day Award From Kaiser Permanente

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On November 15th the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition was honored by Kaiser Permanente and the Association of Fundraising Professionals for our contributions to the San Francisco Bay Area community as part of National Philanthropy Day. The award ceremonies honored non-profit organizations and individuals and foundations who give generously to organizations working to improve the Bay Area. The Commonwealth Club also hosted a panal discussion: “Philanthropists Who Inspire” with Warren Hellman, Diane B. Wilsey, Laura Scher, and Akiko Yamazaki.  Our thanks go out to Kaiser Permanente for honoring us and for their continued support of bicycling in the Bay Area.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Study sees transit saving Californians' energy, cutting greenhouse gas (Sacramento Bee)

A new study says Californians could save billions each year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by developing neighborhoods within easy access of public transportation. The study – "Windfall for All: How Connected, Convenient Neighborhoods Can Protect Our Climate and Safeguard California's Economy" – was conducted by Oakland-based TransForm, formerly the Transportation and Land Use Coalition. This is another example of how saving Safe Routes to Transit is a good idea. Read more...

Download CycleTracks, the new iPhone Bicycle Planning App

Calling all biking iPhone users! Download CycleTracks, the free app that generates maps and statistics of your rides that you can share with friends. Time and route data is saved for you—and also transmitted to the San Francisco County Transportation Authority to improve the bicycle component of their travel forecasting model, helping planners better understand and serve the needs of San Francisco cyclists. You’ll be promoting Bay Area cycling with your iPhone! (All data collected will be kept confidential)

Win a $50 iTunes gift card!

If you download CycleTracks and use it for at least one trip by November 27th, you’ll be automatically entered in all drawings to win one of ten $50 iTunes Gift Cards*. Download CycleTracks or search for it in the iTunes app store. For more information about CycleTracks, visit www.sfcta.org/CycleTracks or our Facebook page.

*—We’ll need your email address, but it won’t be shared with anyone—and we’ll keep you posted on the progress of the study.  (See complete contest rules)

BABC Awarded $15,000 SF Foundation Grant for iBikeChallenge Program

The BABC was awarded $15,000 to create the iBikeChallenge web and iPhone application to promote bicycling trips throughout the Bay Area. The iBikeChallenge is an online competition that encourages users to bike for everyday transportation by tracking the total benefits to their budget, their health and the environment. The iPhone application will track users trips which will generate data that will be used by transportation planners to improve the network of bicycle facilities. The goals of the program are to increase the number of bicycle and trips throughout the region, improve bicycle planning by providing more accurate information about cyclists route choices and measure the impact of increased bicycle travel on the environment and public health.  Check back for updates on the progress of the application which we will be launching in May.


 

New direction for Market Street (The Examiner)

In a rare example of harmony in San Francisco, merchants, transit advocates and pedestrians have all expressed some degree of support for the much-ballyhooed experiment to restrict cars on Market Street that started last month. The current situation, which took effect Sept. 29 with the backing of Mayor Gavin Newsom, forces private automobiles traveling eastbound on Market Street to make right turns at Sixth and Eighth streets off the thoroughfare. Read more...

 

Cars, bikes can coexist in vibrant cities (SF Chronicle)

The American neighborhood since World War II has been built on the back of the automobile. In some parts of the country, it's impossible even to run out for a gallon of milk without a car. The growing threat of climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions means we can't continue building like it's 1949. But the ubiquity of cars in our lives and our urban environments makes it unlikely that the automobile will disappear any time soon. Read more...

 

Driver Reaction to Market Street Diversions Surprisingly Upbeat (Streetsblog)

Although there are still some kinks that need to be ironed out on Market Street to make the six-week trial diversion of personal automobiles more efficient, the sky did not fall and reaction to the changes was fairly positive, even from drivers in personal vehicles. One consistent complaint was the relatively small signs affixed to street posts, which several drivers claimed they didn't see. Read more...

 

 

 

Make it Easy for Walk to School Day Participants to Join the Safe Routes to School "Dear Congress" Campaign

Three weeks ago, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership called on parents, children, school officials, and community leaders to write "Dear Congress" letters to demonstrate the importance of the Safe Routes to School program.  We're now extending the campaign deadline until Friday, October 23.
 
So far, we have received over 150 meaningful and powerful letters from around the country.  A few examples include: whole classes of students in Milwaukee, WI and Las Cruces, NM showing through words and pictures why they love to walk and bicycle to school; several city leaders in Tonganoxie, KS describing the numerous SRTS infrastructure needs remaining in their community; and parents and grandparents in Santa Cruz County, CA explaining why it's important that children be able to safely walk and bicycle to school.  We are grateful to each and every individual that has taken the time to participate in the "Dear Congress" campaign. Read more...

BABC Early Advocates to Build Benicia-Martinez Bridge Bicycle Path

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The 2.2 mile bike path on the southbound George Miller Jr Bridge opened August 29th 2009. It is part of a $50,000,000 seismic retrofit and now makes the 290 mile Bay Trail that much closer to ringing the Bay. The path is a 12-foot-wide bidirectional lane separated from vehicular traffic by a concrete barrier, open 24 hours a day.

Founder of the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition, Alex Zuckermann was influential in ensuring the addition of this bicycle and pedestrian path.

 

Bridge Opening: Ina Gerhard, Caltrans Dist 4 Bicycle Coordinator; Bijan Sartipi, Caltrains Dist 4 Director; Robert Raburn, EBBC Director; Andrew Casteel, BABC Director; Dave Campbell, EBBC Board Chair

During a meeting in Oakland in 1988, Caltrans came before The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) to obtain a permit to build the new span. Alex gave an excellent speech asking BCDC to make installation of a bike path on the new bridge a condition of granting the permit. BCDC agreed and made the path a condition of putting up the span.

The pedestrian/bicycle path will close a gap in the San Francisco Bay Trail while also linking the San Francisco Bay Trail with the Bay Area Ridge Trail that encircles the bays at the ridgeline (the two trails share an alignment along the bridge). This lane also links the Carquinez Strait Scenic Loop Trail, which is a 50-mile trail that crosses both the Benicia-Martinez Bridge and the Al Zampa span of the Carquinez Bridge. The eventual goal is to encircle San Francisco and San Pablo bays with 500 miles of uninterrupted biking and hiking trails. Read more...

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