22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com by 2040.” To move further toward that goal, TAMC has several projects and programs designed to bolster bike and pedestrian safety, such as the Safe Routes to School program, funded by the 2016 sales tax initiative called Measure X and overseen by TAMC Principal Transportation Planner Ariana Green. Safe Routes to School includes numerous initiatives such as Walking School Buses and Walk and Roll programs. “We focus on trying to make it safer for kids to get to and from schools all across Monterey County,” Green says. “We work on trying to fix the actual design of the roadways to make it safer and we also do safety education and encouragement programming, encouraging youth to walk and bike to school more and to take transit or carpool, which helps to reduce traffic around the schools.” Green has been working on a series of Safe Routes to School plans for each city in Monterey County, with sidewalk projects in Soledad, Gonzales and Greenfield. In Seaside, TAMC and city officials teamed up to attain grant funding to make Broadway Avenue safer for youth walking or biking to school. “That project is going to start construction hopefully this fall and it’s going to make a huge difference,” Green says. “One of the key takeaways from our program that I’ve learned is that if you design a street that feels comfortable and safe for a child, you’re making it comfortable and safe for everyone in the community—people of all ages and abilities.” Green points out that there are varying transportation safety issues across the county, from urban to rural. The unincorporated community of San Ardo in South County, where a truck route divides the town, serves as the starting point for TAMC’s Safe Streets Together Monterey County campaign, which helps to implement the Vision Zero Plan by advancing policies countywide through education and outreach. “We launched it in San Ardo and we are going to be launching it in King City with the goal of having a similar program throughout each community in the county to develop an overarching campaign about public awareness, shared responsibility and education, to make our communities safer,” says Theresa Wright, TAMC community outreach coordinator. Monterey County Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety Program Coordinator Jessica Chacon, who facilitates bike safety education programs with TAMC in schools, says that staying safe and preventing injuries while getting around, at any age, is a shared responsibility. “Everybody has to be aware,” Chacon says. “If we can teach that early on, that the responsibility is shared, I think it will be safer for everybody.” In addition to the implementation of the Vision Zero Plan, TAMC Senior Transportation Planner Janneke Strause and others are working on an updated Monterey County Active Transportation Plan, which lays out infrastructure improvements, policies and programs for those who walk, bike and use other active forms of traveling. The last Active Transportation Plan was completed in 2018 and the update is currently in the data analysis phase, with the project team conducting a needs analysis based on the existing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. “This plan is important because it will provide a roadmap for local agencies to implement projects to make Monterey County safer, more accessible, and more connected for people of all ages and abilities who walk, bike, or use other forms of active transportation,” Strause says. TAMC is currently seeking volunteers to participate in focus groups about the plan, and meetings will be held in each Monterey County city this fall. “There are just so many facets to this effort,” Wright says. “And TAMC has taken the lead in trying to bring everyone together with this one overarching vision and conviction to make sure that we’re making our communities safe countywide.” The Monterey County Vision Zero Plan points out that speed directly influences the severity and likelihood of a crash, as increased speed means it takes a longer time to stop. In addition, a driver’s field of awareness narrows the harder they hit the gas. IN A NAME CalBike advocates for a universal definition of e-bikes. The California Bicycle Coalition, or CalBike, advocates for legislative policies that bolster the safety of cyclists and pedestrians across California. “There’s a bicycle and pedestrian safety epidemic in the United States and in California,” says CalBike Executive Director Kendra Ramsey. CalBike is currently advocating for Senate Bill 1167, legislation that would penalize manufacturers for advertising vehicles as e-bikes that don’t actually meet the criteria. Electric bikes fall into three primary classes in the state’s vehicle code. Class 1 electric bikes provide pedal assist up to 20 miles per hour. Class 2 e-bikes have a throttle and pedal assist up to 20 miles per hour. Class 3 provides pedal assist up to 28 miles per hour and riders must be at least 16 years old and wear a helmet. “We share the definitions with 45 other states and reputable bike manufacturers make these devices,” Ramsey says. “And the challenge is that legal e-bikes are defined under the law but the term e-bike isn’t specifically reserved for the use of those legal devices.” Because of the loophole, devices that are actually considered electric mopeds, motorcycles or dirt bikes are being packaged and marketed as e-bikes. “And people are giving them to teenagers,” Ramsey says. “So you have packs of teenagers causing mayhem as teenagers like to do with any device they have available. And I say that a little bit jokingly, but anytime there is new technology, there’s a lag between the technology being available and regulation catching up.” Ramsey says that SB 1167 is intended to “close that gap and reserve the term e-bike for legal electric bicycles so that you would not be able to sell a device and call it an e-bike if it wasn’t legally an e-bike in the state of California.” The potential legislation would also define what is considered an electric moped or motorcycle and allow jurisdictions to fine those selling a vehicle as an e-bike when it is not. Ramsey points out that this is not only to prevent young people but also adults from riding an electric moped or motorcycle with a bicycle helmet, which isn’t made for a device that can travel at speeds exceeding 15 to 20 miles per hour. “It’s really about consumer protection and it’s about truth in advertising,” Ramsey says. “The end goal for us is we want people to continue to be able to ride legal electric bicycles because they help people get where they’re going and they’re cheaper than cars.” Ramsey says that defining what an actual e-bike is may help prevent local jurisdictions from over-regulating or banning their use. “We would just like to see consistent application of regulations at the state level that protect legal e-bikes and protect the rights of bicyclists,” says Ramsey. “So we suggest to local agencies that they look to the state for this and not preemptively ban all electric vehicles from their streets and pathways.” Looking at the road ahead, Ramsey and CalBike will continue to fight for legislation and funding that keep bicyclists, pedestrians and drivers safe as they try to get where they’re going. “We are really interested in the roadway system being safe for everyone,” Ramsey says. DKS ASSOCIATES ADAPTED FROM DATA SOURCE: NHTSA COUNTERMEASURES THAT WORK, PEDESTRIAN SAFETY, UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
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