Posted By Sam Ollinger on August 29, 2011

• The California Bicycle Coalition is urging all Californians to contact their Assembly member to ensure that their Assembly member’s vote on Senate Bill 910, the three-foot passing bill, is a “yes”. More information and details are available at this link. The AAA is one of the organizations fighting to keep this bill from passing. Please contact them to ask that they remove their opposition to the bill as it would benefit their own members by making the law clearer.
•  Bicycle specific laws make drivers’ lives on the road better and perhaps would remove some of the frustration that is contributing to the decline in driving.
• In Vancouver, businesses blame bike lanes for lost revenue. While it is not entirely clear why they hold that belief, the Globe and Mail reports that bike lanes are good for drivers and everyone else because, it results in a “decrease in confusion, frustration and bad behaviour by all users – drivers, pedestrians and cyclists alike.” Additionally, a report from the London School of Economics reports on the economic benefits resulting from individual cyclists. These benefits included a £2.9b (US$4.7b) total contribution to U.K. economy. In Copenhagen, 300 businesses and 650 full-time jobs stem from the city’s culture of riding to work, a $247 million economic impact.
• Last year, the City’s auditor found $2.9 million in lost revenue [pdf] that the city failed to collect from its parking meters. Meanwhile, the City of Los Angeles continues to shame San Diego by implementing innovative methods in setting parking meter rates and thus collecting much needed revenue. Part of the reason that the installation of bike lanes on Ruffin Road have been delayed is due to business owners, along Ruffin Road, protesting the removal of parking spots. They need to be removed so that the bike lanes can be installed. This removal will not result in a loss of parking spaces as the presence of ample, off street parking located directly in front of the businesses meets existing demand.
• Bike the Bay, the SDCBC’s major fundraiser, was well attended by around 2,400 participants who got to experience Caltrans‘ small shred of generosity that allowed cyclists to ride on the Coronado Bridge that is closed to both pedestrians and cyclists the rest of the year.

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