Rebecca Saltzman

To put this in perspective @bikeeastbay.bsky.social has spent less than $100 on online ads in the past 1.5 years supporting biking and walking access on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Yet we have 5000+ signatures on our petition, which there’s still time to sign: bikeeastbay.org/rsr

I love that El Cerrito’s Natural Hillside Area has parts where you can’t hear cars.

Amazing to walk there from my home in 10 minutes and feel so immersed in nature and removed from cars.

Plus it has great views of BART, which looks tiny - my daughter loves pointing out the “toy” BART trains.

"Richmond-San Rafael Bridge FINAL VOTE"

This Thurs Aug 7 is the FINAL vote on whether the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge trail will be closed to bike/walk traffic every Mon-Thurs for 3 years, for conversion to a breakdown shoulder.

Details on how to weigh in w public comments via this campaign update:
prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/E...

I’m especially concerned about loss of 72R, since Contra Costa County is moving forward with a study on bus rapid transit on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito and Richmond.

Challenging to make a strong case for BRT if AC Transit isn’t able to run frequent service on a rapid line.

Disappointed AC Transit Realign takes El Cerrito in opposite direction:

Hugely popular 72R going from 12 to 30 min frequency, becoming 72L

Main hills service, 7, going from 30 to 60 min (used to be 20 min)

AC Transit also isn’t planning for service on Richmond St, as recommended by BART and City.

Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve been relearning Spanish for the last two years. I’ll try this.

Lately my favorite way to learn is reading graphic novels in Spanish.

And that of course doesn’t count all the near misses, which probably happen multiple times a day.

Richmond St. has full sidewalks on both sides and marked crosswalks at intersections, so unsure how you were almost hit “while walking down the street.” Did the car come onto the sidewalk? If the issue is that someone didn’t stop for you in a crosswalk, that seems to be an issue of traffic laws never being enforced in El Cerrito rather than an infrastructure issue. For example, Kearny St. right behind El Cerrito City Hall and next to the police station is a one way street, yet probably 100 cars or more go the wrong way down it every day endangering people regularly because no one is ever ticketed for breaking the law. Maybe focus on enforcement of existing laws first before lobbying to have dozens of your neighbors parking taken away. Or are you that desperate to get people back onto the BART trains as a BART Commissioner?

Got this car-brained comment from someone who seems to believe:

1) people walking in marked crosswalks never get hit by cars

2) it’s possible to have police officers at all intersections at all times

3) parking is more important than safety

4) I’m still on the BART Board

We have work to do.

I don’t think I could manage my extremely busy and stressful life without walking as much as I do.

If I primarily drove, my physical health would be much worse and my mental health would be a huge challenge. Walking creates space to decompress, slow down, and to create my best ideas and solutions.

Because San Mateo County does not have any representatives on the BART Board of Directors, some leaders were adamant about including explicit language and oversight to ensure the operator uses the potential funding wisely. While the county contributes significantly less in operating costs than the member districts — San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties — it also means it has less sway in operating decisions. The county’s transit leaders have historically expressed frustration over what they consider subpar safety measures and lack of coordination scheduling with Caltrain.

Absurd. San Mateo wants more BART oversight for county to join regional transit measure, yet:

1) BART is the ONLY Bay Area transit agency with oversight from an independent Inspector General

2) San Mateo is the only county that doesn’t pay fare share to BART

www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/t...

So appreciate that @agrobbonta.oag.ca.gov continues to stand up and fight for our transgender community, especially since our Governor won’t.

He’s said he won’t, but I wish Bonta would run for governor. He’s been incredible on many important issues, including housing, and I’d strongly support him.

We don't have nearly enough permanent or temporary housing or shelter beds for the currently unhoused population.

Cutting housing aid to 100,000 people would be absolutely devastating to the those people, their communities, and the whole Bay Area.

UPDATE from Cap Corridor: "Please note, we are not considering getting rid of the Cafe Car. We recognize that it is a valuable amenity for our riders. Please visit the Cafe Car and grab a beer & snacks, or whatever else you like to enjoy during your ride! We are also open to suggested menu items" ☺️

List of CCJPA Directors: San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District Edward Wright Janice Li Mark Foley Matthew Rinn Melissa Hernandez – Vice Chair Robert Raburn Sacramento Regional Transit District Roger Dickinson Tim Schaefer Patrick Kennedy (alt.) Rod Brewer (alt.) Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Linda Sell Sudhanshu Jain Placer County Transportation Planning Agency Bruce Houdesheldt – Chair Ken Broadway Suzanne Jones (alt.) Solano Transportation Authority Alma Hernandez Steve Bird Catherine Moy (alt.) Yolo County Transportation District Josh Chapman Lucas Frerichs Mayra Vega (alt.)

If you love the Capitol Corridor cafe car like I do, please join me in contact the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority Board to tell them it's critical to keep it: ccjpaboard@capitolcorridor.org

And if you know or are represented by any of the CCJPA Directors, reach out individually.

Me smiling on Capitol Corridor, with Amtrak California Cafe Car poster behind me.

Last weekend I rode Capitol Corridor and talked with the person working the cafe car, who told me that Cap Corridor is considering getting rid of the cafe.

This was proposed when I was on the CCJPA Board, and I pushed back because the cafe is core to the rail experience.

Mini 🧵 on how to weigh in:

Nice! Would love to see what you come up with.

That would be great, thanks!

We have three evacuation plans (by car, walking, or walking/transit). It seems so obvious to create plans that don't depend on cars.

Our evacuation plan: walking with our daughter, two go bag backpacks that my wife and I can carry, and our three cats in a pet stroller, which they're used to.

Maybe if you bring back your podcast, you can make it happen :)

P.S. I love to see that @liamjdillon.com is still trying to make "casitas" a thing.

Stopping duplexes but still allowing ADUs shows that this is just to appease NIMBYs and has nothing to do with fire safety.

Shame on Gov Newsom. He claims to be and has been celebrated as being pro-housing. But as on so many other issues, he does whatever he thinks will get him attention & praise.

Yeah, it’s absurd. I’ve reached out to a couple other council members about this, and please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help change this guidance.

A retro-themed collage with different cut-outs of East Bay bicycle riders smiling, with abstract shapes in the background. Text reads "help us reach our goal of 150 sliding scale gifts! We're 78% of the way to our goal. You have until July 31 at 11:50pm to become a BEB member with a gift of any amount"

A final plug for our sliding scale campaign— genuinely, we believe in people power and know that putting money (even $1 💙) towards the things we care about is a cool way to align values + action.

We're grateful for all the support and don't take it for granted! bikeeastbay.org/sliding-scal...

So frustrating! I'm working on changing this in El Cerrito and surrounding cities. There's just not enough space for so many people to evacuate quickly by car. We need to acknowledge this and figure out non-car solutions for evacuation.

The roads likely can handle a large evacuation, if folks who are able to evacuate by biking or walking, freeing up road space for people who need to evacuate by car.

Disappointing Berkeley is discouraging folks from biking/walking when they acknowledge there’s not enough space for all of the cars.

My state would be a LOT better for people if decision-makers would just start following climate and transportation policies and stop building and expanding highways.

I think you should either contact Supervisor John Gioia's office and/or Coire Reilly at WCCTC: creilly@WestContraCostaTC.gov

Absolutely! Each jurisdiction that's part of WCCTC - all West County cities, AC Transit, BART & WestCAT - will get funding from this program.

Probably best to make the request through the City though you could also connect with WCCTC staff. Let me know if you need help figuring out who to contact.

Does CA YIMBY have guidance on how other cities could do this or something similar?

Oonee Pod is great, but the BikeLink network on the West Coast is on an entirely different level. Over 7k locker & room locations at nearly 500 locations, all accessible at 6¢/hr or less using a single app or keycard. It’s amazing more people don’t talk about this.