Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is moving closer to finalizing the guidelines for each of the nine Measure B program categories, including the Bicycle and Pedestrian category, which is projected to distribute $250 million for active transportation planning, education, encouragement, and capital projects over the next 30 years. On Friday, April 21, the VTA Board of Directors will hold a workshop to get an update on the program and provide staff with feedback.

It was a small step for legislation, a huge win for roadway safety. Yesterday, the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee of the California State Assembly passed AB 342: the Safe Streets Act of 2017. As previously discussed on this blog, the legislation, authored by David Chiu, would enact a five-year pilot program allowing the cities of San Francisco and San Jose to use speed safety cameras in select areas. This is a crucial tool in our fight against the rising tide of bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities.

Nine pedestrians, one bicyclist, and one driver. Those were the grim fatality numbers my colleague Jaime Fearer, of California Walks, had featured on a slide for our joint presentation at SPUR earlier this week. Sadly, by the time we were in front of the lunchtime audience, another pedestrian fatality had already rendered the slide out-of-date. And now, as I write this post, I can unfortunately add another motorist to the list, bringing the death toll on San Jose’s roads to 13 for the first 95 days of 2017. There have been six homicides in the same period.

Editor's note: The following blog entry is a cross-post from our friends at Walk/Bike Cupertino and was authored by Jennifer Shearin. At SVBC, we're excited to see the City of Cupertino take a bold step toward implementing Class IV bike lanes on Stevens Creek Boulevard - part of a future low-stress bike network - called for in its recently adopted Bicycle Transportation Plan.

Last Thursday, March 23, the North Fair Oaks Community Council voted to approve improvements for Middlefield Road between Pacific and 5th Avenues, including buffered bike lanes. This vote comes after years of work from the community, San Mateo County, North Fair Oaks Forward, and SVBC staff and advocates. Most recently, SVBC worked with Siena Youth Center’s biking club, Bulldog Riders to enhance youth and community participation in the process.

SVBC kicked off the spring season with a group ride through downtown San Mateo – but not just any ride. People who didn’t have (or want to use) their own bikes were encouraged to use San Mateo’s bike share service, called San Mateo Bay Bikes.

SVBC doesn’t usually get involved in State legislation. We have a statewide organization - CalBike - to do that and there’s plenty of work for us at the local level. However, this year we’re prioritizing an important bill that helps advance our Vision Zero work, because the bill is directly related to San Jose. Assembly Bill 342: the Safe Streets Act of 2017, authored by David Chiu, would enact a five-year pilot program allowing the cities of San Francisco and San Jose to use speed safety cameras in select areas.