Bicycle Advocates Converge On Sacramento For Statewide Conference

Hundreds of bicycle advocates from throughout California are converging on Sacramento this week for a statewide conference. Organizers say the push this year is for greater bicycle access in low-income neighborhoods.

Civil planners, industry reps, elected officials, and activists will all be part of the mix at the 2017 California Bicycle Summit.

It's only held once every two years, and this year organizers say they're excited to have it in Sacramento, so they can directly communicate with state leaders.

Dave Snyder is the Executive Director of the California Bike Coalition. He says, the theme this year is "connecting" and that includes connecting under-served neighborhoods.

"We really are going to emphasis equity and inclusion at this event, so that our transportation policies and our infrastructure serves our communities that have long been neglected by our transportation policy," says Snyder.

Snyder does say there's a lot of reason for optimism, as biking is on the rise in California with double the number of trips compared with ten years ago.

He also says the amount of funding for bicycle infrastructure is up at both the state and local levels.