El Cerrito/Richmond Annex Walk & Roll blog

El Cerrito is blessed with multiple transportation options. Here's another: It's now possible to travel in a comfortable commercial FlixBus bus from Del Norte BART all the way to Union Station or UCLA in Los Angeles — and beyond. FlixBus started in Germany in 2013 and is now in 15 countries, and the company expanded into the United States in 2018: "Our goal at FlixBus is to convince more people to take the bus as opposed to their own vehicles. It’s time to ditch the car!" FlixBus buses have Wifi and power outlets and the tickets can be bought online at a fraction of the cost of an airline ticket. Some may remember the Bolt Bus run by Greyhound for inexpensive travel to Los Angeles. Bolt Bus did not survive the pandemic. Flix North America Inc. is now the parent company of Greyhound Lines, Inc. and FlixBus Inc. creating an extended intercity bus network. Go FlixBus and leave the driving to someone else.  — Steve Price

Weaning ourselves off America's near-total addiction to automobile travel for all trips is not a lifestyle choice, it's a necessity. Most people don't understand the gravity of the problem or lack the political will to act. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently issued dark warnings in its Sixth Assessment Report about the direction the planet is heading. “Almost half of the world’s population lives in regions that are highly vulnerable to climate change. In the last decade, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions,“  the authors wrote. “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.” The above figure from the IPCC report shows how future generations will experience a quickly warming planet. That disparity between rich countries and poor will only increase as the climate deteriorates. If that is not compelling enough, think about the future of the yo...

Big kudos to the City of El Cerrito for installing new, usable bike racks on the sidewalk in front of the restaurants Tashi Delek, Antojitos Guatemaltecos, and the 514 Lounge on San Pablo Avenue (south of Potrero).  “There was a row of businesses with no nearby bicycle parking and plenty of available public space to install racks,” explains Jarrett Mullen, El Cerrito’s senior sustainable transportation planner. “We’re happy to support local businesses and hope the bike racks make it a bit easier to pop in and grab a bite.”  A usable bike rack is one that meets minimum standards for safety, security, and accessibility. El Cerrito Strollers & Rollers will highlight commendable bike parking that meets best practices in this newsletter going forward. There are eight parking spaces per car in the United States. Yet while bike riders are paying customers at local businesses, they rarely find secure bicycle parking when they arrive. Usable bicycle parking is not expensive overhea...

By Janet Byron When Steve and I decided to head to Southern California to visit family and friends to see the wildflowers at Anza-Borrego State Park, we relied on a variety of modes of transportation: train, bus, car, foot, plane, BART, and Lyft. To get from El Cerrito to Los Angeles Union Station, we took a Lyft to the Amtrak station in Emeryville and boarded the Coast Starlight train. At 10 to 12 hours it's a long ride, but virtually every moment is enjoyable and stress free. The only holdup was a delay to remove a tree on the tracks up ahead — comparable to a backup on I-880 or the 405 but minus the traffic anxiety. We were able to read, catch up on email, and, mostly, look out the window at the incredibly green and verdant hills, waterlogged farms in Monterey County, swollen sloughs (with otters!), and dramatic coastline at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Above, I caught Steve just as we were passing a ghost town in wetlands south of the Dumbarton Bridge. We walked a few blocks fro...