2015 Silicon Valley Bike Summit Recap

Thanks to all who attended the 5th Annual Silicon Valley Bike Summit! Did you miss it? See below for more information and a chance to hear a podcast of the day. You can also view the archive of all tweets from the Summit as well as photos from the event.The Summit was a great day learning about safety and active transportation in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties and we enjoyed seeing people from the non-profit, private, and public sectors as well as local residents and advocates!A special thanks to our high level sponsors. Stanford Health Care was our presenting sponsor and co-host, and many thanks to Microsoft and Emison Hullervson LLP for their generous support. We would like to also thank Genze, Palo Alto Bicycles, Paoli & Geerhart, Gary Brustin, Dero, Bank of the West, and M-Group.The opening plenary featured Nuria Fernandez, head of VTA, and Jim Hartnett, head of the San Mateo County Transit District. Our own President Shiloh Ballard moderated a fascinating conversation between them about their respective counties’ involvement in bicycling, safety, and the future of transit. Audience questions touched on funding through sales tax measures, bike access on trains and buses, bike maps, El Camino Real, and equity in transportation.Next, Jessica Osborne and Corina Chung of San Mateo County Health System (SMCHS) and Susan Lowery and Pamela Amparo of Santa Clara County Public Health Department (SCCPHD) presented on collision and injury data involving people who bike and walk. Check out the presentations from San Mateo County Health System and Santa Clara County Public Health Department. We learned that:

• In SMC, 48% of bicycle and pedestrian fatalities and more than 64% of all fatal collisions occur on state highways.
• African-Americans make up 32% of all bike & ped deaths in San Mateo County but represent only 3% of population.
• 39% of all injuries & fatalities in San Mateo County are within 1/4 mile of a school.
• In SCC, 23% of bicycle collisions are due to riding on the wrong side of the road, with 96% of those collisions with bicyclist at fault.
• Commute by bike numbers in SCC are highest in Palo Alto, followed by Mountain View, then Los Altos. These percentages have been increasing since 2009.

Santa Clara County’s report is available online and San Mateo County Health System’s report will be released later this fall, though you can see a teaser factsheet now. SVBC will be working with the Health departments and their reports to ensure that decision-makers throughout our two counties are aware of this compelling information and use it to make policy changes that lead to better roadway safety.To that end, myself and Colin Heyne of SVBC and Jaime Fearer of California Walks’ debuted our Vision Zero Toolkit (available for free download). This Toolkit is intended as a resource for cities and counties to adopt and implement robust Vision Zero programs, contributing to the goal of eliminating deaths and life-altering injuries on our roadways. It’s also a great resource for advocates who want their city to enact changes.In the afternoon, a diverse panel convened to discuss Silicon Valley Solutions: Tech’s role in bicycling safety. With Jessica Weare of Microsoft moderating, we heard from Lauren Ledbetter of VTA; Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious; Andrew Casteel, creator of Team Bike Challenge and Company Bike Challenge; and Frank Hebbert of Motivate.Our final session yielded excellent discussions on ideas for addressing some of the key issues in safety on our roadways. Participants met in small groups to discuss questions related key Vision Zero implementation steps in Evaluation and Planning, Engineering, Enforcement, Education, and Encouragement. Of course, engagement and equity were sprinkled throughout the conversation. Check out the resulting notes from that discussion.Did you miss one of the sessions or want to go back and hear it all again? We’ve got you covered! A recording of the day as a podcast will be posted online next week.Hope to see you next year!