Group names Alameda one of the country’s most bicycle-friendly cities
That takes grit and determination — an effort that Alameda officials didn’t shy away from, which has now paid off as the little island city that could was recently named a gold-level “Bicycle Friendly Community” by the nationwide League of American Bicyclists. Alameda earned the prestigious award, a distinction held by only 32 cities across the country, by moving up the League’s ladder.
The city was first awarded bronze status in 2016 and then reached silver status in 2021. The pivotal steps Alameda took to get to the gold include approving the city’s “Active Transportation Plan,” a comprehensive roadmap for future safety and mobility; green lighting the bicycle-friendly east-west “Cross Alameda Trail” to near-completion; and launching the Oakland-Alameda Water Shuttle service, named “Woodstock” after one of the three original mid-1800s communities that make up the Island. The water taxi provides free transport from the Island’s West End to Oakland’s Jack London Square, and bikes are welcome.
“More than 40% of Alameda students walk and bike to school, and we are committed to making sure they get there safely,” says Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, who also says the city is committed to achieve this by expanding “Neighborhood Greenways” such as the Cross Alameda Trail so that anyone coming to the Island can travel safely.
While achieving gold status may be admirable, there’s always room for improvement. In its “Feedback To Improve” report card to the city, the League of American Bicyclists had several recommendations, including narrowing the gender gap between male (3.8%) and female (1.1%) bike commuters; lowering speed limits on all residential streets to 20 mph or less; relaunching the effort to start a bike sharing system in Alameda; and targeting women, seniors, low-income residents and non-English speakers with “encouragement outreach methods and programs.”
Not surprisingly, members of Alameda bike advocacy group Bike Walk Alameda are pretty excited about the city achieving gold status.
“Alameda is uniquely positioned to become the premier cycling city in the U.S.,” says Denyse Trepanier, the group’s board chair, who credits Alameda’s “generally forward-thinking City Council and staff” for the honor. “They have remained laser-focused on making our streets safer and addressing climate change by creating safe alternatives to getting around outside of cars. It’s not surprising to see this recognition come to our city.”
Another Alamedan who thinks the city’s newfound “gold” bike status makes sense is George Stephens, a longtime bike sales representative and “Bike Fit Specialist” at Alameda Bicycle, a bike shop on Park Street that’s been in business since 1969.
Like others, Stephens, a former New York City bike messenger, doesn’t seem surprised by the accolades coming Alameda’s way. He describes cycling in Alameda as a “cake walk.” In addition to the flat terrain, he cites Alameda’s 25 mph speed limit, once turning the town into a “speed trap,” as another factor in making bikes more prominent.
“If you weren’t from here and you were doing 27, you’d get pulled over. So it was a very safe place to ride a bike, but there was no bike infrastructure. There were no bike lanes,” says Stephens, who notes that now there are. “That’s the big difference.”
Stephens says he has raised two kids on the Island and hasn’t owned a car in 35 years.
“Over the last 10 to 15 years, they put in more and more bike lanes,” he says. “They did the bike lane down by the beach, which was big. They’re now building one that’s going to span from the Fruitvale Bridge all the way across to the other side of the Island. So it’s just the increase of protected bike lanes as well as marked bike lanes, bike lanes around all the schools — there are a lot of pluses.”
Stephens says that while he thinks gold status is certainly something to be proud of, he doubts many outside the cycling community will know or care about the distinction.
“I’ll be blatantly honest,” he said. “I don’t think most people will even know about it. It’s more people in the bike industry and people that follow things like that that’ll notice.”
Stephens added that he thinks Alameda Bicycle will see an uptick in foot traffic into the shop “as the bike infrastructure gets used more. From our standpoint it gives more people the idea that they can actually leave that car at home and ride a bike. And that’s not a bad thing.”
Gold bike town status or not, Stephens says he appreciates his car-free lifestyle in Alameda, something he knows others may think of as being “un-American.”
“It’s easy to live in this area without a car. You don’t need one despite what people have convinced themselves. I do fine.”
Paul Kilduff is a San Francisco-based writer who also draws cartoons. He can be reached at pkilduff350@gmail.com.