I hate Wednesdays. Every week, as I bike through San Jose, I see the same thing—trash cans scattered across the bike lane, forcing me into traffic. Cars rush past, close enough to brush my handlebars, and I wonder how a city that calls itself progressive can make something as simple as biking feel so dangerous.
The problem isn’t just the trash cans. It’s the design of the city itself. Between 2011 and 2021, San Jose recorded 2,803 bike crashes—38 people killed, more than 2,700 injured. Intersections are the worst offenders, accounting for approximately 27 percent of regional biking fatalities. These aren’t random accidents—they’re the result of streets built for cars first, people second.
When I tell my friends that I bike, they usually ask why I don’t just drive. But I love biking. I love being outside and moving through the city in the open air. It’s better for the environment, better for my health, and usually not much slower. The problem isn’t the choice—it’s that the city makes that choice unsafe.
San Jose has tried to improve. The Better Bikeways project added protected lanes downtown, but too many of them end suddenly or double as parking zones. Safety takes consistency—lanes that don’t vanish mid-block, barriers that actually separate bikes from cars, and rules that are enforced. If the city wants to be serious about Vision Zero, it needs to start by making biking predictable and protected.
The Bay Area doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel—just follow its own examples. San Francisco recently replaced its confusing center bike lane on Valencia Street with a curbside one, finally making the road safer for riders. Similarly, Caltrans is expanding bike access on the Bay Bridge. These changes prove something simple: when cities design for safety, people stop dying.
Biking shouldn’t feel reckless. It should be part of how we live in this region—sustainable, practical, and safe. Every Wednesday, as I dodge bins and traffic, I’m reminded how far San Jose still has to go. The city likes to call itself forward-thinking. It’s time its streets caught up.
