Two Bike Bills on the Governor's Desk
Send Letters of Support Today
September, 2005 - Two important State bills regarding bicycling that the Marin County Bicycle Coalition has supported are now on Governor’s Schwarzenegger’s desk. We need your help to get the bills passed and are asking MCBC members and supporters to fax or mail letters to the Governor.
Here is contact information for Governor Schwarzenegger. The Governor's fax number is often busy for long periods of time; if you want to send a fax and the line is busy, use the web form.
Fax: |
916-445-4633 |
Web Form: |
|
Address: |
The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger |
We’ve made it easy by providing sample letters of support on our website (see below). Two separate letters need to be sent (one for each bill).
AB 748 would prohibit the possibility of agencies charging tolls for bicyclists and/or pedestrians on highways or bridges. This bill is being actively opposed by the Golden Gate Bridge District which has floated the idea of charging a bike/ped toll to make up for their deficit. If that happened, the Golden Gate Bridge would be the first agency in the nation to charge bicyclists and pedestrians, setting a terrible precedent and discouraging walking and bicycling, clean forms of transportation that help to decrease traffic and provide important avenues for physical activity (which ultimately reduces costs related to obesity and sedentary lifestyles). Our thanks go out to Assemblyman Joe Nation who is a co-author of AB 748.
Click here for text of a sample letter for AB 748
SB 523 will keep the Bicycle Transportation Account (BTA) at its current level of $7.2 million/year. If this legislation is not approved, then the amount of funds for the BTA will revert to only $5 million per year. The BTA is the only funding account at the State that is dedicated strictly to bicycle transportation, and the demand from local agencies for securing funds from the BTA always outstrips the amount of funds available. With the rising price of fuel, California needs to do everything possible to encourage alternatives to the automobile.
Click here for text of a sample letter for SB 523
The California Bicycle Coalition, which sponsored AB 748 and SB 523, is emphasizing that we need to flood the Governor’s office with letters on both of these bills. Please take action to send letters to the Governor, and ask your friends to do the same.
