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NEW!
Route Slips of popular recreational
bicycle rides in and near Bakersfield!
Long routes, short routes, easy, difficult - suited
to all abilities
See our Maps and Routes page
for a full listing!
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Learn More. Ride Smart. Don't miss our Traffic Tips page for great safety info |
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Practical Bicycles for Real Transportation
They've had them in Europe for years. Practical
bicycles with locks, kickstands, racks, lights and more built in. Great
for pedaling to the store, school or work, or even for touring. Finally,
we have them in America too. Check out Breezer
Bikes from mountain bike pioneer Joe Breeze and his company.
Bicycling Myths
Click here to read nine common bicycling myths and the facts that blow them away!
Safety Quiz
Test your knowledge with this cool bike safety quiz from the East Bay Bicycle Coalition. Click here and check it out!
Study from Vancounver, BC shows
overall positive benefits of bike routes and paths to communities.
Click here to read it.
Why Engineer Activity into our Communities?
Click here for the Center For Disease
Control's Fact Sheet on Active Community Environments (Adobe Acrobat
File)
CalTrans Directive shows commitment to accommodating non-motorized travel.
Click here to read CalTrans Deputy Directive DD-64 on accommodating non-motorized travel.
Looks good on paper. Now let's make it a reality!
More News
Signal Timing Being Increased for
Bicyclists' Safety
To view a list of intersections, click here
More Input Needed on Problem
Intersections
Bicyclists Encouraged to Report
Road Problems
Support the Coalition!
Share The Road Signs Are Up!
Signal timing being increased
for bicyclists' safety!
The signal timing at many intersections
in Bakersfield — even those that have bike lanes — doesn't allow
enough time for bicyclists to get through the intersection before turning
red. With input from the Coalition, the city has begun fixing this problem.
The first part of a three-step plan has now been completed. Ten intersections
identified by us have already been changed. Next will be signals where
there are bike lanes. And finally, all signals in the city will be changed
to have increased timing to allow bicyclists to get through. Thank
you traffic engineers Steve Walker, Bruce Deeter and Ryan Starbuck!
To see a list of intersections, including those already fixed, click here.
Bicyclists, we still need your help! We know there are more intersections where bicyclists encounter various problems. Some sensors may not detect bicyclists, or there may be other problems. If you ride, you know where these are. Let us know! . E-mail us if you encounter an intersection that's tough to get through. We'll add it to our list, and do what we can to resolve the problem.
Report road problems
If you ride, you know where the poor road
surfaces, parallel sewer grates, inadequate shoulders and other problems
are. Let us hear from you! E-mail
us with specific, detailed information. Or, better yet, go to our
Contact Government page and let our city staff
know about it. The city can't fix what it doesn't know about, so let them
- and us - know.
Support The Coalition
We don't want your money. We do want letters
of support for our mission and our goals. (Click on the "about
us" link to read our mission statement.) If you're interested in
better facilities and a safer community for all bicyclists, please support
us! If you're a business person or educator, a letter on your business
or school letterhead would be great. E-mail
us and we'll give you an address where you can send your letter. Short
on time? We'll soon have a sample letter here on our site that you can
cut and paste from, so keep checking back.
Thanks!
5 Traffic Principles
That could save your life!
• Ride on the right side of the road. Always go with the flow of traffic, never against it.
• Yield to cross traffic on larger or busier streets, or when signs or signals require it.
• At intersections, position yourself according to where you want to go. Use the lane fartherest right that will take you where you want to go (ie. rightmost left turn lane for a left turn)
• Between intersections, position yourself according to your speed. Slower traffic nearer the curb; faster traffic nearer the center of the roadway.
• Whenever changing lanes or roadway position, yield to traffic in the lane or position you want to move into.
For more info and illustrations, see our Traffic Tips page.
For more on these principles, see the book and accompanying video, "Effective Cycling" by John Forester.
Visit the Share the Road Bike and Pedestrian Safety site!
Next meeting of the
South Valley Bicycle Coalition
Time and date TBA
At Carrows Restaurant
on Oak Street, just south of California Avenue.
Bakersfield, CA
Questions? E-mail
us!
Our
thanks
to the Bakersfield City Urban Development Committee for listening carefully
and supporting many of our projects on August 20, 2001.
Click here for a report.
