Bike parking and on-board storage are issues discussed by Caltrain's Bicycle Advisory Committee. Photo: Andrew BooneHaving a dedicated bike car--with little or no nearby seating, invites on-board theft, say advocates
Deadlines are near for several Board and Committee positions in San Mateo County. Applications are due today for two vacancies on the SamTrans Board of Directors, while the City/County Association of Governments seeks volunteers to fill four vacancies on its 15-member Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (C/CAG BPAC), due Nov. 14. Caltrain is taking applications for six of the nine seats of its Bicycle Advisory Committee, due Dec. 2.
The San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans), which operates 76 bus routes, allows non-elected residents to serve on its Board of Directors, unique among the county’s major transportation agencies. Four "public members" are appointed by the five elected officials serving on the Board, who are themselves appointed by the City Selection Committee, composed of the Mayors of all 20 cities in San Mateo County. This committee of Mayors also appoints fellow city council members to the boards of Caltrain, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (SMCTA), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), and other county and regional agencies.
Caltrain contracts with SamTrans to serve as its managing agency, so the two transit brands have many of the same management staff, along with the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (SMCTA), which distributes revenues collected by a 2004 Measure A half-cent sales tax. Caltrain's Board of Directors is advised by a number of volunteer committees, including the nine-member Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC). The Board is accepting applications until Dec. 2 for six of the nine BAC seats. Two of these seats are available only to staff of a public agency (typically a city), while another two seats are reserved for bicycle advocates.
The City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) of San Mateo County has its own 15-member BPAC, which has to fill four vacant seats by Nov. 18. The C/CAG BPAC is the county's longest-running bike/ped advisory group, composed of eight elected officials and seven members from the general public. The committee's mission is limited mainly to evaluating grant applications competing for the meager funds awarded to bike/ped projects.
Andrew Boone covers the Livable Streets Movements for Streetsblog in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Andrew's claim to fame is once having bicycled more than 12,000 miles of smiles in one year. nauboone@gmail.com