A number of Bike East Bay staff members took the Capital Corridor Amtrak train to Sacramento last month to attend and present at Calbike’s 2026 Summit.
What we found was that there’s a surprising amount of work and progress happening across the entire East Bay.
East bay representation
Six Bike East Bay staff members who attended were joined by bike education instructors, local group leaders, and city staff. Advocates came from all across Alameda and Contra Costa County; from Richmond to Pleasanton.
We hosted a panel, and East Bay representatives spoke at five other panels.
Justin remarked, “Seeing so many local leaders and advocates sharing the incredible work happening in their own backyards was a powerful reminder: our movement is growing and we’re making lasting change.”
Covering the Calbike Panels
We hosted panel discussion: “Winning” a Losing Campaign: Lessons from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Trail. Robert and Dani, along with Warren Wells from Marin County Bike Coalition and Carlos Torres from Rich City Rides talked about how despite losing 4 miles of bike/walk trail on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge for 4 days a week, we built an unprecedented coalition of local, state and national supporters. The group included eighty partner organizations and thousands of new community contacts.
Here were a few other other notable panels with staff or East Bay Participants:
- Privacy is Safety: Designing Technology for Equitable and Joyful Mobility – Justin, our Co-Executive Director of Mobility Justice was a panelist
- Taking it to the Ballot: How Citizens Can Win Safe Streets when Politicians Won’t – Rebecca from Walk Bike Berkeley spoke
- East Oakland Community Streets: Community-Based Design in Deep East Oakland – Alta Planning, OakDOT staff, and Chris Hwang from Walk Oakland Bike Oakland presented
- Dude Where’s my Bike (Parking)? – Alta Planning, BART, Santa Rosa City Staff and Caltrain representatives presented
- Lessons Learned about E-Bike Rebate Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation – Ava Community Energy had a representative speak (See our e-bike test ride recap for firsthand experiences from our event with Ava Energy!)
- Storytelling with Advanced Analysis – Ignacio from Eden Youth, Alta Staff, City of Hayward and Cupertino staff presented
- Demystifying the AASHTO Bike Guide and MUTCD – Toole design and Rock Miller staff presented
- Community-Led Traffic Calming Goes Legit! – The Traffic Violence Rapid Response team, an Oakland Tech student, and Tonya Love (Oakland BPAC commissioner) presented
- Aligning Emergency Response and Safe Streets – was led by Traffic Violence Rapid Response, OakDOT Staff, Berkeley Disaster and Fire Safety Commission, Siegman & Associates and SafeTREC representatives
"We're having a huge impact on our cities"
Kelly was impressed in learning about the e-bike outreach efforts from the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates. There was a large group of CalTrans attendees, and Bike East Bay is looking for ways to regularly meet to discuss the needs of our communities.
In talking to members from other organizations, Jill noted, “The Summit is always a great opportunity to connect as a community and share the challenges and successes we’re all experiencing. I feel like I’m part of a bigger movement that’s making real progress. It’s sometimes hard to see on a day-to-day basis, but when we have time to sit back and reflect on everything we’ve accomplished over the last few years, it’s so clear that we’re having a huge impact on our cities. “
E-Balance Bikes, bike buses, and sunsets
Other interesting happenings: Have you ever heard of an e-balance bike? Justin was surprised to learn that they exist.
Dani was blown away by The Future is Two-Wheeled: Kids as Changemakers panel hosted by the Arroyo Vista Bike Bus. He was reminded of how magical bike buses are. “The kids presenting on the topic are superstars that can probably accomplish a year’s worth of advocacy work with one of their 3 minute public comments.”
(Learn more about the Dover Bike Bus in San Pablo that we are helping establish!)
Robert captured this amazing sunset on the Capital Corridor ride home, and we’ll leave you with that:
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