Spring Fest Celebration

The UCSC Sustainability Office hosts an annual Spring Fest celebration to honor outstanding projects students have worked on for the year. Melissa and I were invited to this year’s Spring Fest to honor our work on our IDEASS Bike Transit Planning Project. The day started with the MC’s introducing all the different organizations and project teams who have been working on incredible projects this past year. After a delicious lunch, all project teams went alongside their project posters to describe to attendees about the work they’ve done and their future projections of their project. Melissa and I had just created our poster for the Wharf Sanctuary and could not wait to show it off at this celebration! Talking to people about our project with our poster behind us summarizing the amazing work Melissa and I have done was an incredible experience. It allowed us to both feel so recognized and accomplished. We are so proud of all the other project teams that were recognized at this event and we give a big thank you to the Sustainability Office for creating an event like this! 

UCSC slugs combat social & environmental injustices with bicycles in San Jose

There’s no doubt that the work that UC Santa Cruz students accomplish during their time at the University can serve as a training ground and experimental space for future work in communities beyond Santa Cruz. The latest example of this in the bicycle and social justice realm is the creation of a new bicycle cooperative over the hill by two UCSC bicycling banana slugs, Adrian Baker-Kang and Cassidy Kakin, who are pedal driven to make a difference for youth and bicycle riders in San Jose.

At a recent Bikes & Food Justice Festival at UCSC on May 3, I had the opportunity to hear Adrian, a UCSC senior and UCSCBike Coop co-owner, speak about his thesis work on the role bicycles can play in supporting communities who don’t have access to healthy, fresh foods nearby. In his words, 

“I looked at the obstacles facing low-income individuals when it comes to accessing sustainable, low-cost, transportation. Due to a lack of infrastructure and education, bicycles are simply not a viable method of travel in many cities still, where car users are reluctant to share roads that were not designed with bicycles in mind. The option of public transportation in busy cities can be a massive time investment for many individuals, with short trips across town taking two to three times as long compared to cars or even bikes, as buses become stuck in traffic between picking up and dropping off passengers.” 

Adrian’s solution is pro-bicycle, but with infrastructure issues also comes the costly matter of purchasing a bicycle and then maintaining it.

Adrian speaking at the Bikes & Food Justice Fest.

Both Adrian and his best friend Cassidy studied Politics and “focused [their] efforts and inquiries on the position of marginalized populations in low income communities.” Cassidy Kakin, who graduated last year, explains that “Adrian studied public transportation and bike infrastructure, and I worked on the intersectionality of poverty, race, and education in modern urban society.” Their grassroots approach to these complex issues comes in the form of a bicycle cooperative in East San Jose, called the East San Jose Bicycle Cooperative.

Intrigued by their vision and purpose, as well as their studies on social justice and accessibility issues in communities like East San Jose, I asked them for an interview. Here’s what they had to share:

Melissa Ott: How did this bike co-op idea come about?

Cassidy Kakin: I’ve spent the past year serving a Year of Service with City Year, an Americorps Partner, in a low income school in the suburban ghetto of East San Jose, and I’ve seen the many social pressures and economic struggles placed upon the massive population of marginalized youth in the Alum Rock School District. 

The East San Jose Bicycle Cooperative is the combination of the two efforts, studies, and experiences of two best friends and UCSC alumni.  Its exact origin is shrouded in cold IPA's and hot Sunday afternoons spent together day dreaming about changing the world and starting something big, and in some sense evolved organically from an idea I had to come back to East Side San Jose in a different and more ambitious capacity, and Adrian's divine inspiration to change the world and promote social justice from the seat of a bike.

Adrian Baker-Kang: As a community bike mechanic for two and a half years, I have worked closely with low-income and poverty-level individuals who relied on their bicycles as a critical method of transportation due to the low cost and ease of owning and operating a bicycle. I never considered its potential for social change until I spent a year working at the Bike Church in Santa Cruz. The Bike Church is a non-profit community bike shop that promotes personal empowerment through teaching individuals how to do basic mechanical work on their own bikes. One thing that struck me while working there was how much worth these individuals placed upon their bike, valuing them oftentimes more highly than shelter or a hot meal due to the transportation needs they fulfilled.

Melissa: What is your vision for the East San Jose Bicycle Coop?

Adrian: Our vision is to help make the city of San Jose one of the most bike friendly cities in the nation, and a model for sustainable transportation world-wide. Our model will be one of building strong relationships with the community to foster lasting bonds in promoting bicycles as a viable method of transportation. We will be working directly with San Jose’s youth and their parents to address the safety and educational needs unique to this city, such as how to effectively navigate between downtown and East San Jose.

See more photos and videos of youth supporting ESJBC here.

Cassidy: We’re still in the process of evolving from an idea into a sustainable and successful project. All our goals now and in the future involve means of promoting a positive bike culture in East San Jose's youth community, in order to fight the injustices imposed upon young people by restrictive socio-economic realities.

As of now, we are hoping to promote a positive bicycle culture as an alternative to the often illegal and illicit or gang related activities that some of East San Jose's most vulnerable youth fall victim to. We hope to work during existing afterschool programs in middle schools and elementary spaces in Alum Rock schools, which have successfully situated themselves to address the issues facing San Jose's youth. 

Melissa: What might your work in these schools look like?

Cassidy: With elementary school students, we hope to fan the flames of the developing hobby of young riders in a safe way.  We have seen students with bright futures riding dangerously and recklessly and want to provide education so that their increased access to bicycle infrastructure will not come with negative side effects. In addition, the multifaceted benefits and goals of the bicycle world like environmentalism, social justice, and invigorated cities will be promoted.

In middle schools, we hope to take a long term and holistic approach in the after school space, giving us the ability to form and develop meaningful relationships with students. We intend to have fully functional, mobile bicycle repair clinics to teach students how to maintain and service their bikes, while continuing bicycle safety education.

Image from the ESJBC website.

Melissa: Why are bicycle co-ops important and valuable to communities? Why does East San Jose need one?

Adrian: Bicycle co-ops are an invaluable community resource socially, economically, and environmentally. Socially, they bring communities together in an engaging environment in a way that automobiles cannot. Individuals have the opportunity to slow their life down for a moment and learn new mechanical skills and make new friends without spending any money. Economically, bicycles are a cost effective method of travel that vastly expands the distance individuals can travel who do not use a car. The lack of gas, parking fees, and maintenance costs provides a valuable resource for making fun and healthy trips around town to the grocery store, school, or meeting up with friends.

Cassidy: As I’ve described, we do not intend on having a stationary “shop” space as many bike co-ops have; we instead intend to be fully mobile, giving us the ability to work in schools directly and develop meaningful relationships with students. So why brand ourselves as a “co-op” rather than an educational after school program component?  There is a certain power in the word “cooperative,” both in the bike community and more generally. We are a co-op because we intend to base all of our programming on the needs of the community we serve, evolving with and promoting the growth of the students and community members we work with, hearing their voices and responding to their ambitions and goals for our project. We hope to bring the ideology of a co-op model without replicating the typical cooperative structure. In this way, we hope to empower the voice of East Side San Jose's youth while promoting bicycle culture in a safe and productive manner.

Melissa: How are you spreading the word about this, and how can the community support your work?

Adrian: We are promoting our cooperative through a grassroots campaign, working from the ground up to directly interact with the communities we will be serving. This includes hosting free drop-in bicycle clinics, writing city council members, and promoting our organization through the parents and teachers of the students we will be assisting. We are currently seeking help in terms of volunteers for assisting with our bike clinics, a graphic designer to create a logo, and financial support from potential investors.

Gathering community support for the co-op, Cassidy (right) stands with Justin of Autonomous San Jose and RideESSJ.

Cassidy: At the same time, we are expanding our efforts, learning, and promotion beyond the East San Jose foothills and have begun the important and extensive process of reaching out to networks and people in bike enclaves around the world—from Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and the rest of the Silicon Valley, Marin County, Oregon and beyond, to online networks and social spheres. We also hope to reach out with and sit down with some big movers and shakers in the Silicon Valley bicycling community, like San Jose Bike Party and the Silicon Valley Bicycling Coalition. Hopefully, we will be able to learn from and work alongside the giants who have been working on bikes for years in San Jose and the surrounding areas.

Adrian: With the support of others in our community, we hope to further the ideals of sustainability, safety, and financial viability by promoting bicycles to a younger generation, to help promote a greener and healthier future. We are seeking support from anyone who is interested in supporting our goals, so please visit our website, blog, and social media sites and send us your ideas!

To support Cassidy and Adrian in making their vision a reality for the youth of East San Jose, please visit their Indiegogo campaign site, blog, Facebook, and Twitter to learn more. You can contribute money, ideas, resources, and volunteer support in numerous ways!

IDEASS Tabling at the UC Santa Cruz Community and Arts Festival!

On April 12th, Melissa and I had the wonderful opportunity to table at the UC Santa Cruz Community and Arts Festival. This festival invited students to present the research and projects they have been working on this past academic year. Melissa and I were fortunate enough to be able to table at this event so we packed our bags with our previous newsletters, bike maps, a simple CO2 emission calculator, and other bicycle-related resources we have used for our project and got ready to immerse ourselves with the variety of people downtown.

We weren't ready for who we'd talk to and what we'd talk about! Melissa and I talked to avid, confident cyclists who gave us suggestions on our bicycle-commuting workshops, we gave advice to people who want to incorporate cycling into their daily commute, a man asked us about our project's importance and why cycling mattered in Santa Cruz, but overall so many people acknowledge our project and applauded us for our efforts. It was an amazing experience to be able to educate and talk with the people who reside in the same the city we've both lived in for four years. Although, we've had numerous outreach events that we've promoted our project at, this event was exhilarating and an educational occasion for us too.

IDEASS Presentations at Green Drinks Last Week

Last Tuesday on April 1, two teams of students from the Impact Designs: Engineering & Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS) program spoke at Green Drinks Santa Cruz at Cafe Mare in downtown Santa Cruz. Both projects were related to sustainable transportation--one focused on electric vehicle charging stations and the other (our project) on bicycle transit planning and education. 

Green Drinks Santa Cruz is an informal networking event where environmentally-minded people meet over drinks, and it meets at different local restaurants each month on the first Tuesday. There was a great turnout for the April meeting, and after enjoying some drinks and happy hour appetizers, the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Team presented first. Team members Jessica, Dannah, and Amrita shared some of their initial findings from data collection at charging stations in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. They continue to work on the project as the school year progresses, and they were able to get some useful feedback on directions to go and trends to analyze from the community members who attended the presentation.

Their EV project is described on their UCSC Project Clearinghouse page:

"Our overarching sustainability goal for the transportation sector is more electric vehicles on the road that will ultimately reduce GHG and particle emissions and will put a more sustainable fuel source into widespread use. To achieve that goal we are working with Monterey Bay Electric Vehicle Alliance, a local non-profit organization, to analyze data from EV charging stations in Santa Cruz County and Monterey County. ... 

"This project primarily involves two components. The first component is data analysis, which involves retrieving information from EV charging station owners. Once the data has been retrieved, our team will look for trends and analyze the data for any significant correlations. The second component of our project will involve data visualization via GIS [geographic information systems] mapping, reports, and graphs for ease of public viewing."

After the EV Charging Team presented and the audience asked questions and provided feedback, it was our turn to present about our Bicycle Transit Planning project. You can view our presentation on Google Drive here and read more about our project on our webpage here.

Aly and I spoke about the various aspects of our project, including our bike commuting workshops for the community and local businesses, our survey analysis from these workshops, our educational efforts at community events on and off-campus, and our work to get an automated bicycle counter installed at the Arana Gulch Multi-use Trail. 

The audience had a lot to say regarding their perspectives and frustrations with the current bicycle infrastructure in Santa Cruz and the U.S. in general. Suggestions included installing safer roadway features than just a stripe of paint on the ground for a bike lane, working to educate drivers more on rights of bicyclists, working to educate bicyclists more on rules of the road, and more. It was helpful to have our project mentors, Tiffany Wise-West from the City of Santa Cruz Climate Action Program and Amelia Conlen, Director of People Power of Santa Cruz County, in the audience to answer questions and provide some support in addition to the answers we could provide. 

After our presentation, folks mingled in the restaurant and made connections, discussing topics further. Aly and I spoke with "Cosmic Joe" who among other pursuits leads the star-gazing workshops through the UC Santa Cruz Recreation Department. He was really supportive of our work, and it was nice to speak one on one with a community member who was learning about our project for the first time. It was also nice to realize how much of a hot topic bicycling is for our community--the amount of comments and frustrations expressed with the current state of bicycling was awesome evidence that our work is really necessary and valued.

We're grateful to have had the opportunity to present at Green Drinks, and we look forward to future opportunities to engage with the community. We hope to see you at the UCSC Community & Arts Festival this Saturday at Abbot Square downtown (10 - 3 PM) and next Saturday at the Earth Day Celebration at San Lorenzo Park (11 - 4 PM). Thanks for reading!

Thanks to Hannah Hodgson for the photographs and for organizing Green Drinks Santa Cruz!

Bicycle commuting community-building through conversation (Pedaling Periodical)

On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, a dozen bicyclists gathered in the People Power office in downtown Santa Cruz to discuss bicycle commuting tips, tricks, and laws. Hosted by People Power of Santa Cruz County and the UC Santa Cruz Bicycle Transit Team, this was the first of five community workshops happening every third Monday of the month from March until July.

The workshops are designed to educate new bicycle commuters, as well as remind and refine seasoned commuters' understanding of bicycle laws, best practices for all weather, and safe strategies for getting to work, school, errands, and back home safely on a bicycle. An article in the Good Times provides an overview of the workshops here.

Upon arrival, participants were asked to fill out a one-page survey about their current bicycling habits. The team coordinating the workshops will be compiling this data and comparing it to two post-workshop surveys one month and three months after the workshop. The purpose of comparing data is to identify the effectiveness of the workshops in encouraging more bicycling, as well as to be able to calculate carbon emissions reductions from miles biked instead of driven. The workshops are made possible by the UC Santa Cruz Carbon Fund, which funds projects on-campus and in the community that will reduce carbon emissions. 

The first twenty people to attend the workshops will receive a free bike light. Only about eight people attended the first workshop, so if you're looking for a new bike light, you might consider attending the next workshop on April 21. Front, white bike lights are required by law for night riding, and back red lights are required by common sense (the law does require rear reflectors for night riding, but a light's way more effective). 

In addition to bike lights and the survey, participants could take a free bike commuting tips half-sheet and if they do not already own one, a Regional Transportation Commission bike map. The map can also be downloaded online here.

The People Power office is located at 703 Pacific Avenue, and it has a big bike commuting workshop flyer on the window in addition to other information about bicycling. Right around the corner is the Bike Church, a tool cooperative where you can learn to fix your bike and also purchase parts.

Amelia Conlen, Director of People Power, led this first workshop, providing an outline and overview to bicycling law, best practices, and safety tips. Throughout the presentation, participants were encouraged to ask questions, share stories, and talk to one another about concerns and suggestions they have. Sitting at a table together helps to facilitate the dialogue, and it was clearly helpful to have community members talking among each other to identify solutions to challenges they face. 

At the beginning of the workshop, everyone shared their name and current bicycling habits. One woman had never bike commuted before, but she was interested in giving it a try. Another woman is an employee at UC Santa Cruz who has only biked to campus once. She is interested in making it her regular commute. Because everyone in the room knew a little about others in the room, people were able to share specific tips that they knew that might help others. When you get a slice of the community talking about bike commuting, you realize that we have the solutions to our problems within the collective knowledge of everyone in the room. It's pretty empowering to realize that!

Amelia had a whiteboard set up with a drawing of an intersection to demonstrate different ways to make left turns. Everyone had suggestions for methods they use to feel more comfortable among traffic, and it often depended upon location and comfort level as to the method people chose to use when turning left.

Aly Tyree, one of the student interns on the Bicycle Transit Planning Team, expressed her enthusiasm about the workshop: "By having people with a range of confidence in cycling, we really got to see the reasons why people bike compared to the reasons why people do not. I think by having some bicycle advocates at the workshop they became positive enforcers for the people who want to increase bicycling in their lives. It was overall a fantastic event and I had such wonderful conversations with everyone that showed up!"

The first workshop was certainly a success, and all people who bike commute or are considering it are encouraged to attend a future workshop. These free community workshops take place every third Monday of the month until July, from 6-7 PM at 703 Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz.

If you are an employee or owner of a business in Santa Cruz County and you'd like to have a free bike commuting workshop take place at your business during the lunch hour, please contact People Power at 831-425-0665 or email Amelia.

We hope to see you April 21st! 

Youth bicycling news roundup (Pedaling Periodical)

In the last two weeks, we've noticed a lot of youth bicycling featured in the local news. We compiled a list of what's been going on for young people and bikes in Santa Cruz:

Aptos High Team Wins Division II Race
The Aptos High [bicycling] team won the Division II race with 4,304 points during Sunday's NorCal Cycling League event at the Granite Bay Grinder." Congratulations! Read more on the Santa Cruz Sentinel website.

"Volunteer starts bike club at Capitola middle school"
"The Capitola school is one of seven across the country participating in the incentive program, which enters students who bike, walk, scoot or skateboard to school into a monthly raffle for prizes. Since this fall, around 10 percent of the student body has used alternative transportation to school, said Piercy, who helps run the monthly program at New Brighton." Read the full article from the Santa Cruz Sentinel here.

Photo credit: Shmuel Thaler, Santa Cruz Sentinel 

Babes on Bikes: A new bicycling club for young ladies 

Their Facebook page reads, "Babes on Bikes is a cycling initiative to get more young women riding bikes! We believe biking empowers young women without compromising their QT lifestyle." How cool is that!? This Santa Cruz High-based bicycling advocacy group has grown in partnership with Green Ways to School and People Power of Santa Cruz County. They've organized two rides which looked really fun (from the Facebook photos we saw). Like their page on Facebook and share it with any young women you know in Santa Cruz who are interested in finding other young women who bike.

"Youth bike program kicks into gear in Santa Cruz"

"Teens in Santa Cruz who need some wheels have a new place to turn, as Santa Cruz police, the Santa Cruz Teen Center and youth groups have collaborated in a new program to distribute bicycles in police storage." Read the full story in the Sentinel here. 

Photo credit: Bike Church blog

To read another perspective about the recent City Council meeting to reinstate the program described above in its new form, read this blog post by a student who took the People Power: Sustainable Transportation Solutions course at UCSC this past winter quarter. The student author, Pedrum, is new to the political world of bikes in Santa Cruz, so any additional background that can be provided in the comments on his post is appreciated! There's also some back-story to the bike distribution program by Richard Masoner on Cyclelicious here and from the Bike Church here.

Did we miss any major youth bike news? Post about it in the comments, or email Melissa.

Trail blazing: Santa Cruz mountain biking news (Pedaling Periodical)

Wondering what's going on in the exciting mountain biking world of Santa Cruz? From trail building to discussions about the new CEMEX property to some major festivals coming up, we've put together some news for you!

"Karen Kefauver, Spin City: Mountain bike team launches as part of Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team"
"What happened to him could happen to any cyclist or hiker: He had taken a wrong turn, backtracked, crossed a creek, got disoriented and ended up spending one of the coldest nights of the year in the woods. 'He thought he was going to die,' said Morse." Read the full article on the Santa Cruz Sentinel here.

"Hundreds turn out for meeting on Cemex planning"
Santa Cruz Sentinel reports: "Hundreds of county residents filed into the Hotel Paradox Wednesday night to offer their views on the opening of the Cemex Redwoods, a massive expanse of wilderness that cascades from the peaks of the Santa Cruz Mountains nearly to the sea." Read the full article here.

Flow Trail at Soquel Demonstration Forest 3/30 & 4/8 Dig Days
Want to help build the flow trail at Demo? Join Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz for two upcoming dig days!

Volunteers digging at the new Flow Trail in the Soquel Demonstration Forest.
Photo credit: Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz

Vote for the Flow Trail at Demo: April 7-20
Bell Helmets and IMBA are hosting a contest for $100,000 for three trail building projects through the Bell Built contest! The currently-being-built Flow Trail at the Soquel Demonstration Forest has made the finalists list for the west coast. You can vote for it online here April 7-20! Learn more about the Flow Trail on the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz website here.

Trail work opportunities at four different trails in the area
Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz has trail work opportunities quite often. Visit their website for a calendar listing of trail work days at places like the Flow Trail, Emma McCrary, and Wilder Ranch. Find out more here.

Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival: April 5-6
"The Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival was created by Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz to celebrate the world class mountain bike facilities, riders, and cycling industry of Santa Cruz county, and to raise funds to support local bike projects. This family-friendly eco-conscious event continues to grow year after year with the generous support of our sponsors, volunteers, and community—and our success testifies to the depth of the mountain bike culture in Santa Cruz county." It takes place in Aptos Village. Learn more on the website here.

Sea Otter Classic: April 10-13
"Mountain bikers, cyclocrossers, road racers and air junkies all converge on Laguna Seca and Fort Ord in Monterey for the biggest bike festival in central California. Four days of races, demos, slalom contests, fun events like the first-ever Night Ride sponsored by Magicshine and a ton of kids' activities make for serious fun. This is a qualifying event for the National Mountain Biking Championships, so big players will be here, and national gear companies will be strutting their best stuff." Learn more on the Hilltromper website.

Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz is a more comprehensive resource than this blog post, so we encourage you to visit their website and like them on Facebook for the latest scoop.

Bicycle Outreach at UCSC Earth Summit (IDEASS BTPT 2013-14)

Last Thursday, our team joined a number of other student organizations in tabling at the Campus Earth Summit at UCSC. The event featured not only tabling, but also inspiring speakers, spoken word performances by the incredibly inspiring duo Climbing PoeTree, and workshops throughout the day. There was also free food and music powered by a bicycle generator! 

Fellow bicycling enthusiast Alex Hoffman (co-teacher with Melissa for the winter quarter People Power: Engaging Sustainable Transportation Solutions class) joined Aly and Melissa at the BTPT table. We promoted bike riding in Santa Cruz, as well as encouraged visitors to the table to take a survey about their bike riding habits. We also had a map of Santa Cruz that visitors could pin their routes on using tacks and rubber bands.

We were able to tell attendees about our project, answered bike-related questions, handed out materials for safer and more informed riding (provided by Transportation & Parking Services--thanks!), and asked visitors to our table to fill out a survey designed specifically for Earth Summit. Only 13 people filled it out, so we aren't counting the results as statistically accurate by any means. But if you're curious what folks said, check out the results below. Click the image for a larger view.

Mostly students, which we expected.

Because most of them are students, most are 18-24.

High bike rate among this crowd--they did, after all, approach a table proclaiming to be about bicycles. Future surveys we conduct will be at our bike commuting workshops where we imagine there will be a number of bicycle riders, too. We conducted the survey at Earth Summit as a way to identify any confusing questions and also see what kinds of habits UCSC bike riders have.

The campus bike shuttle is fully subsidized by Transportation & Parking Services through parking fees. Yes, you heard that right. Parking fees. So to continue to subsidize and make sustainable transportation methods cheaper for us all, people need to keep driving to campus and paying for permits. Hmm... Let's envision another model for funding, shall we?

Woah, we got some experts in the house! We still want those kinds of folks to attend our workshops if they're inclined to do so--they can share stories, tips, and maybe they'll realize they could learn a thing or two themselves!

With our stellar bus system in Santa Cruz to get to campus, it's no surprise that a lot of people bus it.

Mostly split between never and every weekday. 

Did you know that about half of all trips in the U.S. are three miles or less? Three mile trips are totally manageable by bike. I call that opportunity for change!

0 means no concern, and 5 means great concern. The following questions are all in response to "What keeps you from biking to work and/or school more?"

Given the high rates of bike theft in Santa Cruz, this is interesting. Get a good lock, use a bike locker, or park your bike in high visibility locations.

Bike racks with bags on the side are the way to go, especially with our hills. It's incredible how much easier it is to carry things when they're on your bike and not your back.

Leave earlier so you can ride slower and not break too much of a sweat. If you're going up to campus, there are showers available for bike commuters in Kresge College and Kerr Hall. Check out Janet Lafleur's blog One woman. Many bicycles. for more tips like this.

You don't need the most expensive bike in the shop to bike commute. Search Craigslist or ask friends who bike. 

If you're really far away, consider taking your bike on the bus!

Time management is key, and it is possible! Besides, if you bike to work, you can reduce your daily exercise routine and you'll inevitably feel more refreshed in the mornings. Daily exercise like this is really healthy for you, and it can soon become something you look forward to.

Weather-proof your commute! It's all about getting the right gear, some fenders, and waterproof clothing. 

Such great reasons to bike! Are you still on the fence about biking to work more often? Our workshops are designed for encouraging you to get out there more and feel empowered by your decision to bike to work instead of driving. Have questions? We have answers.

Workshops begin this Monday, March 17, from 6-7 PM in the People Power Office, 703 Pacific Ave. Learn more and register here for our free workshops!

Thanks for reading about experience at Earth Summit! We hope to see you Monday!

Being the bicycling change we wish to see (IDEASS BTPT 2013-14)

This is the first of many blog posts about the Bicycle Transit Planning Team's IDEASS project for 2013-14. 

"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.

But why count cars? My team project partner Alyssa Tyree and I are working on a number of different bicycle transit-related mini-projects, housed under the umbrella of our IDEASS project, which is a year-long commitment. We are working with two awesome women in the community, Tiffany Wise-West from the City's Climate Action Program and Amelia Conlen, the Director of People Power of Santa Cruz County. They are both supporting us in different ways for our project, which you will hear more about in future posts. The counting cars aspect is a small slice of our overall project scope, and it's a way for us to support the rail trail project (part of the Monterey Bay Scenic Sanctuary Trail master plan) by collecting data on how many spaces are filled in parking lots along the rail trail on different days and times each week. The goal is to identify if there are empty lots at certain times of the day or week that the City could incentivize lot owners to allow rail trail users to park in for access to the multi-use trail that will eventually be built along the rail line. Counting cars sounds boring, I know, but the bike ride to do so was a delightful way to end my afternoon, and it led to this philosophical reflection about principles, methods, and goals... But how did I get from counting cars to philosophy? Let me explain.

The thought I began the post with came to me right after I biked around the circular road of Errett Circle, which introduced me to the Circle Market and the Circle Church, adorable and unique attributes of the neighborhood that I hadn't ever come across before. I had just biked to this area of town from the Safeway area near Mission Street, and as I passed by Garfield Park, I was struck by how different the neighborhood felt and looked in that area. It felt closer, more quaint. I hadn't ever really explored near there before, and it was fun to be in a new part of town. When I drove through this area last time I conducted the car counting survey (it was pouring rain that day, and I rented a Zipcar), I did not notice the neighborhood around me or associate any feeling with it whatsoever. Cars are like that--you're in them to get from point A to point B, not to enjoy the scenery through glass and metal. The rain may have played a part in this, too, but certainly cars require more focused attention on operating heavy machinery, not gazing around.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about community places and how to live presently in our communities rather than just travel from home to school to work. I think this is why I was so interested in and excited to see the Circle Market and Circle Church. The circular nature of the community space has lent its name to these establishments, which seem to support community in their own ways. The market has a colorful storefront that is inviting, and the church looks welcoming and it's at the center of the neighborhood. It reminds me of the commons area in old European establishments, central and a place for gathering. There is a different feeling in that part of town, as I said, and it's even more tangible the closer to the circle you get. Especially on a bike. On a map it looks like a destination, a place all roads lead to. When you're there, it can feel like something special is happening or about to happen.

As I rode away from the circle and down California Street, I couldn't help smiling at a man walking by and being simply drawn into the present moment and aware of community in a profound way. And then I had this philosophical realization about principles. By "principle" I mean the values and expectations of conduct that we hold ourselves to as we work on a project. In this IDEASS project, we value clear communication, clear deadlines balanced with self-sustainability and awareness of the incredible amount of work on each of our plates. We also value bikes and sustainable transportation, community and relationship-building. These are all the ways we approach the different tasks and goals of our project--these are our guiding principles. So when I say "principles inform our method," I mean in this particular case that our principle of seeing and believing in the bike as a form of sustainable and viable transportation directly translates into our method of conducting our counts by bicycle. In turn, this brings us into the realm of our goal for our project overall--increased bicycle ridership, safer bicycle ridership, and engaged community ridership. Riding my bike last Tuesday for the count put me into the position of evaluating the effectiveness of the bike in these ways. I chose to bike instead of rent a Zipcar again. I put into place the safety tips that I and Aly and Amelia will be sharing at our upcoming bicycle commuting workshops (more on this here, and in future posts). Most profoundly for my experience last week, I was aware of the way the bike can engage you with your community--in this case, a silent and contemplative engagement with a community space that I hadn't come across before.

"When our principles inform our method, our project goals can be attained more effectively, with insight along the way." When we know our audience and can experience what our goal might be like for other people--in this case, biking in any situation--and when we can reflect on how our work can be real in the world or how we can approach our work differently based on experiencing it, we are closer to our goals than if we sit removed from them. Bicycle advocacy is fun, not only because you get to bike while you're doing it a lot of the time, but because the bicycle is so much more than just a mode of transportation in the way a car often feels. It is a tool for accessing reflective thoughts and engaging by being in the spaces we travel in (rather than simply through). By being the change we wish to see in the world and living our principles each day in our work, we can see the possibility and vision of our goals, and that in itself is incredibly inspiring.

Bike Smart: Education for young, powerful pedalers (IDEASS BTPT 2013-14)

"Education is a continual process, it's like a bicycle... If you don't pedal you don't go forward." - George Weah 

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! 

To start the morning off, Elise started outlining a bike course that mirrored the intersection of High St and Moore St since that's where the school is located. This course included multiple colored cones and chalk to highlight the different actions the students should be doing when they made their way to the middle of the intersection. I was amazed at the fantastic representation of the general situations the students might experience; such as, a fake rail road track, a bike lane merging with the street, how to merge to the left lane from the bike lane, and learning how to communicate their actions with the other cyclists and cars on the road. All these skills were formatted to educate these students in their participation in their school's Bike to School day that next week. 

The day really began when we all heard loud footsteps and saw a bunch of kids running out to our bike course. Many kids had bikes of their own, but for those who didn't we gave them bikes and helmets that Elise provided. We split the kids up in different groups and started them at the four different sides of the intersection. Each side had a different focus as listed above, and when they all reached the middle they had to communicate with each other to know who went first through the intersection and who did not. 

It was such a delight to be able to see so many kids be interested in biking and learning basic laws and skills. Some kids came up to us after the rodeo expressing that they had never really rode a bike before, but after completing this rodeo they felt a lot more secure and confident being on a bike. That's something you just can't wait to hear! This is particularly true since Melissa and I are about to co-facilitate bike commuting workshops to local businesses with Amelia Conlen, director of People Power. Although, these rodeos were designed for children, there are still a lot of essential knowledge that we will also be presenting to people at these workshops especially if they too feel insecure about biking. Overall, what a joy to be an educator for a day instead of being taught! Pedal Power! 

Social Justice & Feminism on Valentine's Day (Week 6)

On February 14, our class focused on issues of social justice and feminism. Our readings focused mostly on issues of women's access and inclination toward biking and walking since we have talked a lot about social justice and accessibility for minorities throughout the quarter. The conversations and activities we did in class were inspiring and informative, and everyone brought something unique to the conversation. In my opinion, this was one of the best days of our class so far. Thank you everyone for participating!

Alex brought bagels, as usual, as well as some delicious pomegranate jelly, the perfect color spread for Valentine's Day! We also serve coffee in class every Friday morning.

We began class, as usual, with a gratitude circle and a check-in. This week's question was "How will you show love and compassion to people in your life today in celebration of Valentine’s Day?" So many people shared that they were seeing family that weekend for the three-day weekend and that they would do something for them to show their love and appreciation. The purpose of asking this question was to remind people that Valentine's Day is about love in all forms, not just between significant others. Often people criticize Valentine's Day for being consumeristic and directed toward couples, but why not expand the definition of it to include showing love to everyone in our lives? It was nice to begin class with this acknowledgement of loving relationships each of us have in our lives--from family, to dogs, to siblings, to partners.

Then we had announcements. One of our optional readings for class that day was a chapter from Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust about the historic treatment of women while walking in public spaces, and this topic coincided nicely with the date--Valentine's Day--because it is also the day that One Billion Rising raises awareness about sexual assault against women. If you don't know about the cause, the most important thing point is that 1 in 3 women will be beaten, sexually assaulted, or rape in their lifetime. That's one billion women worldwide, and the movement seeks to raise awareness about this and end violence against women. Our presentation slides from class feature this event and also delve into the issues brought up in our readings for the day. Click here to view it, and feel free to ask questions in the comments section for more information.

In addition to the presentation, we spoke in small groups about feminism and social justice as it relates to the other themes in our class. Some students brought up the possible set-backs that exist when women get together for "ladies night" bike events that are only designed for women (such as this one). Does this segregation serve to empower women by creating a safe and welcoming space, and/or does it also reinforce stereotypes or separations of women? Students shared various perspectives, including the suggestion that creating separate spaces for women or other groups to participate with bicycling justifies not working to make all bicycling spaces safe for these parts of the population.

For example,  Maryam and Camille gave the example of Women/Trans-friendly hours at the Bike Church Tool Cooperative downtown. By designing particular hours when women and trans-identifying people are invited to come, is there an inherent suggestion that they are not welcome at other times?

Others, including myself, suggested instead that these particular safe-space hours are designed for those who are intimidated by the idea of going to regular hours hosted by the Bike Church. Certainly, I would hope / I'm fairly certain that the Bike Church works to be inclusive and welcoming to all people who visit all the time. However, even if they are the friendliest place in the world, some--actually many--people's perceptions of bike shops or bike culture in general is that it's dominated by men or dominated by knowledgeable, know-it-all bike mechanics. By creating guaranteed, advertised safe spaces where everyone is a woman or a trans person, more people may be willing to step inside the Bike Church's doors to learn how to fix their bikes. From there, they may realize that all hours of the Bike Church are safe, but it's that initial entrance to the world of the Bike Church that may require some additional, specific marketing.

But what do you all think? I can see both sides and believe there isn't a final answer--it's about making sure all spaces are inclusive and identifying strategies to do so in genuine ways that brings everyone into the bike world so that eventually, the whole world and community is the bike world.

Some other topics students brought up included that the history of women feeling/being targeted on public streets as similar to the experiences of black men and other people of color. Chima brought up Trayvon Martin and the way that our society and law unjustly addresses hate crimes and other attacks on people based on appearance and race. He said he could identify with the sentiment that I and other women in the class expressed about feeling vulnerable walking in public places at night.

Maryam brought up the issue of gay people being targeted in public places, as well, and the conversation then moved toward how we never hear about hate crimes or murders of trans people, something I learned about as a residential adviser in Stevenson College. Since it's a topic many people don't know about, here is the website for International Transgender Day of Remembrance, which lists those trans people who were murdered worldwide simply for being transgender. It's horrible and overwhelming, and unfortunately, it's not in the public mind. Please share that link with friends to raise awareness, and then inform yourself on what it means to be transgender and how we can end discrimination against people simply because of who they are. If you're looking for more resources on this, feel free to email me or visit the UCSC Cantu Queer Center website.

Certainly the topic of this day's class was not light, and it was incredibly powerful to hear everyone's thoughts. It was clear from what students shared that they were seeing these topics in a new light and having realizations about the way others experience public spaces differently or similarly to how they do.

After this discussion, we returned to the topic of encouraging women to bike more by taking a class photo with the CycloFemme pledge, which reads "I, _____, swear to invest my energy, strength, and passion to inspire one more woman to ride a bike. I believe in the power of the pedal for positive social change, for building a healthier, happier, smarter world. I pledge to be an ambassador of the bicycle, to honor the past, celebrate the present, empower the future of women in cycling. I promise to start the revolution, to live the change I want to see, to rally another to ride with me." One of our assigned readings for the day was about this organization, whose website reads,

"CycloFemme is a socially-driven grass-roots celebration of women on bikes.... Our annual Mother’s Day ride unites riders, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity or bicycle preference to share in the joy of cycling. Year round, our global community inspires and empowers other women, by making their passion public and the joy in cycling contagious. In our first year, 163 rides were registered in 14 countries with many others joining in to celebrate in their own special way. In our second, we grew to 229 rides in 31 countries. Ride with us as we Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present, Empower the Future of Women in Cycling."

Pedrum had to leave class right before we took the photo, so Alex snapped a photo of him with his pledge before he left.

Following our pledges, we did a transportation-themed adaptation of the "Privilege Line" activity (click here to read the full activity). We had everyone stand along the line of an extension cord in the middle of the room. I read a number of statements regarding transportation privilege and students stepped forward or backward depending upon if it applied to them or not. For example, "Step forward if you have had access to a car your entire life, even if you chose not to use it." Another example was "Step backward if you feel vulnerable walking down the street at night alone."

The activity was extremely interesting and allowed for some really great dialogue at the end. Alex, who was at the farthest forward place alongside Corin, asked how it was for others in the group. "I was facing forward the whole time and I couldn't really see what was happening behind me," he said, which reflects exactly what happens when people have privilege but are not paying attention to others around them who do not have those same privileges. In this way, the activity is very experiential and allows for connections to be made based on how it feels to participate and compare where you end up versus others.

When we finished the privilege line activity, here was everyone's positions. What do you notice?

I want to say thank you again to everyone who participated in class on Valentine's Day and for being engaged and thinking about these issues in personal, real ways. I am curious what your thoughts are reading this post, for those who were or were not in class. How do these issues affect your life? What experiences have you had that provide insight into these challenges many people face regarding transportation every day?

Most importantly, what are the strategies for overcoming these barriers for women, people of color, the LGBTQQIAA community, and others who cannot freely travel or access all modes of transportation equally?