• Help Plan Bike to Work Day 2012 
• WOBO Parklet Sprouts at Oakland Running Festival 
• Autumn Bernstein Joins WOBO Board 
• Oakland Urban Paths Joins California Preservation Conference 
• SeeClickFix Your Neighborhood 
• Ride for a Reason: May 12, 2012
• WOBO Comments on East Bay BRT Environmental Impact Report  
• Get Involved with WOBO

Help Plan Bike to Work Day 2012 

Bike to Work Day is Thursday, May 10, 2012 and we need your help to make it the most successful Bike to Work Day yet! Join us Thursday April 5 from 6:00-7:00pm for an informational briefing on everything Bike to Work Day. The meeting will be held at 436 14^th Street, Oakland – Second Floor Conference Room.

We’ll provide background information on everything from energizer stations to pedal pools, and you will have opportunities to plan pirate themed bike advocacy, city council members’ bike commutes, and much more!

To RSVP and get more information contact Jesse White

Sign-up here if you can’t make the meeting but still want to volunteer with WOBO for Bike to Work Day.

WOBO Parklet Sprouts at Oakland Running Festival

On Sunday, March 25 thousands of runners and spectators will come to downtown Oakland for the 3rd annual Running Fest, and WOBO will be there to spread the good word for a more walkable, runnable, and cool-down stoppable street! Whether you’re planning to run, cheer, or just hang out, please stop by our demonstration Parklet. We’ll have info about the Parklets campaign and a place to rest your feet.

Look for our demo Parklet at Farley’s East, 33 Grand Ave (between Broadway & Webster) from 7:30am-1:30pm (or later if it’s really hoppin’!)

We also need a few more volunteers to staff the demo Parklet – no experience necessary. If you can pitch in, please contact Shannon Tracey.

Autumn Bernstein Joins WOBO Board 

Autumn is the founding Director of ClimatePlan, a statewide coalition of non-profit organizations working to advance sustainable and equitable communities in California. She previously worked for Greenbelt Alliance and Sierra Nevada Alliance, where she led grassroots campaigns to advance sustainable urban planning, promote transit, biking and walking, build affordable housing, and protect natural resource lands throughout California.

Autumn graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. in Conservation Biology. In 2010 she completed a fellowship with the German Marshall Fund’s Urban & Regional Policy Program, where she evaluated the success of regional sustainability initiatives in Italy, France and Germany. She currently resides in Oakland’s Dimond District.

Oakland Urban Paths Joins 2012 California Preservation Conference 

In conjunction with the internationally celebrated Jane’s Walks, Oakland Urban Paths will be at the 2012 California Preservation Conference, pitching walkable historic sites in Oakland on May 5^th. Several walks are in the works for Sunday, May 6^th so stay tuned to WOBO’s events calendar or sign up to be on OUP’s list serve.

If you missed it, read about OUP’s March 10 walk

SeeClickFix Your Neighborhood 

SeeClickFix is a mobile / web app solution to reporting and tracking the resolution of neighborhood potholes, graffiti, funky traffic signals, illegal dumping, and more. Please note however that this does not preclude contacting the Public Works Agency to report problems that need fixing.

Here are a few hints to make efficient use of this powerful tool:

• Make sure you enter the location of the problem, not where you can be reached or where your phone GPS is automatically tracking your present location
• Include photos in the report
• See a pothole or problem that is already reported? Add your comment to the report if you hope to escalate the reported issue
• Call Public Works directly to report emergency street infrastructure issues

If you are a savvy blogger of all things Oakland, you can embed a widget on your blog or website.

Ride for a Reason On May 12, 2012

Now in its fourth year, Ride for a Reason is a bike ride from Oakland to the State Capitol to draw attention to the budget crisis for public schools in California and raise essential funds for enrichment programs in Oakland. California now funds its schools at 25% below the national average and has the largest class sizes in the nation.  We must do better.

We need your help to register 200 riders and raise $60,000. Funds will be split evenly between four schools: Emerson Elementary, Claremont Middle, Oakland Technical High, and Oakland International High.  Please join us on May 12 for fully supported 45, 65, and 105 mile rides to Sacramento. Transportation home is available.  The 45 mile ride is ideal for families. All riders are encouraged to raise $250 or more in donations.

Register, volunteer, or donate here.

For more information contact Mike Napolitano.

WOBO Comments on East Bay BRT Environmental Impact Report  

The East Bay Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) proposal has been more than a decade in the making – a world-class bus improvement sometimes called “light rail on wheels.” WOBO’s policy committee analyzed the project and submitted comments on the Final Environmental Impact Report this week. This document will be the basis of decisions made by the AC Transit Board and local City Councils to accept tens of millions of dollars in county, state, and federal funding to build bus-only lanes along Telegraph Avenue from Berkeley to Oakland, and International Blvd (and a portion of E12th St) into San Leandro.

While we acknowledge that bus-only lanes are a great benefit to all road users, we want to see BRT bring “complete streets.” Improved crosswalks, sidewalks, and bike lanes make it easier and safer for pedestrians and bicyclists to use BRT. Telegraph Avenue in particular presents a great opportunity to install a bike lane that requires the lengthy and expensive environment analysis prepared by AC Transit for BRT. For that reason we commented that these improvements should be considered part of the core project.

WOBO supports the full build of the BRT project into Berkeley. This will maximize the line’s utility and ridership. Unfortunately, a minority of the Berkeley City Council blocked AC Transit from studying bus lanes in their city. Nonetheless, we don’t see a logical terminus in North Oakland and so recommend that BRT run to Berkeley and connect with bicycle and transit infrastructure.

We also expressed the need for further pedestrian safety improvements along International Blvd, and that replacement car parking is not needed in North Oakland, nor a good use of scarce transit funds.

Click here to read our full comment letter.

Contact Liza Pratt to learn about how to get involved with WOBO’s policy work

Get Involved with WOBO   

WOBO is always looking for more folks to get involved with our volunteer-powered projects! Here’s how you can help:

• Like WOBO on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or join our Flickr group.
• Drop us a line by email (or any social media) – we want to hear from you!
• Can you volunteer in any of the following areas?
  • Oakland Bikeways Campaign – Liza@wobo.org
  • Parklets for People – Shannon@wobo.org
  • Outreach/Events Staffing – Jesse@wobo.org
  • Fundraising – Jesse@wobo.org
  • Campaigns/Grassroots Organizing – Liza@wobo.org
  • Membership – Jesse@wobo.org
  • Web Content/Development – Jesse@wobo.org
  • Graphic design (t-shirts, flyers, etc.) – Jesse@wobo.org
  • Coordinating Volunteers/Interns – Jesse@wobo.org