San Mateo County Creates Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
After (at least) five years of advocacy from your friendly, local Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, San Mateo County has finally created a standalone Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC)! Passed by San Mateo County's Board of Supervisors, the committee will be composed of five members “who regularly walk and/or ride a bicycle for transportation purposes,” such that “one member represents the interests of the bicycle community, one member represents the Safe Routes to School community, and one member represents the interests of the older adult community. The two remaining seats shall be at-large.”The resolution states that, "more can be done to increase rates of active transportation and to improve the quality of facilities that serve people making daily trips by walking and bicycling." Duties will include advising the Board of Supervisors and other departments on funding and project priorities for biking and walking, encouragement and education programs to increase walking and bicycling for transportation, and making recommendations on the County's road resurfacing and maintenance program. The Committee will also address biking and walking mobility as it relates to, "the needs of school children through Safe Routes to Schools, business districts, seniors, people with disabilities, and disadvantaged communities."This huge success is a long time coming. First, SVBC worked with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to require cities to have Bicycle Advisory Committees (BAC/BPAC) in order to be eligible to receive Transportation Development Act – Article 3 (TDA-3) funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects. For several years, this requirement was ignored or unenforced.Meanwhile, we were pushing hard to get a countywide Active Transportation Coordinator, who was finally funded 2013 and hired in early 2014. Many of you now know Ellen Barton, a dedicated staff person who shares time between the City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) and the San Mateo County Office of Sustainability.The BPAC requirement was almost removed from MTC's TDA-3 criteria, but SVBC and other groups prevented that from happening in 2013. This led to MTC deciding that they'd better start enforcing this criteria. And thus, in early 2015 we saw the creation of 4 BPACs that previously didn't exist (Redwood City, Belmont, Atherton, and SMC). BUT San Mateo County's was housed in their Parks and Recreation Commission. This wasn't ideal at all. There are many people biking for transportation, commuting, errands, and fun, outside of parks and recreation purposes. SVBC worked behind the scenes with County staff to find a better solution and inform the charter, which passed as a resolution by the County Board of Supervisors on September 1.None of this would be possible without the countless hours and efforts of staff and officials past and present of SVBC, MTC, the County Board of Supervisors, C/CAG, and the Office of Sustainability. Thanks to all the members of the public who wrote letters or spoke in favor of these various steps as well.Applications for the SMC BPAC will be available later this fall and meetings will commence in 2016.
