I'm a dyed in the wool cyclist, so not a complaint about the intent here, but the Netherlands and Denmark are hilly? Mr. Joint Ventures Silicon Valley better go back to geography class. The highest point in Palo Alto is almost TRIPLE the highest point in either country.

The vast majority of residents in the 5 cities listed in this article both live and work or attend school in the flat part of Silicon Valley (between Foothill Expy and the Bay). Bicycling is an ideal way to get to work or school and bicycles take up far less space than cars and freeways. Palo Alto built its Bryant Street Bicycle Boulevard and Mountain View built its Stevens Creek Trail both in the 1980s. We are glad that new non-convoluted bicycle routes for commuters are finally being built and that San Mateo County cities are finally participating. We hope that this route can be extended all the way from San Francisco to San Jose.

I was in Copenhagen and Amsterdam this summer and there are indeed cyclists everywhere. My daughters and I rented bikes in Copenhagen and it was a delightful way to get around the city. As the previous comment noted, Denmark and Holland are both pancake flat, but let's give Mr. Hancock a hall pass for trying to get Northern Californians off the couch. The weather in northern Europe is certainly much colder and wetter in the winter than our idyllic climate, so that's a good point.

"I rented bikes in Copenhagen and it was a delightful way to get around the city."

It's a lovely way to get around this area as well. Short errands actually become FUN with zero parking and congestion hassles, and you arrive at your destination in a good mood :)

I'm sure this has been considered already, but why aren't we seeing options to make a north-south bike corridor along the CalTrain tracks? Many cities do this very successfully. It would be great to have it here.

That’s an early start. Would be nice to have rides after the speeches for late risersp.

Looking at this map feels like looking at a pile of spaghetti. I biked Bryant south today from Menlo to MV and it adds a good 25%+ to commute times compared with other routes due to its winding course through the circles and vast number of stop signs (yes, I actually obey the law and stop at stop signs when cycling). The Atherton segment looks worse. Why can't Palo Alto take a look at the VTA bicycle maps and see that we already have (or should have) a great N/S route called Middlefield? PA takes a fat dump right in the middle of that beautiful, straight, purple highlighted route indicating bike lanes. I typically commute Middlefield daily by car and it's quite obvious that Middlefield would flow much better without the traffic/turn lanes and the associated lane dodging that has been proven to slow the flow of traffic. Middlefield in south RWC has the same issue with its four lanes of traffic. That stretch is dangerous to cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. For the sections currently without bike lanes, please just restripe Middlefield single lane each way with center turn/merge lane and convert the extra lane width to bike lanes on each side.

Bikes, electric or not, scooters (electric or not), and any other personal self-powered-or-not conveyance is -- or should be -- a major adjunct for the future of urban and suburban public mass transit. We already know why.

Ocean rising flooding along the entire rim of the Bay Area is by now inevitable. Fossil fuel combustion in the generation of electric power (including for electric cars)and of course the direct burning of fossil fuels; e.g., gasoline, must diminish -- significantly. To put it bluntly, California, due to climate change, is ever more on fire. Every "avenue" to reduce fuel-burning transit should be pursued.

Meanwhile, rental electric bikes and scooters have suddenly become the rage in many, many major cities. The future belongs to the young and they are seizing these conveyance opportunities enthusiastically.

Our local Peninsula governments have a major, serious responsibility to facilitate these modes of transit.

When should our governments start moving aggressively in this direction? Yesterday!

Silicon Valley Bike Coalition - North South Route

( Palo Alto - San Francisco Third Street)

Web Link:

Web Link

The fact that the Menlo Park/Atherton portion of this "interim" bike route is so terrible (way to many twists and turns and needlessly crossing over the train tracks) proves that this project has a long way to go before San Mateo County is bicycle-friendly. Hopefully, the people behind this project are serious about making a permanent bicycle route that is actually usable for commuting. Look at how many people use the Stevens Creek Trail for commuting to work.