Meet 11th Annual Bike Summit Keynote: Assemblymember Laura Friedman
The Bike Summit this year will be kicked-off by a keynote from Assemblymember Laura Friedman! Laura Friedman was elected to the California State Assembly in November 2016. Join us at the Bike Summit to learn about Laura's forward-thinking policies such as investing in mass transit, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, zero-emission vehicles, road safety, and sustainability.Meanwhile, here is what the Assemblymember has to say to all of us:
Tell us about your interest/passion in active transportation.
California leads the nation with its environmental policies, making strong progress towards cleaner air, reducing impacts on climate change, promoting clean energy, conserving land and open space. But unfortunately our transportation sector has been a stubborn outlier, as our transportation related greenhouse gas emissions are rising not falling. One reason for this is that nearly every community in our state has been designed mainly for automobiles – and people and our planet are paying the price. As we grow, our over-reliance on cars is not a sustainable, as it leads to inefficient use of land, long commutes and traffic congestion. Active transportation is available option for many communities and many trips. It leads to better health, more connection with community, cars off the road, less congestion, and many other benefits. It’s the life and future I want for myself and for my daughter.
What are the key bills and legislations you have worked on to promote bicycling and walking in the state?
This year, I’m working on AB 43, which implements recommendations from the Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force created by my AB 2363 (2018). With this measure, our local governments would have a greater ability to make our streets safer by taking factors such as incidents of fatal or injurious crashes and new infrastructure into account when setting speed limits. This flexibility to lower speed limits would be a huge improvement for pedestrians and cyclists. I’m also working on AB 1147, which will help encourage our communities to be more sustainable through encouraging environmentally-friendly transportation options including active transit. In addition to legislative efforts, I’m working on new funding for active transit projects in my district and encouraging budget allocations towards bike and pedestrian infrastructure statewide.
As we are coming out of the pandemic , what would be your advice to cities and agencies regarding transportation changes/safer streets?
We just had a year that was incredibly challenging and impactful, and in many ways educational. We’ve been able to see how clean our air became when less cars were on the road. But we also saw unexpected results, such as traffic fatalities going up even during lockdowns because there were less barriers to speeding and reckless driving. People are emerging from the pandemic with a range of different experiences: having lost loved ones, being suddenly unemployed, and having their work experiences radically change overnight. I believe cities, agencies, and the state should be looking at this moment as an opportunity reexamine how we experience our communities, move through our built environment, get from our places of work, residency, and play front and center. We should reach out to our communities and ask them how the pandemic has impacted the way they live and want to live, and how we can accommodate a better quality of life through making meaningful changes and investments.
Tell us about your bike and where you like to ride?
In Glendale I used to ride a hybrid to and from City Hall. Ive been doing less riding now that I usually have my young daughter in tow. In Sacramento I frequently do my short commute on a cruiser-type bike with a single fixed gear, and foot brakes (which i hate). I appreciate the flat terrain, shady streets, and excellent bicycle infrastructure. Sacramento is taking active transportation seriously, and it’s getting middle-aged women like me, and the rest of the community, on bikes. That commute is often the best part of my day.
