INTRODUCTION

The AS Bike Committee is a unique component of the Associated Students community. The ASBC is a place where passionate advocacy for bicycle safety and a clear voice for consideration of bicycles in campus planning cAme together. The ASBC is an active bicycle system advocate, and worked to increase student, staff, faculty, and administration awareness of and involvement with bicycle system issues in and around UCSB. They also funded bike improvements on campus, and participated in social and outreach events throughout the year with their $1.25 per student per quarter lock-in fee.

BIKE COMMITTEE AND THE LOCAL BIKING COMMUNITY MOURN THE PASSING OF CYCLING ADVOCATE RALPH FERTIG

Bike Committee posted this thank you to cycling advocate Ralph Fertig on its Facebook site:

“Santa Barbara suffered a devastating loss with the sudden passing of Ralph Fertig, an exemplary leader in sustainable transportation. Ralph became known in 1991 as an effective, local activist when he joined a group of Santa Barbara County cyclists who were working to improve local conditions. Within a few months, the group became the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition. In November 1991 he published a monthly newsletter that, for the next twenty years, became the voice of the bicycle community and a powerful force on behalf of pedestrian and bicycle access.
Ralph Fertig was one of the founders of Grassroots 101 during the freeway widening fiasco in 1993-96. At the time, most of us had no idea of what bicycle ridership had to do with regional transportation but Ralph, ever thorough with data, patiently explained that most daily trips are shorter than 2 miles and made the point that, paraphrasing House Speaker Tip O’Neil, “all transportation is local”.
The quality of Ralph’s testimony in front of City, County and SBCAG boards was legendary. Ralph participated in ad hoc committees advising SBCAG on multi-modal projects along the 101 corridor, and he continued his advocacy with the City of Santa Barbara’s new Circulation Element, a document that overcame the culture of automobile dependency prevalent at the time within Public Work and Planning departments. After Santa Barbara adopted the new Circulation Element, miles of bikeways became reality and no City street was ever widened -or will ever be.
In 1998 Ralph single-handedly brought the Pro Bike/Pro Walk conference to Santa Barbara, attracting 540 participants from around the country. He was involved with crafting the city of Santa Barbara’s Bicycle Master Plan, Pedestrian Master Plan, and a regional Bikeway Signage Program. Ralph was always aware of the role of transportation projects in environmental quality and social equity.
In 2010 COAST recognized Ralph with its biggest honor, the Barry Siegel Award.
Ralph was also an active member of the UCSB AS Bike Committee. He came to the bi-monthly meetings and contributed suggestions and advice. We cyclists owe so much to Ralph for all of his many years of continuing devotion to improving the cycling environment for all of us.
On Saturday, August 2 at 9:30am, Doris Phinney, President of the Goleta Valley Cycling Club, will be leading the monthly Newcomers Ride as a memorial ride for Ralph. They will meet at Java Station for an easy paced ride around Goleta.”

Ralph could also always be counted to participate in the annual UCSB Bike to Work Day activities providing information and encouragement to anyone commuting to the campus.

PROJECTS AND EVENTS

NEWLY PAINTED ROUNDABOUTS

During the summer several roundabouts around campus got new stripping and other paint maintenance thanks of funding and other support from Bike Committee. It definitely helps when the lines and signage are bright and easy to see!

BIKE PATH REROUTED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION OF NEW BIOENGINEERING BUILDING

Bike Committee send out this alert to students: Notice to UCSB bicyclists! – New BioEngineering building construction site fencing and way-finding signage will be erected starting 9/15/2014. The fencing will be located on the Southwest corner of Davidson Library. Fencing will connect between the South side of the Library and Bldg. 408. The North portion of the site fencing will connect to the existing Library construction site and run parallel in a North South direction past Webb Hall and down to Noble Hall. The bike path has been relocated to the South of bldg. 408 and bike traffic will be directed toward UCEN ROAD via new signage. The North end of the bike path will terminate at Webb Hall and not connect to the existing bike path traveling West at this location. All pedestrian traffic will no longer have access along the West side of Webb Hall. Wayfinding signage will help guide everyone around the new BioEngineering building construction site.

WARNING ABANDONED BICYCLE REMOVAL

Bike Committee alerted students to a Santa Barbara County program to remove abandoned bikes from IV bike racks to free up much needed parking spaces. Owners of impounded bikes were allowed to retrieve them for free by calling the County Sheriff’s Department.

SEMI-QUARTERLY BIKE PATH INSPECTION RIDE AND GIVEAWAY

Twice each quarter committee member ride the campus to monitor were maintenance or improvements are needed. The phone cam is great for recording trouble spots. This year Bike Committee also solicited input from students. The first five who sent comments on how to improve the bike paths and increase mobility for students received a special prize!

MEETING WITH UCSB ADMINISTRATION

Bike Committee meetings happen twice each month and include brainstorming sessions with campus administrators like Associate Campus Architect Dennis Whelan. The session pictured here worked on fixing bumpy areas on the bike path, discussed plans for future routes and creating more bike parking spots where students park most.

FACULTY CLUB CONSTRUCTION

With construction beginning the Faculty Club renovation, Bike Committee once again got the word out about bike path rerouting.

SRB ROUNDABOUT REPAVING

Much needed work was done on the SRB roundabout. Bike Committee is integral part of planning and funding these kinds of projects across campus.

SPRING BREAK PROJECTS

Two awesome Bike Committee projects were begun before Spring Break!

1. Construction for a new, much larger bike parking lot at the Psychology Building was began February 21st. It took two weeks to complete.
2. Construction for a completely remodeled and expanded HSSB bike parking lot was done during Spring Break.

VALENTINES GIFTS FOR THE BIKER IN YOUR LIFE

What could be better than a Bike Committee T-shirt for that special someone in your life!

 

WELCOME VIDEO FOR THE INCOMING BIKE COMMITTEE

Bike Committee gave a sweet nod to the future by ending the year with a video welcome for the incoming committee members to the tune of “I Lived (Glee Cast Version”). Enjoy!