BikeWalkSolana Meeting (Zoom), October 3, 2022

The next meeting of BikeWalkSolana, the Solana Beach Active Transportation Committee, will be held on October 3, 2022, 5pm  on Zoom. For an invitation please email [email protected]

Agenda:

Calendar:

Meeting Notes by Jill Cooper

Attending via Zoom were Kristi Becker, Kristin Brinner, Paige Colburn-Harris, Jill Cooper, Jewel Edson, Dan Goldberg, Howard LaGrange, Shawna McGarry, Elaine Monaco, and Karl Rudnick.

Updates from the City  

  • Bicycle Friendly Community – Dan reported that the Bicycle Friendly Community award renewal application is due on February 15, 2023. We currently have a silver rating. For more information, visit the League of American Bicyclists website: https://www.bikeleague.org/community.
  • Proposed Rios Trailhead Bike Racks – The Engineering Department is planning to install a bike corral occupying one parking space where San Elijo Lagoon hikers could safely lock their bikes.

Thinking outside the car discussion

  • Solana Beach bike share history and future – In 2020 coastal cities from Oceanside south to Del Mar were in the process of contracting with one common bike share company, until the pandemic put an end to their plans. Solana Beach now wants to get bids for a prospective bike share service with a hub docking system. Encinitas currently has a contract with a bike share company. 
  • GOside, City of Oceanside’s climate friendly ride sharing program 
  • GOside is a free electric van service in Oceanside which people can access through an app similar to Uber or Lyft. The city has a fleet of 5 electric vans which average 300 trips a day. 60% of those using the service are Oceanside residents; 40% are tourists. The van service operates 7 days a week and costs the city $50,000 a month. 

Vision Zero

  • Vision Zero is a global movement to end traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries by taking a systemic approach to road safety. The premise of this strategy is that road deaths and injuries are unacceptable and preventable. BikeWalkSolana supports the inclusion of a commitment to Vision Zero principles in the City of Solana Beach’s work plan. Funds from the passage of Measure S could be used for street improvements (for example the Lomas Santa Fe Corridor Project) that would benefit cyclists, pedestrians, the disabled, the elderly, and children. 
  • SANDAG supports Vision Zero. https://sdforward.com/docs/default-source/2021-library/5335-rp-policyonepagers-10visionzero_final_en.pdf?sfvrsn=55b4fe65_2

Developing an ebike safety program in Solana Beach and the Region

  • We are noticing more and more people, young and old, riding ebikes in Solana Beach. Many Skyline and Earl Warren students ride their ebikes to school and around the community; riding bikes has finally become cool! Ebike riding has many benefits: it’s a fun way to go places, feel more independent, doesn’t produce greenhouse gases, and promotes better physical (and surely, mental) health. Still, parents who worry about their children riding their bikes in traffic are asking for ebike safe cycling classes.  And, although younger riders are blamed by some for riding unsafely, we have seen many adults who ride their bikes on sidewalks or against traffic, too! Our goal is for all ebike riders to ride safely and to follow the rules of the road. DRIVE your bike!
  • City of Solana Beach Staff members are developing a plan promoting safe and legal ebike and bicycle riding in the city, similar to the City of Carlsbad’s plan. One component of the Carlsbad Ebike Safety Program is an education diversion class for those who’ve been ticketed for riding unsafely. 
  • Electric Bikes | Carlsbad, CA 

Some ebike developments in Solana Beach: 

  • Students who wish to park their ebikes at Earl Warren Middle School during school hours are now required to complete a safe riding class. 
  • COSB will need the Sheriff’s Department’s buyin to enforce the future plan
  • Dan King, Assistant City Manager, and Elizabeth Bowersocks, Education Coordinator at the San Diego County Bike Coalition, are working together to design ebike safe riding classes that would be supported by the City. 
  • Could the City of Solana Beach commit to 6 City Cycling classes in their 2023 plan as Encinitas has?
  • Howard LaGrange described an Oceanside model for an ebike safety class especially aimed at middle schoolers and their parents: a 3-hour class which includes one hour each of: classroom instruction on rules of the road, bike riding drills, and a road session. Oceanside plans to alternate this shorter class with the more comprehensive (3 hours of classroom instruction, 6 hours of road session) Smart Cycling Class from SDCBC which has been designed for adults and older teens. 
  • Kristin Haukom and Howard have produced a short, engaging ebike safe cycling video aimed at middle and high school students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8GKOkEyI5s
  • Paige Colburn-Hargis from Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla Trauma has been working to raise awareness about ebike safety. Scripps Trauma data reveals a troubling trend: Both Bike and E-bike crash injuries are increasing and are the third most frequent cause of injury seen in the trauma center..  Brake failure was reported by local sheriffs at the October San Dieguito Alliance Networking meeting. Paige is working with law enforcement and the SD Bike Coalition to educate children AND parents about safe ebike riding through the Carlsbad Parent University and working with the San Dieguito High School district to host similar events in the coming months.
  • Watch for more ebike news in the Wednesday Weekly Update from Dan King.
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