Bicycle Advisory Commission

Website

http://www.city.davis.ca.us/meetings/agenda.cfm?c=29

Contact

<tgoddard AT cityofdavis DOT org>

The City of Davis Bicycle Advisory Commission is one of the city's commissions that assist the City Council. The commission is charged with providing information to the City Council on how Davis should act on matters pertaining to bicycling in the city.

Events

They meet the first Monday of every month at 5:30p.m.. in the ["Community Chambers] at 23 Russell Boulevard.

In 2007 they are revising the 2001 City of Davis Bicycle Plan (pdf). They intent to complete work on the new plan by October 2007.

Commission members

John Berg – Chair
Earl Bossard
Jack Kenward
Joseph Krovoza
Alan Jackman
Angel.York
Virginia Matzek
Kelli O'Neill
David Takemoto-Weerts (ex-officio)
Tara Goddard – Staff Liaison, Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator
Sue Greenwald - Council Liaison

Past Commission members

Daniel Kehew
Lise Smidth
Anthony Palmere
Ken Gaines
Robert A. Clarke – Interim Staff Liaison

Invitation

February 2007, the Commission published an Op Ed piece in the Davis Enterprise inviting citizens to participate in the revisions to the current plan

What's your recommendation to improve cycling in Davis? The City of Davis Bicycle Advisory Commission (BAC) would like to know. The BAC has just embarked on a major revision of the city's Bicycle Transportation Plan, which will be a map to the future of cycling in Davis, and is a critical component to secure funding for needed projects.

Davis' first Bikeway Plan was issued in 1991, as a natural progression from the General Plan of that period, adopted in 1987, which mentioned bicycles no less than 23 times in 5 of the 7 elements contained in the plan. Expanding the bikeway network in Davis was the main purpose of this plan, which derived from the decision to accommodate bicycle transportation (council election of 1966). The current version of the Bike Plan can be found online at http://cityofdavis.org/topic/bicycles.cfm. This version is a minor revision of the plan issued in 2001.

Since 1966, Davis has been a leader in developing bicycle facilities, resulting in being recognized as the most bicycle friendly city in the country by the League of American Bicyclists. The Platinum Award was presented to Davis in 2006.

However, Davis cannot rest on its laurels –bicycle ridership has slipped over the last 10-15 years from 20-25% of all trips to 17%. The purpose of the Bicycle Transportation Plan is to improve bicycle transportation in Davis, by providing a list of projects needed to encourage ridership. In many cases, a project is not eligible for State funding unless it is listed in the Bicycle Plan.

Davis has been growing the past 40 years and will continue to grow into the foreseeable future. 6,000 freshmen come to UC Davis each October, most of them using bicycles for the first time since they were in junior high school. Clustered in dorms on campus, they relearn their riding habits in a highly protected environment unfettered by consistent enforcement and bring those habits into the wider community when they move off-campus after their initial year here. And those numbers will grow to 8,000 a year in just a few years.

And then there are the permanent residents attracted to Davis from their former homes in regions where few bicycles interface with their automobiles. As the number of new residents increases, they, like the new students coming each year, bring life-long driving habits acquired in bicycle-free situations.

Finding automobile parking has become more problematic, and air pollution from auto exhaust has increased from the resulting congestion caused by more cars moving about the same space. News stories have become commonplace about traffic congestion, its causes and effects. Our children and elderly suffer the most from lung impairment, asthma, obesity and type 2 diabetes resulting from the lack of exercise. Cycling, instead of driving, can provide positive solutions to these problems.

The important elements of the Bicycle Plan are the four E's of cycling planning – Engineering, Education, Enforcement, and Encouragement. Past Bike Plans have focused on Engineering, with emphasis on projects to provide facilities like the Dave Pelz overcrossing over Interstate 80. Facilities are important, but the BAC would like to see more emphasis on the other parts of the equation, as well.

Let's look at each of these issues….

Engineering: Many of the projects detailed in that 1991 Bike Plan have come to fruition; some have not. We have bike lanes on Second Street to Mace and bike lanes on all of Covell. We do not have a bike overcrossing of Covell at Monarch, and we do not have a bike overcrossing of Covell near L Street. And we definitely don't have bike lanes on 5th Street from A Street to L Street, as called for in that bike plan.

The BAC is considering new projects, such as a connector from the Dave Pelz overcrossing to the Old Highway 40 bike path. Bicycle parking downtown, particularly at the train depot, is high on the agenda. What other projects would you like to see added? Are there gaps in your commute, or spots on your route that make you nervous?

Education: Anytime someone sees a cyclist running a red light, or riding on the wrong side of the street, or sees an automobile driver cutting off a cyclist at a right turn, knows the need for education of all road users. Funds – and therefore programs – for education of all road users have been virtually non-existent. With or without funding, how would you propose educating users of the streets and roads in the proper use of those facilities?

Enforcement: Enforcement goes hand in hand with education. The BAC intends to work with the Police Department to enhance effective enforcement of traffic laws. Compliance with laws increases with enforcement and education and improves safety for all road users. For example, it's been observed that bicycle light sales increase after several cyclists have been ticketed for riding without lights.

Encouragement: Bike-to-Work Week in May is an example of encouraging people to get out of their cars and bicycle to work or school. It's also a celebration of healthier ways to commute while saving money and getting exercise in the course of daily activities. Better infrastructure, such as continuous bike lanes and more bicycle parking, also encourages cycling.

There is one other important element that does not begin with the letter “E”. That is data collection. The primary mission of the BAC is to advise the City Council on matters of policy affecting bicycling in the city. Absent an ongoing program of the collection and analysis of relevant data, all proposals to change city policy become exercises in presenting and debating anecdotal evidence. We – the BAC and the City Council – need reliable data about the uses of bicycles in Davis including who rides when and why. And we also lack reliable data collected on an ongoing basis regarding citations issued by the Police Department for traffic violations and of accidents involving bicycles.

If you have ideas for projects in any of these areas, the BAC would like to hear from you as soon as possible. There will be a meeting of the BAC at the Veteran's Memorial Center on Monday evening, February 11, at 7 pm. You can also provide ideas by email – send them to bikeplan@chemdoc.com. The Davis Wiki can also be used for input. Individual members of the Commission can be contacted directly – you can find a list of members at http://cityofdavis.org/meetings/agenda.cfm?c=29. Agendas and minutes of past meetings can also be found there.

Comments:

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2009-03-30 00:25:08 "Our children and elderly suffer the most from lung impairment, asthma, obesity and juvenile onset diabetes resulting from the lack of exercise. Cycling, instead of driving, can provide positive solutions to these problems."

Type 1 diabetes (aka juvenile onset diabetes) is not known to be caused by lack of exercise. Little is known about the cause, but researchers and doctors point to genetics and exposure to certain viruses (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/type-1-diabetes/DS00329/DSECTION=causes & http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disease/Diabetes.html). Type 2 diabetes (aka adult onset diabetes) is linked to obesity and lack of exercise.

The diseases are VERY different. Please stop perpetuating the myth that juvenile onset diabetes is caused by lack of exercise.