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Mission Statement
The mission of the South Valley Bicycle Coalition is to promote equity
and safety on our roadways for all bicyclists, to promote bicycling for
transportation, recreation and fitness, and by so doing to help make our
community more livable, our fellow citizens more healthy, and our transportation
system friendly to all users.
Who we are
We are ordinary people a lot like you and your friends and neighbors.
We are educators, lawyers, construction folks, financial professionals,
writers, computer nuts, etc. We also love bicycling and have the common
goal of making our communities more bicycle friendly.
What we're doing
Here are a few of the changes we're working on to make our community better
for bicyclists. Want to support them? Join us and write a letter of support
for our organization!
• High-visibility pedestrian and bicycle "Share The Road" signs in locations throughout Bakersfield. Almost 10 signs are already up, and more than 60 additional signs are slated to go up soon. Where? At some of the busiest intersections, near schools and along other routes commonly used by bicyclists.
• Working to increase signal timing so bicyclists can make it through intersections before the light turns red again. A three-phase plan is in progress. See our home page for more information. Our thanks to the City of Bakersfield Traffic Engineering division for working with us!
• Working on ways to make bicycle access to the bike path easier. Truxtun Avenue is currently not very bicycle-friendly, and there is no easy way to ride to the bike path at Mohawk and Truxtun (you have to become a pedestrian instead).
• Working to get bicycle access on Hageman Road both ways all the way to downtown when Hageman is extended over Freeway 99. There are few east-west routes across Freeway 99 for bicyclists. This one would save bicyclists in the northwest a long detour
Why Advocacy?
The reason is pretty simple. Bicyclists are a minority in our transportation
system, and a fairly unorganized minority at that. We need to be organized
in order to be heard. Governments and the public rarely pay attention
to a lone voice in the wilderness. But they will pay attention and begin
to act and change when they see an organized group of hundreds or thousands
of people coming to them with the same message, seeking to forge working
relationships and partnerships to achieve their goals, and actively working
for the betterment of our communities.
A positive Image?
You bet. We want to do positive things for our community. Those of us
who founded this group have been involved in bicycling education for years
and we want that to continue. Working constructively is, in our view,
the best way to get things done. That's why we're working hard to forge
good relationships with government officials. At the same time, we'll
call 'em like we see 'em. We won't back down when detractors try to shoot
us down. We'll persist, and we will make our communities better for bicyclists.
