MAY 2026-1

FAMILY-FRIENDLY HAPPY HOUR – MAY 13, 5–7 P.M.: Join us to hang out, eat, have a beer, and talk multimobility and safer streets with like-minded neighbors! Bring the kids/family/friends/partners! Our happy hours are every other second Wednesday 5–7 p.m. at family-friendly Fatapples, 7525 Fairmont Ave. Look for us at the picnic tables or indoors, depending on the weather. Mark your calendar for our remaining 2026 happy hour dates: July 8, September 9, and November 11.

ECRA WALK & ROLL GENERAL MEETINGS: El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll meets every other second Wednesday, now on Google Meet. Future general meetings on our 2026 schedule are June 10 (see below for details), August 12, and October 14. (In December, we PARTY!) Click on this Google Calendar link to add all of our 2026 meetings to your calendar, with the meeting links.

Bike to Wherever Day is Thurs., May 14!

Celebrate the joy of cycling by riding to work, school, stores, meetups, or on a tour of your community just for fun. Grab your bike, invite a friend, and bike wherever! Swing by one of Contra Costa County’s 50+ Energizer Stations for a free canvas tote, snacks, and high-fives. Find a station to visit.

El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll will host an Energizer station on the Ohlone Greenway at El Cerrito Del Norte BART Station, and the City of El Cerrito will be at El Cerrito Plaza BART; both stations from 7 to 9 a.m. Stop by and say HI!  

Bike to a station, win a vacation: Visit any Contra Costa County Energizer Station on May 14 and scan the QR code for your chance to win a $511 airline gift card. 

Test your street smarts: Take 511 CCTA’s Road Safety Quiz during May and you could win one of five $20 Starbucks gift cards. Winners will be selected on May 29. Source: 511 Contra Costa

Volunteers needed: To volunteer at our super-fun Energizer Station at El Cerrito Del Norte BART station, write to info@ecrawalkroll.org.

BART Director Barnali Ghosh to speak at joint ECRA Walk & Roll and Albany Strollers & Rollers meeting June 10

Join El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll and Albany Strollers & Rollers for a joint meeting on June 10, 7-8:30 pm, with BART Director Barnali Ghosh, who will give a presentation, “2026: A Defining Year for BART,” followed by Q&A.

Ghosh was elected to the BART Board of Directors in November 2024, representing District 3, which includes Richmond, El Cerrito Del Norte, El Cerrito Plaza, North Berkeley, Downtown Berkeley, and Ashby stations.

As an immigrant who lived without a driver’s license for her first 15 years in the United States, public transit has been essential to Ghosh. She took BART to her first job and even to her wedding, and she remains a regular transit rider today.

A licensed landscape architect and project manager, Ghosh served as chair of Berkeley’s Transportation Commission and vice-chair of its Planning Commission, where she worked to connect housing, equity, climate goals, and pedestrian/bike safety to city transportation policies.

The meeting is at Hana Gardens Community Room, 10870 San Pablo Ave. (just south of City Hall at Manila Ave), 7-8:30 p.m. Bike on Ohlone Greenway or take AC Transit #72. Arrive 6:30-7 p.m. to enjoy pizza, beverages, and cookies. We look forward to seeing you there!   

TAKE ACTION: Tell El Cerrito council that safe streets are a budget priority

As El Cerrito develops its biennial budget for Fiscal Years 2026-27 and 2027-28, the city is soliciting input from the community about how to prioritize programs and services over the next 2 years. 

TAKE ACTION:

There are two actions you can take to let the El Cerrito council know that you want safer, multimodal streets to be a top priority in the next 2-year budget cycle:

1) Take the city’s budget priorities survey (linked here). Be sure to prioritize spending for “Active Transportation” and add anything you would like to see more of (protected bike lanes, traffic calming, pedestrian scrambles, etc.) in the comments box.

2) The city council will consider and adopt the two-year budget at their meetings on June 2 and June 16, 6 p.m. at City Hall. Email the council at cityclerk@elcerrito.gov before 2 p.m. on the day of the meetings and consider speaking regarding the urgent need for safer streets in El Cerrito.

2026 JUNE PRIMARY CANDIDATE TRANSPORTATION QUESTIONNAIRE: Elected officials at every level of government in the Bay Area can play a vital role in making it easier, safer, and greener for more people to get around in our communities. Seamless Bay Area’s Sustainable Transportation Questionnaire was sent to candidates running for U.S. House of Representatives, State Assembly and Senate, County Supervisor, City Council, and Mayoral positions in all nine Bay Area counties, including Contra Costa. Over 80 candidates responded to questions about transit, traffic violence, and bike/pedestrian infrastructure. Candidate responses can be viewed here. Source: Seamless Bay Area 

511 CCTA’s SUMMER BIKE CHALLENGE: The Summer Bike Challenge is free, fun, and healthy — the perfect summertime activity for people of all ages. Here’s how to play: 1) Register for FREE. You’ll be entered in the iPad Grand Prize Drawing when you sign up; 2) Download the gameboard (above) for your city and bike to as many destination squares as you can; 3) Respond to Weekly Bonus Challenges with pictures from your rides for chances to win gift card prizes. Register at: 511 CCTA Summer Bike Challenge Source: 511 CCTA

RICHMOND TRAFFIC CALMING UPDATE: Richmond is nearing completion on its initial 18 locations included in their Traffic Calming Program, with only one segment remaining along West Cutting Boulevard. Work at Carl Avenue at Mariposa Street and Key Boulevard at Barrett Avenue is now substantially complete. These improvements are part of the City’s ongoing effort to enhance safety, reduce speeding, and create more comfortable streets for residents, pedestrians, and cyclists by updating signage, striping, and traffic delineator. Source: Richmond City Manager’s Report Learn more on Richmond’s Capital Improvements Dashboard. 

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 they need fixin’!

REPORT ROAD HAZARDS TO RICHMOND AND BEYOND: To report debris in bike lanes and other transportation-related road hazards, be a squeaky wheel here; and for up-to-date links for reporting systems in every East Bay jurisdiction, go to Bike East Bay’s hazard reporting page.

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