Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Beyond bicycles

“This is change for the better. It's going to help us meet climate goals.”

Bicycles parked inside Mission Brewery for a training session on cycling advocacy on February 4
Bicycles parked inside Mission Brewery for a training session on cycling advocacy on February 4

A crowd of about 50 cycling advocates from across the county packed into Mission Brewery downtown on Saturday morning (February 4) to learn about advocating for their cause: safer, expanded access to city streets for two-wheelers.

"This is our first advocacy training," explained Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego Bicycle Coalition. "It's about getting people excited and motivated to make change in their communities. But beyond just bicycles, it's about the process of advocacy — political, grassroots, the education process with the public."

Still, it's apparent the focus is on bike improvements, which have been a source of controversy. Community planning groups in neighborhoods such as City Heights and Little Italy have pushed back against the loss of parking to make way for safer bike lanes, and a feature published in the Reader last year critical of dedicating extensive land and money to cyclists resulted in a weeks-long flood of comments, as many from those opposed to bike-lane expansions as from those in favor. Progress, thus, has been slow.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"There's a lot happening — we have a $200 million program throughout the region to fund cycling improvements over the next eight to ten years," said Hanshaw. "That process is five years old now, and I don't think we're near where we need to be, so we really need to push [San Diego Association of Governments] to push these projects, to get them built, because a lot of what's slowing us down is the political process; people need to show support for these projects to give leadership confidence putting them in."

Nicole Burgess of SD Bike Coalition explained different road-improvement options to the crowd of cyclists

But enticing people out of their cars, said Climate Action Campaign founder Nicole Capretz, is critical if cities like San Diego are going to meet the ambitious goals laid out in their climate action plans.

"We're getting nowhere, basically," Capretz told attendees. "Even going to 100 percent clean energy — which we are, and it's great — won't get us to our goals unless we can get some of the people out of their cars."

While admitting that the San Diego region long has been and will likely remain car-centric, the city's climate plan has a goal of getting 50 percent of residents who live in well-served "transit corridors" (which make up only a fraction of the city's total area) to make their daily commute by means other than a single-occupant vehicle.

"Change is always hard, but this is change for the better. It's going to help us meet climate goals, it's going to ultimately ease transportation problems," said Hanshaw. "This is definitely an 'if you build it, they will come' scenario. We have evidence from all over the country and around the world that when safer bike lanes go in, the ridership goes up. And those types of bike lanes are coming."

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Aaron Bleiweiss: has guitar, has traveled

Seattle native takes Twists and Turns to assemble local all-stars
Bicycles parked inside Mission Brewery for a training session on cycling advocacy on February 4
Bicycles parked inside Mission Brewery for a training session on cycling advocacy on February 4

A crowd of about 50 cycling advocates from across the county packed into Mission Brewery downtown on Saturday morning (February 4) to learn about advocating for their cause: safer, expanded access to city streets for two-wheelers.

"This is our first advocacy training," explained Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego Bicycle Coalition. "It's about getting people excited and motivated to make change in their communities. But beyond just bicycles, it's about the process of advocacy — political, grassroots, the education process with the public."

Still, it's apparent the focus is on bike improvements, which have been a source of controversy. Community planning groups in neighborhoods such as City Heights and Little Italy have pushed back against the loss of parking to make way for safer bike lanes, and a feature published in the Reader last year critical of dedicating extensive land and money to cyclists resulted in a weeks-long flood of comments, as many from those opposed to bike-lane expansions as from those in favor. Progress, thus, has been slow.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"There's a lot happening — we have a $200 million program throughout the region to fund cycling improvements over the next eight to ten years," said Hanshaw. "That process is five years old now, and I don't think we're near where we need to be, so we really need to push [San Diego Association of Governments] to push these projects, to get them built, because a lot of what's slowing us down is the political process; people need to show support for these projects to give leadership confidence putting them in."

Nicole Burgess of SD Bike Coalition explained different road-improvement options to the crowd of cyclists

But enticing people out of their cars, said Climate Action Campaign founder Nicole Capretz, is critical if cities like San Diego are going to meet the ambitious goals laid out in their climate action plans.

"We're getting nowhere, basically," Capretz told attendees. "Even going to 100 percent clean energy — which we are, and it's great — won't get us to our goals unless we can get some of the people out of their cars."

While admitting that the San Diego region long has been and will likely remain car-centric, the city's climate plan has a goal of getting 50 percent of residents who live in well-served "transit corridors" (which make up only a fraction of the city's total area) to make their daily commute by means other than a single-occupant vehicle.

"Change is always hard, but this is change for the better. It's going to help us meet climate goals, it's going to ultimately ease transportation problems," said Hanshaw. "This is definitely an 'if you build it, they will come' scenario. We have evidence from all over the country and around the world that when safer bike lanes go in, the ridership goes up. And those types of bike lanes are coming."

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pedicab drivers in downtown San Diego miss the music

New rules have led to 50% drop in business
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Holiday Guide – like none other

Candle-making, tree lighting, pajama jam
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader