At its final meeting before the August recess, the Alameda City Council unanimously approved the City’s proposed No Parking in Bicycle Lanes ordinance.
The vote is good news. Thanks to those who made comments in support. The ordinance gives Alameda a clear local tool to enforce parking violations in all bike lanes—something that has been difficult under the City’s current interpretation of state law.
Why Was This Ordinance Needed?
One question many people have asked is: Why is this ordinance necessary? The state law at issue, California Vehicle Code 21211, has been on the books for more than 25 years.
It is needed because it fills what Alameda sees as a gap in its enforcement authority. The City interprets the language of California Vehicle Code 21211 as ambiguous, and believes it clearly prohibits parking only in Class I bikeways (like the Bay Trail), not the other classes of bikeways where conflicts typically occur. But this is the City’s interpretation of the statute—not a settled statewide interpretation. Many California cities have for decades interpreted CVC 21211 to apply to all classes of bikeways.
The ordinance gives Alameda a clear local enforcement tool regardless of how the state statute is interpreted.
Council Discussion Reflects Confusion
Ahead of the meeting, in response to concerns we raised about the inaccuracy of the ordinance language and potential confusion it might create, staff revised the ordinance. Specifically, they added the words “clearly” and “clear” to describe the City‘s interpretation of state law.
Those revisions, however, were not reflected in staff‘s presentation or highlighted during the discussion. As a result, several Council questions suggested the distinction was not understood.
After the meeting, we sent a follow-up email to the Council because the distinction matters. Our leaders need to understand that this is not simply a matter of local policy or convenience. Parking in all classes of bike lanes is widely recognized as a serious traffic safety hazard, and many California jurisdictions have treated it as a violation of state law for years, even if Alameda has not.
Alameda’s ordinance is best understood as providing a clear local enforcement mechanism while the language of the statute gets clarified.
What’s Next?
The ordinance will return to Council for a second reading in September. If adopted, it is expected to take effect in October.
In related good news, the City is in the process of hiring an additional Traffic Enforcement Technician, who is expected to begin work in September. More enforcement capacity should also help improve compliance, but the department is still understaffed, so please speak up when the time comes to ask for more support!