CalBike Summit Preview: Complete Streets with Senator Scott Wiener

The California Bike Summit is coming up on April 18 and 19 in San Diego this year. Register soon; it will include more than thirty workshops and plenary sessions, plus bike rides and other events. The 2022 summit, in Oakland, sold out.

In the meantime, CalBike is offering an online preview session next week. On Wednesday, March 6, Senator Scott Wiener will be joined by Fearless Advocacy’s Jeanie Ward-Waller, CalBike executive Director Kendra Ramsey, Laura Tolkoff from SPUR, and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition’s Sandhya Laddha to discuss “Complete Streets on Caltrans Corridors.”

There has been progress at Caltrans on incorporating “complete streets” elements into its work, but the pace of change is very slow and meanwhile traffic safety problems of all kinds continue to mount. The panelists are likely to discuss what progress has been made, and also address why Senator Wiener’s Complete Streets bill, S.B. 960, is also needed.

S.B. 960 would require “all transportation projects funded or overseen by [Caltrans] to provide comfortable, convenient, and connected complete streets facilities unless an exemption is documented and approved,” for starters. It also would require the department to consider all road users – not just drivers – in its planning and funding. The bill would require transparency in reporting so that the public can track progress, require the department to set clear targets, and streamline approval of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit safety projects.

Register for next week’s preview session soon. California Bike Summit registration information can be found here.