Sprawl Stymies Bike and Scooter Plan
Wahab brings some dough, Bike Hayward develops a memorial, and Council pushes bike investment
Wahab Cash Aperitif
Former Hayward City Councilmember and current State Senator Aisha Wahab returned to give some legislative updates.
Bills that she authored which got signed into law recently:
SB 461 Cultural Observance of Holiday Time
SB 462 CalSAWS Data Sharing
SB 463 Reunification of Parental Cooperation
SB 464 Survivors of Sexual Assault Bill of Rights
SB 465 Refugee Service on DSS Website
SB 555 Stable Affordable Housing Act
Wahab also co-authored many other bills which I won’t list here other than that she highlighted SB 673 Emergency notification: Ebony Alert: missing Black youth which was something that Councilmember Angela Andrews was a big advocate for.
Wahab also chairs the Senate Public Safety Committee which passed many many laws. 18 of which centered around Fentanyl which was one of the big pushes for the Public Safety Committee in a variety of ways.
Finally, Wahab also secured Hayward a few big buckets of money:
$1,200,000 for the Hayward Evaluation and Response Teams (HEART) which are the alternative responses to mental health crises. You may have seen the big white boxy ambulances that have the green heart on them. It was a big push by local organizers, including the Hayward Community Coalition.
$2,500,000 for the second phase of construction for the Stack Youth and Family Center.
$1,000,000 for BART’s Next Generation Fare Gates project, which we covered in early October. Though the project will, eventually impact Hayward’s stations, the initial trial will be constructed at West Oakland Station.
Wahab also outlined budget wins for housing and some for climate change preparedness.
Councilmember Roche asked if there were conversations at the State level about independent regional hospitals, like our own beleaguered St. Rose. Wahab explained that some conversations had been had, and that she even helped facilitate St. Rose getting some state grant funding, but not only is the money not enough to solve their long-running financial woes, she stressed “some of the onus is on St. Rose and their leadership to prioritize what they can do” but also said that “we will continue working on that and we will be elevating their issues to the rest of the state legislature.”
A representative for the Stack Center spoke out about how much the money will help, but stressed that for full implementation of the vision, a further $14,000,000 will be needed on top of this very generous block of funding, which will ensure that the entrepreneurial space, café space, classrooms, and makerspace are all funded.
Then Council and relevant parties came down to take a big heartwarming photo with Wahab and her staffer next to a giant novelty check. Which may sound corny and cynical, but it’s both a big win for Hayward to get that money as well as important PR for Wahab who will likely be facing a recall election in the not-too-distant future.
Bike Memorial Brioche
One commenter from a senior mobile home park brought up an issue about overly-large redwood trees that are warping the ground under the homes, which requires someone to come out and re-level the home. Plus many other issues, like debris and causing damage to the homes. Proof that the benefits of trees are very contextual.
Another member of the public spoke in support of the preservation of the murals. The murals downtown had an anti-graffiti varnish applied that protects them from UV exposure, but it needs to be applied every 5 years or so. Some of the murals are nearing 15 years old. He offered his services in supervising the work needed.
The wife of the late Chris Peña came to ask Council to erect a permanent memorial in his honor be installed at the intersection of Mission Blvd and Orchard Ave, where he was struck by a speeding car while on his bicycle and killed. The proposed memorial is in the form of a permanent Ghost Bike, signed and painted by his children, and with the support of Bike Hayward.
Other public speakers came out in support of the memorial ghost bike for Chris Peña, including his friends, family, and representatives of Bike Hayward. Bike Hayward put together a petition with over 400 signatures in support of the permanent memorial at the intersection, and have been avid supporters of Peña.
This issue was particularly salient given that the only item on the agenda is a proposed micromobility program, which is meant to encourage more bicycle and scooter use throughout the city. City Manager Kelly McAdoo expressed that her office would work with the family and Bike Hayward on a plan for the memorial.
Also, relatedly, the traffic calming bollards on Campus Drive have been completely installed, which was an project for which Mr. Peña had been a vocal supporter.
Sign Tweak Kebabs
On the sole consent item, Councilmember Syrop requested a change from “Freestanding signs and any electrical, flashing, wind-powered, or animated signs are prohibited.” which implies all freestanding signs are disallowed, to “Freestanding electrical, flashing, wind-powered, or animated signs are prohibited.” This is a small, but significant change that will likely make everyone’s life easier and a detail we missed when we wrote about it. Mayor Mark Salinas was not in attendance to oppose any changes. The ordinance passed as amended.
Main Course: Micromobility Greens
Kentucky-Style Context Glaze
Micromobility is defined as: a form of transportation that is small, low-speed, and human or electric powered meant for 1 rider at a time (think bikes, e-bikes, scooters, and e-scooters).
And shared micromobility is any kind of program to provide bikes and/or scooters for rent or short-term use.
The main thing here is that the City commissioned a rather lengthy study on what a micromobility plan could look like in the City (it’s over 80 pages). There’s some really interesting information in there for those, like myself, who dig this kind of thing. But the actual thing that matters is that Hayward is likely too low-density and too car-centric to support a shared micromobility plan of any substance. No outside vendors are going to set up e-scooter hubs because not enough people will use them. There’s also all kinds of infrastructural factors at play which make adoption less likely.
Generally speaking, people really like the idea of shared micromobility, though the consultants noted that the folks who tend to use micromobility most often are either affluent and white or poor people of color. People who are in the middle tend to rely very heavily on their cars and, unfortunately, that’s most people in Hayward.
So what does Staff suggest? Instead of setting up a micromobility network, it suggests that the City create a clearing house of information on rebates for e-bikes.
This is not surprising, but it feels frustrating because this is the exact opposite way that it should be done: If you build it, they will come is how cycling infrastructure works. There is no doubt that Hayward can’t support an outside vendor setting up e-bike hubs, but our micromobility infrastructure leaves a lot to be desire and it actively discourages people from using anything other than their cars.
Even the local ordinances need to be adjusted to facilitate higher adoption as there are currently laws which prohibit scooters from riding in bike lanes as well as on sidewalks. One wonders where they are supposed to go.
The long term plan suggested by the study is to work on regional support with unincorporated areas and other nearby cities. It’s basing the recommendation on a similar program in Sacramento which seems to be successful.
This is fine. But it feels really disappointing to have an 80 page report that boils down to: Do outreach and education, and start talking to people in the future. A lot of this is an infrastructural issue and getting people the vehicles is only one part of the picture, though admittedly it is an important one and this is still important work.
In fairness to Staff though, they’re currently applying for a grant to get bike rebates, bike storage facilities, and bike safety education funded. Which is also good, but not going to be enough to spark a “modal shift”.
Pearl Comment Couscous With Bittersweet Greens
A representative from Bike Hayward offered assistance with the short-term initiative, including connecting with local bike shops, social media, and even translation. For the long-term, they stressed the need for a high-quality and connected bike network because they don’t believe the current bike lanes will allow a good micromobility system to work. They also mentioned that better bike infrastructure will prevent more cyclist deaths, like that of Chris Peña.
Council Plate
Slivered Service Provider Withdrawal
Councilmember Ray Bonilla Jr. asked about issues with “continuing service” and staff explained that things start well, but lack of demand, concerns about dumping/blight, and collection causes them to rethink and pull out due to profits.
Mayor Pro-Tem Andrews also asked if Hopr still existed, which seems fair given their website’s bare-bones nature, and Staff believed it did, yes. They just usually operate in denser cities. She also asked if the City had considered where things could be located in the future, like hotels or larger employers. Staff said that even in places like Palo Alto and Redwood City, docked programs did not succeed and the program was scrapped after a few years. It sounds like to be successful, docks need to be near dense residential areas.
Councilmember George Syrop commented that the staff analysis concerning how some shared micromobility programs have pulled out of cities was important: “I have about—I kid you not—maybe 6 or 7 different apps of scooter companies that are now defunct and no longer in business.” He also commented on blight issues/environmental issues with batteries surrounding such vendors.
Pureed Partnership and Outreach Soup
Councilmember Julie Roche asked that the marketing include the bikeways we already have. She asked what AC Transit and BART are doing about this stuff. ACTC is working on a last-mile program.
If BART and AC Transit are not providing either the ability to bring them on… but just that there’s charging or docking at these stations.
Council pushed for educational components, including on charging, bike safety, and making sure the information was available in multiple languages, as well as ensuring both public and private actors could help spread the word.
Councilmember Bonilla Jr. asked if any discussions have been had yet to get a temperature check on local cities for partnering on micromobility, and Staff has not officially yet. Therefore, we don’t know if this second phase is even something other cities/districts have appetite for.
Mayor Pro-Tem Andrews wanted to see CalTrans involved more somehow, since freeway exits are particularly dangerous. Staff agreed to look into it, but stressed that bike an pedestrians are at the forefront of the mind even with freeway interchanges.
Councilmember Syrop mentioned Bike Hayward has already done ebike safety classes in City Hall, and stressed the importance of working with them going forward and doing more in-person events.
Rack of Roast Bike Infrastructure
Staff stressed that dockless micromobility is more suitable for Hayward because we’re so spread out:
You get off BART, and you take a docked bike and you go home and you don’t know what to do with that bike because you have to go to a docking station and put it there.
Councilmember Zermeño sort of shrugged off the dangers of having just painted bike lanes*: “yes, you may get hit, but still” which is technically true, but given what happened in public comment, felt tone deaf.
Bonilla Jr. supported the need to invest in high-quality connected bike lane networks that are safe.
For anyone to feel comfortable riding these bikes or ebikes or whatever sort of multimodal transportation we’re going to be bringing into the city, we just need to make sure we have clear networks for them to use to get around.
And Councilmember Syrop expressed the need to have infrastructure to encourage adoption, as opposed to just rebates. He also desired more planning around making biking hotspots, routes, and storage and mentioned a wish for something like Berkeley’s Bicycle Boulevards.
Councilmember Syrop asked for bike parking, not just docking, to be included in the grant funding. He also asked about charging adapters which would allow ebikes to charge at car chargers, which is possible as well.
Councilmember Syrop also emphasized bike security. Councilmembers in general were supportive of including rebates for bike locks, helmets, and other accessories that would make cycling more accessible for residents.
Andrews wanted to ask about connections on Mission Blvd. as an issue from South Hayward to North Hayward. Staff mentioned that things have been very difficult since the Loop was created and that they’re working to incrementally fix the issues that arose from that process.
Councilmember Andrews asked if there was something we could do to incentivize older businesses get more bike infrastructure on site and staff was supportive.
The projects were unanimously approved.
*The best practice for bike lanes is to have them grade separated, with either a barrier or having them up on a curb, though still separated from pedestrian traffic.
Safety Sweets for Two
On the safety front, Councilmember Syrop called out that if you see any still bodies of water or dead birds to report them to mosquitos.org because there’s been an increase in West Nile in the area, far above what’s been seen in the last decade.
Councilmember Andrews expressed disappointment that all 3 bills relating to PFAS were vetoed by the Governor. You can learn more about why PFAS is terrifying, watch the John Oliver video on it:
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