NEW MEXICO - Trying to entice more commuters to hop on bikes and leave their cars at home, , San Jose City Councilman Sam Liccardo is pitching a plan to alter downtown streets to make biking safer and more convenient.

The proposal calls for separating bicyclists from traffic by building physical barriers, using shrubbery or curbs for instance, making more bike racks available at public events, and hiring a private company to pilot a European-style bike share''' program, with bike rentals at light-rail stations.

People don't use bicycles as a commute option because they don't feel safe on our roads,''' said Liccardo, who represents the downtown area. So the first of these three elements segregating the bike lane from the rest of traffic along key corridors in downtown is critical.''

With the support of Councilman Forrest Williams and Mayor Chuck Reed, whose green vision''' or the city includes alternative transportation, the plan would focus on the downtown area. Segregated bike trails would run along one side of the road and connect San Jose State University with City Hall, the Diridon Transit Station, and major downtown businesses, including Adobe Systems. Possible corridors include San Fernando Street, South Seventh and North Fourth streets.

"If we're really going to move the needle, to encourage people to change their commuting habits, it seems to me it's less about building trails and lanes to far-flung places in the county as much as it is focusing on those locations that we know are key destinations for people,''' said Liccardo, whose proposal will be considered Wednesday by the city's Rules and Open Government Committee. It's next step could be an airing by the City Council next month.

Local bicyclists are heralding the idea, calling it a "huge step''' forward.

"All those things they want to implement that would make it so much nicer,'' said Warren Jenkins, who rides his single-speed, green Schwinn from downtown to his job at Recycle Bookstore on The Alameda. "The way things are going with cars and gasoline prices, human power is going to be a lot more prominent. It's part of the solution, right?''