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 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
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
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
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
On Tuesday morning, Jeffrey Donnelly of Palo Alto was tragically killed while riding a bicycle on Page Mill Road near I-280. Riding along a popular recreational cycling route, Donnelly... Read More
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
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’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
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
If you’ve recently traveled along I-80 in the East Bay, you may have noticed new electronic signage and metering lights. Caltrans is currently putting the finishing touches on the... Read More
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
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
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
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
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
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
The City of Oakland recently unveiled a new pedestrian signal policy intended to streamline the implementation of more pedestrian-friendly intersections. We’ve written at length about how Oakland’s implementation of... Read More
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
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
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
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
At long last, the Uptown Bike Station opened this week adjacent to BART’s 19th Street Station. The Bike Station offers free, secure bike parking between the hours of 7... Read More
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
Los Angeles is famous for freaking out when it rains. Recently, Noah Deneau, an electrical engineer from Austin, Texas, graphically illustrated the effect of rain on the rate of... Read More
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
During the height of California’s highway boom from the 1950s through the 1970s, Caltrans bulldozed through hundreds of neighborhoods to construct freeways. The economic and environmental toll on these... Read More
For the vast majority of people, signal timing is not an exciting subject. Apart from traffic engineers and a select group of superwonks, few people pay attention to or... Read More
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Construction on the much-anticipated first segment of the East Bay Greenway has stalled due to delays from unexpected levels of soil contamination. The 0.5 mile, $3.56 million project was... Read More
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
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
As Bay Area cities redesign their streets to better accommodate safe bicycling, key gaps in the region’s infrastructure become ever more apparent. Much of the growth in bicycling over... Read More
As San Francisco develops safer street designs to better accommodate people walking and biking, an unlikely opposition group has emerged: the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD). SFFD has vocally... Read More
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
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
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
As we’ve examined previously both here and here, the Dangerous by Design 2014 report contains a wealth of valuable information on the pedestrian safety crisis in the United States.... Read More
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
It happens more than it should. Someone (here we will call her Ms. H.) invites some friends, maybe a lot of friends and maybe their friends as well, to... Read More
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
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
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
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
Recently we discussed the ongoing battle between California cities and Caltrans over street design, most notably cycle tracks. As it turns out, Caltrans just announced its official endorsement of... Read More
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Much like you can’t yell “fire” in a crowded movie theater, it would appear yelling “bingo” in a crowded bingo hall is also off the table. Earlier this week... Read More
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
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
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
The National Law Journal released its annual list of the Top 50 Go-To Law Schools, with the University of Pennsylvania topping the list for the second consecutive year. Using... Read More
According to a preliminary report from the National Safety Council, the number of traffic fatalities during 2012 increased by 5 percent over the previous year. This marks the first... Read More
Despite offering a good starting point, there’s still plenty of information missing when you look at the Walkscore of a specific location. As has been pointed out plenty of... Read More
When it comes to making poor decisions behind the wheel, drunk driving and distracted driving get the bulk of the attention, but numbers show drivers impaired by fatigue account... Read More
Distracted driving is a serious threat to street safety, but what about distracted walking? A new bill in Nevada would make it illegal for pedestrians to text, enter data,... Read More
It may seem counterintuitive, but despite near unanimous support for the use of helmets, many cycling advocates disagree with the notion that helmet usage should be required by law.... Read More
Earlier this week, Florida teen Penelope Soto got international attention when a video of her mouthing off to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat started making the rounds online. In... Read More
An article from the DC Area blog “Greater Greater Washington” posed an interesting question about whether a recent pedestrian enforcement campaign is essentially “blaming the victim” by targeting the... Read More
Heading into this week’s Super Bowl big game, Samsung has decided to poke a bit of fun at the fact advertisers aren’t allowed to mention the NFL’s trademarked championship... Read More
Committing insurance fraud is already bad enough, but when you endanger your children in the process it reaches a whole new level of scuminess. For mother of five, Ana... Read More
This past Tuesday, Representatives from the Contra Costa County Public Works Department and Kinder Morgan held a meeting to discuss potential safety issues stemming from a jet fuel pipeline... Read More
With the end of the year fast approaching, our friends at TransForm are trying to set themselves up for success in 2013 by raising $75,000 to help them continue... Read More
With Governor Brown’s recent veto of the three foot passing bill, there’s a new product popping up specifically for cyclists looking to preserve a bit of personal space. The... Read More
It’s no secret that law school attendance is in serious decline. That’s what makes the decision to open a new law school in “the middle of history’s worst law... Read More
With the recent legalization of marijuana in both Washington and Colorado, police are in the process of determining how to enforce DUI laws in light of legislation that could... Read More
A bike lane on Jarvis St. in Toronto, Ontario was scheduled for removal but six protesters staged a sit-in to prevent construction workers from removing the lane. The removal crew gave... Read More
It may seem like a punishment right out of a sitcom, but a Cleveland Municipal court judge has sentenced a Cleveland woman to wear a sign that says, “Only... Read More
San Francisco Municipal Railway kicked off a weeklong centennial celebration on Sunday by rolling out vintage streetcars on the city’s oldest existing rail line. Over the weekend, the J-Church–which... Read More
Last month the New York Times ran an editorial written by someone who found it refreshing that she could rent a bike for $2 in Paris and spend the... Read More
In a recent segment from Bloomberg Law, law firm consultant Bruce MacEwen has charged that the legal industry is currently facing an “excess capacity.” As a result, MacEwen contends... Read More
A recent incident in Littleton, Colorado has highlighted the importance of always being alert and never taking your safety for granted. Last weekend a 55-year-old cyclist was injured while... Read More
The battle between cars and bikes rages on, as the insurance company of a New Zealand motorist attempted to sue a cyclist for vehicle damage occurring after the driver... Read More
This weekend, Bridgestone’s “Teens Drive Smart” campaign will be at the Alameda Point Naval Air Station on Saturday, September 22nd and Sunday, September 23rd. The free half-day program is... Read More
In the six states where texting and driving is still legal, employers are being placed in the unenviable position of having to discourage those driving on their behalf from... Read More
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is polling Bay Area residents on their customer experiences. The short survey asks for feedback on a variety of topics, from the... Read More
With people in Copenhagen already riding a combined 750,000 miles each day, a new “cycling superhighway” that plans to link the city’s surrounding suburbs is expected to get another... Read More
