IDEASS Bicycle Transit Planning Team

In Santa Cruz specifically, 46% of carbon emissions come from the transportation sector. There is support in Santa Cruz to increase bicycle ridership not only to reduce carbon emissions, but also to support the health and well-being of residents, the local economy, and community engagement, all of which are supported in communities where large numbers of the population bike as a means of transportation.

Melissa Ott and Alyssa Tyree are Bicycle Transit Planning Team (BTPT) interns with the Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service Program at UC Santa Cruz. They are continuing the bicycle transit planning work that began two years ago in the program. This year, they are working with a mentor from the City of Santa Cruz's Climate Action Program, as well as with a mentor from People Power of Santa Cruz County to support bicycle advocacy and education, data collection, and more!

• A full description of the project can be found on the UCSC Sustainability Project Clearinghouse here.
• View photos from the current year's project here.

The Pedaling Periodical

• Sign up for The Pedaling Periodical, our bi-monthly newsletter about all things bikes in Santa Cruz here.
• View past issues of The Pedaling Periodical on our archive page here.

2013-14 Bicycle Transit Planning Team Updates:

"Riding Smart: People Power teams up with UC Santa Cruz students for bike commuting workshop series" (Good Times, March 2014)

"With severe drought conditions plaguing California, the recent patter of raindrops should have been a welcomed sound to the citizens of Santa Cruz County. But when one has recently committed to trek to work or school each day via bicycle, a morning downpour can be the cause of a rising dread and the subsequent decision to drive. That is, unless one has acquired the knowledge and gear necessary to transform a gloomy bike trip in the rain from a dismal chore to an energizing joyride." Read the full article here.


"Biking Etiquette in a Bike-Friendly Community" (City on a Hill Press, March 2014)
Not yet available online, this article features the team's bike commuting workshops that they're co-designing and facilitating with Amelia Conlen, Director of People Power of Santa Cruz County. Learn more about the workshops here.


Bike Smart: Education for young, powerful pedalers by Aly (March 12, 2014)

"PEDAL POWER! This phrase stuck with me all day last Wednesday after Melissa and I volunteered with Ecology Action in doing Bike Smart rodeos at SC Westlake Elementary School with their 5th grade class. Elise Ehrheart, Bike Smart program coordinator of Ecology Action, was the voice behind the catchy phrase and the facilitator of these rodeos. These rodeos aimed to get students familiar with the structure of riding their bikes on city streets as well as mastering basic traffic laws. Melissa and I decided to volunteer at one of these rodeos to 1) get an idea on how many kids are interested in biking 2) to have a fun morning with kids!" Read the full post here.

Being the bicycling change we wish to see by Melissa (March 12, 2014)
""When our principles inform our method, our project goals can be attained more effectively, with insight along the way." This thought came to me last Tuesday while bicycling along the westside of Santa Cruz, counting cars in parking lots for my bicycle transit internship with the Impact Designs: Engineering & Sustainability through Student Service program at UC Santa Cruz. The sky had let up on the rain, the air was warm, and sun peeked out from behind clouds. Needless to say, the bike ride was a treat." Read the full post here.

Civinomicon & Civinomics Initiative, October 2013

Melissa presents below about the Bicycle Transit Planning Team's project in October 2013 at Civinomicon, hosted by Civinomics. An initiative with the same information presented in the video can be found on Civinomics here, where the community can post comments, questions, and ideas.

At the time, the project scope included purchasing automated bicycle counters and creating a more comprehensive map of bicycle ridership in the City for integration with the upcoming Santa Cruz Bicycle Plan update. With changes to the Plan update and a lack of funding for the counters, the project scope has changed. The most up-to-date project description can be found here.

2012-13 Bicycle Transit Planning Team:

"Officials Consider Plans for Bike Safety" (City on a Hill Press, October 2013)

The "2013 report conducted by a UCSC internship program" this article mentions is the 2012-13 BTPT's final report (here) that includes a comparative data study the Westside of Santa Cruz. The team, which consisted of Brenden Fant, Austin Seller, and Anthony Siao, compiled and created overlay maps of data on ridership locations, fatalities & injury locations, and environmental quality/road condition. 

UCSC & Westside Santa Cruz Bicycle Transit Study (BTPT 2012-13 Final Report)

Bike Transit Team Identifies Safety Improvements (Sustainability Office blog, May 2013)

"Represented by a logo showing the progression of humanity from ape to modern human to cyclist, a trio of UCSC students have created a proposal for the City of Santa Cruz that identifies high priority resolutions to unsafe bicycling areas on the west side of Santa Cruz." Read the full feature article here.

2011-12 Bicycle Transit Project:

Santa Cruz County May 2012 Bike and Pedestrian Count Report

The 2011-12 Bicycle Transit project through IDEASS was headed by one student, Ryan Heywood, who collaborated with the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission and the Traffic Safety Coalition to design and complete a bike and pedestrian count.