This morning’s Memorial Ride for Jake provided an outpouring of sympathy from our bicycling community to the family of Jake Boysel who was killed while biking to school. Over 100 bicyclists formed a half-mile stream along Calle Real and State Street, filling the lane in Downtown Santa Barbara.

Jake Boysel’s family attended and was moved by this expression of sympathy from their community. The ride ended in De la Guerra Plaza where County Supervisor Susan Rose, City Councilmember Helene Schneider, and COAST representative Eva Inbar spoke for greater efforts to make sure all children are safer walking and biking to school.

More evidence of everybody’s concern over this sad loss is that our web site has had over 1000 visitors in the past 5 days — more than double our record weekly total. People care, they are disturbed, they are looking for safer conditions. Today’s ride wasn’t the end of action, it is the beginning of a challenge to us all to energize our collective abilities and make sure that this tragedy will not happen again. We can, indeed we must make it so.

~~ Ralph Fertig, President
~~ Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition

“Jake’s death demonstrates the tragedy that follows careless and aggressive use of the roads and may sober some folks up on their own behavior, but what a price to pay to accomplish this.”

Curtis Ridling

Letter writer Gloria Hebert argues that a $3.45 gallon of gas pays 60 cents in taxes for roads and transit, and “Sacramento is swimming in cash for transportation”. If it was only true! When gas was under $2 fifteen years ago we already paid 60 cents in taxes, and when the gallon reaches $5 in a not-so-distant future we will still be paying 60 cents regardless of fuel cost or inflation.

The truth is that fuel taxes, which are fixed, no longer pay their way for transportation needs and they have not done so for at least 20 years. That is why 18 counties in California supplement transportation funding with sales taxes. Santa Barbara County has been doing so since 1989 with Measure D, which will be on the November ballot for renewal.

The commuter nightmare south of town is a daily reminder that we need to fund the “101-In-Motion Plan” agreed to by the community and its elected leaders. It is a balanced and far-reaching plan to address congestion by increasing road, rail and transit capacity in a sustainable way: for our present needs and those of our children.

Roads, streets and sidewalks have maintenance needs that are paid for with Measure D. These needs are not going away. The carnage on our streets reminds us that, sadly, Safe Routes to School are not.

Measure D is a local tax for local use. If you want to experience life without Measure D you need to go no further than Ventura or San Luis Obispo, two counties that do not have this tax.

We cannot rely on Caltrans or the State. Measure D will provide matching funds to access State bonds and Federal programs. We have a choice: to complain about things that need doing, or to put our money where our collective mouth is.

-Alex Pujo, Secretary COAST

A capacity crowd filled the meeting room at La Colina Junior High on the night of Tuesday Sept. 12, when fifty to sixty people gathered there to honor 12-year-old Jake Boysel, who was killed while biking to school the week before. The overwhelming message that came out of the meeting was this: We can and must do more to make it safer for children and everyone else to move around on foot and by bike. We will compile the many good ideas proposed at the meeting into a plan and follow up with those who are interested. If you would like to be involved, please contact Eva Inbar at eva@coast-santabarbara.org.

http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2006/08/27/opinion/082706a.txt