Project Update: Lower Guadalupe Trail Construction

photo: Richard Masoner

The Lower Guadalupe River Trail extends from Highway 880 to Gold Street in Alviso. The current gravel trail is jointly used by the City for recreation and the Santa Clara Valley Water District for maintenance of the waterway.

Goal number 10 of the City of San Jose's Green Vision is interconnected trails. More specifically "Create 100 miles of trails connection with 400 miles of on-street bikeways by 2022". More information can be found on the city's Green Vision website.

The project scope includes the installation of 12’ wide asphalt paving with gravel shoulders to improve pedestrian and bicycle access. Entry to the trail will be via all intersection streets. Under-crossings exist at all roadways so the trail system is entirely off-street. Decorative pavement in the form of a multi-color compass will appear at trail entry points and reinforce the direction of travel. Five interpretive stations will educate and inform trail users about the history of Alviso, the river’s ecology, the Hetch-Hetchy Water System, the discovery of “Lupe” the mammoth, and the history of San Jose’s airport. During construction, a signed detour will guide trail users to North First Street for pedestrian and bicycle travel.

The project is funded through the 2005 Federal Transportation Bill (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users or SAFETEA-LU) and local City funding.

This project is tentatively set to be on the City Council Agenda for bidder selection on April 24, 2012. Construction is scheduled to start in June. Construction is expected to take 10 months - contract documents limit work to a 300-day period.

About San Jose Trails
San Jose has one of the nation’s largest urban trail networks with nearly 54 miles already open to the public. The City’s Green Vision advances development of a 100- mile interconnected network by 2022. The Guadalupe River Trail is a core system in the network and serves both recreational and commute users.

-For more information:

Twitter – SanJoseTrails for construction and general trail updates Construction updates for this and other trail projects. Closures & Traffic for closures along all San Jose trail systems

Upcoming Bicycling Events in the Silicon Valley, March 28

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Thursday, March 29, 2012

San Jose Bike Party -Sharks Ride
Friday, April 20, 2012 8:00PM

Route will be posted on Thursday, the day before the ride at
http://www.sjbikeparty.org/

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And the Shark Ride Pre-Rides

The Sharks Test/Fun Ride #2
Thursday, March 29, 7:00 pm
Location: Leaving from 5th and Jackson in Japantown
Join us we venture through City of Teal.
We will be riding at about 15 mph. No one will be dropped.
It's a Thursday Night .. and we'll stop at 4th st Pizza to finish.
It's also perfect if you'd like to find out who we are, how we do test rides and how much fun they are!
The Sharks Test/Fun Ride #3
Thursday, April 5th, 7:00 pm
Location: TBD

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San Jose Fixed  SJF
15-25 mile Bike Ride
Every Tuesday 6:45 @
Meets @ IMinusD Fixed Gear Boutique
112 Paseo de San Antonio (See Map Below)

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San Francisco Bike Party
Friday April 6, 2012
Animal Kingdom Ride
http://sfbikeparty.wordpress.com/


San Jose Bike Party Volunteer Mixer (BIRD)
Tuesday, April 10, 2010 6:45PM - 8:30 PM 
Build community by learning & chatting with other SJBP volunteers!
Come out to our monthly volunteer meeting!
This is the place to meet & chat with other amazing Bike Party volunteers, learn how to be a better volunteer and better cyclist in general, and help play with ideas to make Bike Party better!

East Bay Bike Party
Friday, April 13, 2011 7:30 PM

http://eastbaybikeparty.wordpress.com/


SJBP BIRDS & Friends: A Party Night to Remember in SoFA
Saturday April 14, 2012,  7:00 PM - 1:00 AM
South First Billiards, 420 S. First St., San Jose, CA

B I R D - P A R T Y ! ! ! Let's all relax and hang out together.
But you don't have to be a BIRD to attend, this party is open to everyone.
So grab your friends and come on down!
This is not just any ol' Pool Hall...
A DJ Spinning music or a live band, Killer food menu, Full Bar with 15 beers on tap, Lounge area, 29 Pool Tables, Ping Pong Tables, an art gallery. (21+ only)

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Second Annual Advocacy Summit
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 2:00 pm - 8:00 PM
Oshman Family Jewish Community Center

3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA 

For those cyclists who want to get more involved with Advocacy this is the perfect event. Their is a $20 fee for this event. For more information: http://bikesiliconvalley.org/bike-summit-2012

San Jose Bike Party - The Shark's Ride
Friday, April 20, 2012 8:00PM

Route will be posted on Thursday, the day before the ride at
http://www.sjbikeparty.org/

Cupertino Bike Swap
Sunday, April 29, 2012 10:00AM - 4:00 PM

104949 S DeAnza Blvd, Cupertino

Save the date. It's one of the best swaps in the area
60 bucks for a space (if your selling) or $2 to enter

And in the not too distant future
May 10, 2012 - 18th Annual Bike to Work Day
May 12, 2012 - SJBP Bike the Limits Ride
May 15, 2012 - Amgen Tour of California San Jose to Livermore
May 15, 2012 - King of the Mountain Challenge
June 21, 2012 Bicycle Music Festival 2012
July 14, 2012 - San Jose Bike Party Ladies Ride - (Sorry guys, ladies only)

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Also note the Guadalupe River Trail will be closed for paving construction soon. The closed portion will extend north of 880 all the way to Gold Street in Alviso. check Twitter for more details.

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

511.org releases new iPhone 4 transit app

Schedule feature allows
you to see all of your options.

This week 511.org, part of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) released its iPhone 4 version of their San Fransisco Bay Area Transit app. An Android version has been released for some time now.

The app is comprehensive with more than 30 transit agencies in the system as well as Caltrain, BART, Amtrak California, and all Bay Area scheduled ferries. This app provides the most complete transit agency coverage for the San Francisco Bay Area. It quickly finds transit trip options based on your selected start and end points.

This app is a welcome addition to the meager offering for the VTA system. I previously reviewed the VTA Transit app and found both the original and second versions to be not worth the download (good thing the lite version is free).


Trips feature allows you to see
 multiple options to your
selected destination.

 One of the features I find both unique and extremely useful is the "schedules" page. By listing a location you can find all of the different transit options leaving within the next 30 minutes. This is useful in transit centers, and Caltrain Stations such as 4th and King or San Jose Diridon. With so many transit options leaving the station different bus routes may be going to the same general area so you can save time by catching the very next bus.
 
In addition to the features listed above, the app also provides you with each travel segments cost as well as the overall costs. Any system wide announcements are also highlighted and displayed.
 
Another great feature is that the settings tab allows you to include trains, buses, or ferries into the selection. So if you don't ride ferries, no need to include the ferry schedules in your results page. Also in the settings tab you can customize the walk to transit feature. You can specify you maximum walking distance as well as your personal walking speed in one of three categories slow, normal, or fast. 
 
Although I think this is a great app here are some suggestions that would be useful in subsequent releases.

1. Incorporate an estimated time of arrival using a "next bus" type of GPS system. All times listed are scheduled.
2. Incorporate a proximately alarm (as seen on a Portland Transit app) that sounds an alarm when you are near your destination. Allow this feature to be customizable depending on how far you are away from your intended stop.



Maps feature allows you to
 see your progress but also
the transfer times.

3. The app allows you to customize your favorite locations, however the app basis it off the address you input. It would be a great feature to also include a nickname such as Tuesday's farmers market, or Willow Glen Roasting. When you use transit often with lots of favorite locations, its difficult to identify stops with a long list of addresses.

If you travel extensively throughout the San Francisco Bay Area you will find this app extremly useful. Outside of Google maps there is now a Bay Area wide app for those of us who use the system on a daily basis.

Download the free 511 Transit App by searching for “511 Transit” on the App Store or Google Play (formerly Android Market).

The app allows you to expand the
details of your trip in a linear format.

Settings for type of transit and
walking preferences are also included.

More High Line Park in the News

photo: inhabitat

As you can tell I love the High Line Park and what an old, ugly, neglect relict of the past has done of New York. Two recent postings share some additional information on the great energy that is happening in that area.

An article from yesterday's New York Times  (High Line May Mix Pasat with Koons's Vision) details that the noted and sometimes controversial artist Jeff Koons has been in talks with High Line founders Robert Hammond and Joshua David about a $25 million sculpture called simply "the Train" which would highlight the history of the elevated line. The sculpture would be a full-size replica of a 1943 Baldwin 2900 steam locomotive.

photo:wikipedia.org

The Park is currently looking for a donor to support Koons's work but if their recent experiences at fundraising are any indication it should be too tough. In November, CSX Transportation Inc. had agreed to donate the third section of the elevated rail bed that has been planned.  Also the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation announced a $20 million gift to the park. Diana von Furstenberg had previously given $15 million to the Park. This for a park that is only three years old.

Also, according to the website Initiative for a Competitive Inner City the City of New York "invested $115 million on the park, and in return, there has been over $2 billion in private investment surrounding the park. There were 8,000 new construction jobs added which related to the project, as well as 12,000 additional jobs as a result of the area's redevelopment. In many cases, residential and commercial properties around the park have more than doubled sine the High Line's new parks have opened."

Prioritizing our roadways - suburbs vs. city centers

In a post in November of last year titled "There's no more change to be found in the sofa - Fixing San Jose's Roads", I mentioned that San Jose's Director for the Department of Transportation went before the council to consider alternative means of funding basic road repair. The next day in a San Jose Mercury New article ("San Jose''s DOT Director discusses the state of the city's roadways and how to repair them".) highlighted the dilemma that the city faces. As I mentioned in my post of November, 18, 2012 I stated:

The article highlighted several responses from local residents commenting on the proposed ways to raise funds to support a $100 million a year maintenance budget. All but one respondent was opposed to spending money to support the roads. Several had stated they believed the money is there and that we should look a little closer at departmental funds. A few would like to initiate a formal look at the department's finances. As the article states "he cautions that before anything else is done, the city council and auditor should look into how DOT money is being spent."

The comments in the article share a common thread, a belief, a wish that there is money there, we just need to look harder. Somewhere there is a sofa with just the enough road repair change, just waiting to be scooped up between the sofa cushions. And somehow it seems as though these residents feel that this is only a San Jose problem; if we could just get our house in order. I doubt most of the residents surveyed for the article or most any San Jose residents realize that this is not just a San Jose problem, and certainly not just a California problem, but a growing national problem as well. Critical lack of funding in our surface transportation infrastructure is a problem, but the biggest problem may be our collective denial that a structural problem exists.

Well the problem continues to exist but on an even larger scale. Estimates provided by SJDOT stated that if we continue down the road were on, by 2020 we will have grown our deferred maintenance liability to $860M with approximately 54% of the city's 2,400 miles of roadway in "poor" condition compared with $293M now and only 21% of total roadway in poor condition.

Mayor Reed made a comment during the discussion period that if the city was able to control its retirement costs we could have easily covered the city's estimated $100M road repair bill each year.

The proposal before today's city council was to prioritize scare funding by designating a "Priority Street Network" representing approximately 400 miles of the City's street system of 2,400 miles (16%) based on the criterion set forth in the Envision 2040 policies related to Grand Boulevards and Main Streets, economic development areas (business), transit and bicycle corridors, traffic volumes, and major roadways in residential areas.



Click on the map to see priority streets in your area.

  Additionally SJDOT seeks to secure a total funding investment of $100 M annually by considering the following:

1. Evaluation of a possible San Jose parcel tax, bond measure and/or sales tax to substantially address pavement maintenance funding needs;
2. Evaluate extending and amending the current 1/2-cent sales tax for transportation in Santa Clara County, allowing use of funds for local pavement maintenance consistent with many other counties in California; and
3. Advocate for timely approval of a new Federal transportation bill that increases overall investment for transportation with support for local pavement maintenance.

According to Hans Larsen, SJDOT's Director although $100M is needed each year to maintain the city's extensive road network on average each year the city has only been able to come with $18M, creating an ever growing liability in the form of deferred maintenance.

Additionally SJDOT plans to come to the council during the next three months with the following asks:

• April - Downtown bicycle lanes ($1M)
• May - Further refine priority street network ($6M)
• June - Apply Federal grants to use for resurfacing roadways ($6M)

 When the votes were tallied all council members approved the measure to seek additional funding sources with Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen absent.

Council member Nancy Pyle asked Director Larsen about the threshold needed for a referendum to pass. The director replied that currently tax measures require 2/3 approval to pass (Proposition 13) but that there are currently two bills in the state legislative that address this concern; one will apply to broad infrastructure measures and another that would apply to transportation measures. Each would require only a 55% approval margin.

Council member Donald Rocha asked the SJDOT director why all downtown streets were included in the Priority Street Network. The director responded that just about every street in the downtown core absorbs bus traffic as well increased wear due to traffic density serving downtown businesses. Since there is less use on low volume residential streets, these streets would not be prioritized in the new maintenance cycle.

Also in an affirmative nod to pedestrians and cyclists, Council Member Oliverio suggested a white shoulder line (also known as a fog line) or a bike lane (per the current bike plan) be painted on the newly resurfaced roadway. Council member Oliverio stated that the slight narrowing of the lanes would by a very inexpensive way to help calm traffic.

Maintenance District for the Alameda defeated on second attempt

photo: shasta hanchett
neighborhood association

The second attempt at passing a maintenance district on the Alameda in San Jose failed to gain enough support this afternoon with only 51% of  eligible property owners voting. Property owners included those with frontage on the Alameda from Stockton Ave. to Schiele Ave (see map below).

Only 42% of property owners voted in favor of creating a self-funding maintenance district. One of the biggest property owners, the San Jose Unified School District was reported by the City Clerk to have voted against the district.

San Jose's Transportation Department will now have to alter the design plans and present them to the major grantee, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) for approval; so its not guaranteed the project will proceed as originally planed.

The project was to include design for a proposed Bus Rapid Transit System, a more walkable street, traffic calming measure, more pedestrian focused lighting and other features.

The problem with the Alameda compared with Japantown or Willow Glen is that those business districts are built around a traditional business district pattern. Originally, the Alameda was owned by the state of California, whose only goal for the road was to move traffic at a very high level of speed, considering the street level retail.

Also the pattern of street level retail has numerous and large gaps making it difficult for shopping or strolling. Auto oriented business such as muffler shops, truck facilities, and auto services centers detract from a pleasent shopping experience not to mention the numerous service oriented business such as law offices, finance firms, a daycare busineess, and a school. Street level retail stores find it in their best interest to fund a cleaning and maintence district, schools and services do not.



View Larger Map

For every Yin there is a Yan, for every supply there is a demand

Over the last six months a resounding call by presidential aspirants have demanded a reduction in gas prices by drilling for more domestic oil. Much of this call mimics candidate Newt Gingrich's 2008 (pre-BP) book titled Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less.

His book, a brief 142 pages in large print, only shows that Mr. Gingrich should stick to history and stay away from economics. If Mr. Gingrich ever took Econ 101, he must have skipped out just before the lecture on the demand portion of the supply and demand curve.

All but two of the 142 pages speak about supply (two pages highlight what Ford, Exxon/Mobil, and GE are doing to conserve energy), the theory being that all you have to do is take care of supply and that alone will take care of the rest. No taking into account that it is a non-renewable resource that gets more costly to produce each year.

However I don't completely fault Mr. Gingrich and friends. We see this all the time in transportation, land use, and even parking policy. Several examples can easily be demonstrated here in the Silicon Valley.

Introduced in October of 2010 after repeated customer complaints about long travel times, the local transit agency created a non-stop express service from South San Jose to downtown during the commute hours. Three months later Santa Clara County announced an increase of 33% in auto capacity on the southern portion of the Almaden Expressway which parallels the light rail line, significantly negating any relative advantage that transit may have had.

Likewise just several miles north, Caltrans announced that they would increase capacity and update highway design to increase capacity on freeways 280 and 880 after two very large shopping centers were allowed to build and expand. Now with upcoming construction there is talk of further expanding one of the shopping centers with at least two anchor tenants.

In this part of the San Francisco Bay it seems that just about every year a major big box mall (also known in the biz as auto oriented retail) is built, further decimating downtown retail. The City of San Jose mandates mixed use retail and housing but wonders why street level retail remains vacant while it approves even more big box retail. Is your college economics coming back to you now?

For every ying there is a yang

Large transportation and land use policies here will almost always have unintended consequences nearby.

And so, the can just keeps getting kicked down the road.

City to proceed with 45 acre 'Mega-Mall' on Almaden Expressway

The City of San Jose is getting closer to forging ahead with a planned mega-mall regional shopping center in an area already clogged with big-box retail and heavy auto traffic congestion. In last night's council meeting, city leaders debated whether to rezone the 45 acres exclusively for commercial use.

This comes after a struggling downtown commerical district has decided to relax the rules, and the development of other Mega-mall developments such as San Jose Marketplace, the Plant, @First, Santana Row, and now the Almaden Ranch Retail Center. With existing traffic conditions, large volume of strip and mall retail, and the proposed expansion of what is had been limited access expressway, traffic congestion will be expected to increase as traffic safety decreases. Unlike any other expressway (except for maybe Capitol Expressway) Almaden falls somewhere between a road and a street but possessing the benefits of either. For a great talk on the inefficiencies and costs of building roads that have the characteristics of streets check out Chuck Mahron's talk at a recent TEDx event.



photo: torontoist.com



The amount of existing and proposed retail is evident in the map below with a Walmart also due to come online. Retail acerage is shown in green. Just prior to the announcement to build Almaden Ranch, Santa Clara County had announced is is currently expanding the Almaden Expressway shown in red from six lanes to eight lanes with the addition of bike lanes and pedestrian improvements.

Now cyclists, imagine riding alone an eight lane expressway with traffic zipping by you at 45 - 50 mph. In fact this portion of the roadway will have more capacity than State Freeway 87 which in this area only has six lanes. So cyclists would you ride on Almaden Expressway to do you shopping at one of the many Mega-Malls?


View Traditional Business Districts vs. Big Box in a larger map

50 MPH Speed Limit + Bike Lanes? No, Not in San Jose.

In an article in this morning's San Jose Mercury News "Look for slowdowns on Almaden Expressway -- and then higher speeds" Gary Richards describes the gridlock that we can expect in south San Jose over the next few months. This is becoming a familiar pattern in the Santa Clara Valley. Similar to the build it, pave it, build it, dance going on at Valley Fair/Santana Row, developers are poised to build additional strip retail malls once the roads are widened (this is in addition to the existing retail boxes such as Costco, Best Buy, Whole Foods and Safeway).

The plans call for additional lanes on each side of Almaden Expressway, making this roadway an eight lane expressway with 50 MPH speed limits. Additionally, a three lane left turn area is planned. Yes you heard it right; a left turn pocket with three lanes. I have only seen this in one other location; in Dublin, CA.
View Larger Map
The increased speed limit and additional traffic volume will seriously degrade cycling safety along this corridor (whether or not you paint bike lanes on the roadway) which already gets low marks for bicycle friendliness.

Some of this traffic will spill onto Lincoln Ave. in Willow Glen which already resembles a parking lot more than a quaint business district during the morning rush hour.

When VTA announced plans for a new "express" light rail from the Almaden Valley to downtown San Jose the hope was to encourage more people to ride the underused train system. But just two months later the County announced that they plan to widen the expressway. At times you just wonder, "What were they thinking?" If the stated goal is to reduce VMT (Vehicle Miles Travelled) as the city so passionately documents in their new general plan this will not help.

What do you think?

Photo: Richard Masoner @ Cyclelicious

Location:N 1st St,San Jose,United States

San Jose to relax downtowns street level retail rules

This week's city council meeting was chalk full of land use issues. Besides the debate on the proposed Almaden Ranch Retail Center, the council unanimously agreed to amend the municipal code allow non-retail uses to occupy street level commercial spaces.

In other words if the space that was previously a market, restaurant, or phone store has been vacant the first of the year, other commercial retail uses will be allowed to occupy the space such as banks, law offices, or real estate offices.

New York has mandated that retail business occupy street level retail since 1975 and accounts for some of the city's amazing vitality at almost all hours of the day or night. (New York City Mandates Street Retail).

Traditionally cities want street level retail to create activity and vibrancy at the street level. To quote, or more likely paraphrase an over-quoted Jane Jacobs, all that street level activity puts more" eyes on the street".

Although this will help to alleviate some possible blight in a downtown that already has too many walls, fences, moats, and asphalt, it is just the other side of the coin given overbuilt auto-oriented retail in new spaces like, the Plant, San Jose Market Place, @First, Santana Row, and now the Almaden Ranch Retail Center. By creating large amounts of big box retail with free parking, it will always be more convenient to shop in these mega-malls than shopping downtown. Even residents living downtown will find it easier to drive to the Plant with all of it capacity, than to shop Walgreens and the Ross store downtown.

Giant Creative hosts evening get together for San Jose's 'Creative Entreprenuerial Leaders

photo: clibou

Monday I was fortunate enough to attend a little soiree at the Fairmont Hotel hosted by Giant Creative Services in San Jose. Attending were a diverse group of folks from the arts, entertainment, restaurant and events crowd along with marketers and promoters. City council member Sam Liccardo was present along with Kim Walesh of the Office of Economic Development.

With such a diverse group of dynamic individuals, it was exciting to meet the founders of a new pub, a beer blogger, a representative from NextSpace, the Metro, San Jose Jazz and others. Most, if not all the participants do their thing downtown, which has seen the arts, entertainment, and restaurant scene grow in the last few years.

Later on Sam Liccardo got up on a small stage to thank everyone and give some remarks. Half way into his talk he makes what I call the Fredo remark. Fredo is the character from the Godfather series of movies played by John Cazale. In the movie Fredo complains to Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) that even though he is the elder of the two he was passed over to be the godfather. In a line from the movie he claims in a shout "I can handle things, I'm smart." This is a often heard refrain in San Jose that even though San Jose is larger and more populous that, it should have the title "Godfather"; the godfather of culture, of entertainment, of a vibrant downtown.

Yes, strides are being made but instead of always comparing San Jose to the "younger, smaller" city to the north it's about time that it find its own way, do what works for this area, create its own vibe. In other words stand on its own two feet. Yes there is a growing movement of residents that are creating an original scene downtown, a unique vibe, but many times they have to fight city hall and especially the planning department to rise above the ubiquitous shopping malls and chain restaurants.

It's tough trying to start a new restaurant, pub, or event downtown when the city is ringed with Panda's, Panera's, and Wing Stop's. The flood of ubiquitous chains just doesn't seem to stop. With the recent announcement of another mega-mall, with mega-box retailers, and the obligatory fry pits, the city's planning department (along with other reasons I'll discuss in other posts) makes it just that much more difficult to create a vibrant space downtown.

San Jose City Council Approves Mega-Retail Center in Almaden Area - SJ Mercury News

Upcoming Bicycling Events in the Silicon Valley

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

San Jose Bike Party -Sharks Ride
Friday, April 20, 2012 8:00PM

Route will be posted on Thursday, the day before the ride at
http://www.sjbikeparty.org/

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And the Shark Ride Pre-Rides

Test/Fun Ride #1 - "SLOW RIDE"
Sunday March 25, 10:00 am to 1:30 pm
Ride start will be somewhere near the Berryesa Flea Market
Whether you're a Sharks fan or not... Join us for our monthly SLOW test ride. Fun in the sun at a laid back pace.Everyone will be going at a 10-12 mph or so pace. No one will be dropped. Perfect if you like bike party's pace but prefer less people!

It's also perfect if you'd like to find out who we are, how we do test rides and how much fun they are! EVERYONE IS WELCOME!!!

The Sharks Test/Fun Ride #2
Thursday, March 29, 7:00 pm
Location: TBD

The Sharks Test/Fun Ride #3
Thursday, April 5th, 7:00 pm
Location: TBD

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Sunday Monthly Bicycle Ride

San Jose, Saratoga, Campbell
March 18, 2012

3:00 - 7:00 PM
Start at the parking lot at corner of Winfield and Thornwood
Map Route:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/71423040/
RAIN OR WET PAVEMENT WILL CANCEL THIS RIDE!

San Jose Fixed  SJF
15-25 mile Bike Ride
Every Tuesday 6:45 @
Meets @ IMinusD Fixed Gear Boutique
112 Paseo de San Antonio (See Map Below)

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San Francisco Bike Party
Friday April 6, 2012
Animal Kingdom Ride
http://sfbikeparty.wordpress.com/


San Jose Bike Party Volunteer Mixer (BIRD)
Tuesday, April 10, 2010 6:45PM - 8:30 PM 
Build community by learning & chatting with other SJBP volunteers!
Come out to our monthly volunteer meeting!
This is the place to meet & chat with other amazing Bike Party volunteers, learn how to be a better volunteer and better cyclist in general, and help play with ideas to make Bike Party better!

East Bay Bike Party
Friday, April 13, 2011 7:30 PM

http://eastbaybikeparty.wordpress.com/


SJBP BIRDS & Friends: A Party Night to Remember in SoFA
Saturday April 14, 2012,  7:00 PM - 1:00 AM
South First Billiards, 420 S. First St., San Jose, CA

B I R D - P A R T Y ! ! ! Let's all relax and hang out together.
But you don't have to be a BIRD to attend, this party is open to everyone.
So grab your friends and come on down!
This is not just any ol' Pool Hall...
A DJ Spinning music or a live band, Killer food menu, Full Bar with 15 beers on tap, Lounge area, 29 Pool Tables, Ping Pong Tables, an art gallery. (21+ only)

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Second Annual Advocacy Summit
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 2:00 pm - 8:00 PM
Oshman Family Jewish Community Center

3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA 

For those cyclists who want to get more involved with Advocacy this is the perfect event. Their is a $20 fee for this event. For more information: http://bikesiliconvalley.org/bike-summit-2012

San Jose Bike Party - The Shark's Ride
Friday, April 20, 2012 8:00PM

Route will be posted on Thursday, the day before the ride at
http://www.sjbikeparty.org/

Cupertino Bike Swap
Sunday, April 29, 2012 10:00AM - 4:00 PM

104949 S DeAnza Blvd, Cupertino

Save the date. It's one of the best swaps in the area
60 bucks for a space (if your selling) or $2 to enter

And in the not too distant future
May 10, 2012 - 18th Annual Bike to Work Day
May 12, 2012 - Bike the Limits Ride
May 15, 2012 - Amgen Tour of California San Jose to Livermore
May 15, 2012 - King of the Mountain Challenge
June 21, 2012 Bicycle Music Festival 2012
July 14, 2012 - San Jose Bike Party Ladies Ride - (Sorry guys, ladies only)

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Also note the Guadalupe River Trail will be closed for paving construction soon. The closed portion will extend north of 880 all the way to Gold Street in Alviso. check Twitter for more details.

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

VTA seeks public comment on proposed route changes - but it's more than route changes

In a news release this week, VTA is seeking public comment on three bus routes, two community bus routes and one, a new limited bus route that will eventually phase into a new bus rapid transit line (BRT).

However I wanted to comment on Route 11, which is a very limted route to begin with, extending from San Pedro Square to Taylor and 17th and only 20 times a day on weekdays. The plan is to extend the route to Diridon Station.

However, if I recall correctly this route used to go past San Jose Marketplace, home to another Target store, Office Depot, Panera Bread, etc., etc., etc. Now outside of a Limited Stop Bus (304) which only runs on weekdays and only four times a day (rush hour) there is no bus line that runs to the suburban style shopping center.

As Scott Herhold of the San Jose Mercury News mentions in a August 2010 column:

But it is not downtown, no matter what (Redevelopment Director Harry) Mavrogenes says. It is on Coleman Avenue south of Taylor Street, separated from the city center by at least three-quarters of a mile and a hulking overpass.

So although a connection to Diridon Station is an improvement, if you want to get more residents living downtown, and you want those residents to live a car-free or car-lite life you will have to connect the meager downtown retail offerings by transit when they are so spread out and are connected by horrible pedestrian improvements.

 Scott later goes on to ask Harry Mavrogenes how he got to the grand opening of a new business in the San Jose Marketplace:

Then I asked how he'd gotten to the grand opening. He said he had driven from his City Hall office. So we have a downtown location that you have to drive to from your downtown office. Sorry, Harry. Something doesn't compute.

So if were going to build these suburban strips malls in a downtown setting the least we can do is connect them to downtown businesses and residences. Please.


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Head's up - City of San Jose looking for BPAC applicants

Photo: Richard Massoner
@ http://www.cyclelicio.us/

This summer the City of San Jose will be posting openings for positions on the city's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) this summer. At least one position will be open.

If you walk or ride a bicycle, are interested in advocacy, have some experience in reviewing bicycle or pedestrian projects or even admit to having read even parts of the San Jose Bicycle Plan 2020 then you maybe the one their looking for. Time commitment will not be that great since the committee only meets 4 times a year these days due to budget woes.

I'll post more info by late spring or early summer.

Interesting post from on Cyclelicio.us San Jose works to increase bicycle commuting from August of 2008.

This evening's Caltrain BAC meeting - update on Warm Planet Bikes

This evening's Caltrain Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting should be a good one. An update will be given on the near term status for Warm Planet Bicycles located at the 4th and King Street station. Warm Planet Bicycles provides an invaluable service to San Francisco residents as well as cyclists arriving to the city for work or play.

Also, a presentation will be given by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority on bicycle facilities in the Transbay Transit Center. Meeting starts at 6:45 pm at the Caltrain Office at 1250 San Carlos Ave., Second Floor, San Carlos, CA.

For this evenings agenda, click here. 

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition to host its second annual Bike Summit

All right all you up and coming bike advocates. Or even you veterans out there. Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition is holding its second annual Bike Summit in Palo Alto next month. It's definitely worth it just to hear from Aaron Naparstek, founding editor and creator of the hugely successful Streetsblog.

The second annual Silicon Valley Bike Advocacy Summit will be held on April 17, from 2:00 to 8:00 pm, at the Koresh Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto. Stanford Hospital and Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition will co-host this event. Professionals, advocates, politicians, public agency employees, industry representatives, public health officials, and interested community members are invited and will come together to participate in a community event focused on promoting the bicycle and smart planning for health, environmental security, and enhanced communities.

The Summit will serve as a catalyst to improving relations between advocates and government, increase the involvement of business in the advocacy world, and inspire attendees to become even more involved in fostering healthy communities.

Registration is $20 at http://svbikesummit2012.eventbrite.com/. Those for whom the cost of admission is prohibitive may apply for a scholarship by emailing colin@bikesiliconvalley.org.

Aaron Naparstek, founder
Streetsblog.org
photo: Streetsblog.org

Besides Aaron, there will be some other well known local, regional and national names on the agenda (ok, known to at least us wonky types), such as Dave Synder, Executive Director of the California Bicycle Coaliton, Jeffrey Miller, Executive Director, Alliance for Biking and Walking, Randy Neufeld, Director, SRAM Cycling Fund, Graham Brownstein, State Policy Director, TransForm, and Robert Ping, Technical Assistance Director, Safe Routes to School National Partnership.

So click on the link above and register today. Your inner advocate will thank you.

For more information.

Upcoming Bicycling Events in the Silicon Valley

Upcoming Events in the Silicon Valley

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

San Jose Bike Party - Irish Ride
Friday, March 16, 2012 8:00PM

Route will be posted on Thursday, the day before the ride at
http://www.sjbikeparty.org/


St. Patrick's Day Midnight Mystery Ride!
Saturday, March 17, 2012 11:30 PM - 2:30 AM
Grab your green and join this great ride through the SF night sky. This month's ride falls on St. Patrick's Day! It should be a blast! Details and FAQs are on the website at www.midnightmystery.org.

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Sunday Monthly Bicycle Ride

San Jose, Saratoga, Campbell
March 18, 2012

3:00 - 7:00 PM
Start at the parking lot at corner of Winfield and Thornwood
Map Route:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/71423040/
RAIN OR WET PAVEMENT WILL CANCEL THIS RIDE!

San Jose Fixed  SJF
15-25 mile Bike Ride
Every Tuesday 6:45 @
Meets @ IMinusD Fixed Gear Boutique
112 Paseo de San Antonio (See Map Below)

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San Francisco Bike Party
Friday April 6, 2012
Animal Kingdom Ride
http://sfbikeparty.wordpress.com/


San Jose Bike Party Volunteer Mixer (BIRD)
Tuesday, April 10, 2010 6:45PM - 8:30 PM 
Build community by learning & chatting with other SJBP volunteers!
Come out to our monthly volunteer meeting!
This is the place to meet & chat with other amazing Bike Party volunteers, learn how to be a better volunteer and better cyclist in general, and help play with ideas to make Bike Party better!

East Bay Bike Party
Friday, April 13, 2011 7:30 PM

http://eastbaybikeparty.wordpress.com/


SJBP BIRDS & Friends: A Party Night to Remember in SoFA
Saturday April 14, 2012,  7:00 PM - 1:00 AM
South First Billards, 420 S. First St., San Jose, CA

B I R D - P A R T Y ! ! ! Let's all relax and hang out together.
But you don't have to be a BIRD to attend, this party is open to everyone.
So grab your friends and come on down!
This is not just any ol' Pool Hall...
A DJ Spinning music or a live band, Killer food menu, Full Bar with 15 beers on tap, Lounge area, 29 Pool Tables, Ping Pong Tables, an art gallery. (21+ only)

Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Second Annual Advocacy Summit
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 2:00 pm - 8:00 PM
Oshman Family Jewish Community Center

3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA 

For those cyclists who want to get more involved with Advocay this is the perfect event. Their is a $20 fee for this event. For more information: http://bikesiliconvalley.org/bike-summit-2012

San Jose Bike Party - The Shark's Ride
Friday, April 20, 2012 8:00PM

Route will be posted on Thursday, the day before the ride at
http://www.sjbikeparty.org/

Cupertino Bike Swap
Sunday, April 29, 2012 10:00AM - 4:00 PM

104949 S DeAnza Blvd, Cupertino

Save the date. It's one of the best swaps in the area
60 bucks for a space (if your selling) or $2 to enter

And in the not too distant future
May 10, 2012 - 18th Annual Bike to Work Day
May 12, 2012 - Bike the Limits Ride
May 15, 2012 - Amgen Tour of California San Jose to Livermore
May 15, 2012 - King of the Mountain Challenge
June 21, 2012 Bicycle Music Festival 2012
July 14, 2012 - Ladies Ride

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Also note the Guadalupe River Trail will be closed for paving construction soon. The closed protion will extend north of 880 all the way to Gold Street in Alviso. check Twitter for more details.

Too see all rides on the map click the link just below the map. Thanks.

View Upcomming Bay Area Bike Events in a larger map

SJ Bike Share Update

photo: inhabitat.com

On the heels of Chicago's decision to partner with Alta Bike Share, Inc., San Jose, Palo Alto, and Mountain view will soon have their own bike share system. Alta Bike Share, Inc. part of the Alta Design Group of Portland was chosen among three bidders.

Well the bids are out and it looks like three vendors are vying for the Silicon Valley Bike Share contract with VTA. At a bidders conference however, all three bidders stated that late summer was just too ambitious of a goal and it looks like a potential roll-out will be around the end of September. Stay tuned.

Dublin mayor chats it up with Silicon Valley cyclists

Lord Mayor riding a Portland
made Metrofiets Cargo bike.
photo: Richard Masoner
@ www.cyclelicio.us/

The city of San Jose hosted this last weekend the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ireland, his First Lady, and a delegation of about ten business persons and educators to several events in the area. Basically it amounted to tours, meetings, and dinners; enough to make you forget what time zone your in.

But it was one two hour event on Sunday that made the trip worthwhile. A crowd of about 300 cyclists met at City Hall Plaza to ride with the Lord Mayor Andrew Montague. Cyclists, some dressed in green and some like me, in tweed showed up at the early hour on all types of rides; cargo bikes, choppers, lowriders, carbon fiber fixies, and just plain old mountain bikes.



Josh Agee, Highland Bagpiper
gets the riders ready to ride.
photo: Richard Masoner
@ www.cyclelicio.us

 Josh Agee, an occasional Bike Party-goer was there to play the pipes as the crowed filed out from City Hall. Wheels hit the street just after 10:00 am with a short ride around the streets and trails of downtown.

What was most noticeable was just how accessible the Lord Mayor was with everyone; chatting it up with children, talking bike share success in Dublin with Jim Bell of VTA's bicycle advisory committee, or discussing the playlist of Irish tunes coming from SJ Rolling Thunder's music trailer.

What really impressed the Lord Mayor was the diversity of bikes as described above. After the ride, as his handlers cautiously looked on as the Lord Mayor rode a chopper, a cargo bike, a Mad Max looking post-apocalyptic cycle, as well as a lowrider. 

Lord Mayor chatting it
up and a traffic signal.
photo: Richard Masoner
@ www.cyclelicio.us

While watching him ride the chopper bike, I was struck at how much fun he was having. This is in addition to the LM having to ride with a two-pound, 400 year old chain necklace referred to as the "Chain of Office". In contrast to local elected officials obligatory hand waves he didn't meet a rider who said they didn't shake hands, pose for a picture, or talk one-on-one with the LM.

The LM was so impressed with Sunday's ride, bikes, and jousting fun that he told the crowd that he planned to start a Dublin Bike Party. So you see instead of just bringing to the world Google, iPads, and Facebook, we are exporting a little bit of bike culture as well.

Who knows, maybe this is the start to a new trend. Whenever one of San Jose's seven sister cities mayor's visit our city we can take the mayor and their delegation out for a little ride.

Thanks to all of you who made it a great success!

For more photos from Richard Masoner, check out his flickr photos or his blog Cyclelicio.us.