Reporting from San Francisco — Trouble is brewing in the Bay Area bastion of bicyclists’ rights.
UC Berkeley students — already squeezed by steep tuition increases — are banding together to protest campus citations for bike infractions that run $220 apiece and exceed many vehicle violations.
UC Berkeley police say they have issued 103 bike citations from August to November, a 41% increase over the same period last year, nabbing students for riding through designated “dismount zones” and locking their bikes to railings instead of often-overfilled racks.
The East Bay Bicycle Coalition, meanwhile, has met with police in hopes of setting up a diversion program so students can attend a bike safety class in lieu of all or some of the fine, said Program Director Dave Campbell.