Houston Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting - July 23, 2025
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Houston Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting - July 23, 2025\n\nThe Houston Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) met on July 23, 2025, to discuss subcommittee structure, future meeting topics, and public outreach efforts. The meeting included presentations, public comments, and planning for a special full meeting in August.\n\n### Public Comments & Testimony\n- A speaker commented on the proposed scooter ban, urging the use of alternative policy tools instead of an outright ban, and invited committee members to speak at City Council the following day.\n- The same speaker announced the Columbia TAP Trail festival planned for March 26, 2026, and updated on efforts to secure an easement from CenterPoint Energy to reconnect trails around their substation near James Bute Park.\n\n### Discussion Items\n- Subcommittees Update: Chair discussed subcommittee topics. The infrastructure subcommittee will focus on recreational trails and coordination with Houston Parks Board, particularly on trail crossings. The education subcommittee lacks a chair; members were encouraged to volunteer. A proposal to rename or restructure subcommittees was discussed, but it was decided to keep the names as infrastructure and education.\n- Future Topics and Meeting Schedule: The committee discussed converting the next infrastructure subcommittee meeting (scheduled for August 27, 2025) into a full BAC meeting to address urgent items, including the election of a second vice chair and a chair for the education subcommittee. Members requested that "future topics to be addressed" be a standing agenda item for all future full meetings.\n- Invited Speakers: Members suggested inviting Houston Police Department (HPD) liaisons to present crash data, Planning Department Director Dr. Margaret Tran for a director's report, as well as representatives from Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Harris County Flood Control District, and the Downtown Houston Management District to discuss trail connections and infrastructure projects.\n- Micro-mobility and Ordinance Changes: A discussion arose regarding proposed city ordinances that may ban or regulate e-scooters and e-bikes. Some members theorized this could be a strategy to introduce regulated shared mobility services (e.g., Lime, Lyft). The committee agreed that safety and infrastructure for all users remain the priority, and educational outreach on this topic is needed.\n- Regional Transportation Plan (RTP): Brandon Mosley of the Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) presented the 2050 RTP process, highlighting public engagement opportunities. He encouraged the BAC to participate in upcoming meetings and surveys to ensure cycling needs are represented. Members noted the lack of meetings in Harris County compared to suburban counties and requested additional outreach options.\n\n### Key Outcomes\n- Minutes Approved: The April 2025 meeting minutes were approved by voice vote with no corrections.\n- Special Full Meeting Scheduled: The committee agreed to hold a special full BAC meeting on August 27, 2025 (replacing the infrastructure subcommittee meeting) to elect a second vice chair and a chair for the education subcommittee. The chair will work with staff to post the agenda and notify members.\n- Subcommittee Direction: The infrastructure subcommittee will prioritize coordination with Houston Parks Board on recreational trails. The education subcommittee remains without a chair; members are encouraged to volunteer.\n- Future Agenda Items: The committee will invite HPD to present crash data, and director Tran to provide a report at a future meeting. The chair will include "future topics to be addressed" as a standing agenda item.\n- Outreach: Members were encouraged to promote the HGAC RTP surveys and meetings through their networks.\n\n### Announcements\n- The first annual Houston Bike Fest will be held on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at St. Arnold Brewing.\n- Bike Tober Fest is scheduled for Thursday, October 3, 2025, at the Ion.\n- A moment of silence was observed for Bob Stein, a longtime cyclist and advocate who recently passed away. Members shared his contributions to the cycling community.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome everybody that came off today. That's okay. I had to go around the training too, so that's why it took me a little while to get here. So the recall might follow you. Yes. All right. Vice Chair Alejandro here. Yes. Al Williams. Carl Salazar. Doctor Trufo. Truefo present. He's previous. Yeah. Trevor Wrightman. Here. Yeah, I am on moving. I better say Robin Holter. President. We are Mike Reynolds. And I am serving as the ex officio of planning and Wilson Calvert. So I am here as well. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I have we have forum, so we can move forward. Question, you can I miss you being Nicky. Oh, yeah, sorry. I wrote that on there. Nikki Knight also. Yes, not present. Okay. Yes. Sorry. I literally hand wrote that for remind myself. Yes. If you've ever wondered why these are in the order they are, because I thought the same thing is because those are the positions that everybody is in. So we have like a position slot. So everyone's wondering why it's not an alphabet question. Okay. Here's the agenda. First thing up will be the director's report. So sorry, director's report. There is no director's report. Now that was pretty good. All right. Um is the question, right? Yeah. So pieces of the agenda we were talking about, you know, what what can we talk about? What can we move forward? I know we are in the into the more rural compliant part of this committee. Um so your presentation means a lot in order for us to keep moving forward and start bringing up things the right way and and hopefully um we can give some some some guidelines on where to move forward.
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