Announcing the 2019 Silicon Valley Bike Summit Awardees

SVBC will be proudly presenting awards for the Person, Program and Project of the year at the 9th Annual Silicon Valley Bike Summit being held at Mountain View Community Center on August 1. The nominations for the awards were open in May and June, while the voting took place in June and July. We received nearly 400 responses and without further ado, here are the winners.Person of the YearEd Solis, Recreation Superintendent, City of San José– The head behind bringing open streets, in the form of VivaCalleSJ, to the Bay Area, an event that temporarily closes miles of streets in San José to bring together communities to walk, bike, skate, play and explore the city like never before. Kudos to his leadership, VivaCalleSJ is now being held twice a year in the city of San José! Note, VivaCalleSJ won the Program of the Year award in 2017.Program of the YearTeam Asha Biking Program, Santa Clara - Team Asha Silicon Valley is an endurance training program organized by Asha for Education Silicon Valley Chapter. They started their biking program in 2010. The program trains participants for long-distance rides (100km, 100-mile and triathlon) and also conducts a family biking program training children over 10 years of age. Team Asha has trained over 500 bicyclists since its inception. The program has raised more than $150,000 to support 15+ projects in India impacting the lives of over 20,000 kids to get quality education.Project of the YearThere was a cut-throat competition between our nominees for this award - we have a tie between two very significant projects for this award.East Palo Alto Highway 101 bicycle and pedestrian bridge – A bridge that finally “bridges” the gap between neighborhoods of East Palo Alto, providing a safe and comfortable way for people to cross Highway 101 biking or walking. The project increases public safety; improves the quality of life by making the community more walkable and bikable, and reduces short vehicle trips. The idea of a bridge was one of the early social justice issues identified by city leaders and it is indeed a great win to see the bridge complete and in action.Better Bikeways, San José (BBSJ) – BBSJ is a growing network of protected bike lanes and bike-friendly calm streets. Approximately 10 miles of connected bikeways were constructed in the span of JUST one year. The project is ongoing, as the temporary paint-and-plastic design allows testing and adjusting ideas in the field. Innovative treatments such as transit boarding islands, vehicle diverters, and contra-flow protected bikeways make for safe and inviting spaces for people biking while clearly conveying the City's transportation goals and values of safety, community, and environmental stewardship.Hearty congratulations to all the award winners and we hope all of you can make it to the Summit to meet these wonderful award winners in person!