Rule-Breaking Riding in Berkeley

For a college town like Berkeley, it can be pretty dangerous to bike, walk, and drive anywhere. A lot of rule-breaking seems to be at the root of this road anxiety.

Drivers have to look out for swarms of jaywalking students and swerving cyclists. Pedestrians need to stay alert for cyclists coming up from behind at very quick speeds. And because cyclists in Berkeley share both the road with cars and the sidewalks with pedestrians, they are in as much danger of hitting a pedestrian listening to their iPod as they are of getting hit by hurried drivers.

So far this year, 129 bicyclists have been injured in Berkeley. President David Campbell of the Bicycle Berkeley-Friendly Coalition suggests that reckless riding might be one reason for accidents. According to Campbell in a recent Oakland Tribune article, many cyclists don't follow road rules because they have never learned them. Because unlike driving, where a test and a license are required, cyclists need only a bike to start roaming the streets.

As a result of complaints from the community, Berkeley police have been on the lookout for rule-breaking riders with citations ready. Last Thursday, within just two hours, officers handed out 19 citations, some costing cyclists more than $200.

Berkeley police are hopeful that this crackdown will encourage cyclists to pay attention to the rules. And to aid in their mission, the BBFC is offering free classes to teach rules of riding, the basics of which are, "Stop at stop signs, yield to pedestrians, stop at red lights, don't ride on the sidewalk and don't ride in crosswalks."

AC Transit's Third Major Service Cut of the Year

Last March, AC Transit cut its service by 7.8%. Next up is a 7.2% cut starting October 31st. And to wrap up this year of commuting hell, last Wednesday, the board of directors approved of yet another service cut to go into effect in December.

December's cuts will:

• save the district 11.1 million dollars (theoretically)
• lay off 90 union workers
• eliminate 39 weekend routes, leaving just 17 lines

Not only have these changes been approved, but AC Transit spokesperson Clarence Johnson has said that the board directors will likely start voting on outsourcing services at their next meeting, potentially laying off even more union workers.

AC Transit's director Chris Peeples' stance was, "We may have to do it because of the amount of money it saves." Meanwhile, several people are laying blame for the budget issues on AC Transit itself due to their "years of fiscal irresponsibility."

It seems that yet another corporation has shown us that the importance of the money will always outweigh the importance of the people.

Source

Grand Opening of Pleasant Hill BART's Bike/Pedestrian Bridge

Photo source: http://www.ebbc.org/?q=node/7402

Check out this beauty in person at its grand opening October 2nd. After the long wait, cyclists should find their commute much safer than before.

Muni Frustrations

According to a recent survey conducted by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, only 52% of polled Muni riders have rated service as good or excellent. This percentage is the lowest approval rating in almost a decade.

Within the past year, Muni decreased service and drastically increased prices for its monthly pass from $45 to $70.

Despite the low satisfaction ratings, chief Nathaniel Ford of the SFMTA remains optimistic and believes that the changes made to Muni in the past year have caused negative impacts, but will ultimately lead to positive changes.

The SF Examiner got the opinions of two Muni riders with differing reactions. One stated that, even with the changes, Muni still "works for her." The other rider disagreed with chief Ford's assessment, citing issues with fare increases and the bus schedule's undependability.

In a city, and especially a city whose residents depend so heavily on public transportation, a 52% satisfactory rating is far too low. The SFMTA needs to seek further ways to improve Muni in order to get where its commuters need to go, safely and satisfactorily.

Oakland Awarded "Bicycle Friendly Community" Title

Source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_16091784

The city of Oakland was awarded a bronze-level award for its cycling safety and usability by The League of American Bicyclists. As of 2008, Oakland has the 7th largest percentage of people biking work, out of the 70 largest U.S. cities.

Good job, Oakland. Next year, let's go for the gold!

Map My Ride - "Empowering Active Lifestyles"

Map My Ride combines technology with exercise. In this modern age, cyclists can record and share interesting bike paths in their local areas for other exercise enthusiasts with the ease of clicking a mouse.

Though still in the early stages of development, this site could potentially be of use to cyclists looking to get off the beaten path and head for a new challenge, whether it be for hobby or sport.

AC Transit swaps paper tickets for Clipper cards

Source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_16125213

For AC Transit regulars, it is important to know that starting October 31st, AC Transit will no longer sell paper tickets. This means that they will eliminate the use of both Adult local 31-day and 10-ride AND Youth/senior/disabled 10-ride paper tickets in exchange for the Clipper card.

As advertised all throughout the bay area, AC Transit has teamed up with fellow public transportation giants BART, Muni, Caltrain, and Golden Gate Transit and Ferry and created a universal transit pass called the Clipper card.

How Clipper works (from the Clipper website):

Clipper℠ is an all-in-one transit card that keeps track of any passes, discount tickets, ride books and cash value that you load onto it, while applying all applicable fares, discounts and transfer rules. This lets you customize your card for your own transit needs. The Clipper card can hold multiple passes, ride books or tickets (which are specific to the transit system being used), as well as up to $300 in cash value at one time.

You can add value (in the form of both passes and cash value) to your card as you go, or for added convenience, you can set up your card to automatically reload whenever your pass expires or your cash balance falls below $10.

Dates to remember:

• October 1st - AC Transit starts giving out free Clipper cards
• October 31st - AC Transit stops selling paper tickets
• December 31st - AC Transit stops accepting paper tickets

Since July 6th, 2010, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has been giving out free Clipper cards. Judging by this article, they will stay free of charge for the upcoming months to "aid in the transition." But according to both the article and Clipper's website, "This offer is available for a limited time and may be subject to change without notice" and the cards will eventually cost $5.00. So if you want to avoid the fee, hurry and get a card!

Walk to School Day - October 6th, 2010

The Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) movement is holding its second year of Walk to School Day this upcoming October 6th.

Walk to School Day is a global, annual event promoting "safe and active walking and bicycling." And this year, SRTS' San Francisco chapter increased its participants by 10 schools on top of last year's 5.

According to the SRTS website, the primary goals of their program is to:

• Increase bicycle, pedestrian, and traffic safety around schools;
• Decrease traffic congestion around schools;
• Reduce childhood obesity by increasing number of children walking and biking to school; and
• Improve air quality, community safety and security, and community involvement around school

In addition to Walk to School Day, the SRTS is also partnered with San Francisco's Bike to School Day which is to be held on April 7th, 2011.

Both of these programs were started recently in the bay area (SRTS in 2009 and Bike to School Day in 2008) and will hopefully get the attention of more schools in these upcoming years!

For more information regarding these events and programs, visit:

http://sfsaferoutestoschool.org/

http://biketoschoolday.org/