A Potential New Bike to Work Day Role for SVBC

This update on SVBC's role in Bike Month was authored by our executive director Shiloh Ballard.Having come from the world of policy advocacy, many of my friends ask how the new job is going and whether I miss advocacy. Yes and no. It’s easy for me to gravitate towards the work of our policy team – working with Caltrain to increase bike capacity, figuring out the next phase of bike share on the Peninsula, or coordinating with Santa Clara County leaders on a potential new transportation sales tax. But instead I’m focused on what many might characterize as the more mundane but necessarily elements of the Bike Coalition: reviewing contracts, raising money, and playing a support role to a great team.One project that is on my plate is something that you don’t often hear of in the nonprofit world but is rampant in the for-profit sector – a merger and acquisition. In this case, the intent isn’t to gobble up competition, but rather to leverage SVBC’s strengths to improve how a regional program is run.Bike coalitions are often best known for their Bike to Work programs. This is certainly true in the Bay Area, where Bike to Work Day and Bike Month (in May) gets tens of thousands of people on their bikes. Financial backing for Bike Month comes from two main sources, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and corporate sponsorships. Currently, MTC contracts directly with the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition (BABC) to run the program for the nine-county Bay Area.BABC was formed years ago for several reasons, one of which was to oversee Bike Month. It was also an important vehicle for advocacy on a regional scale in part because the local bike coalitions were in start-up mode. Since that time the bike advocacy community has evolved and grown into a savvy cohort of effective nonprofits and the need for an extra layer of bureaucracy is much reduced. In fact, the administration of BABC has become a bit of a burden.In an effort to improve Bike Month through better oversight and increased efficiency, the Board of BABC, including my predecessor Corinne Winter, began to discuss dissolving the organization and finding a new home for management of Bike to Work Day and related activities. The direction at this point is for SVBC – already very strong at fostering corporate involvement, particularly during Bike Month – to begin fully overseeing regional Bike Month. This is something that was put into motion before I came on board, but I see it as a great opportunity for the organization and a smart way to make administration of our flagship event more efficient. While there is much consensus around this direction among the current BABC board, ultimately whether SVBC should become the regional coordinator of Bike To Work Month is something that would be approved by its members.In terms of process SVBC is currently working with BABC and the relevant stakeholders to come to an agreement. That agreement would then be voted upon by the SVBC Board of Directors, which would authorize SVBC to move forward with a vote of its members.As we continue to be in discussions about this direction, we welcome any questions about this process as there are a number of considerations that impact SVBC. Considerations include things like an expanded geographic scope as well as the additional work. Assuming the talks go well and the direction makes sense for BABC, SVBC and the other stakeholders who play a large role in BTWD, SVBC would provide a more detailed memo as a part of a Board recommendation that would be voted upon by the SVBC membership in December. That vote would happen in conjunction with the vote on our Board of Directors as well.Please use the contact form at the bottom of this page, or submit a comment below, to share your thoughts.