SEPTEMBER 2025

HAPPY HOUR, SEPT 10, 5–7 PM, FATAPPLES: Bring the kids/family/friends/partners! Join us to hang out, eat, have a beer, and talk multimobility and safer streets with like-minded neighbors! Our happy hours are every other second Wednesday, 5–7 p.m., (put Nov. 12 on your calendar) at family-friendly Fatapples, 7525 Fairmont Ave. Look for us at the picnic tables or indoors, depending on the weather.

ECRA WALK & ROLL BUSINESS MEETING, WED., OCTOBER 8, 7–8:30 PM: Agenda and location TBA. Our last business meeting of 2025 will be on Dec. 10.

SOLANO STROLL IS SEPT. 14 — VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: ECRA Walk & Roll will have a booth at the Solano Stroll on Sunday, Sept. 14, 10 a.m to 5 p.m. We’ll be on lower Solano between Key Route and Masonic at the Ohlone Greenway. Sign up for a volunteer shift here and/or write to us at info@ecrawalkroll.org (see below for more information).

ECRA Walk & Roll to receive Bike East Bay’s Best Community Advocacy Award!

On September 17, El Cerrito Walk & Roll will receive Bike East Bay’s Best Community Advocacy Award, in recognition of our work on the Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project, El Cerrito’s first GO GREEN! Mobility Fair, and more! We encourage all to join members of the ECRA Walk & Roll coordinating committee at Bike East Bay’s Biketopia event and/or make a donation to Bike East Bay in honor of their BEST community advocacy organization!

WHEN: Wednesday, September 17, 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

WHERE: Preservation Park, Downtown Oakland (1233 Preservation Park Way)

Here are three great ways you can join the party:

• Get your ticket here: Tickets start at $40 for current members of Bike East Bay.

• Bid on the silent auction: Over 150 exciting items will be available and you can bid even if you can’t make it to the event!

• Make a donation here: Your donation will be matched up to $25,000 by a Bike East Bay member!

Funds raised at Biketopia power Bike East Bay’s advocacy, education, community organizing, and engagement work throughout the year. Celebrate El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll’s recognition and 2025 biking wins across the East Bay, with catering by Market Hall, beer poured by Drake's Brewing, and wine selections by Beaune Imports.  

Visit us at the Solano Stroll, help out at our fun booth!

The Solano Stroll is Sunday, September 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on—you guessed it—Solano Avenue! El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll will have a booth on lower Solano between Key Route and Masonic, at the Ohlone Greenway and right next door to our friends Albany Strollers & Rollers and the bike valet. Stop by and say HI!!! 

The Solano Stroll is a great opportunity for us to let the community know about ECRA Walk & Roll's advocacy for safer streets, get new members/signups, and spread the multimobility gospel! (Also, it’s a lot of fun!)

We need booth help!

Shifts are:

• Setup: 9–10 a.m. (we need someone with a car [or a bike rig of some sort] to get the canopy and tables from Steve and Janet's garage to Solano)

• 10 a.m.–12 p.m.

• 12–2 p.m.

• 2–4 p.m.

• 4–5:30 p.m. (breakdown and return canopy/tables to Steve and Janet's garage)

Please sign up here and/or write to info@ecrawalkroll.org to let us know if/when you can help out.

If you only have an hour to spare, that would be great too!

You too can organize a bus party! 

By Joanna Pace

Riders of the AC Transit #7 bus organized a party earlier this month to celebrate the line, which due to AC Transit’s Realign now runs only once an hour!

We agreed on a run (5 p.m. on a Saturday) and boarded at our favorite stops, meeting each other on the bus and then riding all the way to the end of the line to share a no-host meal together.

Nearly 30 people boarded the bus during our party and we roped them all in, giving out stickers, AC Transit crowns, and copies of the new schedule. Passengers were so busy chatting with each other that we didn’t even get around to playing Bus Bingo!

You can celebrate your bus line, too. Click here to learn how.

Questions? Email me at joannapace4@gmail.com or call at (510) 860-3696.

Bike East Bay video showcases Del Norte bike lanes

The Complete Streets improvements in and around Del Norte BART in El Cerrito are making real progress! The Phase II housing on the Mayfair site just north of BART is also moving along, showcasing exciting synergy between housing, transit, and complete street mobility — something the East Bay should be proud of. Here is a short video created by Robert Prinz of Bike East Bay. He interviewed me on site as part of it. Enjoy!— Steve Price

BCDC TO LIMIT WEEKDAY RICHMOND–SAN RAFAEL BRIDGE ACCESS: On August 7, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission approved a plan submitted by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans to close the multiuse pathway on the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge Monday to Thursday afternoons and revert it to a shoulder/breakdown lane (with a shuttle for pedestrian and cyclist access). Learn more about the decision and its implications for here. This project paves the way for MTC/Caltrans to add a third westbound lane to the bridge, which would allow a few thousand more people to drive into Marin every morning, at the expense of air quality in Richmond and greater greenhouse gas emissions. The decision on that project will take place sometime in 2028, at which point there will be another opportunity for advocacy. Source: Marin County Bicycle Coalition

NATIONAL COMMUNITY SURVEY LAUNCHING IN EL CERRITO: The City of El Cerrito is again participating in the National Community Survey, which provides important insights and valuable benchmarking for our community. Starting in September, randomly selected households will receive mailed survey invitations. If you receive an invite, please follow the instructions and share your input. If you aren't selected for this initial survey effort, the city will be sharing a communitywide survey. To be notified when the communitywide survey is available, sign up for a Polco profile at polco.us/n/res/signup. Learn more at elcerrito.gov/ncs. Source: El Cerrito City Manager’s Report 

ECRA Walk & Roll encourages members to take the survey and let the city know how much you care about making streets safer in our community.

CCTA TRANSPORTATION SURVEY: The Contra Costa Transportation Authority is updating the Countywide Transportation Plan and wants your input to make traveling in our county easier, safer, and smarter. Based on feedback gathered in 2024, CCTA organized a variety of projects and programs to create safer streets and more reliable transportation. Your input helps prioritize these efforts over the next 25 years to keep our communities moving smoothly and sustainably. Take the survey by September 30 linked here. Source: El Cerrito City Manager’s Report

ECRA Walk & Roll encourages members to take the survey and let the Contra Costa Transportation Authority know how much you care about making streets safer in our community.

BAY AREA TRANSIT SNAPSHOT: A new, easy-to-explore transit data dashboard exposes stark income disparities between riders of buses, trains, and ferries. The Snapshot Survey, a year-long, one-time-only project by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission surveyed 160,000 transit users between fall 2023 and spring 2024 to find out about ridership in the aftermath of the pandemic. The commission  published a visual dashboard to present key data from its most recent regional rider survey. For example, the survey results show a substantial difference in perceptions of safety between BART riders and those who use AC Transit buses — 13% of BART riders said they felt “very safe,” while double that number, 27%, felt safe on AC Transit. Source: Berkeleyside 

BIKE SAFETY “ARRESTS” IN EL CERRITO??? “It happened in 1954 in El Cerrito, California, a sleepy suburb of San Francisco. While most officers wasted their time on bank holdups, murders, or household beatings, one brave policeman decided to attack the real mortal danger in postwar America: Children on bicycles.” Check out Mike Doan’s amusing post, “El Cerrito’s Greatest Threat: A Satirical Look Back at Bicycle Safety,” on the El Cerrito Historical Society’s blog.

WATERSIDE WORKSHOPS LAND & SEA FUNDRAISER SEPT. 13: Berkeley-based non-profit Waterside Workshops, home of Street-Level Cycles, is hosting its annual Land & Sea party fundraiser on September 13 at Live Oak Community Center in Berkeley. Get your tickets to the party here! The event is from 5–9 p.m., but Waterside Workshops needs help setting up (2–5 p.m.) and taking down (9–10 p.m.); they offer delicious carrot cake, merchandise, and, depending on your volunteer time commitment, a delicious dinner prepared by Chez Panisse chefs. To volunteer, sign up here. For any questions, please contact Hannah Otto at hannah@watersideworkshops.org Source: Waterside Workshops

SUN DAY IN BERKELEY, SEPT. 21: Sun Day is a national day of mobilization for clean energy and climate action organized by 350.org, which will include e-mobility test rides from Rad Power Bikes, Lime, and Access Trikes; home electrification information; food; kids activities including a Kidical Mass bike ride; and a free Bike East Bay bike valet. The event is Sunday, Sept. 21, 2–5 p.m., at the Willard Clubhouse and Park, 2730 Hillegass Ave. in South Berkeley. For more information or to volunteer, write to berkeley.ca.sun.day@gmail.com

HAPPY TRANSIT MONTH! This September marks the Bay Area’s tenth annual Transit Month. There are many opportunities to get on BART and celebrate the public transportation that keeps the Bay Area moving both in and outside of El Cerrito and Richmond Annex. Hosted by San Francisco Transit Riders and Seamless Bay Area with support from local agencies, Transit Month toasts the many trains, buses, and ferries that connect the region and uplift its communities, economies, and cultures. Click here for more information, including a calendar of events. Source: Seamless Bay Area

Enter 511 Contra Costa’s Transit Month Ride Contest and log your Bay Area rides to earn badges and chances to win raffle prizes. Local rides on WestCAT, Tri Delta Transit, or County Connection enter you in a special drawing for a Clipper card worth $25, $50, or $75. Log the same trips with the Big Win on Transit program, and you could win $511. Source: 511 Contra Costa

BERKELEY BICYCLE PLAN UPDATE: The City of Berkeley has released a draft of the long-awaited Bicycle Plan Update. Our friends at Walk Bike Berkeley share the City’s vision of a safe, accessible, low-stress, and delightful bike and micromobility network for people of all ages and abilities, but believe that the draft plan could actually make it harder for Berkeley to deliver bicycle improvements. The City of Berkeley is accepting written comments on their bike plan update through September 26; send emails to bicycleplan@berkeleyca.gov. Source: Walk Bike Berkeley

JOIN ECRA WALK & ROLL IN ADVOCATING FOR WALK- AND BIKE-ABILITY: Want to help make El Cerrito and Richmond Annex streets safer, more joyful, and inclusive for all? You’ve come to the right place! Our effective and fun coordinating committee meets every month to plan our advocacy work on traffic calming, Complete Streets solutions, safe routes to schools, bike parking, and more. We’re also looking for a pro bono graphic designer to help us with our logo and the overall look and feel of our communications. To volunteer and/or join the coordinating committee, write to us at info@ecrawalkroll.org.

REPORT TRAFFIC CONCERNS TO EL CERRITO PUBLIC WORKS: If you see a traffic hazard or problem of any type — such as potholes, trees down, maintenance needs, lights/signals out, bad sidewalks, illegal dumping, or graffiti — the best way to take care of it is to report it to El Cerrito Public Works Department via their traffic improvement page. Things can only get fixed if the city knows that they need fixin’!

Our mission: El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll promotes walking, bicycling, and other low-carbon multimodal transportation alternatives and builds community for safer, more joyful, and inclusive streets for all.

To sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit our website at ecrawalkroll.org (scroll down for sign-up) or write to us at info@ECRAWalkRoll.org.

Please submit traffic safety requests to El Cerrito’s online traffic improvement request form.

Newsletter edited by Janet Byron