We need your help to get legislation to allow triple bike racks on buses!

All you need to do is to click here…cut and past the material in italics below…add your name and hit send. Of course if you want to know what you are supporting you might want to read the three following paragraphs.

Friday, February 24th, is the deadline for legislators to introduce new bills for this year.

Please call Assemblymembers Cameron Smyth (Santa Clarita) and Bonnie Lowenthal (Long Beach) and ask them to introduce into their committees the bill to authorize triple bike racks on buses.

Background: Bike racks on buses are filling up, but current state law prohibits objects that extend too far from the front of a bus. Although several bus agencies already have triple bike racks, these are technically in violation of the law. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and the California Highway Patrol have come up with a legislative solution that would maintain safety while allowing triple bike racks on buses. Now is the time our elected representatives need to step up and introduce Metro’s bill so that stakeholders can discuss it, perhaps tweak it, and enable it to get passed.

Assemblymember Cameron Smyth (Santa Clarita), Local Government Committee Chair
Capitol Office: (916) 319-2038

Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (Long Beach), Transportation Committee Chair
Capitol Office: (916) 319-2054

If you prefer to send an e-mail her is the link for Assemblymember Lowenthal

Please make sure to be nice and express to them how much of an improvement it would be for bike-transit connectivity, how it can minimize the number of times riders would get passed by buses, and how much you would appreciate it if they introduce Metro’s triple bike rack bill.

This is a request for you to sponsor a bill in this year’s legistature that would allow triple bike racks on all buses.

As you know, bikes are an important part of our transportation system.  Everyday thousands of Californian’s use their bikes to get to work, to shop and to get to school.  Being able to put bikes on buses is a vital part of making biking easy and practical for many of these individuals.  By being able to easily put bikes on buses people can extend the distance they can travel…and in many cases solve what is commonly referred to as the “last mile problem.”

However, today may buses do not have bike racks – or have racks that will only carry one or two bikes.  The result is that bike riders cannot reliably count on being able to put their bikes on a bus and as a result do not ride their bike, but instead take a car.

We encourage you to sponsor a bill in this year’s legislative session that would allow all buses to have triple bike racks.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and thank you for your strong support of bicycling as a viable mode of transportation in California.

Mark Bixby in fall of 2009 helping to install Patrick Vogel's Penny Farthling sculpture

On Monday December 19th, 2011 the Long Beach Harbor Commission approved a revised Environmental Impact Report that gave final authorization to proceed with the replacement for the Gerald Desmond bridge…including a separated bike path.

But this would not have happened without the voice of one person…Mark Bixby.

“It took one person with a legion of many behind him.” (Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal)

The story

Less than two years ago the City of Long Beach approved an EIR for the replacement of the Gerald Desmond Bridge that did not include a separated bike facility.  Mark Bixby looked at this and asked….”How can Long Beach hope to be The most bike friendly city in the nation if we don’t include facilities for bicyclists on this new world class bridge, which will be a vital part of Long Beach’s infrastructure and a showcase for the world.”

Mark took his message to everyone he knew.  He reached out to the politicians, he reached out to port commissioners, he reached out to advocates and he reached out to the regulators.  As a result of his work the bike path went from something that was a best a remote possibility to something that today is an approved part of one of the largest government funded bridge projects in the US.

What did Mark do?

Mark started by asking…what is the right thing to do?  He didn’t ask…is this likely?  What will it cost?  He asked…is it the right thing to do?

He then started enlisting support and gathering facts.

He went to a number of very knowledgeable advocates and asked…are there any laws that say “you have to include a bike path on this type of federally funded facility.”  It turns out that the advocates came back and said…yes…there are laws that mandate a bike path be included.

He went to the coastal commission…and asked…can the port sever an existing bike facility (there was a bike and ped facility on the existing bridge…all be it not a great one)..and got the answer…”we don’t think that would be appropriate.  The port needs to include a separated bike facility on the new bridge.”

He went to the local and regional politicians and asked….do you support access for everyone to the facility…including bicyclists?  And he got a resounding yes.

He went to the Sierra Club and asked…do you support access — and if access is denied…will you support filing a law suite and or protest with Coastal Commission?  And the answer was yes.

Mark and colleagues then took this to the Long Beach Harbor Commissioners one at a time. It is the Harbor Commissioners who ultimately made the decision on whether or not to include the bike facility.  At this point Mark could say….it is both the right thing to do…and oh…by the way… legally you have to do it.  And..not to threaten…but someone will appeal this to the Coastal Commission if you don’t do it…and the Coastal Commission is quite likely to deny the permit if it isn’t included. And baring that…someone will file a law suite.

The result

As a consequence of Mark’s efforts the Long Beach Harbor Commission voted to include the bike facility in the RFP and has now unanimously approved the revised EIR, which includes the facility.

Equally importantly Mark established a good working relationship with people in the port.  This allowed him and his colleagues to continue to have influence on effective ways of designing and implementing the bike facility as well as continuing to work with them on future projects that will benefit the port as well as the bicycling community.

What Can We Learn from Mark

AS Long Beach’s Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal said in her remarks to the Harbor Commission ”It took one person with a legion of many behind him.”

Mark was that one person.  But what what we learned from Mark was the value of enlisting the legion.

Share your vision: Mark took his vision and shared it with others.  In doing so…he made it not just his vision…but a shared vision.  He gave others the ability to see what possible..and then help to make it  possible.  Mark was never hesitant to pick up the phone and call people who could help shape the future.

Reach out to the advocates with knowledge: He reached out to those who knew the facts.  He enlisted advocates who knew the law and who could articulate it.

Enlist regional and national advocacy organizations: He enlisted organizations such as the Sierra Club that had clout and standing in the community.

Enlist the local and regional political leaders:  Mark reached out to the mayor, to the council members and to our state and local legislators.  He got letters of support and a commitment to champion the project.

Enlist the regulatory agencies: Mark reached out to agencies who’s approval was needed for the project.  Most importantly he reached out to the coastal commission. As you can see from the video below this was extremely effective with the Coastal Commissioners in effect saying to the port…”we strongly advise you to include the bike facility in order to ensure that the bridge permit is not challenged and potentially rejected.”

Enlist the decision makers: Finally Mark and his colleagues reached out to each and everyone of the Port Commissioners, who were the ultimate decision makers in whether or not to include the facility in the RFP and ultimately the bridge.  Again..the message Mark and his colleagues presented was…this is the right thing to do…and it is the legally mandated thing to do.

What is next?

As many readers of this blog know Mark was tragically killed in a plane accident in March of 2011.  He would have been very proud of what has been accomplished to date.  But..if he were here he would say..” He would have thanked the port and the commissioners. And he would have said

“This is great…BUT…what about that bike friendly port policy?  And what about the connection into downtown Long Beach?  And…Port of LA…it’s time for you to step up and help figure out how bicyclists are going to get across the Vincent Thomas Bridge to complete the connection between the Palos Verde Peninsula and Long Beach.”

As advocates…we need to carry out with what Mark started.  And as he would have admonished:

Go Big…or Go Home

Casey, Rebeca & Tori in front of Berlin coffee house on 4th

Yes, people we are in a bike boom and it’s a beautiful thing. I have taken to carrying my camera with me wherever I go so I can try to capture a bit of our unique LB bike flavor. Recently this summer I was sitting downtown at Berlin Coffee House enjoying a delicious breakfast (Have you been? No? You need to go!) when I spied these lovely young riders. I was inspired by their energy and their look.

I’m afraid I have their order mixed up (girls, please forgive me) but I wanted to share that Casey is a hairdresser, Rebeca works for Apple, and Tori works for homeless services. These young women are passionate about bicycling and Long Beach and they are exactly the type of young women I’d love to recruit into Bikeable Communities (hint hint) for an upcoming project focused on the importance of style and design for successful advocacy.

And now to my headline. Can you imagine how delighted I was when I picked up the latest issue of Time Magazine on Friday? Here’s why, right in their “Briefing” section in the front under “Economy” is a short piece called “Another Day Another Dollar.” The piece illustrates a selection of items that we are spending both more and less on – comparing first quarter 2007 to first quarter 2011.

No one will be surprised that both lottery ticket purchases are up (16%), and alcohol consumption is up (5%) but the truly exciting part is that bike sales are up 9%! For the LBC that means about 41,400 new bikes on the road. I would so love to know how many of those riders are “first time since childhood” riders like myself. I have a feeling it’s a large majority.

Of course anyone who stands on any corner just about anywhere in Long Beach could have told you this.  As could the owners of the several new bike shops that have opened in the past year around Long Beach. For some reason though, it makes it feel even more important that Time (quoting data from the Department of Commerce) would notice this trend and include it in their article. This is especially sweet for me because for the past several months I’ve been trying to interest a journalist who writes frequently for Time into the whole bike boom story (starring Long Beach of course) and she just hasn’t felt it has reached a tipping point. Perhaps now she will.

There was another very positive increase – foreign travel is up in the U.S. 17%. I’ll get into why that’s good for Long Beach in my next blog!

Why is supporting this law so important for bike advocacy? Because it raises awareness of our need as motorists to pay more attention to bicyclists when we’re on the road, and understand that when driving we aren’t as good at judging a “safe” distance as we think we are. The California Bicycle Coalition (CBC) “Give Me Three” website states:

“The slightest error by the driver or a minor shift by the bicyclist to avoid debris or rough pavement can lead to a collision. These aren’t the most common type of car-bike collision, but they’re the most deadly: passing-from-behind collisions are the leading cause of bicyclist fatalities in California.”

We applaud and support the CBC’s efforts and you to support it too. The CBC’s “Give Me Three” has made it very easy to donate a little money ($3 for 3 feet), learn particulars about the bill, and write your own senator. Why not take five minutes right now and click a few links? Need more inspiration? Click here to read L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa’s support of the bill.

Another very important way we can help is to write to the Auto Club of Southern California (and cc: your local Assembly Member) and let them know how disappointed and dismayed your are that they would like to gut this bill and take away its teeth. Again from the CBC “Give Me Three” website:

“The auto clubs propose gutting SB 910 by making the 3-foot passing provision optional, without acknowledging that more bicyclists die from being hit by drivers passing from behind than from any other cause.”

I was appalled to find out that the Auto Club (the company that I was insured with almost my entire adult life as an auto owner, the company I happily planned so many U.S. vacations with)  is such a powerful force against bicycle advocacy. It needn’t be so. If the Auto Club heard from its members who own and ride bikes as well as drive cars, and people-who-could-become-AAA-members-but-won’t-until they-change-their-bicycle-stance, that we don’t like their stance on this bill, nor their stance on bicycle issues in general, I think we could see a pretty quick shift in the company’s overall bike policy. In a market driven economy consumers have tremendous power – if they use it.

I’m writing my letter to the Auto Club today.  Please write a letter too.