Announcing the 2018 Silicon Valley Bike Summit Awardees
Photo: Penny Ellson, Palo Alto PTA Traffic Safety Committee Chair, accepting the 2017 Bike Professional (or volunteer) of the Year. SVBC is proud to announce the winners of this year’s Silicon Valley Bike Summit Awards. As we convene the movers and shakers of active transportation in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties on August 22 at the 8th Annual Bike Summit, SVBC is taking the opportunity to recognize excellence in the following categories:
- Person of the Year – volunteer, elected official, or city, county, or other agency staff whose efforts went above and beyond to ensure safe and comfortable bicycling.
- Project of the Year –bike lane (buffered, green, or protected), bike bridge, bike boulevard, bike box, bike parking, bike trail, and may include a significant report/study etc. that brings more people on to bikes.
- Program of the Year – education and encouragement programs or bike plans that shifted the needle to get more people on bikes.
Nearly 400 respondents voted until the poll closed on July 17 (with a one-day extension due to technical difficulties – we’re not foreclosing the possibility of foreign meddling). In all seriousness, every vote counted given the razor sharp margin: therefore, we are declaring a tie for the category of “Person of the Year.”Without further ado, here are the winners:Person of the Year
- Bill Kelly, San Mateo County Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee Chair. Kelly was nominated for working closely with community members, colleagues, city staff, residents, and advocates to develop an understanding of neighborhood safety concerns and solutions.
- Chelsea Biklen, Cupertino Safe Routes to School Coordinator (SRTS). In the first two years of Biklen’s work at the city, Cupertino SRTS had reached 100% program participation through outreach efforts to PTA’s, fourteen K-12 schools and 15,000 students. Chelsea is moving on this year so we are excited to grant her this award before her departure.
- The San Mateo Public Health System’s equity analysis of Safe Routes To School (SRTS). This analysis highlighted 15 schools in San Mateo County to focus on SRTS programs and projects located in high poverty areas and within ¼ mile of an unsafe intersection or street. In addition to receiving the award for Project of the Year, the report will be presented at this year’s Bike Summit.
- Since Parents for Safe Routes in Menlo Park’s founding in 2016, the organization has recruited parent champions for each school in the Menlo Park City and Las Lomitas School Districts to host on-bike, on-street bike skills workshops, as well as successfully lobbied Menlo Park City Council to implement a city-wide Safe Routes to School program. In addition to receiving the award for Program of the Year, the co-founder will present the organization’s work at this year’s Bike Summit.
The awardees will be honored at the Silicon Valley Bike Summit August 22, 2018. Stay tuned for feature posts highlighting each of the winners. Again, congrats to this year’s winners!And lastly, staff at SVBC are thrilled by the turnout of folks who participated in this year’s Bike Summit Awards nomination and voting process, and we want to recognize the runner-ups in the following categories:Person of the Year
- Ed Solis, San José’s Recreation Superintendent
Project of the Year
- The Palmetto Avenue Streetscape Improvement Project, Pacifica
- 2155 Lanai Avenue, San José: The newly constructed enhanced crosswalk at the intersection of Lanai and Waverly Avenues
- Santa Clara Caltrain Station Pedestrian/Bicycle Undercrossing
Program of the Year
- Menlo Park Rides
- Bike Palo Alto