AUGUST 2025

BUS PARTY! SAT., AUGUST 9: Local #7 riders and advocates are sad to see our twice an hour service go away (AC Transit’s schedule realignment goes into effect on August 10). Instead of crying in our beer, though, we are going to party on Saturday, August 9, the last day of the sweet every-30-minutes service. Catch the #7 that leaves Del Norte BART at 5 p.m.* or catch it anywhere along the route and ride with us all the way to Emeryville, share a meal at the Public Market, then ride the #7 back home. Questions? Contact Joanna Pace, joannapace4@gmail.com.
*Arlington and Moeser at 5:15 p.m., Arlington and Coventry at 5:19, and Solano and The Alameda at 5:25 p.m. 

BUSINESS MEETING, AUGUST 13, 7–8:30 PM: On Zoom and the meeting agenda is here. We’ll discuss Richmond Street follow-up, bike parking around town, and more! Additional business meeting dates for 2025 are Oct. 8, and Dec. 10.

HAPPY HOUR, SEPT 10, 5–7 PM, FATAPPLES: 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. (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.

SOLANO STROLL BOOTH VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Hang out with us and spread the word about how we’re working to make safer streets at the Solano Stroll on Sunday, Sept. 14. Sign up for a shift (or two) here. We can especially use help from someone with a car to bring over/pick up the table, canopy etc. on the morning/afternoon of the event. Write to us at info@ecrawalkroll.org to volunteer.

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge closure vote August 7  

Robert Prinz, Bike East Bay

Closure of the Richmond–San Rafael bridge trail is back on the agenda at the August 7 meeting of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission. The agenda is available here. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans claim that they have made updates to their proposal to overcome the previous objections. But Bike East Bay has studied their updated project description (available here) and do not see any substantive changes that satisfy the standard for "maximum feasible public access" to the Bay Trail.

The project description indicates a separate $10 million allocation to other biking and walking projects in Richmond, with the implication that bridge access could be traded for them. We do want to see those other projects get built. However, we have confirmed that the funding allocation is not contingent on the bridge trail being closed, so Richmond will still have access to this funding regardless of how BCDC votes.

If you haven’t already sent an email in time for tomorrow’s meeting, make a public comment at the August 7 meeting via Zoom. Register for Bike East Bay’s public comment sign up form here, so they can send you a text message once the day-of comment period starts. This way you can log in to make a comment without having to wait through the whole meeting. Note that the Zoom comment queue will likely only last for a short time, so log in right away once you get the notice and raise your hand in Zoom to be added to the queue. Individuals who don't raise their hand in time might not get a chance to comment.

The time allocated per speaker during the public comment period will likely be 1 minute, so practice your comment beforehand to make sure you won’t be cut off. Some talking points are available here, but the key criteria around the vote will be whether the proposal meets BCDC's standard for "maximum feasible public access" to the Bay shoreline. Include information about how you use the bridge trail, how the Mondays through Thursdays closure will affect your access, and how the proposed bike shuttle will not provide equivalent access for you.

Make a public comment at the August 7 meeting in-person. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Bay Area MetroCenter in San Francisco, 375 Beale Street, 1st Floor Yerba Buena Room. Complete meeting details and a link to the agenda are available here.

Bike East Bay staff will be on site that morning, so find them when you arrive to get a sticker showing your support for 24/7 bridge access and receive info on how to fill out a speaker card to register for your public comment.

Also, encourage your friends to sign Bike East Bay’s petition at BikeEastBay.org/RSR and show their support for keeping the trail open 24/7.

Source: Bike East Bay

Richmond Street decision reaffirms El Cerrito’s commitment to low-carbon transportation

By Bill Wood, with Janet Byron

On July 15, the El Cerrito City Council reaffirmed our city’s commitment to fighting climate change and improving access to equitable and low-carbon transportation. The council directed the city engineer Yvetteh Ortiz to move forward with design plans for Richmond Street, which would include a number of traffic calming measures, as well as bike lanes between Hill Street and Moeser Lane.

“The reality is we need a safe network for people to bike and walk and take transit because we are in a climate crisis,” Councilmember Rebecca Saltzman said. “We know the primary way we can combat that is by reducing the number of people who are taking vehicle trips when they could be replaced by biking and walking and transit.”

Ortiz and Jarrett Mullen, El Cerrito’s sustainable transportation program manager, began the city council’s study session with an excellent presentation detailing 25 years of policy that have laid the foundation for the Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project, including the city’s Active Transportation Plan, Complete Streets policy, and Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. Many of their presentation’s points were reemphasized by council members in their comments. 

The opponents of bike lanes north of Moeser made repeated claims that the street improvements would make it harder for police and fire vehicles to navigate Richmond Street. Councilmember Saltzman invited Fire Chief Eric Saylors and Police Chief Paul Keith to the lectern to address this directly:

“The police department was consulted during the design process for this portion of the roadway, and our analysis indicates that we should not have any response challenges due to changes in the roadway.”
— Police Chief Paul Keith

“We were consulted as well during the design process and all of our concerns and recommendations were met through the design process to make sure that we don’t have any delayed response times.”
— Fire Chief Eric Saylors

Councilmember William Ktsanes introduced a four-point motion to delay the project and require the city to redesign the project. None of the four other council members supported his motion, so it died for lack of a second. Later, Councilmember Ktsanes introduced another motion to lower the fee to appeal this project from about $1,100 to about $632, and allow residents to apply collectively.

Motoyama and Saltzman pointed out that the fee is set at $1,100 because that is how much it costs in staff time to address appeals, and that if they have to address appeals at multiple addresses it doesn’t make fiscal sense to allow residents to appeal together. Nonetheless, the council decided to keep the fee at $632 and not allow collective appeals.

Certainly the most vivid moments of the night came from El Cerrito Mayor Carolyn Wysinger. “Our job on the council is to look at the totality and whole of this community (like) the city’s strategic plan of 2016 and the climate goals,” Mayor Wysinger said in her remarks.

“We are in a situation where we woke up one morning two years ago and the whole city was orange. Climate change. We can’t count on what our seasons are going to be. Climate change. Our governor has put a policy in place to try to reduce carbon emissions by reducing the amount of cars that are on the streets. Climate change.”

Wysinger objected to opponents’ use of the language of social justice to protect their perceived entitlement to street parking:

“Parking on the street is a privilege. No one owns the street . . . You do not build policy saying it’s okay, it’s worked for 50 years. Things are changing. The culture of driving is changing … For those reasons I will be supporting this plan. I’m always going to root for the future.”

Supporters of safer streets on Richmond Street and throughout the city came out in force to support the project. THANK YOU! Dozens of El Cerritans—including many Richmond Street residents—plus supporters from Richmond Annex and Albany wrote e-mails to the council before the July 15 meeting and showed up in council chambers displaying our bright green “YES for SAFE, BEAUTIFUL, COMPLETE STREETS” stickers. Numerous supporters of the project spoke during public comment, letting the council know that they want to live in a community that prioritizes safer streets over car parking.

Although opponents of the Richmond Street Complete Streets Improvement Project have the opportunity to appeal the design to the city manager and then city council, with a 4-1 majority of council members expressing support for the design it’s a virtual certainty that any appeals would not succeed. If opponents of the project appeal, the council would likely vote to move the project forward in October. (If you sent an email, keep a copy just in case.)

The July 15 meeting was covered in the East Bay Times and Livable El Cerrito, and a video of the meting is posted on the City of El Cerrito website (Richmond Street study session begins at 51:30).

It’s the little things that count: WCCTC supports small infrastructure projects

By Steve Price

At the West Contra Costa County Transportation Commission (WCCTC), El Cerrito City Councilmember Rebecca Saltzman — who chairs the commission — pushed for a special small capital improvement fund that can be used to secure money for bike racks and other lower cost infrastructure improvements.

The small capital improvement fund proposed by WCCTC would allocate about $720,000 in flexible Measure J (28b) funds to WCCTC member agencies to complete small-scale infrastructure projects. Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) funds to eight member agencies in West Contra Costa County, and each — including El Cerrito and Richmond — would receive a one-time allocation of $60,000 (because of its size, Richmond would receive $180,000). The CCTA board is expected to approve the funding at its September meeting.

Paradoxically, the smaller the capital improvement, the easier it is to overlook, but much of multimodal mobility is in small details, including bike racks. Often municipalities would like to make small capital improvements that advance walking and bicycling but don’t like the paperwork involved in applying for grants. Infrastructure projects for cars usually are big — multi-lane arterials, overpasses, parking garages, pavement upkeep, traffic signals — that keep civil engineers and public works departments busy for months or years. Who wants to do the paperwork every time there is an expressed desire for bike racks?

That is why getting a fund for small infrastructure improvements that speeds up the disbursement of money for bus stops, quick-build safety improvements, bike racks, and other small stuff is a big win for a multimodal transportation future that will make our streets safe and useful for all, not just cars. The West Contra Costa County Transportation Commission has endorsed the fund. The Contra Costa Transportation Authority still needs to give its okay, but almost certain. Thank you, Councilmember Saltzman, for getting the ball rolling!

WCCTC also designated $50,000 for the installation of bike racks across West County including $15,000 for racks in the El Cerrito Plaza shopping center, which ECRA Walk & Roll has been advocating for in partnership with El Cerrito, 511 Contra Costa, and Regency, the shopping center’s owner. We’re hopeful that with this new funding source, racks can be installed in the Plaza shopping center before the end of the year.

NOMINATIONS FOR BIKE EAST BAY’S BEST BIKE ADVOCACY AND PROJECTS: Send in your nominations for Bike East Bay’s the Best East Bay Community Advocacy and the Best East Bay Bike Project for 2025, to be announced and awarded at Bike East Bay's Biketopia celebration on September 30. Feel free to nominate El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll for Best East Bay Community Advocacy! The deadline is noon on August 11.

JOIN ECRA WALK & ROLL IN ADVOCATING FOR WALK- AND BIKEABILITY: 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.

SEAMLESS REGIONAL TRANSIT AT RISK: Decision makers are negotiating how much funding in a regional transit funding measure (SB 63) should go toward free transfers and other rider-focused improvements that make transit faster, more reliable, affordable, convenient, and accessible. These investments increase ridership and are overwhelmingly popular with voters, helping to get the funding measure passed. However, the State Assembly Transportation Committee recently voted to reduce the amount of money for these valuable and popular programs. Please urge your representatives to protect critical funding for free transfers and more rider-focused improvements. Take action for Contra Costa County here and sign up to learn more about speaking at upcoming board meetings here. Source: Transbay Coalition

CCTA TRANSPORTATION PLAN SURVEY: Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) is developing a Countywide Transportation Plan. The Plan, informed by community input, will guide investments to make it easier, safer, and more sustainable to get around — whether you walk, bike, drive, or take transit. Click here to explore ideas for the Plan and take a survey for the chance to win a $100 Visa gift card. Source: 511 Contra Costa

511 CONTRA COSTA SCHOOL TRANSIT AND CARPOOLING PROGRAMS: Students can take the bus to school for free with 511 Contra Costa’s Pass2Class. Apply now for up to two months of free youth rides on Tri Delta Transit, WestCAT, County Connection, or AC Transit. Passes available while supplies last.

This year, buddy up with another family and register your school carpool for the chance to win one of ten $250 shopping sprees at Target. By sharing rides, families can save time and money, reduce traffic around schools, and help create a safer and less chaotic environment for everyone. Carpool drivers and passengers are both eligible to win when they register for SchoolPool by October 17. Source: 511 Contra Costa

LOW-STRESS BICYCLE FACILITIES LINKED TO INCREASE IN BIKE COMMUTING:  A study in the journal Nature Cities by researchers with the University of New Mexico and University of Colorado, Denver, found that lower-stress bicycle facilities — such as protected bicycle lanes — are significantly associated with larger increases in ridership compared with higher-stress facilities such as standard bicycle lanes and shared-lane markings (sharrows). Using 6  years of longitudinal data across 14,011 block groups in 28 U.S. cities, the study found that block groups that installed protected bicycle lanes experienced bicycle commuter increases 1.8 times larger than standard bicycle lanes, 1.6 times larger than sharrows, and 4.3 times larger than block groups that did not install bicycle facilities.  

GET YOUR BART HOLIDAY SWEATERS NOW! It’s chic and sophisticated. It’s cozy and warm. The 2025 BART holiday sweater. is available on Railgoods.com now. For the first time in BART holiday sweater history, BART is offering a special BARTy sweater in youth sizes. Source: BART.

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 its 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