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Welcome to SBAB
The Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board was created through Resolution 25534 on May 11th, 1977 to advise the city on the concerns and needs of the growing bicycling community. It is composed of 11 Seattle residents that serve for a 2-year term and in 2001 added an additional position for the YMCA Get Engaged Program that serves for a 1-year term. Meetings are open to the public and are generally held 6-8 pm on the first Wednesday of every month in room L280 in City Hall ( 600 4th Ave ). Five Guiding Principles to a Bikeable Seattle History and Purpose of this Document This document was first drafted in January 2002 as a tool to help the SBAB focus its energies on improving bicycling in Seattle . The Principles will be updated and clarified on a regular basis as needs, attitudes, and facilities change. The Principles, which are guidelines for improvements to both the Physical and Social Environment, are summarized below: 1. Make all roads and bridges safe and accessible to bicyclists (enroute facilities) 2. Provide quality parking and facilities for all bicyclists (destination facilities) 3. Provide more funding to maintain and improve facilities 4. Educate drivers and bicyclists to following traffic laws and drive safely 5. Change the image of bicycling from “simply recreation” to “real transportation” Why should the City of Seattle make bicycling issues a high priority? Bicycling serves a wide variety of community goals that fall under the jurisdiction and missions of many city departments and projects. Bicycling supports:
Because the benefits of bicycling help to further so many community goals, city departments should consider the needs and benefits of bicycling and bicyclists in their projects, policies, funding, and maintenance programs. Discussion/Desired Outcome Inform department heads and other appropriate city staff about the board, the concerns of cyclists, the benefits of bicycling, and each department's power to promote (benefit/contribute to) bicycling and bicycling infrastructure. Offer SBAB as resource to city departments. Resources include review of programs, policies, and projects at SBAB meetings; participation in a specific project's planning, meetings, and process; and communicating support for bike-friendly programs to Seattle City Council Members and the Seattle Mayor. Make all roads and bridges safe and accessible to bicyclists (enroute facilities) Discussion/Desired Outcome Given that safe, high quality facilities are the foundation of bicycling; that the city of Seattle is committed to providing choice in transportation; that switching from driving to bicycling relieves congestion and reduces the cost of providing and maintaining the transportation infrastructure; and that lack of connected routes and lack of information about routes are a barrier to bicycling, the City of Seattle should:
Apply the above policy to all projects undertaken in partnership with King County , Sound Transit, Washington State DOT and other jurisdictions. Provide quality parking and facilities for all bicyclists (destination facilities) Discussion/Desired Outcome Commuters need dedicated, secure parking, bike lockers, and shower facilities. All other bicyclists need secure, convenient, widely available parking. These “transient” parkers are using bicycles as transportation to shop, eat at restaurants, run errands, attend events, etc. If we are ever to get more people out of automobiles, we need to provide secure, quality public bike parking everywhere there is public automobile parking. We need a city policy on bike parking that deals with street bike racks. Existing racks are often rendered unusable by abandoned bikes and locks, and obstructed by dogs, planters, news boxes and other street “furniture”. Legitimate use of racks must be clarified and supported by enforcement. We also need to change land use policy to require more bike parking whenever automobile parking is built or expanded (e.g., parking garages, retail cores, etc.). Employers should make it easy for employees to ride to work. Create a culture and reinforcement that riding to work is a cool and healthy way to get to work. Encourage employers to offer incentives to employees to bike to work. Look at factors that would create a biking culture within a company and develop an information campaign to address it.
Provide more funding to maintain and improve facilities Discussion Funding for bicycle facilities remains vastly out of proportion to funding and expenditures for automobiles. It has been said that we spend the most money on the least desirable form of transportation and we spend the least money on the most desirable form of transportation. Desired Outcome Funding for bicycle related functions should be increased to fully fund:
Educate drivers and bicyclists to following traffic laws and drive safely Discussion Many motorists are sadly unaware of how existing traffic laws apply to bicyclists, including that bicyclists have a right to ride in the road, and that bicyclists are allowed to ride two abreast. In addition, motorists often exceed speed limits and drive in such a manner to endanger bicyclists, pedestrians, and other vehicles. At the same time, bicyclists often ride without obeying traffic laws and fail to take safety precautions, such as using front and rear lights, wearing a helmet, and wearing reflective clothing. A driver education campaign would help facilitate educating drivers and bicyclists alike. Messages for a campaign could include:
Desired Outcome A safety campaign should be undertaken to educate bicyclists and motorists alike and to improve the multi-modal transportation system in the City. Means to disseminate this information could include:
Change the image of bicycling from “simply recreation” to “real transportation” Discussion/Desired Outcome There is a need to shift attitudes toward bicycling from current images such as, “low-class”, “can’t afford a car”, “too dangerous”, “it’s a child’s toy”, “doesn’t belong on the street”, etc. Sell bicycling as a sexy lifestyle choice and viable alternative in many circumstances to driving a car or as a beneficial extension to driving a car. Look at the difficulties that people perceive as being in the way of day-to-day bicycling and identify ways of educating or providing incentives for them to overcome them.
SBAB Five Guidelines to a Bikeable Seattle 15 April 2002 |
