San Jose's new Better Bike Plan 2025

San Jose's 2020 Bike Plan led the city to become one of the most bike-friendly in the United States. It resulted in 392 miles of on-street bikeways and 62 miles of trails. Now, it's successor is looking to take things even further.

Better Bike Plan 2025 would call for 37 miles of new trails, 79 miles of new separated bike lanes, 101 miles of bike boulevards on slow-speed streets, and upgrading 293 miles of existing bike lanes with additional safety measures.

When San Joseans were polled, many said that they would want to bike more but were concerned about safety. This new plan attempts to alleviate those concerns by focusing on increasing safety such as adding protected lanes. 

If all goes well, the improvements, additional bike lanes, and trails could be fully rolled out over the next 4 years.

Source: San Jose Inside

San Jose's new bike plan

San Jose has unveiled Better Bike Plan 2025, which will lead to a major expansion of our bike network. The previous plan gave us 392 miles of on-street bike-ways and 62 miles of trails since 2009.

The 2025 plan is nearly as ambitions. It features 79 miles of new separated bike lines, 101 miles of bike boulevards on slow-speed streets, upgrading 293 miles of existing bike lanes with new safety measures, and 37 miles of new trails.

The overall price tag could range between $250 million to $420 million. It sounds expensive but the cost covers hundreds of miles of improvements for less than the two-stop Light Rail expansion to Eastridge Mall.

Source: San Jose Inside

Better Bike Plan Workshop

Tomorrow there will be a public workshop for San Jose's Better Bike Plan 2025 project. Many more bike sharing stations are coming to San Jose, and this is a great opportunity to provide your input on a plan that will make biking "safer, easier, more convenient, and more comfortable to everyone."

The workshop takes placer from 11am to 1pm, December 1st (tomorrow), at Veggielution in Emma Prusch Farm Park (647 South King Road, San Jose).

Ford GoBike is Expanding in San Jose!

San Jose's GoBike network is about to get a whole lot larger. At least 20 new stations are being proposed for 2019, and you can have a say in where those stations go! The plan is to extend coverage to the greater Downtown area, North San Jose, and Berryessa. The details are below for the next Ford GoBike community workshop, which is on Thursday from 6-8pm at Joyce Ellington Library (491 E. Empire Street). This is your chance to participate in the expansion of our bikeshare network.

San Jose, CA - Ford GoBike is working with the San Jose Department of Transportation (SJ DOT), District 3 Councilmember Raul Peralez and community groups to expand the bike share network in San Jose. Expanding the Ford GoBike network in San Jose is vital for providing riders access to new neighborhoods and increase network reliability. Please join Ford GoBike and SJ DOT to learn more about the bike share expansion plans for next year!

We are holding a community workshop to collect public feedback on proposed station locations to ensure we are designing a network best suited for San Jose residents and businesses. We will have a classic and pedal-assist e-bike on display and will provide free giveaways and light refreshments at the event. RSVP here!

Meeting Details

Date: Thursday, November 8, 6-8pm

Location: Joyce Ellington Library, 491 E. Empire Street (between 10th and 11th), San Jose

How To Get There

• Closest Ford GoBike Station is Empire St at 7th St then walk 6 minutes to the library
• 65 VTA bus stop in front of the library
• There is a parking lot behind the library (accessible on 10th St and 11th St) and street parking is available

Neighborhoods We Will Be Covering

• Northside (6 proposed sites)
• Greater Downtown (5 proposed sites)
• Metro/Technology/1st/Gish (7 proposed sites)
• Berryessa BART (2 proposed sites)

To view proposed bikeshare locations in San Jose, please see the Ford GoBike Expansion Map. Please contact us at outreach@fordgobike.com if you have any questions or feedback on any of the proposed station locations. We hope to see you there!

LimeBike coming to take on Ford GoBikes Downtown

It looks like Ford GoBikes (formerly Bay Area Bike Share) has some competition. LimeBike relies on GPS self-locking system and you can rent them for just $1 for 30 minutes of use. Bikes and scooters with an electric motor cost $1 for 10 minutes of use. All models are powered by solar panels built into the bike and they use foam tires that never go flat. Unlike GoBikes, they do not need to be rented or dropped off at a station. Just use the app to locate a bike and then drop it off near your destination.

It is hard to believe that in less than 5 years we went from having no bike share options to two competing programs.

Source: The Merc

Pop-Up Bikeway + Events

The City of San Jose is hosting several events related to biking next week thanks to funding from the Knight Foundation. The events begin with a temporary protected bikeway running along 4th Street between St. John and San Salvador starting on Monday, August 7th and continuing for a whole week. It will be interesting to see how the community reacts to the concept. You can check out the first flyer below for an idea of how this might look.

There will also be a community roundtable on August 9th to discuss how to better incorporate biking into our streets. Finally, there will be a meet & greet happy hour at Uproar brewery on August 10th. All of the flyers and Facebook page links are below.

Temporary pop-up protected bike lane on 4th St
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/events/463681204000450

Community Roundtable
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/events/114812749171629

Evening Social  
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/events/481765975492276/

Bay Area Bike Share expansion maps reveal new service areas

Bay Area BikeShare is responsible for those light blue bikes that you see throughout Downtown San Jose and parts of San Francisco. Thanks to a new sponsor--Ford--the program is going to dramatically expand starting in Spring of 2017. Bay Area BikeShare will also be renamed "Ford GoBike."

The program will go from 700 bikes to 7,000 bikes. Oakland and a couple other East Bay cities will also be added. If you are a subscriber, you will be able to access bikes in any available location in the Bay Area.

Below is the map of the area we care most about. The existing service area for San Jose is in orange, which includes most of Downtown San Jose and one station in Japantown. Phase 1 of the expansion will bring BikeShare to The Alameda. Phase 2 will push the service out beyond Japantown to the North and beyond Highway 280 to the South. Phase 3 will extend to the Airport area, the tech campuses on North First, and Naglee/Taylor. Finally, Phase 4 will go to Midtown, East San Jose, and towards Berryessa.

All phases should be complete by the end of 2018.

Expansion will start in Spring 2017 and roll out in phases, enlarging bike share in San Francisco, San Jose - and bringing bike share to the East Bay for the first time

Program to be renamed Ford GoBike as expansion begins

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Motivate and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) released maps Thursday showing the contours of the expansion of bike share in the Bay Area. The program will grow from 700 to 7,000 bikes with the first new stations being installed in spring 2017. The expansion will take place in phases, building outward from the existing service areas in San Francisco and San Jose and outward from more dense areas of the cities in the East Bay. Motivate and the MTC also released more specific maps with the proposed station locations for Phase 2 expansion stations. (Phase 1 locations were released earlier this year.) Expansion is expected to be complete by the end of 2018.

Station locations are being selected through an extensive community engagement process. Locations for the first two phases of expansion are the product of over 120 meetings with local officials, community leaders, business owners and residents, 19 public workshops, and door-to-door outreach – with more still to come. There is also an online station-suggestion portal that has generated over 5,000 unique station location suggestions submitted by the public so far. Motivate will continue this outreach as it plans additional phases of expansion, with Phase 3 public workshops beginning next week in Oakland and Berkeley (workshop schedule).

At full build-out, the system will have stations every few blocks in San Francisco from the Bay to the Beach; it will connect Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville; and it will extend the San Jose service area from the downtown core. It will link people to MUNI and BART, to jobs and schools, to businesses and parks. San Francisco will have more bike share bikes per capita than any other system in North America and will have one of the highest ratios of bike share bikes per capita than anywhere else in the world.

The program’s expansion is enabled by a public-private partnership, and Motivate recently announced that Ford Motor Company has signed on as the program’s title sponsor. The program will be renamed Ford GoBike as expansion begins in the spring.

“Since the launch of Bay Area Bike Share in 2013, we’ve heard a strong desire from the community to bring bike share to the East Bay,” said Emily Stapleton, General Manager of Bay Area Bike Share. “In the first year of our expansion, we’re planning to connect the key commercial corridors in Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville to provide residents, workers and visitors in these thriving cities with a new and accessible option to travel in and between them.”

This week, Motivate and the MTC also released the proposed locations for Phase 2 stations for additional public feedback. Phase 2 will bring over 100 new stations that will expand the San Francisco service area into new neighborhoods including the Haight-Ashbury, Hayes Valley, and Dogpatch, make new connections across Berkeley, Oakland, and Emeryville, and expand service throughout downtown San Jose. Maps will be posted on the Bay Area Bike Share website, see below for details.

The best bike share station locations are highly visible, close to bicycle facilities, co-located with other transportation connections, and/or close to local destinations like parks, commercial districts, or other major destinations that attract large numbers of Bay Area residents. Bike share systems thrive when stations are placed close to one another, typically no more than a quarter mile or a five-minute walk. Specific locations are chosen through a process that couples feedback from the station suggestion portal with extensive public consultation in neighborhoods where the expansion is expected to take place, along with a technical assessment of site suitability.

See specific proposed station locations and learn more about how to get involved: bayareabikeshare.com/expansion

About Bay Area Bike Share, operated by Motivate
Bay Area Bike Share is a quick, convenient and affordable way to travel around the Bay Area. The system is growing from 700 to 7,000 bikes by the end of 2018, and expanding into the East Bay. Bay Area Bike Share is operated by Motivate, a global leader in bike share. Motivate manages all of the largest bike share systems in the United States and many of the largest systems in the world, including Citi Bike (New York and Jersey City), Divvy (Chicago), CoGo Bike Share (Columbus, OH), Capital Bike Share (Washington, D.C., Arlington and Alexandria, VA, and Montgomery County, MD) Hubway (Boston, Somerville, Cambridge and Brookline, MA), Pronto (Seattle), BIKETOWN (Portland, OR), Bike Chattanooga (TN), Bike Share Toronto, and Melbourne Bike Share in Australia. Learn more about Bay Area Bike Share at bayareabikeshare.com.

About the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, go to mtc.ca.gov.

Bay Area Bike Share seeking community input for second phase of expansion

The Bay Area Bike Share program is expanding dramatically from 700 bikes to 7,000 bikes. The bikes are easily recognizable in Downtown San Jose by their light blue color. The expansion will roll out in five phases over the next two years. In order to choose the best locations for the new bikes, Bay Area Bike Share is collecting community input through a series of workshops. Two of those workshops are in San Jose.

If you want to influence the future of the program, all you need to do is participate and let your voice be heard. At minimum, you can go online and suggest a San Jose location over here.

District 3 Bike Share Workshops

• June 30, 2016
  6:00 PM – 7:00 PM and 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
  Bibliotecha Latinoamericana Branch Library, 921 S. 1st Street, San Jose, CA  95110
• July 6, 2016
  6:00 PM – 7:00 PM and 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
  Northside Community Center, 488 N. 6th Street, San Jose, CA  95112

San Jose Bike-Sharing Program is Getting a HUGE Expansion

Earlier this month the city council unanimously approved a dramatic expansion in San Jose's bike-sharing program. The current system has 16 stations filled with 130 light blue bikes that can be rented and dropped off at any other station in the network. 15 of those stations are in Downtown San Jose and one is in Japantown.

The expansion will bring 100 bike stations to San Jose and a whopping 1,000 bikes! That is close to an eight-fold increase over the current program. With that many stations and bikes, hopefully more people will get out of their cars and give the system a test run.

It gets better--the expansion will cost the city nothing. Motivate (the vendor providing the stations and bikes) will self-fund the program through corporate sponsorships and user fees that will range from $60-149 per year (for unlimited 30 minute rentals).

Several other Bay Area cities are getting stations and bikes, such as Oakland, Emeryville, and Berkeley. However, several cities that were part of the original Bay Area Bike Share pilot program will not be offered a free pass like San Jose was. Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Redwood City did not get enough riders to justify either an expansion or having Motivate self-fund the program. They will either have to pay to keep their bikes or choose a different program entirely. That really would be a shame because a membership in the San Jose program also gets you access to bikes in the other cities that also participate in Bay Area Bike Share.

Source: SVBJ

Inaugural Viva Calle Photos

Check out some photos from the inaugural San Jose Viva Calle courtesy of Cardinal2007 (a regular on the SJ Development Forum). The event shut down 6 miles of streets to allow biking, walking, or running throughout multiple San Jose communities. Most of the photos are from the festivals at St. James Park, Parque de los Pobladores, and Emma Prusch Park. It was a fantastic event which I hope will be repeated every year.

San Jose Bike Share is Planning a Huge Expansion!

Two years ago, Bay Area Bike Share officially launched in San Jose. The program allows residents and visitors to rent bikes 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Membership is inexpensive, costing only $88/year or $9 for a 24-hour rental. The bikes are pretty nice and feature LED lights, a 7-speed grip shift, and drum brakes. You can pick up a bike at any station and drop that same bike off at any station, you do not have to return it to the original destination.

The program has been quite successful, especially in Downtown San Jose where there are 14 stations. There is also a station in Japantown and another near the Civic Center on First Street. Now the Bay Area Bike Share program is growing ten-fold and San Jose will have well over 100 stations by the end of 2017! Combined with dozens of miles of new bike lanes that are currently being planned, this will make San Jose one of the most bike-friendly cities in the nation.

Bay Area Bike Share is looking for suggestions on where to locate their new San Jose stations and bikes. To suggest a new station, just head over here. To learn more about the program or become a member, head over to the Bay Area Bike Share website.

Hack Your Ride on June 6th!

VTA is hosting a great event for technical minds next Saturday called "Hack My Ride." This is actually part of a Knight Foundation grant to make Downtown San Jose even more exciting and innovative. The challenge is transforming how people get around Silicon Valley using a variety of apps and tools. Goals include making it easier to plan trips, wayfinding, connecting with surroundings, and generally make transportation a better experience.

Along with the Hackathon, Microsoft Silicon Valley is sponsoring a free lunch via two food trucks: Oh Miso Hungry and The Kabab Job. You can also be the first to learn about Downtown San Jose's new Bluetooth beacons and compete for $30,000 worth of prizes across 8 different categories.

If you're a techie--and I know many of us are--this is a great way to put your skills to use in a way that will benefit the whole community! You can either scroll down for more info or head over to the VTA event page over here.

Five Reasons to Hack Your Ride

Hack My Ride 2.0 challenges you to transform how we get around in Silicon Valley. Build working apps and tools that will make it easier for people to plan trips, connect with their surroundings, and enrich their transportation experience. If you're still on the fence about whether to join us for the kickoff hackathon on June 6, here are five reasons you should sign up: Food trucks! Oh Miso Hungry and The Kabob Job will provide free lunch thanks to Microsoft Silicon Valley, to fuel your creativity and get you outside for a break from coding. Beacons! Hack My Ride 2.0 hackathon participants will be the first to learn about the Bluetooth beacons we’ll be testing in our system, including how to use them in your projects. Lightning talks! The hackathon will start with brief talks from VTA, Prospect Silicon Valley and others about transportation innovation in Silicon Valley, VTA open data, beacons, the Internet of Things, and today’s mobility challenges and opportunities. $30,000 in prizes! If you’re looking to raise the funds to launch a business building out your app idea, the Hack My Ride app challenge is a great way to gain visibility and resources. #HackforChange! Partnering with Code for San Jose and the Tech Museum of Innovation, VTA is hosting this hackathon as part of the National Day of Civic Hacking. It’s a great way to contribute your technical skills to improving how you get around your city This is a three-month online app challenge kicked off with a hackathon at The Tech Museum of Innovation on June 6, 2015. RSVP to the hackathon learn about the data available (including being the first to access the beacons we’re testing), form a team, and start developing your submission. ​ Learn more about the three-month challenge, including rules, prizes and the submission process, at hackmyride2.challengepost.com. Share the link on Meetup, Twitter, Reddit or wherever you connect with your fellow transportation hackers! To get your creative juices flowing, Microsoft Silicon Valley and Knight Foundation are generously offering $30,000 in prizes in eight app challenge prize categories, so there are plenty of opportunities for your app to win. Or submit several times, if you have a bunch of great ideas and can’t pick just one! Read more on Headways, VTA's blog. Follow @VTA on Twitter, like our Facebook page, or click here to subscribe to updates from Headways, VTA’s official blog.

Bike Clinic Indiegogo Campaign!

The San Jose Bike Clinic wants to open a permanent bike-repair shop in Downtown San Jose! Nothing like this currently exists in San Jose--although this organization has occasionally done pop-up events in the San Pedro Square Market and Camera 12.

The San Jose Bike Clinic is a non-profit and is entirely volunteer run. They are looking to raise $4,000 and are almost fully funded. To contribute to this great cause (and get some nice perks in the process), head over to their Indiegogo Campaign Page.

The Vision

Imagine a space sustained by volunteer energy, filled with all the bike repair tools and parts you'd need and staffed by knowledgeable volunteer bike mechanics. Imagine the satisfaction of anyone who wants to learn having the knowledge to fix their bike themselves.

We are San José Bike Clinic, and that’s our vision. We believe knowledge is power, and our mission is to get more people on bikes by providing the community with that knowledge and a safe and friendly place to learn. We don’t just give you the tools, we teach you how to use them!

From lubing your chain to fixing a flat to building your own bike from scratch, the volunteers at San José Bike Clinic will steer you through the process and let you do the fixing. If you’ve ever been to a bike co-op or bike kitchen, you get the idea.

Our Roots
San José Bike Clinic started in 2012 when a group of bicycling enthusiasts in downtown San José had a question: What is San José’s biking community missing? 

We already have some of the best weather in the country, flat terrain, an active health and fitness-loving community, an eco-conscious mindset, huge San José Bike Party rides and fun test rides, more miles of bike lanes every year, and some of the best cycling events around. The answer came in the form of San José Bike Clinic, a volunteer-driven, community-minded dream that has become a reality and needs your help to thrive.

The mission of San José Bike Clinic is to build a robust and diverse cycling community through a shared and accessible place for bicycle repair and education. The vision is independence, self sufficiency and education to all in the cycling community.

After testing our idea since 2012 with monthly pop up clinics at San Pedro Square Market and three months temporarily popped up in Camera 12, we are asking for donors and volunteers to help us bring this cause to a permanent location.

How You Can Help

The money raised through our crowdfunding campaign will go toward rent, utilities, security deposit, and upkeep of the permanent space to help make San José Bike Clinic accessible to everyone.

After 6 months we intend to be fully self sufficient and maintain our monthly needs through the sale of used bicycles, bicycle parts, and various levels of membership fees.

Once we're open, we'll ensure the shop's sustainability by charging daily, monthly and annual membership fees that grant access to the shop and all its benefits. We won't turn anyone away for lack of funds. For those who can't afford the fees, we'll offer opportunities to volunteer hours in exchange for membership.

Since we’re a program of the nonprofit Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, all donations to this crowdfunding campaign and once we’re open are tax deductible except for any perks you receive.

What You Get in Return

We're offering perks for various levels of support we're asking for, everything from stickers to T-shirts, shop aprons, and water bottles. We're also offering one-month and one-year memberships at certain levels so you can visit the shop you helped make a reality, along with memberships to the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition that include benefits like discounts at local bike shops.

If you’re passionate about cycling and want a place where the cycling community can learn, repair bicycles, and connect with each other, then help us make San José Bike Clinic into a downtown institution by donating today and inviting other bike-minded friends, family, and colleagues to join you.

Share this campaign on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and email lists with people you think would share our vision. If you prefer to donate time we are always looking for new volunteers to help make San José Bike Clinic a community destination for all kinds of riders. Email sjbc@bikesiliconvalley.org if you'd like to join our team.

1st Annual Silicon Valley Bikes Festival (May 3rd @ History Park)

A new Bike Festival and Show is coming to History Park to kick off National Bike Month in May. In addition to tons of bikes and vendors, the event will also feature Moveable Feast Food Trucks, Santa Clara Valley Brewing Craft Beers, a Kid's area, and free valet bike parking (cool).

Admission is $5 and the event runs from 11am to 6pm on Sunday, May 3rd.

Source: San Jose Bike Party

San Jose Launching It's Second Green Bikeway Tomorrow!

Tomorrow San Jose is officially launching a new green, buffered bikeway on San Fernando that will stretch from San Jose State all the way to Diridon! Tomorrow at 8am the public is invited to the official launch of the bikeway at Diridon (and people are encouraged to wear green). After a brief ceremony, there will be a 1.2 mile community bike ride ride to City Hall.

The San Fernando bikeway will connect the buffered bike lanes on 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th streets as well as the Guadalupe River trail. I can see the Bay Area Bike Sharing programming getting a lot more use now.

The first green bike lane project was along Hedding Street. Expect many more of these projects in the future as San Jose pushes towards the goal of having 500 miles of bicycle lanes in its network.

For more information on the bikeway and tomorrow's ceremony, have a look at the release below.

Click to Enlarge

San José to launch its second green, buffered bikeway this week

Ribbon cutting for San Fernando Corridor's enhanced bikeway followed by “Show Us Your Green” community bike ride

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The City of San José has transformed a car-oriented San Fernando Street with only basic sidewalks and bike lanes into a vibrant, people-oriented street with buffered green bike lanes, improved pedestrian walkways, crossings, streetlights and street trees. This San Fernando Streetscape Improvement project will serve as the primary pedestrian, bicycle and transit connector between the city’s regional transit center, San José Diridon Station, and major downtown destinations including office and residential towers, retail, and San José State University.

This Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013 at 8:00 a.m., the public is invited to dress in green and join representatives from the City of San José and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group for the official launch of the city's second green bikeway. The event will take place at San José Diridon Station near the intersection of San Fernando and Cahill Streets. Immediately after the brief ribbon cutting, a 1.2 mile “Show Us Your Green” community bike ride will get underway on the San Fernando green bikeway. The ride will end at San José City Hall, 200 East Santa Clara St., at approximately 8.45 a.m.

“I am pleased that we have been able to stretch our limited transportation funds to provide the community safer and more livable streets,” said Hans Larsen, San José’s Director of Transportation. “San Fernando’s basic bike lanes have seen a 112% increase over the last seven years, with 1189 bicyclists a day counted last year at the San Fernando & Fourth Street intersection. This project provides an enhanced biking experience while also improving the pedestrian environment.”

San José’s first two green bike lane projects – Hedding Street and now San Fernando Street – both serve as primary bikeways, providing east-west access across the city and connections to the Guadalupe River Trail. On-street primary bikeways, like this one, provide cross-town connections to off-street trails using enhancements such as green color, painted buffers between cars and bikes, and physical barriers separating cars and bikes.

“The enhanced bike lanes along San Fernando connect regional commuting options with employment centers, including downtown San José, North San José via the Guadalupe River Trail, and those up the Peninsula via transit at Diridon Station,” said Jessica Zenk, Senior Director for Transportation with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

San Fernando Street’s new enhanced, green bikeway is a key link in the 500-mile citywide bicycle network that San José is building. Within this larger network is a 140-mile system of primary bikeways that function as the bicycle equivalent of the City’s arterial roadway system.

"We're thrilled to see San Fernando Street get the highly visible, comfortable bike infrastructure it needs,” said Corinne Winter, Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. “This San Fernando bikeway provides direct connections to the fabulous buffered bike lanes on 3rd, 4th, 10th and 11th Streets as well as the Guadalupe River Trail."

This bike project is part of a larger San Fernando Streetscape Enhancement project funded by a $1.4 million Transportation for Livable Communities grant. The project includes pavement resurfacing and enhancements to street lights, street trees, crosswalks, sidewalks and curb ramps.

About the City of San José and Active Transportation

With nearly one million residents, San José is the largest city on the West Coast, north of Los Angeles. For information about the City’s multimodal transportation goals and policies, see the Envision San José 2040 General Plan at http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?nid=1737. For information on San José Bike Plan 2020, visit http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=268. To view the City’s Green Vision, go tohttp://www.sanjoseca.gov/Index.aspx?NID=1417.

About Silicon Valley Leadership Group

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, founded in 1978 by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard, represents more than 390 of Silicon Valley's most respected employers on issues, programs and campaigns that affect the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley, including energy, transportation, education, housing, health care, tax policies, economic vitality and the environment. Leadership Group members collectively provide nearly one of every three private sector jobs in Silicon Valley with more than $3 trillion in annual revenue. Visit svlg.org or call (408) 501-7864.

About the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) exists to promote increased cycling in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. To accomplish this goal, SVBC advocates for improved and expanded bicycle infrastructure and other facilities, including bikeways, bike parking, capacity on transit, and more. Additionally, SVBC promotes bicycle culture through events and activities such as Bike to Work Day, Bicycle Friendly Workplace, and Valet Bike Parking at a variety of area events. For more information on Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, visit http://bikesiliconvalley.org/.

San Jose Bike Share Installation Photos

We are getting closer and closer to having a bike share program in Downtown San Jose! The initial pilot will have 150 bikes at 15 different stations in the Downtown core. There will also be some stations close by, such as in Japantown. If the pilot is a success, we could see many more stations coming to San Jose and other Silicon Valley cities. Installation started a few weeks ago, and I grabbed some photos from John Brazil's Flickr page. For more information on the program and to sign up, just head over here. 

Source: John Brazil from the Bike & Pedestrian Program

Bike Sharing is Coming Soon to Downtown San Jose!

About 15 bike-sharing stations are coming to Downtown San Jose in August. The program will be available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. The bikes themselves seem a lot better than other bike-sharing programs around the world with LED lights, a 7-speed grip shift, and drum brakes. In fact, they cost over $1,000 per bike.

The pricing for membership in the program is only $88/year. You can also get a 24 hour membership for $9 or pay $22 for a 3 day membership. Membership give you unlimited rentals up to 30 minutes, and you can pay more if you need extra time. Whenever you go to a station, it resets the 30 minutes timer, allowing you to use the same bike for a longer period of time without have to pay any extra fees.

You can click on the images below to learn more about the bike and see the exact locations of the Downtown stations (there will also be a Japantown station). For more information and to register for membership, head over to the Bay Area BikeShare website over here. They are accepting memberships starting today!

Two New Bike Corridors

Last week the city council approved two brand new bike corridors, Hedding Street and Ocala Avenue. Over 20 people spoke in favor of the new bike lanes at the meeting and the vote was near unanimous. This comes at a good time as a new bike sharing/rental program is coming to San Jose by the end of the year.

Source: One Square Mile

Hedding Street by Richard Masoner / Cycleicious

New Bike Lanes are a Go!

It looks like the new protected bike lanes on 3rd and 4th have been added! Just in time for our new bike sharing/rental program coming this fall. Other bike projects scheduled this year for Downtown include adding a "green-painted" lane down San Fernando and new lanes on Almaden, 10th Street, and 11th Street. Thanks to Luke for sending this in.

Bike Sharing *IS* Coming to San Jose

On Earth Day I posted about an innovative bike-share program taking shape in Denver. The quick summary is that citizens can pick up one of 400 bikes at solar-powered stations throughout the city, use it for their daily commute or maybe just for a joyride (bike party anyone?), and then return it to any station they want. I thought this was a killer idea and one we should implement right here in Silicon Valley. Great news, it looks like that is EXACTLY what we're going to do. Thanks to an astute reader, below is VTA's press release for a half million dollar bike share program for Santa Clara County!

*****************************

VTA Awarded $500,000 for Valley Bike Share Pilot Project

Agency to Begin Distinctive Program

Release Number:	nr 09 12 14
Release Date:	Dec 21, 2009

San Jose, Calif. –The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) recently secured a $500,000 Safe Routes to Transit (SR2T) grant to fund a Bike Share Pilot Project. With the approval of the grant by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) last week, VTA can now jump start bike sharing in Santa Clara County.
          
Bike sharing provides users 24/7 access to public bicycles to commute to work, run errands or even ride for fun, without the worry of bicycle theft or lack of bicycle parking. With self-service stations that allow users to access a fleet of bicycles anytime, bike sharing offers a convenient option for making short trips when walking is too far and transit options are not available.

The concept of Bike Sharing, while not new, was championed locally on several fronts including the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC), elected officials, and VTA.  VTA’s bike sharing pilot project is expected to begin in Spring 2010. 

“I’m thrilled to see the many months of hard work by VTA staff and our bicycling advocates come to fruition with this MTC grant,“ said Sam Liccardo, VTA Board of Directors interim chair and San Jose City Councilmember, who publicly launched an initiative for a bike share pilot project in San José in 2008. “This effort combines an innovative way to enable people to use an old-fashioned, low-tech solution: the bicycle.  It boosts transit by helping eliminate the chronic “bumping” of riders trying to board bicycle-laden Caltrain cars, and it provides a much needed bridge for transit riders seeking to reach their office or ultimate destination.”

Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) Chair Joe Walton is excited about the opportunity to explore bike sharing locally. “Bike sharing will reduce the use of private automobiles while also promote active transportation,” said Walton.

The transit-based bike sharing program is centered on VTA’s transit centers in San Jose, Palo Alto and Mountain View, and the surrounding 3-mile radius for potential bike sharing stations or pods. The three transit centers were chosen because they have the highest ridership and experience serious bike overcrowding and bumping problems. Bike sharing presents an opportunity to address these obstacles and expand the existing transportation system without additional infrastructure or new transit service.

VTA is currently conducting a study to assess feasibility of a bike sharing program in Santa Clara County. VTA is working with a consultant team and a working group comprised of representatives from the three cities, Caltrain, private businesses, SVBC, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) to conduct the necessary market research, technology review and develop a business and finance model. Based on promising initial results, over half of the people surveyed indicated they would use the bike sharing program if it were available. The study is slated for completion by March 2010, and based on its findings, VTA staff will develop the pilot project and use the SR2T grant to purchase the initial set of bicycles and bike share pods.

The SR2T grant program funds projects that facilitate safe walking and biking to regional transit. The program is funded by Regional Measure 2, the $1 bridge toll increase for transit. The SR2T Committee’s recommendation that the VTA Pilot Bike Sharing project receive the requested $500,000 in funding was approved by MTC at its December 16, 2009 meeting.