(Courtesy San Diego County Bicycle Coalition)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHowever, Baross said cyclists need to become better educated as to the rules of the road, too. For instance, he said many cyclists are unaware that cycling on sidewalks is not permitted everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not illegal to ride a bike on sidewalks in San Diego, except in a business district where they can be a speed hazard to pedestrians,\u201d he said, pointing out that not all business districts are clearly marked with signs.<\/p>\n
Baross said that presents a problem. \u201cWe know the roadway environment is not comfortable for most people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Coalition president Kevin Wood also spoke, and said 2012 was a \u201crecord-setting year\u201d for cyclists.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Bike To Work Day was the best ever, and our Bike To Bay event was sold out,\u201d Wood said. \u201cFrom fundraising records to expansion of community advocacy groups, the Bicycle Coalition continued its influential presence in San Diego this past year \u2026 while moving forward with new initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wood credited the Coalition\u2019s five-year strategic plan that was adopted in April 2012 for much of the progress. He said the plan grew from a collaboration of bicycle advocates, bicycle-shop owners, community leaders, bicycle-club representatives, elected officials, educators and transportation professionals.<\/p>\n
The Coalition also made strides in regional transportation planning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really increased our efforts, with the help of SANDAG, to quantify the impacts cyclists are having in the region,\u201d Wood said, adding County transportation planners are now urging people to \u201cbike more, drive less.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said that message is getting through.<\/p>\n
\u201cVehicle miles traveled by all Americans has been flat or declining since 2005,\u201d Wood said. \u201cThat\u2019s a huge opportunity for us to promote cycling as a mainstream, safe form of transportation.\u201d<\/p>\n
With business districts providing more bicycle parking, the Coalition hosting more events and public policy increasingly promoting cycling, Wood said the group is successfully reaching its ultimate goal.<\/p>\n
Highlights of the State of Cycling presentation include:<\/p>\n
\u2022New partnerships launched the nation\u2019s largest bicycle-friendly business district initiative and Bike Local Sundays to attract everyday bicyclists to ride to local businesses;<\/p>\n
\u2022The Coalition\u2019s signature events, Bike The Bay and the annual Tour De Fat, were the most successful to date in 2012, raising more than $83,000 combined;<\/p>\n
\u2022Mayor Bob Filner pledged to make the city better for cyclists and launched CicloSDias, the city\u2019s first Open Streets event;<\/p>\n
\u2022Advocates developed new bicycle advocacy groups, including BikeSD, BikeWalk Solana Beach, as well as in Oceanside, Encinitas, Coronado and Chula Vista; and<\/p>\n
\u2022Bicycle advocates attended public hearings across the county, influencing bike friendly infrastructure decisions in Encinitas and San Diego.<\/p>\n
The Uptown bike ride following the presentation was preceded by volunteers photographing people with their bicycles in front of the historic Lafayette Hotel on El Cajon Boulevard. For more information about the Coalition visit sdcbc.org<\/a> or call 858-487-6063.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bicycle Coalition holds State of Cycling workshop highlighting efforts to make San Diego most bike-friendly city By Dave Schwab | SDUN Reporter Cyclists heard about the push to mainstream their mode of transportation at a conference held Saturday, April 6 at the Lafayette Hotel. Called the State of Cycling in San Diego County, the day-long […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Making cycling mainstream","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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