15 Back to School Safety Tips for Kids and Drivers
Summer vacation is coming to an end and the back to school blitz is officially here. With kids getting set to resume their daily commute, and some younger children... Read More
FordGO Bike in San Francisco Impeding Expansion of Bike Share Program
MTC’s Restrictive Ford GoBike Contract Impeding Expansion of Shared E-Bikes Overshadowed by the expansion of scooters, shared pedal-assist e-bikes have quietly grown in popularity this year. Across the country,... Read More
Grand Avenue Improvements a Step Forward, But Safety Concerns Remain
Several highly-anticipated pedestrian safety improvements recently opened along Oakland’s Grand Avenue. One of the City’s high injury corridors, Grand has long served as a regional relief valve to I-580... Read More
Why Does Regional Measure 3 Divert Bridge Tolls to Santa Clara County and Other Unrelated Projects?
Just about everyone agrees that the Bay Area’s congested transportation system is in dire need of reinvestment. Read More
The perils of through-double-right turns for bicyclists
Biking on most urban streets may not always be a stress-free experience, but an individual with basic bicycle safety knowledge can usually navigate through streets without incident if everyone... Read More
Marin County’s Awful Freeway Bus Stops Put Riders in Danger
Bus pads play a critical role in connecting Marin’s communities via transit. However, their hazardous conditions put bus riders in danger. Read More
Introducing the Hack Your Auto Insurance series
The series will discuss insurance topics that every driver ought to know in clear and simple terms, using up-to-date information. Read More
Is lane splitting legal in California?
Many motorcyclists (and automobile) drivers ask whether or not lane splitting in California is legal. In our state, lane splitting is a highly contentious issue that is subject to... Read More
What if the person at fault has none or inadequate insurance?
When you are involved in an automobile accident in the state of California, whoever is at fault for the accident is responsible for paying for it. This means that... Read More
Bike to Work Day 2017: Ribbon Cuttings and Milestones in the East Bay
After last year’s momentous Bike to Work Day that saw the unveiling of new high-profile protected bikeways in Berkeley and Oakland, this year’s event on Thursday, May 11th was... Read More
San Jose Alcohol Related Injuries Are Up
Compared to other population centers in California, the San Jose area appears to be doing well at limiting alcohol-involved injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol’s latest report on... Read More
ACE extension to Merced a poor choice for gas tax funding
The Merced extension will serve very few riders and makes little sense in the context of California’s high speed rail priorities... Read More
Why police should pay more attention to bicycle safety
On Feb 23, a 9-year-old girl riding a bicycle in San Jose was injured in an auto collision. A few weeks later, the same thing happened to an 11-year-old... Read More
AC Transit board calls Telegraph Avenue road diet a “disaster” and “absolute disgrace”
The project has decreased collisions for all modes by 40 percent, increased yield rates, and reduced speeding. However, not everyone is happy... Read More
San Jose-area roadside danger is rising
Numbers don’t lie. But unless you have experience analyzing data, it can sometimes seem difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from the stories they tell. Read More
Casual carpool continues to thrive despite lack of resources
While the Bay Area is known for its ride-hailing transportation startups, a low-tech casual carpool system has continued to thrive into its fourth decade. Read More
Half a century later, Redwood City intersection to get crosswalks
Half a century ago, Caltrans plowed through Redwood City to build Woodside Road... Woodside Road was built according to the era’s abysmal design highway standards, creating a barrier between... Read More
Despite its flaws, Telegraph Avenue redesign is working
The City of Oakland released a progress report for the Telegraph Avenue Complete Streets Project to assess the project’s performance over its first six months. Read More
BART to Silicon Valley to cost $644,000 per new passenger
Buried in the EIR/EIS is an astonishing revelation of how cost-ineffective the BART extension will be in attracting new transit riders. Read More
Will Bluegogo compete for the Bay Area’s bike share market?
As Bay Area Bike Share inches toward a tenfold expansion by 2018, a new Chinese bike share company, Bluegogo, may try to beat it to the streets. Read More
BART surprises commuters with sudden holiday service cuts
Commuters working between Christmas and New Years were surprised to encounter sudden cuts in BART service this week. Read More
High fares, TNCs, and cheap parking undercut Oakland Airport Connector ridership
The controversial Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) is losing money and struggling to meet ridership projections... Read More
Oakland’s inequitable and ineffective free holiday parking persists
Parking can be a sensitive issue in most cities, and Oakland is no different... Read More
Two potential “peanutabout” locations in Oakland
Oakland has several skewed intersections that could be candidates for peanutabout designs. In particular, two intersections exhibit potential for such a design... Read More
“Bay Bridge Forward” to add much-needed capacity to Transbay commute
Facing crush-load BART trains, packed buses and ferries, and congested freeways, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission recently approved $40 million in near-term capacity relief. The “Bay Bridge Forward” program seeks... Read More
Photos from the 2016 Summer Intro to Careers in Law Program
This summer marked the fourth year our firm has hosted local high school students for a one week program offering an introduction to careers in law. Once again, a... Read More
Uptown’s transformation continues with $6.3 million TIGER grant for 19th street BART station
Transportation funding keeps flowing into Oakland – last week, the Go Uptown project received $6.3 million via an extremely competitive federal TIGER grant. A joint effort between BART and... Read More
Untangling 27th Street in Oakland
As Oakland remakes key Downtown corridors such as Telegraph, Harrison, and 20th, big changes are also in store for 27th Street. Oakland recently submitted a grant application to the... Read More
Why is BART in the long-term airport parking business?
As BART’s ridership has surged over the past five years, the system has developed a shortage of station parking. On a typical weekday, many of BART’s lots fill up... Read More
7 years after cuts, restoration of off-peak BART service remains distant
Seven years ago in the midst of the Great Recession, BART significantly cut evening and Sunday service in an effort to balance its budget. Prior to cutting service, BART... Read More
Should self-driving vehicles be required to get a license?
Following the first fatal accident involving a self-driving vehicle, the debate has been renewed over whether autonomous cars are ready to share the road with traditional vehicles. The accident,... Read More
Oakland forgets to reinstall parking meters on busy stretch of Grand Avenue
Oakland’s Department of Transportation is finally taking shape, and it can’t come soon enough. In the latest example of poor attention to detail in street design, the City has... Read More
After a momentous Bike to Work Day, more complete streets projects on the way
Last week’s Bike to Work day was one of the most significant in the event’s 22 year history in the East Bay. Four ribbon cuttings occurred in the cities... Read More
West Contra Costa County evaluates high capacity transit options
Without a doubt the greatest challenges facing BART are expanding core capacity and maintaining a good state of repair. At the same time, however, the Bay Area’s regional transit... Read More
BART’s bond measure: aiming too low?
Over the past few weeks, BART and Los Angeles’ Metro have each made big headlines, albeit for very different reasons. In the Bay Area, BART’s ongoing mechanical problems are... Read More
Seven findings from BART’s station profile survey
About every seven years, BART commissions a survey of its stations to learn more about who is riding and where he/she is going. BART’s last survey was done in... Read More
Alameda’s Central Avenue Project moves forward, but weak links remain
Alameda’s Central Avenue Complete Streets Project passed a key milestone in receiving city council approval to move forward into final design. As we’ve previously covered, safety improvements are badly... Read More
Vision Zero or Zero Vision: when will Berkeley fix its unsafe streets?
On February 2nd, Megan Schwarzman was run over by a car while bicycling along Fulton Street near Bancroft Way. Meghan was hit by Berwick Haynes, who was arrested on... Read More
Oakland’s initial ‘Plan Downtown’ concepts fall short of equity and sustainability goals
The Bay Area is in desperate need of housing, especially affordable housing in walkable and bikeable neighborhoods located near transit. Downtown Oakland presents a tremendous opportunity to achieve measurable... Read More
Downtown Oakland needs accessible & walkable public spaces
What kinds of open spaces does Oakland need? The City recently posed this question via Twitter as a part of its ongoing Downtown Specific Plan efforts. The Downtown Plan... Read More
Increased commuter benefits a boon for Bay Area commuters
Transit riders across the country received a big boost in commuter benefits thanks to Congress’ new spending bill. The bill increased pre-tax transit benefits to $255 per month, matching... Read More
Oakland awarded $4.7 million for traffic calming improvements
Oakland continues to have tremendous success in winning grant money for complete streets projects. Following nine million in grant awards from the Active Transportation Program (ATP) for redesigns of... Read More
How can Oakland fix Grand Avenue?
Grand Avenue is broken. Like countless other streets in Oakland, the design of Grand Avenue no longer serves the people and communities that use the street. However, while Oakland... Read More
San Francisco’s proposed bike-yield law continues to roll forward
Several weeks ago we wrote about a proposed bill that would make San Francisco the largest U.S. city to adopt a stop-as-yield law for cyclists. Earlier this week San... Read More
Support TransForm on ‘Giving Tuesday’
Today is “Giving Tuesday.” It might not generate the same amount of fanfare as Black Friday or Cyber Monday, but for the past three years, Giving Tuesday has... Read More
Rebuilding a highway for imaginary traffic: Oakland’s Lakeside “Green Streets” project
Should Downtown Oakland be a great place to drive, or a great place to walk and bike? As Downtown lies on the cusp of rebirth and growth, these divergent... Read More
New pedestrian safety banners target San Francisco’s most dangerous streets
As of yesterday, pedestrian safety banners are now flying in SoMa. The banners, proclaiming “Slow Down!” and followed with either “We live here” or “I live here” are part... Read More
BART closures highlight need for BART-Transbay Terminal connection
BART’s recent weekend closures of the Transbay Tube were happily uneventful: thanks to advanced warning and frequent replacement “bus bridge” service, the closure did not appear to significantly increase... Read More
Study shows making streets safer is the best way to encourage cycling
A recent study conducted by the University of Bath, Department of Psychology, has concluded that, improving street safety for cyclists is more effective than information campaigns when it comes... Read More
Photos from the 2015 Summer Intro to Careers in Law Program
For the past three summers GJEL has hosted high school students for a week long “Introduction to Careers in Law.” Over the course of the week students are exposed... Read More
Engineers behaving badly: Oakland’s pedestrian signal fail
Oakland has a lot of strange, poorly-designed pedestrian signals, but we think we’ve found the worst example in the City at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Euclid Avenue.... Read More
Survey: most Temescal shoppers don’t drive
The City of Oakland, in partnership with UC Berkeley, recently conducted a survey of shoppers in Temescal along a controversial segment of Telegraph Avenue to better understand the travel... Read More
Bay Bridge contraflow bus lane and bike/ped path should be considered together
Over the past few months, a proposal to build a contraflow bus lane on the Bay Bridge has gained momentum among key transportation agencies such as the Metropolitan Transportation... Read More
The worst bike lane in the world?
Streetsblog California recently proclaimed a new bike lane in Orinda “The Worst Bike Lane in the World.” The bike lane sits outside of our office on Camino Pablo, straddling... Read More
CHP tickets 168 Alameda drivers in less than 4 hours for not yielding to pedestrians
Stanley Roberts’ People Behaving Badly recently highlighted CHP efforts to ticket Alameda drivers on Webster Street who failed to yield to pedestrians at marked crosswalks. In just 3.5 hours,... Read More
New technologies designed to improve bike safety
As long as bikes and cars share the same roads there’s inevitably going to be conflict. As much as we’d love to see protected bike lanes become more ubiquitous,... Read More
Oakland proposes parking-protected bike lanes on 20th street
Big news from Oakland’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee last night: Walk Oakland Bike Oakland tweeted that the City is planning to install parking-protected bicycle lanes (cycle tracks) on... Read More
Mandatory helmet law gutted. Now what?
Good news out of Sacramento: S.B. 192, Senator Liu’s disastrous law mandating helmets and reflective gear for bicyclists, was gutted thanks to strong backlash from bicycle advocates across the... Read More
Stanislaus County plans to expand freeways in the name of safety and air quality
For decades, California regions built freeways to enable the growth of new suburbs farther and farther afield. In response to the negative environmental effects of suburban sprawl, California enacted... Read More
Illegally parked cars clogging new Oakland bike lanes
A striking video was posted to the Bike East Bay Facebook page on Tuesday depicting illegally parked cars clogging Oakland’s new buffered bike lane along Broadway. The video, submitted... Read More
Christmas and New Year’s among most dangerous days to drive
It should come as no surprise that the holidays are one of the most dangerous times to head out on the road. Not only are more people driving–some estimates suggest... Read More
12-foot lanes don’t improve safety. So why do we keep building them?
Lane widths might seem like a boring, esoteric aspect of traffic engineering, but they really matter for creating safe, livable streets. Noted city planner and urban designer Jeff Speck... Read More
Oaklavia highlights need for better bicycle infrastructure around Lake Merritt
Oakland recently hosted Oaklavia, an open streets event that invites people to walk, bike, dance, play, and socialize in the streets. It’s a terrific, if underappreciated event... Read More
Governor Brown vetoes SB 1151, a bipartisan school zone safety bill
Last Friday, Governor Brown vetoed SB 1151, a bill that would have increased traffic fines in school zones and used these funds for active transportation investments. The bill had... Read More
‘Three Feet for Safety Act’ now in effect
By now you’ve probably already heard that the Three Feet for Safety Act went into effect on Tuesday. The bill, which was finally signed by Governor Brown last year,... Read More
Buy a bike, get a helmet: now through August 31st at select local bike shops
Starting Monday, August 18th, we’re partnering with five local bike shops to promote safety and provide free helmets with every kid’s bike sold. Bike safety is a cause that’s... Read More
Pedestrians dying at disproportionate rates in America’s poorer neighborhoods
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: street safety is about equity. Streets designed for speeding cars are inherently designed dangerously, leaving people who do not drive... Read More
What is the cost of traffic crashes?
In discussions of traffic safety, it’s all too common to desensitize ourselves from the striking numbers of roadway crashes that occur: 32,999 fatalities, 3.9 million non-fatal injuries, and 24... Read More
Cycle Tracks still need traffic calming: a case study of Shoreline Boulevard in Mountain View
Proposals for Cycle Tracks are emerging throughout the Bay Area, and that is generally good news for bicycle safety. But as the saying goes, the devil is in the... Read More
Could Strava be good tool for planning and policymaking?
A key challenge in planning, funding, and implementing bicycle and pedestrian projects is the lack of good data to guide policymaking. As Janie Nham notes on the NRDC Switchboard,... Read More
Los Angeles hires Seleta Reynolds: what it means for walking and biking in SoCal
LADOT GM nominee Seleta Reynolds (right) with former New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan (left) In case there was any doubt, Los Angeles has officially joined the livable... Read More
When sharrows aren’t enough
San Francisco ambitiously seeks to expand bicycling to 20 percent of all trips by 2020. Yet, real concerns over safety remain the single greatest obstacle to expanding bicycling in... Read More
‘Every Bicyclist Counts’ underscores need for increased commitment to bike safety
In discussions of street safety there is a tendency to view traffic fatalities as isolated incidents or just another statistic. It’s important to reinforce the human element of these... Read More
Are bike helmet laws sexist? Aussie woman says yes.
There’s long been a heated debate surrounding mandatory helmet laws, but up until now sexism hadn’t really been one of the talking points. However, a recent complaint from an... Read More
How dangerous is your street?
Last week we looked at the Dangerous by Design report. One of the useful features is the map tool, which overlays the locations of every pedestrian fatality in the... Read More
The hypocrisy of San Francisco’s selective traffic law enforcement
Street safety depends on the fair enforcement of traffic laws, but enforcement is not always fair. The juxtaposition of two stories over the past week illustrates the incongruent enforcement... Read More
Is Berkeley falling behind in the race for safe streets?
The City of Berkeley is a well-known leader in environmentalism, social justice, and public health. Given that active transportation plays an integral role in each of these fields, it’s... Read More
Oakland’s Telegraph Avenue Complete Streets Plan: Building a Safer Street
Telegraph Avenue is one of Oakland’s key transportation corridors, linking Downtown Oakland with Downtown Berkeley. It serves thousands of transit riders, drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians every day, and also... Read More
Are bike accidents treated differently than car accidents?
Bicycle accidents and auto accidents, technically, are treated identically under California law. The rules of determining who is at fault are the same. Practically Are They Treated Different? As... Read More
Is traffic violence sufficiently prosecuted?
A year ago, 17 year old Hanren Chang was hit and killed by a drunk driver while crossing Sloat Boulevard in San Francisco. Hanren, a student at Lowell High... Read More
#ReplaceBikeWithCar Satirizes Anti-Bike Rhetoric
The rise of bicycling and the expansion of bike lanes can at times provoke strong negative reactions in people, whether it’s at public meetings, newspaper comment boards, or casual... Read More
Cities battle Caltrans over street design
As cities across California seek to build safer, healthier, greener “complete streets,” many have come into conflict with Caltrans over what constitutes an acceptable (and legally defensible) design. This... Read More
Is driving with Google Glass a ticketable offense?
As technology continues to become even more integrated into our everyday lives, existing laws can become fuzzy when it comes to how emerging technologies should be treated. Case in... Read More
Georgia lawmakers backpedal on bill requiring cyclists to register bikes and obtain license
A recent piece of legislation proposed by Georgia Representative Carl Rogers requiring cyclists to register their bike with the state (and obtain a license) managed to inspire enough vitriol... Read More
Texting While Driving: It’s Worse Than You Think
We all intuitively understand that texting while driving is dangerous – but a look at the statistics shows just how frighteningly dangerous (and pervasive) texting while driving is. According... Read More
Stadium death sparks civil suit against New England Patriots
Nobody said running a multi-million dollar professional sports franchise would be easy. On top of issues surrounding players’ criminal activities, and their alleged drug use improprieties, have come ex-player... Read More
Required viewing for drivers everywhere: ‘From One Second to the Next’
Famed director Werner Herzog’s powerful new documentary about texting and driving has already reached more than 1.5 million views on YouTube and is bringing even more attention to the... Read More
Inaugural summer internship program proves successful
16 students from 13 different high schools came together to participate in our summer internship designed to expose young adults to a potential career in law. The internship was... Read More
Law schools grow increasingly desperate as applications continue to decline
With the overall number of applicants to accredited law schools down 34 percent from their peak in 2010, schools are doing whatever they can to keep attendance up and... Read More
‘Foldable Helmet’ aims to make bike safety more portable than ever
One of the most common objections to wearing a bike helmet is that it’s simply not portable. Once you’ve arrived at your destination and chained your bike to the... Read More
Quick video tips for urban cycling
The team at Grist has put together a nice little video of “biking basics for folks who’ve always wanted to ride, but didn’t dare.” Although a lot of the... Read More
S.F. challenged to reduce bike fatalities, ramp up safety efforts
A report released earlier this week is urging San Francisco’s mayor and Board of Supervisors to increase efforts to reduce bike fatalities, calling for an ultimate goal of “zero... Read More
Medical cannabis creating uncertainty in state DUI laws
Two states have legalized cannabis and 17 states (18 including Washington, D.C.) have legalized medical cannabis. As the nation slowly shifts towards decriminalization, numerous questions arise on how to... Read More
New studies reiterate texting while driving is unsafe
Recently released studies have confirmed what we already know, but too often ignore: texting and driving is not a safe combination. Even though you’re 23 times more likely to... Read More
Creative cycling attire tricks surrounding drivers into obeying the law
Cyclists across the pond have come up with a creative way to make sure surrounding motorists treat their safety with the appropriate amount of respect. By wearing reflective gear... Read More
And the unhappiest job in America is…
After compiling over 65,000 company reviews during 2012 and evaluating multiple factors that influence an employee’s job satisfaction, CareerBliss released their list of the happiest and unhappiest jobs in... Read More
Robert Redford is too cool for speed limits
As proof that it’s not just young celebrities who can be terrible role models, 76-year-old screen icon Robert Redford recently boasted he drives at speeds in excess of 120... Read More
How much of an inconvenience to pedestrians are construction sites?
Much like most major cities, in Seattle there are currently a number of construction projects underway. Old buildings have been demolished to give way to new apartment complexes, office... Read More
Cyclist faces felony vehicular manslaughter charge after killing 71-year-old pedestrian
Although the widely reported accident took place almost a year ago, the San Francisco cyclist who collided with 71-year-old Sutchi Hui on March 29, 2012 has recently been order... Read More
Motorcycle lane-splitting in California to remain unrestricted for the foreseeable future
A California Senate bill proposing restrictions on motorcycle lane splitting was placed on hold this week pending a safety study currently being conducted by UC-Berkeley. The bill, which would... Read More