PRESS RELEASE
Bike the Bridge! Coalition
Contact:
Jason Meggs, BTB!C East Bay Coordinator,
PAGE: 510-720-2818 ;
FAX: 510-486-1528 ; e-mail jmeggs ACCOUNT at site
Web site http://www.bikethebridge.org/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2001
Page 1 of 2
BICYCLISTS FOR BART STRIKE
Bike the Bridge! Coalition supports workers' strike despite hardships for
bicyclists
Demand equal access during the impending BART STRIKE
OPPOSE AB 1171 which seeks to kill alternative transportation and
explode new Bay Bridge costs
Despite the hardships that bicyclists who commute along the Bay Bridge
corridor will suffer, the Bike the Bridge! Coalition is in support of the
workers' right to strike.
"Bicyclists in general support the workers' right to strike because they
understand that alternative transportation interests need to stick
together," said Jason Meggs, East Bay Coordinator of the Bike the Bridge!
Coalition. "Although transbay bicycle commuters rely heavily on BART, and
will be the most impacted user group by a strike after people with
disabilities, we support the workers' right to strike just as we support
our right to BIKE THE BRIDGE. In general, bicyclists and pedestrians can
understand the frustration as we don't get our percentage points either."
In California, bicyclists and pedestrians are given less than one-half of
one percent of transportation funding, yet make up more than 11% of trips
and suffer over 25% of traffic fatalities. Furthermore, many people
choose cycling for economic reasons as the cost of living in the Bay Area
skyrockets. It is economic discrimination to prohibit bicycle access to
the bridge, just as it is unjust to not pay BART workers a living wage for
their important jobs.
"BART workers share another interest with transbay bike commuters.
Future bridge access for bicycles and trains is in jeopardy right now due
to AB 1171. BART workers have to deal with an overloaded system due to
the lack of options to Bay Area commuters," said Meggs.
The California Legislature is pondering Assembly Bill 1171, which
threatens to lock-in exorbitant cost overruns of the proposed new bridge,
while striking language requiring the "promised" bicycle path. Even more
importantly to Bay Area commuters, the bill eliminates language
guaranteeing the funding of the Transbay Transit terminal, upon which the
future of
Bike the Bridge! Coalition
For Immediate Release
September 4, 2001
Page 2 of 2
transbay transit depends. The new bridge DOES NOT provide any
increased
transportation benefit, DOES NOT ensure a lifeline connection nor
safety
in the event of a large quake, but it DOES block future rail service
on
the bridge, and--evidently and most alarmingly--it seeks to quietly
delete
assurance that bicycle and pedestrian access will ever occur.
The Bay Bridge used to carry twice as many people daily, on multi-car
intercity and commuter trains as well as electric Key System
interurbans.
But in the 1950s, at the height of automotive hegemony, rail was
stolen
from the people by corrupt and powerful "special interests".
Structurally, the existing bridge could again carry that rail, which
would
allow an effective complement to the BART system which is now at its
limits. The proposed new bridge CANNOT carry such rail, however,
although
Caltrans claims that "light rail" could use the bridge. Caltrans'
insincere light rail notion would require sacrificing an automobile
lane
and a shoulder in each direction of the bridge. Ensuring that even
that
will not happen, AB 1171 would mandate that the bridge be a ten-lane
freeway for cars, with two shoulders (for cars) in each direction.
No
rail right of way has been allowed for in the current design. Light
rail
cannot provide the level of service that the original rail provided.
At a time when the Governor has announced the end of expansion of
automobile-only infrastructure in California, we encourage Caltrans
to
make the intelligent choice of MAKING THE BRIDGE WORK by allowing
bicycle
access and increasing carpool lanes. We ask Caltrans to abandon
hopes of
turning the Bay Bridge into a pork barrel or a cash cow for its
favorite
contractors. And we implore the Legislature to reject AB 1171, which
would
instantly add--to the already high cost (by world standards) of
replacing
the bridge--more than one thousand million dollars (one followed by
nine
zeros) with no justification whatsoever. The project, already touted
as
Caltrans' biggest ever, would double in price, while its safety
factor and
its capacity would remain nearly identical. Measures should be
taken,
instead, to ensure that the Bay Bridge becomes a safe and vital link
for
all modes of transport.
If we fail to wake up and begin organizing a rational
transportation
future, the highwaymen will get all the dollars while bicyclists,
pedestrians and carless people will get ZERO--ZERO access across
the bay
and an unlimited number of ZEROs to be added to the ever-growing
billions
the new ZERO-option bridge will cost.
The Bike the Bridge! Coalition is calling on Bay Bridge commuters
who
drive to place a large ZERO on their vehicle, symbolizing their
role in
the bridge process.
We are also calling on Caltrans to allow bicyclists to share the
right-hand lane in the event of a BART strike. Many thousands
would take
advantage of what would then be the most reliable and for many,
the
quickest way across the bay. Caltrans has legal authority to
make that
designation. The Bay Bridge is not that unlike many San
Francisco
streets. The Antioch toll bridge allows bicyclists to share the
right-hand lane and the Antioch has the same speed limit of 50
MPH.
Caltrans can also reduce the speed limit to 35 MPH during the
strike,
which would allow more vehicles to use the bridge per hour.
Finally, we call on Caltrans to designate multiple car-pool/bus
lanes on
the bridge during the strike.
Join the Bay Area Bridge Access email discussion:
Back to the Bike the Bridge! Coalition
PRESS RELEASE