The Bike the Bridge! Coalition has been very active in the past year. Advocates of bicycling on bridges, the BTBC is in 53^rd cog right now, as so many of our SF Bay Area bridges are being rebuilt or retrofitted.

We are active:

• More than 24 protests at the Richmond-San Rafael bridge to date, uncounted numbers of successful crossings (twenty confirmed one weekend alone) and uncounted numbers of citations and arrests (15 at our major protest May 31^st). People have begun to cross whenever they need to, and we have been very successful at fighting any tickets in court (although the fine has jumped from $55 to $104). Check out these exciting and informative ride reports from way back through the present.

• One dual-shore protest at the SFOBB Bay Bridge that received much television, newspaper, and radio attention, March 16th, 1997.

• A forum on the ecological impact of the new bridge including speakers from Caltrans, Bay Conservation and Development Commission, AC Transit, Urban Ecology, East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Regional Bicycle Access Committee, Bike the Bridge! Coalition, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter Transportation Subcommittee, Citizens for the East Shore State Park, and numerous audience members.

  We regret that Chevron and the California State Automobile Association were not able to attend.

• Four-and-a-half newsletters to date, with distribution approaching 5,000 for our third issue and we are most proud of our fourth and of course, our fifth .

• Successful petition for a Bay Bridge bike lane. We presented over 6,200 signatures to the MTC calling for a bike path across the Bay Bridge "as soon as possible".

• One BAY BRIDGE BIKE RACE, June 1st, beginning at Caltrans headquarters and ending at Justin Herman Plaza. No citations, no arrests. This was superbly valuable because we learned that
  • We can bike through the tunnel, there's a raised walkway there (saving 9 million of Caltrans' fluff);

  • The Bay Bridge West Span has the best view in the Bay Area that can only be truly appreciated from bicycle, not from automobile.

• Ongoing meetings with Caltrans, MTC, and the BCDC regarding bicycle access on bridges such as the Richmond Bridge. Participating closely in the study to assess the safety of bicycles sharing the shoulder, involving not just Caltrans but a BCDC oversight committee, ABAG, MTC, and bicycle advocates.

• Spearheading a Pledge Drive for the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and for the Bay Bridge. To-date, over 1,000 cyclists have signed that they would regularly use the path, many of them every day, and approximately 40% stated that they would bicycle instead of driving!

  (please fax or mail one to us ASAP and let us know if you want copies mailed to you to put in bike stores or to ask in person for signatures. This is a great use of your BART time, by the way -- call us at (510) 273-9288 and we'll send you some right away).

• Working to build solidarity and to combine efforts with disability groups such as ABC, hikers and other pedestrian groups such as BayPeds, trails advocates, mass transit advocates, energy conservationists, alternative transportation advocates, and yes, even those rambunctious skaters!

• Facilitating the exposure of what really happened at SF Critical Mass in July 1997, helping independent camerapersons get their footage of police and motorist abuses on the television news and on the internet.

• We conducted a study strongly indicating that by conservative estimates, TEN-THOUSAND commuters per day would use a Bay Bridge bike path. Yes, this was a conservative estimate!

• We drafted a resolution at the request of staff at the Marin Board of Supervisors which they in turn used to issue a letter recommending that bicyclists (finally!) be allowed to use the shoulder.

• We drafted this Resolution for the Berkeley City Council, wording from which was used in their own resolution supporting people-access to the retrofitted Bay Bridge.

• With the help of Scott Mace and the Mid-Peninsula Bicycle Coalition as well as the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, the following resolution was passed unanimously on February 2nd, 1998 supporting equal access to the San Mateo-Hayward bridge. On June 15^th, 1998 we won unanimous support for going forward with the bike path from the Foster City city council despite concerns of Police and Fire Departments--who we are now working with to address their concerns. Scott is now our Mid-Peninsula coordinator.

• We have been dogging the media with press releases and letters to the editor, as well as having our phones ring off the hook by reporters from San Jose to San Rafael and all points around the Bay. Check out: Bridge Bikers in the News!

• We have worked to find the most people-friendly design for the Bay Bridge bike path with Architect/Engineer Steven Grover, and have helped garner support for his work from a wide array of bicycle coalitions (EBBC, BFBC, SFBC). This work can be seen here!

• We have worked to introduce fairness in the voting poll conducted by the Chronicle by providing an alternative voting site with more comprehensive questions and background (voting is no longer needed--the result was 7-to-1 in support and the poll is over, but the page has useful information). This erupted after concerns about the Chronicle and MTC misrepresenting the path.

• We have worked to expose the tragedy of the current design process, which ensures that a true gateway to the East will not be realized.

• We have created this resource on fighting a bridge-biking ticket.

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