All About Bikes?

Bike to Work? Bikes on Bridges? E-bikes in Open Space?

 

Sharing below some updates, information, and my opinion on several bike issues  that have been/will continue to be topics of informal and formal discussion in the coming months. I appreciate you taking the time to read, ponder and share your thoughts as well. You can email me at: krice@marincounty.org.

 

Bike to Work? If you can, yes!

 

It was bike to work day May 10^th and I along with many others took to work via our own pedal power. For those of us fortunate enough to be able to (e.g. work schedule, commute route, and physical health all allow), biking to work can change the commute experience from one of necessity that must be endured, to one that can be enjoyable and pays all sorts of dividends. My physical and mental health got a boost; I reduced my daily GHG load; saved a few bucks in gas/auto expense; traffic and traffic jams were not an issue. Overall, a really good experience and I will try to do more often. That said, I know that not everyone can bike to work or even wants to. I also believe that not every commute route is necessarily appropriate for bikes. Hence my position regarding opening up the Richmond San Rafael Bridge to bike transit….

         

Bikes on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge? Auto and transit commuters need to be the priority.

 

It’s been several weeks since the third lane eastbound on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge opened and the improvement in traffic flow is even better than expected. The result helps make the case even more resounding for opening up the third lane westbound in the a.m. But just like the eastbound lower deck, opening the third lane on top deck will likely require more than just painting new stripes on the pavement.

 

Let’s be clear, while I am very much in favor of making it easier and safer for folks to commute, recreate and generally get around by bike, some infrastructure investments and routes are more practical to pursue than others. In my assessment, creation of a bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge must take a back seat to implementation of congestion relief measures for the vast majority of bridge users (auto and public transit) whose commute route depends on the bridge. I say this with particular sensitivity to the fact that we here in Marin depend largely on a workforce that commutes from out of county, with many thousands of those workers coming from the Contra Costa side of bridge.

 

If there are obvious solutions to relieving the gridlock that these folks experience on most commute days, we should seek to implement them. As such, during a recent discussion at the Transportation Authority of Marin board meeting, I supported Supervisor Damon Connolly’s proposition that the TAM board send a formal letter of request to the regional transportation “powers that be” to seek improvements for the westbound a.m. bridge commute including restoring a third lane for autos.

But just as with the third lane on the lower deck, it should not be assumed that the solution for westbound commuters involves merely painting a stripe on the bridge. We need to understand and have a plan to address whatever needs to be fixed on both sides of the bridge related to the approach bottleneck on east side (merge and toll plaza) and implications and accommodations that will need to be made on west end/Marin side of bridge due to the increased traffic volume a third lane will allow.

 

Finally, assuming the will and financial means to move forward with a third auto/transit lane westbound, given the likely time lag before necessary improvements can be made, I see no harm in following through with a bike pilot/study as originally proposed (by the regional “powers that be”) on the upper deck. The bike pilot (which came as part of a package deal to restore third lane eastbound for p.m. commute) was intended to provide an opportunity to test true bike demand for crossing the bridge. If there is sufficient demand, I think it makes sense to explore alternative options for future bike passage as long as that option would not restrict capacity for auto and public transit traffic in third lane during commute hours.

 

E-bikes on Open Space? Stay tuned.

Under current, long standing Marin County code/regulation, “motorized vehicles” as a general category are prohibited on Marin County Open Space District properties and preserves. As interpreted by county lawyers for enforcement purposes “motorized vehicles” includes any vehicle (bikes included) that benefit from a power source other than the pure muscle capacity of its human rider. As such, under current regulation, electric bikes of all types including even minimally powered “pedal assist” are considered illegal on open space fire roads and trails.

Fast forward to earlier this year when the Board of Supervisors was asked to consider a spate of code amendments, including language clarifying the definition of motorized vehicles, to make crystal clear that electric-bikes, as well as other types of motorized vehicles, are included in the definition and as such prohibited.

The agenda item created quite an uproar. As it turns out, there are a growing cadre of mountain bike riders for whom their own human power has diminished for one reason or another, and for whom a class 1/pedal assist mountain bike provides them just enough “assist” to continue mountain biking on our hilly terrain here in Marin. Many of these e-bike riders reached out to me and my colleagues and showed up at our board meeting to plead their case. The discussion required the board to go quickly up the learning curve re: the various types/classes of electric bikes—which, as it turns out—are not all created equal; and made clear that a broader community discussion and policy deliberation around this issue was needed.

Hence our decision to refrain from making any changes at this time to code language (with the exception of allowing for mobility impaired accommodation) until a deeper analysis and community discussion around the use of e-bikes in both Open Space and on our multi-use paths has been made.

Marin County Parks will begin community outreach and formal discussion utilizing the Parks Commission with regards to use of e-bikes on Marin County Parks paved multi-use paths this summer. If the process stays on track, recommendations will come to the Board of Supervisors in the fall. E-bike use on Marin County Open Space will follow. Subscribe to Marin County Parks updates to stay on top of this topic.

 

Contact Info:

Supervisor Katie Rice

415-473-7825

krice@marincounty.org

www.facebook.com/D2KatieRice

 

District 2 Aides:

Nancy Vernon

415-473-7351

nvernon@marincounty.org

 

Jen Gauna

415-473-6159

jgauna@marincounty.org