Dear Regents, Dear Carrie Byington

Over the last decade, UC campuses have worked hard to support healthy and sustainable transportation. Seven Bicycle Friendly University awards are proof of a consistent and admirable effort throughout the system. The UC 2025 carbon goals are an important plank of this effort.

But given the acceleration of global warming and the dramatic impacts of Covid-19, we see new opportunities for UC Health. Strategies to reduce driving and improve health are in very high demand. The e-bike revolution has vastly increased the number of people who could commute without a car. Covid-19 has led to soaring bike sales. The Gear Change program in the UK and the Verkehrswende (Transport Transition) in Germany affirm that poor health and too much driving are really a single problem, one that can be addressed with two wheels. Now is the time for UC Health to acknowledge its own transport footprint.

We therefore ask the Regents’ Health Services Committee to initiate an active transportation policy. This policy would end the marginalization of those who do not have access to a car and discontinue hidden subsidies for car use like “bundled parking”. It would guide our hospitals to actively engage with local communities by supporting active modes of transport. Such programs have invariably led to financial savings while also offering access to physical activity for Black, Brown and low-income communities. Every UC Health location (owned or leased) must  provide safe and welcoming bicycle facilities for visitors, patients and staff.  

When seeing patients, our doctors invariably recommend an active lifestyle. Yet currently many UC Health premises are not set up to support and encourage and reward active modes of transportation. The active transportation policy will address this disconnect, invest in encouragement programs and avoid the scandal of ignorance and hypocrisy.

With such a policy UC Health will emerge as a national leader for healthy transportation. Our’s will be the first health system to act on the overwhelming evidence public health experts have provided: Active transportation prevents obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. California is the state to recognize this and the UC is the institution to act on it. UC Bikes! and active transportation advocates throughout the state are eager to assist with this process. The signatories to this open letter request that the Regents’ Health Services Committee instruct EVP Byington to work with stakeholders and experts to develop an active transportation policy for UC Health.