The Bike Network Plan (BNP) is headed to the San Antonio City Council for adoption on Thursday, January 30, 2025, and we need your support to show our City Council that this matters to our community!
Write Mayor Nirenberg and Your City Council Member!
Use our easy-to-use letter writing tool to write Mayor Nirenberg and your city council member a letter to let them know that you support the San Antonio Bike Network Plan (BNP)!
City Council Information for January 30th’s SATX Bike Network Plan Vote
Join us on January 30th to advocate for the adoption of the Bike Network Plan at the City Council Meeting. Your voice and presence can make a difference!
Key City Council Meeting Information
- Date: Thursday, January 30, 2025
- Arrive before 8:30 am!
- Photo Op: Arrive no later than 8:30 am in Chambers to be a part of the photo op with fellow advocates, city council, and the Bike Network Plan project team. – Recommend planning to arrive at 8:20 am to allow for any traffic/parking/security delays.
- City council meeting Start time: 9:00 am
- Address:
- City Council Chambers, Municipal Plaza Building, 1st Floor
- 114 W. Commerce, SAT 78205 (next to San Fernando Cathedral) – See attached map for reference
- Security: Please allow time to pass through the Security checkpoint
- Parking and Accessibility
- Bicycle: Bicycle parking is available in the alleyway outside of the City Council Chambers.
- Automobile: You may park in the City Tower Garage, 100 W. Houston. Press the Street “St.” Elevator button to access the street level and walk across the street to the City CouncilChambers. Be sure to pull a parking ticket. After the meeting, take it to the City Tower Information Desk on the Concourse floor level (Press the “C” Elevator button) and ask for free parking validation.
Cycling groups and individuals attending
All members of the cycling community are welcome to attend the adoption of the 2025 Bike Network Plan at city council! Join us to just watch city council adopt the BNP and jump into the group photo with fellow cycling advocates, city council, and the BNP project team; or you can do all of the above and speak to city council during public comment! Check out the list below of cycling advocates who have said they are either going to attend the City Council meeting for the photo op or attending and speaking during public comment.
- Joey Pawlik, ActivateSA (Organizing Lead; also speaking during public comment)
- Bryan Martin, Bike San Antonio and Bronko Bikes (also speaking during public comment)
- Tina Beecham, Black Girls Do Bike, ActivateSA, and Bike San Antonio (also speaking during public comment)
- Veronica Salas, SA Babes on Bikes (also speaking during public comment)
- Kelli and Scott Schlueter, Team Taco (also speaking during public comment)
- Emily Hutcheson, Mom and leader of local Bike Bus group (also speaking during public comment)
- Austin Kelm, Strong Towns San Antonio (also speaking during public comment)
- Lori Day, disABILITYsa (also speaking during public comment)
- Alex Brown, Texas Outdoor Recreation Alliance (also speaking during public comment)
- Ismael Herrera, AARP (also speaking during public comment)
- Alicia Spence-Schlesinger, BCycle San Antonio (also speaking during public comment)
- Ghisallo Cycling Initiative and their Golden Rollers
- The Great Springs Project
- The Alamo Area MPO
- SATX Social Ride
- Erika Espinosa
- Tiffany Wilson
- Lily Teran
- Are we missing YOU? Fill out this form to let us know so we can list you (and your group): https://forms.office.com/r/pGtPX3xm23
Speaking at City Council
Showing up is fantastic, but we’d also love for you to tell city council personally why this new Bike Network Plan means so much to you (and your organization)! You can speak as an individual or you can speak on behalf of your local group. Check out the details below for tips on speaking to city council during public comment:
- How to sign up to speak
- Visit: https://www.saspeakup.com/BD37505
- FYI, be sure to have this filled out ASAP! You must register (either online or in person at city council) to speak 30 minutes prior to the posted meeting time.
- Fill out the form with your respective information:
- Select Agenda Item #5 as the item you wish to speak on:
- Scroll toward the bottom and click “Request To Speak” to complete your form!
- Once completed, you should also receive a confirmation email!
- Recommendations on what to say during your public comment speech
- Time: You have 3 minutes to speak. We suggest timing your speech about 2-3 minutes to be safe. If there are a lot of speakers, sometimes city council limits public comment times to 2 minutes.
- Addressing your speech: It’s good to always start your speech by addressing who you are speaking to, something like “Dear Mayor Nirenberg and San Antonio City Council.”
- Let them know who you are! You can start by stating your name and other key bits of information such as which group you are representing (if this applies to you), how long you have lived in San Antonio, and maybe what types of transportation options you use / what you identify as (i.e. bus user, cyclist, walker, etc). Example: “My name is Joey Pawlik, resident of district 10, lifelong San Antonian, your everyday bicyclist, transit user and pedestrian.”
- What do you think should change? You can also include some points about what keeps you up at night and what keeps you fired up everyday in fighting for a better, more bikeable San Antonio. This could be something like the rising number of cyclist crashes and fatalities in our area, people parking in bike lanes, dirty lanes, unconnected and unprotected bike lanes, etc…
- Celebrate the BNP! Include something that you’re most excited about for the Bike Network Plan. Are there plans for a new bike lane in your neighborhood? Are you excited to finally have more protected bike lanes in San Antonio? Etcetera, etcetera… Look over the BNP for some good points!
- Tie it together. Did you know that San Antonio recently adopted other really important transportation policies / plans? The Complete Streets policy, Vision Zero Action Plan, and the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Policy Framework, along with the Bike Network Plan will play a vital role in shaping safer, more comfortable, sustainable, and equitable streets for all, but especially for pedestrians and cyclists.
- Call to action. You see the name. This is a plan and all plans need to be implemented. Ask or say that you hope that this city council will work together to implement this bold, new Bike Network Plan! Example: “While I am excited about this plan, I ask each and every one of you to work together with your fellow city council members, city staff, and your constituents to make these plans a reality on our city streets. Let’s work together to make it happen.”
- Give thanks! Be sure to thank the city council for adopting this bold new Bike Network Plan, as well as some kudos to the BNP project team (city staff and consultants) and all who participated in the making of the plan (including YOU)!
- Practice. Okay, you have your speech – hooray! It may be good to write out your speech beforehand, read it a few times, and time it accordingly. Remember, the tips above are recommendations and not mandates, but quite a few points will definitely help you stand out. By being present at city council speaks volumes already. Be you, and you’ll do great!
For more details about the city council meeting process and participating in city council meetings, visit this link: https://www.sa.gov/Directory/Departments/Mayor-Council/Meetings
Livestream
Can’t make but still want to watch the city council meeting? Watch it live online! The meeting can be viewed via livestream at TVSA, or on a local government channel via cable subscription (allow for a few minutes of FCC time delay). A video of the meeting is posted within 24 hours on sapeakup.com and will be available for post-viewing/downloading.