NOTICE OF INTENT TO CIRCULATE PETITION

Notice is hereby given by the persons whose names appear hereon of their intention to circulate the petition within the City of Berkeley for the purpose of enacting an ordinance to accommodate alternative transportation in the City of Berkeley. A statement of the reasons of the proposed action as contemplated in the petition is as follows:

Nonmotorized Traveler Equality Ordinance of 1998

This proposed ordinance would correct recent inequities in our transportation system in a way that would greatly benefit all of Berkeley. The ordinance would result in a major study of transportation costs and benefits and of the extent to which equal rights to travel have been denied, and would propose a program to correct those inequities. The ordinance would educate our children to be better informed of their transportation future and the choices that we as a society can make. It would also protect impounded bicycles from rust. The ordinance would notify the public through signage of the risks of motor vehicle travel. It would correct shortcomings in the Berkeley Municipal Code by specifically protecting the human rights of all travelers from discrimination based on mode of travel. It would help protect bicyclists from ongoing problems of aggression and assault by motorists, help ensure equal treatment at crash scenes, and allow bicyclists to petition for the study of safety improvements. The ordinance would authorize development of an advisory pamphlet and instructional video with a booklet to educate the general public, the police and judiciary in understanding and respecting the rights of nonmotorized travelers as well as educating them about the great benefits of allowing for and encouraging such travel. The ordinance would further act to encourage bicycling and to make the roads safer for all people by basing fines and enforcement directly upon actual risks to public health, as well as by helping to ensure that the main routes for wheelchair riders and bicyclists are kept safe and smooth, and unobstructed. The ordinance would help ensure secure parking for bicyclists at work and while shopping, and would generally provide a model for other localities.

BODY OF ORDINANCE

The people of the City of Berkeley ordain as follows:

1) SAFE TRAVEL, EQUITABLE FUNDING AND RIGOROUS COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS –– The City shall direct the Education, Aging, Community Health, Energy, Disability, Community Environmental Advisory, Human Welfare and Community Action, Peace and Justice, Planning, Public Works, and Transportation Commissions and the Redevelopment Agency, to undertake a large, significant, and comprehensive analysis of the extent to which there is inequity in representation of nonmotorized travelers, and the extent to which nonmotorized travelers in the City of Berkeley are not protected in their fundamental human right to travel safely, conveniently, comfortably, freely, and without apprehension or duress. Such study shall also take into account County, Regional, State and Federal funding sources and shall also analyze those sources in the description of equity. As a result of this study, the City shall notify all agencies and decision makers involved in such funding decisions, including but not limited to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the California Transportation Commission, the Alameda County Transportation Authority, the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency, ISTEA allocations decision makers, the Assembly Transportation Subcommittee, the Senate Transportation Subcommittee, the Joint Transportation Subcommittee, and any other involved agencies or individuals who have been identified as parties in the allocation of funding through the pursuit of this study. These parties shall be notified that equity, based on potential use of nonmotorized modes of travel, keeping in mind that bicycle usage has been discouraged and should in turn be encouraged, shall be a determining factor in the distribution of funding and in the creation of facilities. Such facilities must be designed such that all potential users, not just the most experienced, can use them with comfort and security. The City shall adopt policies to protect and encourage nonmotorized travel based upon the results of the study. In addition, the City shall encourage all transportation decision makers to take measures to better study and understand nonmotorized travelers, in particular by modifying future censi to accurately study usage of all modes of transportation by all persons independent of employment status.

2) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION EDUCATION –– The City of Berkeley shall establish a program to educate the public in the use of alternative transportation and in understanding how transportation systems are designed and how they are determined. The City shall Direct the Education, Aging, Community Health, Energy, Disability, Community Environmental Advisory, Human Welfare and Community Action, Peace and Justice, Planning, Public Works, and Transportation Commissions and the Redevelopment Agency, to provide a plan for educating drivers and people of all ages as to the comprehensive and personal risks, costs and harms of private motor vehicle use, and in the comparative benefits of alternate transportation, with a historical look at the evolution of our transportation system as compared with our current system, and an exploration of ways in which our transportation system can be changed for the benefit of all including the role of citizen advocacy in affecting such changes. These commissions should work with local advocacy groups and the general public to accomplish these goals as broadly and as effectively as possible. In addition, the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) shall be directed to whatever extent possible and strongly encouraged to construct educational programs both in classroom, in after school programs, and in Physical Education, regarding alternative transportation modes, the societal costs of each mode, the relative risks, the health aspects, the economic aspects, training in how to navigate by bus, rail, and ferry services, as well as training in how to safely operate and maintain a bicycle, including training in fixing one's own bicycle, properly securing a bicycle and protecting against bicycle theft, obeying the rules of the road, proper bicycle etiquette, and the acquisition of real-life cycling skills which are known to dramatically reduce the risk of accidents for new riders. Furthermore, the BUSD and the City shall work to encourage such programs to be implemented regionally, statewide, and nationally.

3) DRIVER AND BICYCLE ADVISORY PAMPHLET –– A pamphlet shall be developed for drivers which: 1) explains the rights of nonmotorized travelers; 2) encourages the sharing the public roadways with nonmotorized travelers; 3) describes both the benefits of alternative transportation and the personal and societal costs and harms of driving; 4) and describes how to pursue alternative means of transportation. This pamphlet shall be distributed to motorists when they purchase a new or used car, made available to UC Berkeley students, at sobriety check points, as available literature in appropriate City offices, and whenever parking permits or citations are issued, and whenever a report of dangerous driving is made. The pamphlet shall also be incorporated into the curriculum of Driver's Education programs and classes regarding transportation to whatever extent possible, and shall be available for adaptation to other cities. The City may adopt other methods of distribution of the pamphlet as appropriate. A second pamphlet known as the Bicycle Advisory Pamphlet, shall be developed for bicyclists and other nonmotorized travelers which: 1) explains the rules of the road as they apply to bicyclists; 2) explains proper bicycling etiquette; 3) illustrates proper techniques for riding a bicycle on the roadway; 4) illustrates and discusses proper equipment; 5) describes techniques to avoid bike theft; 6) describes the recourses available to a cyclist who has been struck or assaulted; 7) describes the special considerations given to bicyclists and other nonmotorized travelers in Berkeley; and 8) explains how bicyclists get involved in improving conditions for bicyclists in the City of Berkeley. This pamphlet shall be made available to the public and shall be distributed to cyclists who have been cited for moving violations, who report a stolen bike, who have been involved in a crash, and who report being assaulted or harassed while riding. The Bicyclist Advisory Pamphlet shall also be made available to all UC Berkeley students.

4) COURTEOUS TRAVELING ENCOURAGED –– The City of Berkeley shall hereby establish a program encouraging courteous driving and bicycling. The police department shall take and record citizen complaints and notify reported drivers and bicyclists that they have been reported for dangerous or reckless behavior, as well as sending them the Driver Advisory Pamphlet or the Bicyclist Advisory Pamphlet, as the case may be. This program shall take reports via the internet both by email and by web page forms, via a voicemail service, and via postal mail, as well as through each police citation given to drivers in Berkeley. Reports shall be accepted for both future and past incidents. Such reports shall be made available to the public with the removal of personal information. The City shall act to encourage that this program expand regionally, statewide, and nationally.

In addition, Police shall make a full report of any and all instances of recklessness and hostility exhibited by any traveler, and such instances shall include assaults. Assault includes but is not limited to threatening motions, dangerous driving such as tailgating, physical assault including ramming, sideswiping, striking, swinging or shouting loudly through a window, and throwing of objects; the yelling of threats or illegal honking of a horn while driving a motor vehicle; and other aggressive behavior. When such assaults are committed by the driver of a motor vehicle, police shall consider whether an assault with a deadly weapon has occurred, even in instances where no actual physical harm has been committed, and all such assaults shall be treated as serious offenses which discourage nonmotorized travel. Police shall implement procedures to make it as easy as possible for citizens to report any abuses and shall never act to discourage or deny a citizen from making a report. The City shall direct, where possible, and otherwise strongly encourage, all law enforcement agencies resident in or with jurisdiction in the City of Berkeley, including but not limited to the Berkeley Police Department, the University of California Police Department, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Postal Police, the AC Transit Police, East Bay Regional Park District Police, and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District Police, as well as private security forces such as the Berkeley Guides, to comply with this section.

5) SMOOTH PAVEMENT ON NONMOTORIZED ROUTES –– The City hereby wherever feasible shall take measures to ensure that bicycle/wheelchair routes including main streets are kept in excellent condition as the highest priority over other street paving projects. In particular, upper Hearst, Hillegass, and King Streets must be repaved immediately.

6) BICYCLE VIOLATIONS: REDUCED FINE SCHEDULE –– No traffic infraction committed by a bicyclist that does not create a risk of serious bodily harm to others shall incur a charge of more than $10.00. (This enactment is made permitted under CVC 42001(d), the "Davis law".)




7) PROTECTION AND RETURN OF BICYCLES –– Impounded bicycles shall be treated with due care and should be protected from the elements such as rain. Bicyclists shall have the same or better right to expediency in recovering their impounded bicycles as do motorists their vehicles.

8) EQUAL ACCESS TO ROADWAYS –– Access for nonmotorized travelers to all roadways including tunnels and overpasses shall be guaranteed, and warning devices or signs shall be posted if deemed necessary to notify motorists that nonmotorized travelers may be using the roadway.

9) GROUP BICYCLE RIDES –– Group bicycle rides shall no longer be harassed by any local police organizations. Police shall not give undue attention to bicyclists simply because they are traveling en masse. Because public safety is many times more jeopardized by motor vehicles than by bicycles, there must be a correspondingly greater allocation of police forces to the monitoring of motor vehicle travel as to bicycle travel. Police may not restrict cyclists from traveling within their legal rights. Police may not block any legal bicycle routes to cyclists anywhere in the city during group bicycle rides. Cyclists traveling in a group shall not be required to relinquish their rights to the road, nor shall police limit the places of travel of bicycles nor order them at which speed to ride when they are traveling with a group. The City of Berkeley shall send a letter of concern to jurisdictions where the rights of group bicycle rides have reportedly been violated. Said letter shall include an offer to assist the jurisdiction in guaranteeing the rights of nonmotorized travelers with both materials and policies. The City shall take additional steps when possible to aid nonmotorized travelers whose rights have been violated and the City shall take a firm stance against such violations.

12) CELL PHONES AND OTHER IMPAIRMENTS -- Any person who commits a moving violation or is involved in a crash while using a cell phone, "electronic toy", "electronic pet", television set, head phones, computer, radio transmitting device, or other device, or engages in any other activity, which may impair or distract a driver, shall be investigated for reckless driving, and that investigation shall take into full account the increased risk to the public created by using a cell phone or engaging in any other distractive activity while driving.

13) BICYCLE RIGHTS SENSITIVITY TRAINING –– The City of Berkeley shall implement a rigorous program of education for City Employees involved with the legal system, such as police, commissioners and judges. This education program shall consist of an educational book and video funded by the City of Berkeley and created with the help of local advocacy organizations, and shall be made in such a way that the program can be adapted to other jurisdictions, which shall be encouraged by the City. This program shall be administered to local police and offered to judges and commissioners as well as to schools and the general public.

15) POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION AGAINST BICYCLISTS AT CRASH SCENES –– Officers responding to the scene of a crash involving a bicycle and a motor vehicle shall give due consideration to all of the evidence of fault and shall not assume fault on the part of either the motorist or the bicyclist. Among the factors the officer shall consider include whether the driver of the motor vehicle violated the basic speed law. In case of a motorist rear–ending a bicyclist at any speed, it shall be presumed, as it is with any other rear-end collision, that the motorist acted negligently, in the absence of some emergency not created by the motorist's own conduct, or other unforeseeable circumstance. The investigating officer shall give due consideration to the rights of bicyclists, including the right to take a full lane for safety, and to be in any part of the roadway under certain circumstances including but not limited to passing, avoiding obstacles, turning, traveling at the normal traffic speed, changing lanes, and traveling on a one–way roadway with two or more traffic lanes.

16) BASIC SPEED LAW ENFORCED -- No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, including nonmotorized traffic, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property. When a crash involves a motor vehicle and a nonmotorized traveler, there shall be a presumption that the driver of the motor vehicle was at fault.

18) EQUAL ACCESS TO FREEWAYS –– The City of Berkeley supports full nonmotorized access to freeways including toll bridges and requests that the California Department of Transportation remove all prohibitions to travel on freeways except in those places where it has been demonstrated that the risk to public safety significantly exceeds both the existing risk for current users of the freeway as well as the existing risk on other public roads for nonmotorized travelers unless there is no reasonable alternate route. Letters shall be sent to all appropriate agencies and the legislature notifying them of this policy and encouraging them to support and implement it.

19) NOTICE OF TRAGEDY –– The City of Berkeley shall inform the public each time a death or serious injury occurs as the result of a motor vehicle crash, and that such notice shall include but not be limited to the posting of notice of the tragedy to the internet and in local newspapers, and in addition, a placard over the central downtown area (Shattuck and University) in full public view, shall be constructed to notify travelers each time such tragedy occurs. Nothing in this section shall preclude protecting the victim's and victim's family's right to privacy.

20) EQUALITY –– The Berkeley Human Rights Policy shall be amended as follows: "...without distinction as to race, sex, language, mode of travel, or religion."

21) SAFE RIDING ON SIDEWALKS –– Berkeley Municipal Code Section 14.04.120 (C) shall be appended with the phrase, "...is necessary to perform official duties and in compliance with the California Vehicle Code."

22) PROPER CLASSIFICATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES –– Berkeley Municipal Code Section 13.68.010 shall be amended to add motor vehicles as weapons: "G. Any motor vehicle when used in an aggressive, reckless or threatening manner."

23) DEFINITION OF NONMOTORIZED TRAVELERS AND SUPER VEHICLES –– The Berkeley Traffic Ordinance No. 3262 N.S. definitions section shall be modified as follows: "1.10 Nonmotorized travelers -- any operator of a bicycle, super vehicle, or vehicle whose motion is the result of human power without combustion, and any pedestrian including but not limited to skateboarders, rollerbladers, pogo–stickers, unicyclists, and both manual and electric wheelchair riders.", and, "1.20 Super Vehicle -- any assemblage of nonmotorized travelers voluntarily acting as one cohesive unit in which the movement of any one member can directly affect the movement of another, which shall have the right to remain together and not be segmented by stop signs or stop lights." (This enactment is permitted by CVC 21100(a).)

24) OFFICIAL ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION –– The Berkeley Municipal Code shall be amended to include the following: "14.04.205 Accidents -- report and investigation by police officer required. It shall be the duty of any police officer immediately after being notified of any crash involving a nonmotorized traveler to take a report of said crash. Such report shall be as comprehensive as possible. No officer shall ever refuse to take a witness statement on any grounds, but rather shall encourage all witnesses to make statements. Police shall scrutinize all motorized vehicles involved in any crash for equipment violations, as well as scrutinizing motor vehicle operators for sobriety to the maximum extent allowed by law."

25) PARKING ON METERS ALLOWED –– Section 14.04.180 of the Berkeley Municipal Code shall be repealed (it shall now be legal to park bicycles to parking meters).

26) EQUAL PARKING REQUIRED –– Any retail store or employer which provides parking for motor vehicles shall provide adequate and secure parking for bicycles or else allow bicycles to be taken into the store or place of employment for safekeeping. Businesses and employers shall be encouraged to permit bicycles to be brought inside their premises, and the city shall provide free signage for businesses and employers stating, "Bicycles Welcome Inside."

27) CYCLIST TRAFFIC CALMING BY PETITION –– Upon a request in writing from at least 25 cyclists who regularly use a given intersection, and upon a finding that a serious injury or fatality has occurred at said intersection, the City shall immediately investigate and study the installation of a traffic control device at said location, including but not limited to one or more of: stop sign; stop light; speed humps; raised walkways; raised intersection; and/or traffic circle. If no such measure is taken, the City shall, with due consideration of the safety concerns which have been raised, indicate the reasons why no action has been taken or indicate what alternate action has been taken.

28) PUBLIC WARNING OF AUTOMOBILE HAZARDS AND ADVISING OF ALTERNATIVES –– All city-owned parking lots, all BART station parking lots and any Berkeley–based business which facilitates or encourages the driving of motor vehicles, including but not limited to parking lots, automobile dealerships, gasoline stations, automobile clubs, automobile parts retail outlets, automobile insurance agencies, automobile rental services, drive–through outlets, and auto repair shops, shall post in plain view of all patrons, clear and prominent signage, supplied by the City, warning of the hazards of automobile use. Signs may have any of the following messages:

a: WARNING! Automobiles are the number one source of greenhouse gases in California. Please consider steps to reduce driving, such as shopping locally and using alternative transportation wherever possible. For more information, call Berkeley TRiP [insert phone number here].

b: WARNING! Automobiles are the number one cause of acid rain in California. Please consider steps to reduce driving, such as shopping locally and using alternative transportation wherever possible. For more information, call Berkeley TRiP [insert phone number here].

c: WARNING! Automobiles are the number one cause of death among children in the United States. Please consider steps to reduce driving, such as shopping locally and using alternative transportation wherever possible. For more information, call Berkeley TRiP [insert phone number here].

d: WARNING! The air in your car may be more than 20 times as polluted as outdoor air. Please consider steps to reduce driving, such as shopping locally and using alternative transportation wherever possible. For more information, call Berkeley TRiP [insert phone number here].

e: WARNING! Automobiles are the number one cause of noise, congestion and pollution in Berkeley. Please consider steps to reduce driving, such as shopping locally and using alternative transportation wherever possible. For more information, call Berkeley TRiP [insert phone number here].

In addition, such warnings shall be placed on all automobile–related documents supplied by the City of Berkeley, including traffic tickets and parking permits, and on all automobile–related billboard advertisements. Each day of violation by any business shall be an infraction punishable by a fine of no less than $250. Such signs shall be distributed with equal frequency of use given to each design.

29) SIGNAGE FOR BICYCLE SAFETY -- Signage shall be placed where appropriate to inform cyclists and other travelers of special circumstances in order to ensure safety. In particular, stop signs shall be fitted with additional signage stating whether they are "two–way", "three–way" or "all–way" stops; "Do not enter" and other signs shall be fitted with "Bicycles Excepted" signage wherever possible; and "Yield to Bicycles" signs shall be placed wherever there are potential right–of–way conflicts between bicyclists and motor vehicles, such as at the northbound crossing of Blake Street on Milvia, where bicyclists have no stop sign at a three–way intersection.

30) LEVEL OF SERVICE FOR PLANNING TO BE ABOLISHED -- Level of service for transportation planning purposes shall no longer be a criterion in the configuration and design of roadways. Instead, the safety and convenience of travelers of all types in each community to move within their own communities is of paramount importance. The travel needs of those traveling through a community are secondary to those travelers who live within that community.

31) TRAFFIC SIGNAL TIMING -- All traffic signal timing shall take into due consideration the needs of all travelers. Specifically, no green light shall be so short as to prohibit the slowest type of traveler from crossing a roadway safely, and no yellow light shall be so short as to endanger a nonmotorized traveler who has entered the intersection just prior to the light turning from green to yellow.

32) SAFE CROSSINGS REASONABLE -- All street crossings shall be reconfigured such that no nonmotorized traveler is required to travel more than one block along any roadway in order to safely cross said roadway.

33) HONORING NONMOTORIZED SOLIDARITY -- The City declares Wednesdays to be "Waving Wednesdays" and Thursdays to be "Thumbs-up Thursdays" for nonmotorized travelers, in honor of the mutual friendship, goodwill, and bravery in the face of adversity embodied in the spirit of these two traditions.


34) RESPECT OF NONMOTORIZED RIGHT-OF-WAY -- Because of the fear and danger which is caused by aggressive behavior on the roads, and in light of the dramatic increase of "road rage" incidents, the City shall have zero tolerance for behavior which disrespects the right-of-way and right to the roadway of nonmotorized travelers, particularly when committed by drivers of motor vehicles. Such behavior includes but is not limited to honking, shouting, the gunning of engines, inching towards a person, entering a crosswalk where pedestrians are present, not yielding when merging onto a street from a free right turn lane, exiting a driveway without due caution, not coming to a complete stop for nonmotorized travelers crossing one's path, not waiting for nonmotorized travelers to be clear of one's path, any behavior which causes undue risks to or otherwise affects a nonmotorized traveler who has the right of way, and any impatient or aggressive behavior designed to agitate or intimidate nonmotorized travelers into yielding their right-of-way. Police shall investigate such violations and shall consider in their investigation whether reckless driving or assault have occurred.

35) SEVERABILITY -- If any provision of this ordinance or application thereof is held to be invalid, this invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions and applications of this ordinance are severable.

The above ordinance is in this Notice to Circulate Petition, hereby put forth to be placed on the November ballot for the City of Berkeley in the year 1998, by we the undersigned proponents, on this day, July 6^th, 1998:

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Jason Meggs, Director, Bicycle Civil Liberties Union



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Attorney at Law



____________________________________________________
Attorney at Law

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