"No" Means Nothing Happens
"Yes" on Santa Cruz measure D
In a messy imperfect world we have messy imperfect fights about important things. With Measure ‘D’ we are going to try and resolve one of these fights and it is really messy and really important.
Full disclaimer, I am a bike nerd. While I think “YES” on Measure D is good for bikes, I think it is good for everyone.
We all want the same thing, a forward looking transportation plan that improves the lives of everyone and the planet.
Little Backstory About Me
When I was 10 years old, I lived in a dysfunctional household and my bike was my freedom. Freedom to escape to my friends' houses. Freedom to work (I had a paper route and delivered by bicycle). Freedom from the mean kids on the school bus. Freedom to roam and grow.
Now, I mostly bike to the places I need to go. Grocery store, work (before the pandemic), visiting friends. I ride for the sheer joy of it. On a bike, I run into people I know, stop and talk. When I’m on my bike, there is always a smile on my face.
You get it. I’m a bike nerd.
Biking is Scary - for Good Reason
When my kids were adolescents, I was terrified of letting them ride in Santa Cruz. We build bike lanes along busy streets and hope for the best. Unfortunately, the worst happens a lot. Many kids and adults have been seriously hurt on Water Street, Soquel Drive, and other streets. Bike lanes on these streets aren’t safe for young / inexperienced riders.
I am passionate about bike safety. When people feel they can travel safely by bike, they ride. Part of the problem is knowing where to safely ride. . There are some ways for new riders to bike safely around Santa Cruz. I care enough that I even drew a map. I care enough that I have biked with the mayor, city council members, county supervisors, and city and county planners all over the county. People on bikes is good for the earth and good for the soul.
To Make Biking Safe We Need More/Better Infrastructure
To make biking safe, it isn’t enough to put a painted bike lane on a busy street within inches of fast moving cars. In places like the Netherlands and Denmark, the biking infrastructure is either separated from cars or it changes the priority of streets for the safety of pedestrians and bikes.
We won’t get people to travel by bike until we can make it safe.
Lessons from Arana Gulch
It turns out ‘No’ is easier; ‘Yes’ is hard. I moved to Santa Cruz in 1989. Riding my bike, I looked for a way to get from west to east. Around 1990, I heard about a plan to build a path through Arana Gulch to Brommer Street. It was obvious to all the bikers I knew that an Arana Gulch connector would be pivotal in making the county more bike friendly.
The Arana Gulch neighbors didn’t want a path built and fought it. Change is scary. Some things are really hard to undo. The fight took 25 years. Twenty-five years of “No”. “No” works. “No” is easier. “Yes” is hard. Built in 2015, finally, Arana Gulch is the most important piece of bike infrastructure in the county. Anana Gulch is always busy. Busy with children, seniors, commuters, dog walkers, people enjoying nature. Always busy.
You can now get from west to east more safely. Twenty-five years.
NO Because ‘Train’
I am all for better transportation, but a train is insane. We don’t have the density to make a train useful. Stations require space. Train tracks need to be fenced. The number of street crossings will torture car traffic. Train tracks divide communities. There are no examples of small counties like ours with train systems that work. We just won’t build it. If we move forward, we will spend the money designing and planning, but we’ll get nothing.
Anyone that has looked at this in any depth says the same thing, “Train is insane”. “Train” really means, “No”. We are already 10 years into “No” because of “Train”. Ten years and millions of dollars.
“YES” means a Safe Alternative Transportation Corridor
The simple thing to do is pave it. Just pave it. Paving is cheap. Pave it wide without cutting trees and building retaining walls and floating viaducts. Hike, walk, run, ebikes. Public transportation doesn’t have to be a train. What about mini buses? Mini Taxis? Golf cart trams? We can say “YES” to something. If the path is wide and paved, we have lots of choices. A corridor that runs the length of the county without cars would change our lives.
Some people say, “who will bike from Watsonville to Santa Cruz?” I don’t believe that that is the question. What about all the little trips we will get off the highway? All the short trips to schools, shorter commutes, quick errands. Get those trips on the greenway and free up the highway for those who must commute. Lots of choices if we have a trail.
Who is “NO”?
There are “No” signs all over the county. When the fight was afoot for Arana Gulch, ‘No” was the Arana Gulch neighbors, afraid of change.
“No” is Roaring Camp, because they want to be able to connect to the rail network to bring in locomotives at the cost of over $60M to taxpayers.
Money is being spent to design “Train”. A lot of money. Some people funding the “No” campaign are the same people that stand to gain from government contracts to engineer train infrastructure. A train that will never be built.
"YES”, Because I Dream
I dream of kids riding their bikes to schools, visiting friends like I did. I dream of people getting around on bikes. I dream of small electric buses that can get through the county faster than the clogged streets. I dream of riding my bike through the beauty of this county from Watsonville to Davenport free from the danger of cars.