Author: Richard Masoner

City of Santa Clara BPAC seeks members

The city of Santa Clara, California Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) may have up to three openings for new members. The BPAC is composed of volunteers who either live or work in the city of Santa Clara.

Santa Clara zoning map

The BPAC advises city council on bicycle-related projects. Sometimes city council listens, sometimes they don’t. I’ve heard from current and former BPAC members that the San Tomas Aquino Trail closure has been an especially contentious and frustrating issue between them and city council, though they’ve had successes too.

BPAC meetings are held on the third Wednesday in January, March, June, August and October at 4:00pm at City Hall and are open to the public. Agendas are posted online and at the City Clerk’s office.

Request an application from Marshall Johnson at 408-615-3023 or MJohnson@Santaclaraca.gov. Act quickly, because applications are due October 17. I work in the city of Santa Clara and I have biked on 200 of the 240 miles of road in town, but I’m not sure I can give up another Wednesday for something like this.

H/T to Pete M for the info.

Four vacant seats San Mateo C/CAG BPAC

The City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) of San Mateo County currently has four vacant seats for public members on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC).

San Mateo C/CAG logo CCAG

The county and all incorporated cities in San Mateo County are members of the C/CAG, which acts as the designated Congestion Management Agency (CMA) for the county. As such, C/CAG is responsible for spending funds on things like Safe Routes to School and other programs to encourage active transportation.

The BPAC provides advice and recommendations to the C/CAG Board of Directors on all matters relating to bicycle and pedestrian facilities planning and on the selection of projects for state and federal funding. Applicants must be a resident of San Mateo County. The appointment term is for two years.

The C/CAG Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee generally meets on the fourth Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at San Mateo City Hall.

The BPAC only allows for two members, either elected or public, that reside in any particular jurisdiction (City or Unincorporated County). There are currently two members that reside in the City of South San Francisco. As a result no new members from South San Francisco can be appointed at this time.

This C/CAG BPAC covers the entire county, while the relatively new San Mateo County BPAC covers only unincorporated portions of the Peninsula.

To apply

Interested parties should complete the BPAC Membership Application (below) and submit it to Eliza Yu by November 18, 2016.

Public Membership Application

Please give brief answers to the following questions to be considered for appointment to the City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) of San Mateo County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC).

FOR INCUMBENTS:

1. Why do you want to be reappointed to the BPAC?

2. Do you have any suggestions for making the BPAC more effective?

3. How long have you served on the BPAC?

FOR NEW MEMBERS:

1. What expertise/experience do you have pertaining to serving on this committee?

2. Why do you want to serve on this committee?

3. What special strengths would you bring to the committee?

4. What is the role of the countywide Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee?

5. Have you ever attended a meeting of this committee? If so, when?

FOR ALL APPLICANTS:

A. The C/CAG BPAC meets on the fourth Thursday of the month from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., do you have other commitments that will keep you from attending meetings?

B. Are you a member of any other committees/organizations?

C. Please mention the city in which you reside.

Include your name on your submittal with the answers to the questions above. Applications will be reviewed and presented to the C/CAG Board for appointment to the BPAC. Please email or mail your application to Eliza Yu, eyu@smcgov.org / 555 County Center, 5th Floor, Redwood City, CA 94063.

The American Bicycle

Before World War II, tobacco companies included trading cards in their cigarette packaging, similar to baseball cards included in some modern packages of bubble gum.

In 1939, Player Cigarettes in Great Britain released a series of 50 cycling cards with the help of Mr “Harry” England, the editor of Cycling (today’s Cycling Weekly).

The series briefly covers the history of cycling, describing early and (then) modern bikes, such as this Light Roadster Bicycle, described as “admirably suitable for the young and middle-aged for riding to work, to the allotment, or to school.”

Player Cigarette Cards: Light Roadster Bicycle

(more…)

Santa Cruz to consider bike share

Bike Party in front of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

At the Silicon Valley Bike Summit last month I saw city of Santa Cruz Economic Development Director J. Guevara looking closely at the bike share bikes on display. Social Bicycles — which provides the “smart bike” systems now in use in San Mateo, CA and — somewhat more famously — Portland, OR, was on hand at the bike summit to demonstrate their system.

It turns out Dr. Guevara was doing more than just kicking the tires. (more…)


Warning: file_put_contents(/home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/cache/wpo-minify/1759479365/assets/wpo-minify-footer-594712ad.min.js.json): failed to open stream: Disk quota exceeded in /home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-optimize/minify/class-wp-optimize-minify-print.php on line 156

Warning: file_put_contents(/home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/cache/wpo-minify/1759479365/assets/wpo-minify-footer-594712ad.min.js): failed to open stream: Disk quota exceeded in /home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-optimize/minify/class-wp-optimize-minify-print.php on line 157

Warning: chmod(): No such file or directory in /home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-optimize/minify/class-wp-optimize-minify-cache-functions.php on line 24

Warning: chmod(): No such file or directory in /home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-optimize/minify/class-wp-optimize-minify-cache-functions.php on line 24

Warning: file_get_contents(/home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/cache/wpo-minify/1759479365/assets/wpo-minify-footer-594712ad.min.js): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-optimize/minify/class-wp-optimize-minify-print.php on line 163

Warning: file_put_contents(/home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/cache/wpo-minify/1759479365/assets/wpo-minify-footer-594712ad.min.js.gz): failed to open stream: Disk quota exceeded in /home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-optimize/minify/class-wp-optimize-minify-print.php on line 163

Warning: chmod(): No such file or directory in /home/klevlif3k2kh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-optimize/minify/class-wp-optimize-minify-cache-functions.php on line 24