Bike East Bay

Alameda County could usher in a new era of progressive transportation projects if voters pass a proposed half-cent sales tax increase known as Measure B1 on November 6.

Seventeen blocks of Shattuck Avenue, normally one of Berkeley's most traffic-clogged streets, were filled with an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people walking, biking and skating for the debut of Sunday Streets Berkeley this weekend.

BART released results Friday from its survey of riders' attitudes toward the pilot program that lifted the rush-hour ban on bikes each Friday in August. Although BART and media reports have called the findings "split" and "varied," the responses in some key areas look promising.

With bikes let loose on this morning's rush hour BART commute, all signs indicate that things went as smoothly -- if not better -- than usual. Our most recent search on the Twittersphere turns up not a single complaint, and reps from the East Bay and San Francisco Bicycle Coalitions, as well as BART, are reporting generally positive comments.

[Update: BART released a video explaining the bikes-on-board rush hour pilot.]

BART is updating its bicycle plan [PDF] and setting a new goal to double the rate of passengers who bike within ten years, largely by expanding secure parking and possibly relaxing its restrictions on bike access to trains and stations. The agency is asking the public to submit comments on the draft plan until May 27.

10 mayors, 17,000 people, and 600 pancakes: the San Francisco East Bay celebrates Bike to Work Day 2012.

Footage of an egregious hit-and-run crash where a driver injured two bicyclists in Berkeley was posted online by one of the victims yesterday. The man who recorded the incident, identified on Youtube as "Bruno," wrote in the video's description that police have found the car and the owner, but that he is "waiting for the return of the police on the case."

Last week, Berkeley became the second American city to implement an anti-harassment law to protect bicycle riders and allow victims to sue offending drivers in civil court.