Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition

Good news broke out in a late night session of the Cupertino city council. Last night, at around 11:30 PM, the Cupertino City Council adopted a resolution and voted to deny a petition by residents on Scenic Circle who wanted to prevent access to the park's trails from their neighborhood.

As many of you know, following Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's appearance at the National Bike Summit, he announced on his blog that "People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized." This announcement came alongside a policy revision that puts the interests of bicyclists and pedestrians on equal footing with the concerns of motorists.

The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) National Partnership needs our help to make biking and walking to school part of the nation's efforts to combat childhood obesity:

SVBC members can now support bicycle advocacy while doing something they love - shopping for bike stuff!

The good people at Chain Reaction Bicycles in Redwood City and Los Altos are initiating a plan to donate 5% of all 2010 SVBC member purchases back to the Coalition.

Members just need to show their SVBC membership card one time, then they are in the system and will be giving SVBC a boost on all purchases - bicycles, accessories, food, labor, regular price, sale price, blow-out price - everything!

The Metropolitan Traffic Commission (MTC) will be distributing Federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds, to be used in part to conduct Bay Area bicycle infrastructure projects that are on the Regional Bicycle Network (RBN). Funding will be available for projects in both Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

A team of SVBC staff and board members will head to Washington D.C. next week to participate in the 2010 National Bike Summit. This year’s Summit marks ten years of cycling advocates from across the nation meeting to learn, share, and advocate in the nation’s capital. While in D.C., attendees will participate in workshops designed to unify our message on issues affecting the bicycling community, in preparation for a series of meetings with Congressional representatives and their staff.

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) projects in the Bay Area have recently gotten a shot in the arm. SVBC, together with the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition, worked with the Metropolitan Traffic Commission (MTC) to secure SRTS funding in the Commission’s recent "Climate Action Plan." There is $17 million available for SRTS projects across the Bay Area, with $1.43 million and $4.04 million going to San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, respectively. Distribution of funds was based on K – 12 school enrollment in the various counties.