photo by Douglas Gary
We need your support to fuel the East Bay Bicycle Coalition’s advocacy work, making your ride better here in the East Bay. We are looking forward to a great year for bicycling in 2011. This past year, East Bay cities received over $50 million in funding commitments for new bike/ped improvements–it was a record year for us! Looking at it from an organization’s perspective, every dollar in membership support you gave us this year was returned 1,000 times in new bike projects. Not bad!
Make a Special Contribution to the Bicycle Coalition!
2011 is going to see many more new bike lanes striped, including Carlson Blvd and Barrett Avenue in Richmond, Buchanan Street in Albany the Ninth Street Connection between Emeryville and Berkeley, Webster and Franklin streets in downtown Oakland, 38th St in East Oakland, upper Broadway and Tunnel Road in the vicinity of the Caldecott Tunnel, San Leandro Blvd in San Leandro, Foothill Blvd in Pleasanton, and many more. Your support will bring projects like these to more East Bay cities. Thanks and ride safe into 2011!
________
From Tom Ayres, chair of our Board of Director
Dear Members,
Wherever your ride takes you – whether it’s rolling past the golden hills of the Diablo Range or commuting beside the bustle of Telegraph Ave –you must notice the scores of new bicyclists in the East Bay. Some of them are professionals, heading home from work on Xtracycles packed with a week’s worth of groceries. Some of them are young urbanites on sleek, minimalist fixed gears. All of them are fellow cyclists.
All of them are saving our atmosphere from tons of CO2 by choosing to ride. And all of them were able to make that choice because you, as one of our most generous members, have made the East Bay a more bike-friendly place. We need your support now more than ever.
Because of your generosity, over the past two years our membership has doubled in size. Twice as many voices have been speaking out for bike advocacy in the East Bay, and lawmakers have listened. We have opened dozens of new bike lanes and bridges throughout the region. We have secured over $50 million this year in grants for new bicycle and pedestrian projects – that’s $1,000 in bike funding for every dollar that you gave as a member. We have redesigned the bicycle master plans for seven cities. And this is just the beginning.
Just like our membership, the East Bay is rapidly growing. The Association of Bay Area Governments projects that the population of Alameda and Contra Costa counties will grow by nearly 20% by the year 2025. With over 250,000 new residents sharing the road, we will either have to renew our focus on sustainable transportation or spread out into car-centric sprawl. Our community is going to change, and it’s up to us to make sure it changes for the better.
If we’re going to shape that change, all of us at EBBC have to grow into our second era as a bicycle advocacy organization. In this new era, we’re going to complete the Bay Bridge Bikeway, providing bicyclist and pedestrian access from the shores of Oakland to San Francisco. We’re going to cultivate thousands of new cyclists and teach them the skills they need to ride safely on the road. And following the new bicycle master plans, we’re going to build infrastructure that will make our region one of the most bicycle friendly in the world.
Please click here to help us make 2011 a great year for biking in the East Bay. With this support you will have played an important role in shaping the future of our community.
Sincerely,
Tom Ayres
Chair, Board of Directors
2208 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 845-RIDE (7433)