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This month Cupertino Safe Routes to School celebrates a group of seven Kennedy Middle School students and their teacher Mrs. Larson for winning the 2024 Garrett Morgan Competition! This competition, sponsored by the Mineta Transportation Institute, challenges students from all over the country to create an innovative solution to real-world sustainable transportation problems (STEAM) each year. 2024’s competition theme was #VisionZero2030 and focused on the commitment to stop traffic-related deaths and injuries by 2030. The project called for participants to provide 1-2 specific examples of how changes in road design can enhance safety. After observing the common causes of road accidents (mainly speeding, intersection crashes, poor weather, low visibility, and distracted and drunk driving), this group from Kennedy Middle came up with a solution they call ‘Hexa Grooves.’ The students proposed that these hexagonal-shaped grooves or bumps on the road (pictured above) would help address the causes of accidents by warning and slowing down speedy drivers and supporting greater drainage of water on roadways to reduce accidents caused by wet conditions. They created miniature models of the grooves and bumps to help troubleshoot and refine their solutions and created different sizes of hexa grooves and hexa bumps to be placed at various locations along roads. We are so inspired by this group of students, their teacher, and adult mentors for the thoughtfulness and dedication they put into addressing roadway safety issues! The 2025 competition is already underway with a theme of ‘Get Going, Go Green’. You can learn by visiting: https://transweb.sjsu.edu/workforce-development/garrett-morgan-program.
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Without Further Ado… the 2024 High School Bike Counts!
Walk Bike Cupertino conducts bike counts at each of the high schools in Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD) every month since 2021, and we’re happy to receive and share the latest results! Highlights from these counts is that bike ridership is the highest it’s ever been at Monta Vista, Cupertino, and Lynbrook High Schools at 16.2% ,19%, and 18.2% of the schools’ enrollments, respectively! Counts at Homestead and Fremont High School, however, seem to be declining. The reasons for these declines remain unknown, but we suspect it may be due to ongoing construction projects at the schools and the resultant moving around of bike racks on campus. Overall, we see more and more students on bikes each year and we celebrate this! Fun fact, if all FUHSD bike riders this semester decided to drive to school instead, 54,542 trees would need to be planted in order to save the same amount of CO2 emissions! We are grateful to Dino Sakkas of Walk Bike Cupertino for organizing these counts.
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November Safety Tip
'As Darkness Falls Across the Land'- Bike Safe at Night!
 Alas, we find ourselves in Fall. ‘Tis the time of year when the days get shorter, the early mornings and evenings get colder, and we (hopefully) get a chance to slow down and reflect on all we’ve experienced this past year. Along with harvest season comes the end of Daylight Savings Time, where we ‘fall back’ and gain an hour of sleep! Remember to set your clocks for this change on November 3rd! With this time change comes the greater probability of biking in the dark- so check out our tips below to stay safe and SEEN.
Lights
By California law, if you’re biking after dark you must have a white light on the front of your bike and a red light or reflector on the rear of your bike. The front light needs to be clearly visible 300 feet in front of and to the sides of the cyclist.
Wear Bright Clothing and Reflectives to Increase Visibility
For biking after dark, Hi-Vis yellow and green are the best colors for visibility. Steer clear of dark colors. Reflective details on clothing can boost visibility in general, as well as provide side-visibility, which lights alone often can’t. Reflective piping on gloves can assist others in seeing you and your hand signals.
Stay in View and Ride Predictably
Drivers are generally looking ahead, so when cycling at night you want to make sure you’re in their field of vision:
- On roads where there is no bike lane, be sure to make use of the full lane, so that you are clearly visible to the motorists behind you.
- Refrain from making sudden turns without signaling properly.
- Come to complete stops when required.
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Be Advised, Speed Limit Changes Happening This Month
As part of an effort to increase safety for bikers and pedestrians, our transportation division has studied and selected five streets worthy of speed limit reductions. All of the roads identified are residential roads, and most have a high concentration of school traffic. The changes to these road segments should not only improve safety, but also create more enjoyable and quiet neighborhoods for our residents.
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Join us for SR2S Working Group Meetings
Safe Routes to School (SR2S) Working Group meetings are Hybrid held on the second Wednesday of most months in Conference Room C at Cupertino City Hall and on Zoom. If there's a topic you'd like the Working Group to discuss, email us! saferoutes@cupertino.gov
Visit the link below to register, access agendas, and view the complete list of dates for this school year’s Working Group meetings. We hope to see you at our next meeting!
Working Group Meetings
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Important Upcoming Dates
Agendas will be posted 72 hours before each meeting at the links below.
- Wednesday, Nov. 13th , 4:00 p.m.
SR2S Working Group Meeting
Topic: Cupertino SR2S Education
- Wednesday, November 14th: Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
- Wednesday, Nov. 20th , 7:00 p.m.
Bicycle Pedestrian Commission
Topic: TBD
- Wednesday, Dec. 18th (2025), 7:00 p.m.
Bicycle Pedestrian Commission
Topic: TBD
- Wednesday, Jan 8th (2025), 4:00 p.m.
SR2S Working Group Meeting
Topic: TBD
- Wednesday, Jan 15th (2025), 7:00 p.m.
Bicycle Pedestrian Commission
Topic: TBD
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