As we work more on making our organization more diverse, equitable, and inclusive, staff members are taking the opportunities to learn and understand more of these issues. Last week, we had the chance to attend the Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition's first Complete Streets conference, Street Lights: Illuminating Implementation and Equity in Complete Streets as well as Urban Habitat’s Stage of the Region: Planning for the New Geography of Race and Class.

Last week’s Mountain View City Council vote on Bike Share turned out to be a mixed bag. After learning late Monday that Ford was not willing to sponsor operating costs for any cities on the Peninsula that want to join the Bay Area system expansion, Mountain View city staff was understandably uncomfortable recommending that the city commit to a full 350-bike re-launch.

Caltrain is currently accepting applications for its Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC), an advisory body comprised of nine volunteers from the three counties served by the rail agency. The BAC serves as the primary venue for the interests and perspectives of bicyclists to be integrated into the Caltrain planning process. This group brings new ideas for discussion and helps Caltrain guide its future investments.

For many people, bike share offers a modern, fun, and sustainable solution to the "first and last mile" connectivity from transit that plagues our public transit systems. From Los Angeles to Minneapolis and New York, cities have been quickly adopting bike share programs, with several million riders and growing. Despite bike share's rapid rise, it hasn't done a very good job reaching low-income residents, who are more likely to bike and walk to work than those with higher incomes, and people of color.