The 2-way bikeway at Lawson Middle School
The sage philosopher Amy Poehler once said “Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life forever.” I am lucky to lead Walk Bike Cupertino, an organization which allows me to interact with such people daily from our wonderful and amazing board members to our thousands of incredible, steadfast supporters. Together we had important wins (and a few missed opportunities) in 2025 in making the city safer, more enjoyable, and more welcoming for all pedestrians and cyclists, but especially our city’s children.
It’s a long list, so get some tea, settle in, and let’s get into it.
City Infrastructure Projects
We worked with the city staff and City Council members to move forward important city infrastructure.
Protected bike lane on Stevens Creek Boulevard
- Supported – the De Anza buffered bike lanes. While the installation was completed in Dec 2024, a small group of residents continued to challenge their effectiveness, demanding a rollback. City staff collected and shared data showing that traffic flow was unaffected and accidents went down significantly.
- Completed – the Lawson Middle School Bikeway after seven years of WBC advocacy and support. It’s the first two-way bikeway at a school in the city and we hope it will be a template for similar improvements at other schools.
- Safeguarded – funding for completing the remaining sections of the Stevens Creek Boulevard protected bike lanes from Wolfe Rd to Foothill Blvd despite multiple attempts by Councilmembers Liang Chao and Ray Wang, and Planning Commissioner Santosh Rao to defund them.
- Adopted – WBC successfully advocated for the City Council to adopt a Work Program item for an Urban Forest Plan to increase the city’s tree canopy.
- Supported – the Rotary artistic bike racks project to install six “functional art” racks around the city. WBC members helped the Bike Ped Commission select the locations for the racks, volunteered with the Rotary to help install the racks, and advocated to the council in support of allowing them to remain in place.
Bike Ped Commission and the Active Transportation Plan
We protected the existence and the role of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission and supported the work that it’s doing to develop a new 10-year Active Transportation Plan that will guide bike ped improvements in our city for the next decade.
- Protected – the Bike Ped Commission from being eliminated. Not once, but three times in April, Sept, and Nov 2025, Councilmembers Liang Chao and Ray Wang, and Planning Commissioner Santosh Rao tried to eliminate the BPC and move its powers under the Planning Commission, in a brazen attempt to halt all bike ped progress in the city. WBC supporters rallied in support, wrote and spoke at council meetings, and we carried the day. The Bike Ped Commission lives on.
- Participated – Ensured that bike and ped advocates participated and made their voice heard at the many Active Transportation Plan community outreach events.
Residents giving input on the ATP at a community event
- Influenced – WBC supporters ensured that the staff adopted thoughtful scoring criteria for bike ped projects to be included in the new ATP. We were able to obtain a unanimous vote for our preferred scoring criteria in the Planning Commission and a majority vote in the City Council.
Safe Routes to School
We continued our decade-long partnership with the city’s Safe Routes to School team to make it safer and more enjoyable for kids to walk and bike to school.
Children walking to Eaton Elementary on Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
- Created – WBC creates the guidance maps and safe walking, biking & driving instructions for parents taking their kids to school for CUSD and FUHSD schools. In 2025, we created updated maps and instructions for Garden Gate Elementary, Sedgwick Elementary, Lawson Middle, and Monta Vista High Schools.
- Created – WBC created the map and instructions for the Lawson Bikeway for parents and students walking, biking, and driving to school.
- Supported – SRTS held its popular Cupertino High School Bike Bus event for the third year in a row with WBC members leading several of the bike buses and helping with the event logistics.
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Supported – WBC board members helped to organize and lead the annual Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day at Eaton Elementary.
Events and Activities
Walk Bike Cupertino participates in multiple events and activities throughout the year. This year, we’ve started new regular neighborhood walks and bike rides too. Come join us!
- Partnered – For the past ten years, Walk Bike board members have partnered with the city to organize and act as festival leads for the Annual Cupertino Bike Fest, which gets bigger, better and more fun every year.
- Gave – Every year, WBC partners with the Santa Clara County Department of Health to give free bike helmets to children in need. This year, we gave away 374 free bike helmets to children in the community during the Earth Day Festival (113) and the Annual Bike Fest (261).
- Supported – As we have been doing for years, WBC board members co-hosted the City’s Bike to Wherever Day energizer station with the City of Cupertino, getting up early to hand out refreshments and encouragement to cyclists heading to school and work.
Starting on the Family Ride at the Cupertino Bike Fest
- Supported – Hosted a table at the Cupertino Little League season opening day to celebrate kids who walked or biked to the game and did fun giveaways.
- Started – A new weekly hiking group which explores a different trail in the South Bay area every Monday.
- Started – A monthly community bike ride of around 5 miles which ends at a coffee shop or similar establishment. It’s a great way to get some gentle exercise and meet like-minded neighbors.
- Completed – Our 2nd Annual Holiday Lights Bike Ride from the Christmas Tree lighting at Quinlan to a hot cocoa station at Main Street Cupertino, on bikes decorated with LED lights.
- Highlighted – We started a new feature in our monthly newsletter where we highlight bike-friendly businesses in the city. It’s a great way to discover new businesses to support.
Dog Off-Leash Areas (DOLAs)
Did you know that Walk Bike Cupertino board members love dogs and have supported the DOLAs since they were just an idea? One of our board members was instrumental in the creation of the DOLAs and continues to coordinate regularly with city staff and dog owners to ensure the DOLAs are running smoothly. We’ve found that almost everyone gets to a DOLA by walking, which is how it easily fits in our mission.
Adorable dog in costume at the DOLA Halloween Party
- The DOLAs at Jollyman Park and Linda Vista Park completed another year of operations without any serious complaints with the support and guidance of our DOLA lead WBC board member.
- WBC’s DOLA lead negotiated with the city to obtain extended hours at the Jollyman DOLA
- WBC’s DOLA lead organized the DOLA Summer Potluck Party which was a great success with lots of good food and happy families.
- WBC’s DOLA lead also organized the Annual DOLA Halloween Costume Party with many dogs participating in adorable costumes in a fun time for all.
Neighboring Cities
We live in an interconnected world. Cupertino residents may live here, go to school in a 2nd city, shop in a 3rd city, and work in a 4th city, all in the span of one day. Because of this, Walk Bike Cupertino also supports bike and ped improvements in the county, region, and neighboring cities.
- Support – We sent emails and spoke at the Sunnyvale City Council meeting to encourage them to vote to install buffered bike lanes on Hollenbeck Ave in Sunnyvale. The vote was successful.
- Support – We sent emails and spoke at the Sunnyvale Council on the proposed changes to Tasman Drive.
- Support – Walk Bike Cupertino participates in the community meetings held by the City of Sunnyvale for the East Channel Trail project. We recognize that this trail will be a huge benefit to Cupertino residents and we look forward to seeing the project get completed.
An illustration of the planned buffered bike lanes on Hollenbeck Ave
Missed Opportunities
Not everything goes your way in life, and unfortunately there were some major missed opportunities this year. We hope these projects will get reconsidered in the future.
The pool at Blackberry Farm used to be open year-round
- Defunded – The Bollinger Rd Corridor Study was killed by the City Council, losing a $336,000 grant (free money to the city that will go to another city), jeopardizing our ability to get future grants, and indefinitely postponing any improvements that would make this dangerous corridor safer for students, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users. Bollinger Road is one of our most dangerous roads for pedestrians, seeing several fatalities in the past few years.
- Not adopted – WBC supported adding a City Work Program item to restart year around access to Blackberry Farm pool and picnic areas but the Council did not adopt it. Residents will continue to pay for these wonderful amenities year-round, but can only use it for a handful of months each year.
- Not adopted – After several years of multi-jurisdictional cooperation between VTA, Caltrans, Cupertino, Santa Clara, and San Jose to develop the Stevens Creek Corridor Vision Study, a plan to make the Corridor a welcoming tree-lined complete street with safe spaces for cars, pedestrians, and cyclists, the document was adopted by the cities of Santa Clara and San Jose, but our Council decided not to adopt it. The project will likely go ahead–affecting our City–but without any input from Cupertino
- Not adopted – Eden Housing shelved plans for an emergency access road/pedestrian access between the planned Educator Housing on Wolfe Road and the Portal neighborhood, bowing to resistance from residents in the area. The pedestrian access would have allowed kids living in the Educator Housing to walk and bike safely to Collins Elementary and Lawson Middle School.
We look forward to next year, and the possibility of positive changes for Cupertino. Together, we’ll keep working to make it safer and easier to walk and bike. See you out there!