Join OCBC

CLICK HERE TO JOIN O.C.B.C.

Stay connected, stay informed.

As an Orange County Bicycle Coalition Member you’ll receive timely e-mails about bicycling in Orange County. We’ll notify you of street and highway “improvements” projects that either help or hinder your ability to ride OC.

You’ll learn about bikes on Metrolink and Amtrak trains, and OCTA buses.

And you’ll be the first to know about rides, events, and fundraisers that benefit bicycling throughout SoCal.

Your membership supports the future of cycling

Map courtesy of Wikipedia

The OCBC is a vital link in SoCal’s bike advocacy chain. San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County Bicycle Coalitions were founded in the late 80s/ early 90s;  working together we promote your interest in Southern California, Sacramento, and Washington DC.

Here’s a list of projects OCBC has been working on in the 9 months since we’ve re-engergized:

Outreach to the Cycling Community
With our new and expanding Web site we’re reaching out to cyclists
of all types, club riders, casual, commuters, moms, and kids. And we offer the
cyclist perspective to city and county staff and elected officials as they
learn to better provide for bicyclists across the county.

It is a goal of OCBC to have representation on every city-sponsored
Bicycle Advisory Committee in the county and to encourage formation
of ad hoc bicycle committees in cities where formal BACs have not been
recognized.

Santa Ana River Trail
Since June ’09, board members have monitored and commented
on both temporary and permanent realignment of the SART through
Yorba Linda. Working with OCTA we have endorsed a plan for a
superior Shard Use Trail that is both more attractive and safer for
pedestrians and cyclists alike.

Newport Beach
Involved from the second meeting of the city’s first bicycle committee.
One NB committee member is a graduate of the Irvine Street Smarts 101
class; one staff member is a cycling friend of an OCBC board member.
Presented the “cyclists eye view” of primary Newport/ Costa Mesa streets;
provided direction on retrofitting bike lanes and/or sharrows on
Pacific Coast Highway. Seeking a permanent seat on either city-sposored
or ad hoc Bicycle Advisory Committee.

Placentia
Beginning August ’09, attended multiple City Council and General Plan meetings on behalf of OC cyclists at large. Worked with local residents to form an ad hoc bicycle committee; resident members since are included in Traffic Safety subcommittee meetings.
Asked to comment on the Circulation Element for the General Plan’s current revision, OCBC integrated comments to reflect the construction of the Placentia Transportation Center at Westgate.
Developing signage and striping plans to mitigate the ill-conceived Bastanchury widening which eliminated important bike lanes in OCTA’s Commuter Bikeways Strategic Plan. These plans can serve as a model for commuter routes to/from Westgate when it’s completed this year.
Implementing a long term strategy to bring Complete Streets engineering to Placentia’s planning.

What happens in Placentia is of vital importance to cyclists countywide, for the forces which influenced traffic engineering there are at work throughout OC.

Metrolink
Accommodation of bicycles on Metrolink concerns more than just commuters;
multimodal facility extends all cyclists’ reach to recreation, entertainment, and
educational destinations in all 5 counties of “Greater L.A..” OCBC took the lead;
working through contacts at Metrolink and OCTA, directors have won agreement to immediately increase onboard capacity 50%,  from 2 to 3bicycles per car.
Further near term modifications to the existing coaches will increase bicycle capacity to as much as 8 per car.

Amtrak
Like Metrolink, policies and attitudes of train crews greatly influence how bicyclists are accommodated on Surfliner trains. OCBC is working with Amtrak customer relations in Oakland, Sacramento, and Washington DC to assure dependable accommodation of bicycles; We intend to affect change in both policy and physical facilities for the increasing number of cycling passengers. Changes in California funded service will influence Amtrak’s service nationwide.

OCTA
“The OC” includes 34 incorporated cities plus unincorporated neighborhoods and open space. We’re working weekly with OCTA staff, leveraging changes in CEQA, other state and national transportation policies to gain more acceptance on the road and better shared use trails built to higher AASHTO standards.

State of California
CABO and California Bicycle Coalition have both expressed their support of a more energized advocacy group in Orange County, able to add the influence of thousands of county cyclists to statewide issues addressed in Sacramento.

National Advocacy – the League of American Bicyclists
LAB relies on OCBC to carry out local education and organize county support
for national efforts to advance bicycling in America. We have already conducted the first– and sold out– Seminar for new League Certified Instructors in OC history.