Chula Vista is gradually working its way toward becoming a nationally recognized bike-friendly community.
The South Bay metropolis is among scores of communities nationwide that, since 1995, have applied to the Bicycle Friendly Community program.
A BFC welcomes bicyclists by providing safe accommodations for bicycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation.
The program’s popularity speaks for itself. As of 2018, more than 850 communities had applied, and 431 had been awarded a bronze, silver, gold or platinum designation.
“It’s the third application we have done,” said Francisco “Frank” Rivera, Chula Vista principal civil engineer. “We got honorable mention in the first application we did in 2010. In 2014, we achieved bronze level.”
Rivera said bronze status in the program allows Chula Vista to post signs on its streets making the public aware of the designation, which carries other advantages.
“We’ve heard from the real estate community that, when people move in, they want to know what amenities a community has,” Rivera said. “And one way to market a community is to say it’s bicycle-friendly with its parks, trails and facilities. There is now a sense of community awareness and pride that we have a bicycle program in the city of Chula Vista that is nationally recognized.”
The BFC program was created in recognition that making bicycling safe and convenient are keys to improving public health, reducing traffic congestion, improving air quality and improving quality of life. The program provides a roadmap to improving conditions for bicycling, guiding a community’s vision for becoming a better, more bike-able community.
Each community that applies to be recognized as a BFC completes a thorough application. This application gives the league information about bicycling conditions and efforts to improve those conditions. The report card created for each community features key data from the application and some federal data to provide context for each community.
Rivera talked about the five “building blocks,” the five “E’s” — engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation — which go into a community’s applying for and becoming a BFC.
“Engineering says we have a bicycle network, a completed street ordinance and are updating a city transportation plan,” noted Rivera. “The education component says you have LEAD-certified instructors teaching bicycle safety and mechanics classes in the community. In evaluating, we look at bicycle collisions and what we can do to prevent them. We are improving safety by having a bikeway master plan that is currently being updated.”
Describing ongoing bicycle infrastructure improvements in Chula Vista as “a work in progress,” Rivera added the city has committees actively addressing “bicyclists’ and pedestrians’ needs.”
Regarding enforcement, Rivera pointed out the city’s municipal code provides for police officers to enforce bicycle and vehicle violations. He added there are presently no police patrols on bicycles, other than at special events, though there have been in the past.
To encourage bicycle use, Rivera said Chula Vista has maps on the city’s website detailing bicycle routes, as well as distributing pocket maps of the city’s bicycle infrastructure to the public.
The engineer said Chula Vista is gradually working its way toward higher and higher status among bicycle communities nationwide.
“We’re looking at how we got here and toward improving from one evaluation to the next,” said Rivera. “We’re looking at areas we could improve. We want to keep working our way up to the top level.”
For more information visit www.bikeleague.org/community.
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