California

Caltrans has a new goal of tripling California's share of bicycling trips, and doubling that of walking and transit by 2020.

A California Assembly bill that would prohibit tolls for pedestrians and bicycle riders on state-owned bridges passed the Assembly Transportation Committee with a vote of 31 to 2. Assemblymember Phil Ting's A.B. 40, originally drafted to apply only to the Golden Gate Bridge, was amended to apply statewide.

TransForm, an Oakland-based organization that advocates for sustainable transportation, smart growth, and affordable housing throughout California, will hold its annual Transportation Choices Summit in Sacramento in two weeks, and invites all interested parties to register for the event.

California is seeing a transformation in transportation, and now Streetsblog is expanding to cover stories throughout the state, not just those in Greater L.A., the Bay Area and the corridors of power in Sacramento. Led by the excellent writing of Melanie Curry, Streetsblog California will continue to cover statewide policy and expand to cover major issues in cities large and small throughout the state.

The mandatory bicycle helmet bill, Senator Carol Liu's Senate Bill 192, has been dropped—or rather amended. Instead of requiring bicyclists to wear helmets, it calls on the Office of Traffic Safety to conduct a study of bicycle helmet use.

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.