MOVESB™
is a critique of NGO Conglomerates, government policies and officials,
and how they have used us as a testing ground for radical state-mandated high-density helotry, and destroyed this once vibrant community of Santa Barbara, California.
Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, Coast, MOVE Santa Barbara County, BiciCentro and other tax-payer supported, anti-car, eMotorcycle promoters, including NGOs inestimably funded by your tax dollars have appropriated inappropriate government funds in strange partnerships and revolving door politics.
The NGO-gov "partner" structure is as plastic as play-dough, and the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition has morphed and merged into a conglomerate NGO which apparently owns real estate property (Non-profit landlord), has ties to Vision Zero developers, foreign eMotorCycle manufacturers, local government and your tax dollars. Government civil servants become "consultants" paid by their ex-coworkers, many of whom buy rental property outside of California so they do not have to control their rent under the laws they imposed on us. We get stuck with corporate landlords, chain retail, and mom-and-pop restaurants also go out of business.
We explore the history and activities of this apparent pseudo-PAC-like cluster of organization which apparently lobbies for incessant, inappropriate government-funded activities, and the community backlash that is now facing the government officials who have been facilitating this destruction of formerly vibrant City circulation and commerce into Vision Zero subjugation. Let's make SB move again! Please add to discussion and Click to Send Email.
Latest:
May 24 - Cycle-mad Amsterdam slams brakes on 'Extremely dangerous fatbikes'. Pavements are racetracks. Public space no longer feels safe. Fatbikes are supposed to have a maximum speed of around 25 kph, but they are often illegally souped up to reach anywhere between 50 and 60 kph. Doctors say it is the same level of impact as a motorcycle accident. Anyone over 16 caught riding a fatbike in the Vondelpark will have to pay a fine of 115 euros ($133). Children between 12 and 15 pay half that. (MSN article) April 01 - Regressive devolution is replacing the symphonies to human flourishing in the pinnacle of Western innovation. Los Angeles ADU Designers obliterate biophilic environments that connect us to nature, safety, and refuge; principles that helped our ancestors survive on the savanna. Stack'em and Pack'em is the new diktat from the Uberstaat, importing low-competence design norms that prioritize profit and ideology over empirical reality and our mental health. With no regard for electromagnetic fields, noise, fire risks, or basic human dignity, they're stacking battery hen bedrooms right up against power lines and fences like some slapdash favela or Gaza concrete jungle from the 3rd World.
March 23 - Remembering the Way State Street Was (article by Linda Wade Williams)
March 02 -
E-Motorcycle Safety Tips and Report on Youth Injuries - Surge Over 300%, from American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons - Study:
e-bikes were increasingly responsible for trauma activations, jumping from only 2% in 2017 to 64% in 2023.
February 21 -
The "cheat bike" or "e-motorcycle doping" is here? Bike engineers take pride in developing concealed electromagnetic drive system integrated into a top-level racing bicycle, perfect for e-motorcyclists who yearn to surpass that nagging 35mph limit?
December 21 - New York parents say kids 'freeze' on mandated electric school buses during winter weather after drivers told heating 'drains the battery capacity' (article)
2025 October - the Bike Coalition in Santa Barbara continues to promote "idiotic street changes in downtown Santa Barbara" and now hired an LA lawyer to try to take over this website, attempting to brigade us off the internet. Stay tuned to local news like SB Current for updates.
October 16 - As CAB has been stating for 40 YEARS, the MIG plan for downtown failed. Click to see latest letter to SB Council stating "no proof of concept after years of implemention."
2025 August - SBCAG OK's $52M in roadway projects this year, but are they really "roadway" projects.
June 06 -
The American College of Surgeons Statement on Electric Bicycle Safety and Injury Prevention
Cars Are Basic, Inc.(TM) has repeatedly questioned the Santa Barbara City Council and County Board of Supervisors why government funding is going to organizations which purchase rental property and operate retail shops. Such tax-supported retail has competed with mom and pop local businesses, such as 40-year-old Bob's Bike Shop, causing revenue and profits to leave the County. BicycleBobs used to sell US-made bikes, but was sold to a chain store: Trek Bicycle Corporation is a bicycle, cycling product and electric motorcycle manufacturer selling 99% foreign-made, as Politifact admitted, Trek also promotes eMotorcycles as bikes, and gambling apps as education, The website also stated that, "As more people in Morocco are looking for ways to improve their financial literacy, platforms like 1xBet are becoming essential tools for not only fun but also financial education."
The Bike League reported that 2022 NHTS showed Bicycle (including bikeshare, ebike, etc.) ridership was 45% "Social/Recreational" while "To/From Work" was 14%. No data shows any significant increase in the prevalence of biking during 2001 to 2022, and walking has dropped sharply per the report data.
In 2022 when COAST and SBBIKE merged, Cars Are Basic, Inc.(TM) notified SBGAG, SB Council and Supervisors that such government funding was double dipping for unproven projects, but no action was taken. ... The merged organization’s mission continues to focus on equitably serving all in our community who wish to safely walk, bicycle and take public transit, but not drive. Their website states, "having a choice in our mode of travel" but specifically excluding automobiles despite receiving Measure A transportation funding.
The USDOT E's - Enforcement, Encouragement: ... The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) provided Policy Statement in 2010 encouraging, supporting and fostering increased use by bicyclists and pedestrians. However bicycle use has dwindled in Santa Barbara over the past 30 years, while enforcement is nearly absent for the latest craze in e-Motorcycles and E-scooters.
In 2014 the University of California at Santa Barbara sacred liturgy of the anti-car zealots strikes again. These paragons of higher learning, incubators of idea pathogens, decided to shatter their solemn promises on student enrollment caps, and they bulldozed parking lots and our old soccer fields to erect more student gulags, all while preaching the gospel of 'sustainability.' Then, in a masterstroke of compassionate authoritarianism, they stripped thousands of students of their transportation autonomy. No more evil, freedom-giving personal vehicles for you, plebs! Bike, bus, or walk—preferably while chanting against carbon. This is classic suicidal empathy in action: sacrificing human flourishing, convenience, safety, and choice at the altar of environmental piety. ... "First-year students, including those with enough credits to be classified as sophomores, are prohibited from bringing vehicles to campus during their first year." This not only wreaked havoc on the already strained street parking in Isla Vista for residents and the Isla Vista Co-op where I used to shop, but caused more bicycle and pedestrian chaos and accidents on campus. One resident sold his motorcycle and stopped biking there because several of the frantic students searching for parking spaces almost hit him. Universities aren't educating anymore; they're indoctrinating. They breed these anti-human, anti-progress orthodoxies that treat the automobile—the pinnacle of individual liberty and technological advancement—as a mortal sin. Meanwhile, the same administrators who can't park their own hypocrisy drive around in their climate-controlled bubbles. It's not about the environment. It's about control. Parasitic ideas like this escape the campus and infect society, turning practical realities into ideological battlegrounds.
The 1980s "bike guys" have come a long way from grass-roots advocacy, and now operate commercial real estate ventures with employees and receive taxpayer funding. ... The Santa Barbara bicycle Coalition and "partners" have captured government funding, and now they own rental property and bike shops, which apparently have replaced private bike shops such as Bicycle Bob's and Cycle Star Bicycles, which used to pay taxes instead of being tax-exempt. The tax-payer funded NGO corporation conglomerate also conducts consulting and education services, which were previously done by City Staff and Police Department, which promoted student-police relationship.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is probably one of the original bicycle coalition organizations in the US. ... Although Philadelphia is not know for having the best weather for biking, now they conduct professional advocacy, consulting and education services. On their website they state- 'The Bicycle Coalition is still working on some of these same issues today (“comprehensive network of bikeways” “commitment of funds for maintenance”—sounds familiar!)'
Comments are welcomed to send here, or to Cars Are Basic, Inc.TM because they are the hardest working volunteer Non-Profit watchdog organization against local government questionable policies and excessive tax spending.
Another watchdog is Santa Barbara Coalition Against Government Waste and Malfeasance™ (SBCAG™) previously known as Sane Backlash of Community Activist Groups.