Melanie Curry

A bill that would allow bicyclists who are ticketed for traffic violations to reduce their fines by attending a traffic safety class was introduced in the California Assembly last week. Assemblymembers Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) and David Chiu (D-San Francisco) amended A.B. 902 to repeal a provision in the vehicle code that currently prohibits such diversion programs except in the case of “minors who commit infractions not involving a motor vehicle for which no fee is charged.”

Despite predictions that California's climate change policies would destroy its economy, recent data seems to show that the opposite is happening.

A broad coalition of organizations this week called for California to increase funding for walk and bike projects. More than 120 organizations signed a petition urging the state to increase its investment in the Active Transportation Program (ATP), citing cost savings and health benefits from better bike and pedestrian infrastructure and the low level of funding currently available.

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times wrote a mostly thoughtful editorial against Senate Bill 192, Carol Liu's proposed mandatory helmet law for bicyclists. In the Times' opinion, there isn't enough evidence to show that helmets make bicycle riders safer to justify changing the law.

CalSTA, the state agency that oversees all state transportation departments including Caltrans, is committed to improving conditions for transit, biking, and walking, according to its Deputy Secretary for Environmental Policy and Housing, Kate White.

Congratulations to two Bay Area bicycle advocacy organizations who won top awards from the Alliance for Biking and Walking at the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., this week.

Caltrans has been in the process of developing its long range transportation plan for the last two years. Now it has released the draft California Transportation Plan 2040 [PDF]. Public input will be solicited at workshops throughout the state in March and April, starting today in Sacramento.

The guidelines for the second cycle of California's Active Transportation Program, which funds projects that encourage bicycling and walking, are in their final stage of revision. Staff will present the guidelines to the California Transportation Commission for approval at the commission's next meeting on March 25 and 26. The call for projects is expected to be released on March 26, with applications due June 1.

The deadline for introducing new bills to be considered in the 2015 California legislative session passed last Friday. Out of the total 2,295 bills, there are not very many pertaining to bicycling and walking, and some of those that do are not very bicycle-friendly. Overall it may end up being a lackluster session for bike policy.

A coalition of advocacy groups released a petition yesterday calling for California to increase funding for active transportation to help the state meet its climate goals.