With some fresh paint already on the streets, it is worth noting that we have many improvements to look forward to in the near future.

New Colorado Ave bike lane, Westbound - photo by GarySeven

Gary’s comments on the recent bike infrastructure improvements in downtown Santa Monica were brought up multiple times during the meeting. Planning Commission Chair Jim Ries wondered how other concerned locals can provide such feedback before the bike plan goes to City Council for approval on November 22nd. Lucy Dyke responded that direct email feedback to her would be best. She also mentioned future Santa Monica Spoke Ride Alongs which will be a great way to introduce the public to the new facilities as they emerge, and get feedback in the process – similar to Charlie Gandy’s Long Beach by Bike tours.

Commisionner McKinnon inquired about the project timetable for the next few years. Lucy Dyke promised 2 bike corrals by year’s end, along with 14 miles of sharrows, and 19 miles of bike lane. Included will be the green bike lanes on Broadway and 2nd St, which should be ready by July 2012. Tentatively, the city plans to install 2,500 new bike parking spots in the next 5yrs, 800 of which should spring up next year.

5th and Arizona Bike Corral, adjacent to SM ICE skating rink - photo by Luis Morris

One of those bike corrals has already made its debut at the Southwest corner of 5th and Arizona. Thanks to the efforts of transportation engineer Sam Morrisey and transportation manager Luis Morris, it was installed within days of ICE skating rink’s request. The Zanzibar night club is located on that same corner – great music and overall vibe, except for their deplorable dress code which requires you to wear pants, even during a heatwave. So leave your find-a-decent-parking-spot worries at home – hop on your bike and ride to your preferred entertainment destination.

Overall, the Planning Commission was very receptive of the Bike Action Plan. If anything, their nitpicking of implementation details disclosed their thorough understanding of issues that cyclists face. Lucy Dyke earned most memorable quote of the night by stating that “We (the city) cannot avoid eventually prioritizing bikes over car traffic.”

In other news

• The city of Santa Monica plans to take over Lincoln Blvd from Caltrans in March 2012; My hopes are that Santa Monica will then attempt to turn Lincoln into a Complete Street, minimizing or eradicating the possibility of serious injury or death
• Most cyclists are accustomed to triggering a traffic light in their favor by riding over the embedded magnetic loops?  But what about that white stripe with a bike symbol?  It means that a video camera placed directly ahead will trigger the light, so don’t stray too far away from that mark.
• The Bike Center opens this Friday! Info below.

Bike Center, Colorado and 2nd St - photo by GarySeven

The Bike Center opens this weekend; it offers bike and segway sharing, lockers and showers, cyclist education programs, assistance with repairs, and secured parking. Santa Monica Spoke is leading a tour there on Saturday, Nov 19th, following a Bike Action Plan community meeting at 502 Colorado. Meet and greet at 10am; Bike Action Plan presentation led by city staff at 11am. Coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls will be on hand, and a 1 month membership to the Bike Center will be given away.

Join us Sunday, 11 am – 2pm at the Bikeside Stage, located between Spring and Main on 1st St.

Coffee + Politics + Bikerowave + 1000 watts of sound = Trouble.  Good thing we’re on LAPD HQ’s front lawn!

We’ll have streetside pro-cycling political stumping that hasn’t been seen since preachers on milk crates.  Don’t miss your chance to engage with the LA’s bike friendly candidates.  Or get your bike tuned up for free by Bikerowave’s best mechanics.  Don’t miss:

• Austin Beutner, Candidate for LA Mayor
• Kevin James, Candidate for LA Mayor
• Cary Brazeman, Candidate for LA City Controller
• The candidates of LA City Council District 15: Rebecca Chambliss, Justin Brimmer, Frank Pereyda, Gordon Teuber, John Delgado, and Candice Graham.
• Get LAPD’s take on cycling at the LAPD tent
• Free tune-ups at Bikerowave
• Free bike valet at Bikerowave
• $3 coffee via the mobile coffee gurus of Fortnight Coffee
• and sign up with Sustainable Streets for cycling skills classes!

Cathy Jean Jones struck a young woman in a crosswalk at Main and Pacific in February 2010, then tried to evade police.

From Danny Jimenez:

At the preliminary hearing on October 12 2010, the judge held there was sufficient evidence for the case to be heard before a jury. After a few continuances and postponements, Cathy Jean Jones pleaded No Contest on July 19th, 2011. Judge James Dabney sentenced her to two days county jail, but given two days credit for time served. She was also ordered to complete 180 days of community service, with permission to perform at a non profit organization approved by the LA County Probation Dept. She was placed on 5 years summary probation and ordered to pay court fines and make full restitution to the victim. Finally, she was ordered NOT to drive a motor vehicle. However, it does not say how long the driving restriction will last.

The restitution hearing is scheduled for January 5, 2012 in Department F at the LAX Courthouse.

In the Jeffrey Ray Adams case, District Attorney Steve Cooley decided to uphold the Misdemeanor charge.

The victim expressed frustration that his situation was not dire enough to merit Felony charges, even after his assault was caught on camera. BikingInLA explains that although the behaviour of the driver was outrageous, he is still not considered dangerous enough to warrant a Felony charge under California law. Rather sad that we have to be dismembered, left in a comatose state, or killed in order to elevate assaults with deadly vehicular weapons to a Felony status.

Tuesday evening, bike boxes on Ocean Park, downtown bikeways, and incorporating bike facilities into the future light rail station locations will be discussed at Santa Monica City Council. From Richard McKinnon, SM Parks and Recreation Comission:

First on the consent calendar is an item approving Alta design to design Santa
Monica’s first Bike Boxes at the Ocean Park Blvd and Main intersection and
at Michigan and Lincoln. The work is funded from a 2007 metro grant.

Second, the Council will consider circulation in the downtown area. In a great
staff, bikes are mentioned right through the document. The discussion will be a
chance to be heard about how bikes will be used in our central downtown
area.

3D rendering of a bike box

Gary Kavanagh's illustration of door zone bike lane - Door Lane!

There’s a road diet proposed in Venice which will add bike lanes to Main St.  The road diet is controversial (check the comments on LA Streetsblog), as the bike lane is tight against parked cars, putting cyclist riding the center of the bike lane.  The proposal comes before Venice Neighborhood Council (VNC) tomorrow (Tuesday) and below you can find my open letter to the board of directors.  For context: VNC and Mar Vista Community Council are adjacent to one another.

Edit: Mihai Peteu modified the Santa Monica Bike Map to show just the collisions taking place on the Main St bike lane in Santa Monica.  It paints a striking picture.  Not only are there a lot of collisions, but the usual ratio of 5 to 10 pedestrian collisions to every cycling collision is inverted: there are far more cycling collisions than pedestrian.  I can remember complaints about the Main St bike lane in Santa Monica since I started riding . . . and there’s been quite a number of awful collisions there, among them the Cathy Jones hit and run.  LADOT has stated that one benefit of the Main St project in Venice would be to continue the Main St. bike lane in Santa Monica.  This map calls into question the wisdom of continuing a door lane with a bad reputation, when the travel lanes are overly wide (11 feet).

Here’s the map, click through for the dynamic version:

Cyclist and pedestrian involved collisions in Santa Monica on Main St. Map by Mihai Peteu and Jason Leung.

The letter:

Venice Neighborhood Council members,

I’m writing you to ask that you reject the motion for item 6-C (Main St Road Diet) and ask DOT to provide you with better, safer and more innovative options for Main St. I will try to be at VNC for the item, but I have a prior obligation in Santa Monica which runs till 8. If I cannot make it, these are my thoughts:

I have appeared before you on this item, as well as on the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights and other items. I’m writing as a Del Rey resident who still bikes on Main St, and who often rode it in 2008 and 2009 when I lived on Horizon Ave in Venice. My background in cycling activism includes co-founding Bikerowave, authoring elements of LA’s 2010 Bike Plan as President of Bikeside, and my work as board member of the Mar Vista Community Council.

There are two good reasons to reject this motion, a motion which voices support for an LADOT plan for modifying Main St. First, while LADOT has participated in the NC process by appearing before your committees, they have not offered you options, a key feature of democratic process. Second, the nature of the proposed bike lanes endangers cyclists perhaps as much as it protects them.

Neighborhood Councils should be offered options by city departments. Too often proposals shopped by the City are “my way or the highway.” In this case, LADOT’s proposal is “keep Main St the way it is, or change it to what we want.” To my knowledge, DOT has not offered other striping plans besides the plan under consideration. This lack of options gives VNC little leeway to express its vision of Venice.

The proposed road diet is controversial in the cycling community. Some cyclists, this advocate included, argue that, as a minimum standard bike lane, it puts cyclists at risk. This has been written about on LA Streetsblog, Gary Rides Bikes, and Bikeside.

The proposed bike lanes will be in what cyclists call the “door zone.” The door zone is the section of the road next to parked cars where, if someone opened their door while you were riding by, you would crash into the door. If you bike in the door zone you’re risking free open heart surgery at the hands of a car door.

These bike lanes are the minimum 5 foot width next to a minimum 7 foot wide parking lanes. LADOT may characterize the bike lanes as “up to standard”, but realize this is the minimum standard that LADOT must build to *by law*. A study of parking behavior conducted in San Francisco showed that in 1 in 7 cars, when the driver opened their door to get out, that door extended beyond 9.5 feet from the curb. In this case, 9.5 feet from the curb marks the dead center of the proposed bike lane. So the study suggests that 1 in 7 car doors will cover most of the bike lane – that’s a risky bike lane.

And even more risky because many riders in Venice are novices. A veteran of LADOT’s minimally supportive streets knows that when a bike lane is in the door zone, you ride the outside edge, escaping most doors. Casual cyclists usually don’t know this. And what makes Venice such a bike paradise is the thousands of casual cyclists riding the streets on any given day. A design like the one offered by LADOT puts those casual cyclists in the door zone – offering them a false sense of security.

DOT has been creating some innovative bike lanes recently in other parts of the city. In Central LA they’ve built a bike lane with a buffer, and in Highland Park they’re doing a painted bike lane. Why innovative options like this are not on the table in Venice is beyond me!

So I encourage you to ask questions and get at the core of the issue. I believe that LADOT can offer other designs, they simply have not. In my work as part of the Bike Plan Implementation Team, I have seen LADOT turn around new designs within a month, so asking for alternatives is not unrealistic, and it doesn’t risk much delay. I defer to whatever VNC concludes – y’all know your neighborhood and if I could somehow move back to Venice (make the rent lower!) I would!

Here’s some questions you could ask of LADOT:

• We’ve heard that you are implementing bike innovations like buffered bike lanes and painted bike lanes in other parts of the city. Will you report back with new options that incorporate these kinds of elements?
• Why can’t the travel lane widths be reduced from 11’ to 10’ to encourage lower travel speeds and provide additional width for bike lane design?
• How often do you estimate a cyclist will be doored in the current proposed design?
• Realistically, will large, 11′ travel lanes reduce traffic speeds? Isn’t reduction of travel speeds supposed to be a benefit of road diets?

Best,

Dr. Alex C Thompson
Community Director, Mar Vista Community Council
President, Bikeside

(PS – Joe Linton pointed out that there is no MUTCD specified minimum width for a parking lane, so I got that wrong.  However, functionally it doesn’t make much difference, as cars don’t shrink if you make the parking lane narrower, and most cars are nearly 7′ wide.)

$50 million.  That’s what Alta Planning says that the New York City bike share system – unveiled this week – will cost to run each year.

That figure seemed really high to me, so I hit page-up, and saw that the system will have 10,000 bikes.  Do the division:

$50,000,000 per year / 10,000 bikes = $5,000 per bike per year

Five grand per bike per year?  I just don’t see how that can make financial sense.  How can a system cost that much per bike per year.  Even if there’s substantial administrative overhead, that implies you’d be spending thousands of dollars per bike per year administrating the system.

And keep in mind, the press releases seem to suggest this $50 million figure does not include the initial investment.  So it’s not as if this is the start up cost.

NYC cyclists, Halloween, 2008. Photo by Alex C Thompson

Perhaps figures like this are the reason that NYC will not spend any public money (apart from the allocation of public space) for the bike share system.  In way, that’s a sad sign of the times.  Why can’t a city make the relatively small investment in a bike share system?  They do it for every other transportation system – government spends enormous capital on roads, airports, subways . . . but we can’t afford a bike share system?  Government makes those investments despite recession, in spite of falling revenues.

Here in LA former Mayor Richard Riordan and allies have long been investigating a bike share system for LA.  Word on the street is that private operators won’t do it because the estimated liability costs are too high.  They think LA is that dangerous to ride.

Maybe that’s why it’s costing NYC $5,000 per bike per year – insurance.  If the insurance policy is just 1/3 of the $50 million yearly – $17 million – what does that imply the operator expects in terms of injuries and fatalities?  It’s a stark reminder of how far we have to realize bike friendliness.

If someone has firm figures or insight, I’d love to hear it.

CicLAvia 2, photo by Heidi Sickler

Since March 22nd, two days after the LA Marathon, I’ve been training.  I’ve run 1,429.8 miles, all of them in preparation for the Long Beach Marathon.  But then when I heard that the Long Beach Marathon is the same day as CicLAvia – October 9th – I said screw the marathon, I’m going to CicLAvia.  Why?  Because it’s awesome, because Bikeside will be there in spades, and because I’m not tough enough to run a marathon and do CicLAvia in the same day.

It’s gonna be rad.  To help it be more rad you can kick $$ for CicLAvia events at Kickstarter, where CicLAvia is raising money to make it a badder and radder event than in April.

Now this is where it gets complicated.  Bikeside is also raising money – we’re raising funds to support our general operation, and to support our work on elections.  Right now we’re working on the special City Council election in Council District 15.  We’re pushing those candidates hard to commit their support for CicLAvia, and come out to the October 9th event.  In the end, we think this push will be a game changer, redefining the politics of City Council to be far more supportive of open streets events.

So donate to support CicLAvia, or donate to support Bikeside, or donate toward both – it all helps get the job done!

And now, PHOTOZ of CicLAvia Episode 1 (101010) and Episode 2 (CicLAvia Strikes Back!) :

CicLAvia 2 - Ride A Bike, photo by Heidi Sickler

CicLAvia 2 - Richie style, Photo by Alex C Thompson

CicLAvia 2 - MacArthur Park, photo by Alex C Thompson

Into the City at CicLAvia 1, photo by Alex C Thompson

Scoops in the Bicycle District at CicLAvia 1, photo by Alex C Thompson

Candidate for Mayor, Wendy Greuel, happy at the first CicLAvia press conference, photo by Alex C Thompson

“Intentionally struck the victim with the side of his vehicle, knocking the victim off his bicycle, and causing the victim to be injured.”

Scene of the crash, Barnard Way

Jeffrey Ray Adams, the perpetrator

The driver can be heard threatening one of the witnesses in the YouTube clip:

“I’ll beat your ass.  You’re lucky that you’re alive right now.”

Forty five seconds into the video, you can hear a nearby witness state “Your car is on the wrong side of the road, buddy”, referring to its front end crossing the double yellow line of the turning lane.  Motorist’s response -“He ran into me”.  We will post more information as it surfaces, but for now, it seems like another clear-cut case of Dr. Christopher Thompson road rage.

The motorist allegedly violated quite a few traffic laws (blowing through a stop sign, crossing a double yellow line, and driving against traffic) in order to position himself to strike the cyclist.

According to the Santa Monica Police Department report, he was booked for Assault with a Deadly Weapon, but later released on $30,000 bail.  Assuming a bail bond company was involved, he only had to post 10% of that amount, which is a mere $3,000.

UPDATE: Alex T. posted more details, including some explanations on how LAPD tried to shift blame onto the riders.

Facebook photo set by Magnus

ABC 7 coverage:

People were sent flying into the air like rag dolls. (ABC News).

Another witness likened what happened to “a bowling ball knocking down pins
(LA Times Blogs)

To preempt any blame being put on the victims, Sgt Krumer stated that “[the cyclists] are not at fault simply for being out there in the roadway”.

CBS News has more footage of the aftermath:

Christine Dahab's Honda Civic

Hit & Run is nothing for a lobbyist:

It was natural for Don Ward to endorse Life Before License because he was clobbered in a callous hit and run on Glendale Blvd.  Ward was riding home from the nighttime all-city ride Wolfpack Hustle when big time lobbyist – Managing Director of the Mercury Group in LA – Glenn Gritzner hit him in his Jaguar:

I had the brightest lights money could buy, I was wearing a helmet, and I was riding in a legal, vehicular fashion when a driver plowed into me from behind at an estimated speed of 50 mph. It was 1 AM and the streets were relatively empty. My bike crumpled as it collided with the grill and my body sunk in to the hood of the gray 4 door 2009 Jaguar. I was carried and thrown some 50 feet and then…. left to fend for myself in the middle of the street.  …

Laying face down on the ground, blurry eyed, and in shock I still managed to get most of the plate numbers. Before I even moved I tweeted them on my smashed phone, afraid I would forget the numbers.

Gritzner fled the scene, and turned his Jaguar into the shop, but Ward was able to track him down using the partial plate and visiting high end body shops; Ward, at 6′ 8″, left the Jaguar needing body work after it smashed into him – a smaller rider might have nothing to go on.

Don Ward lies in the street after being hit and run by Glenn Gritzner in his Jaguar

In the end, power counts.  Gritzner never saw the inside of courtroom, his lawyer acting as his surrogate.  It drove the point home to Ward, who is rightfully mad that Gritzner got off easy, that a small first step toward justice is taking away the driving privileges of convicted hit and runners.  That’s the purpose of Life Before License, which asks:

1. A hit and run which results in fatality will result in the loss of driving privileges for 10 years.
2. A hit and run which results in permanent disability, or causes a life threatening injury will result in the loss of driving privileges for 5 years.
3. A hit and run which results in injury, but which does not lead to permanent disability or a life threatening injury, will result in the loss of driving privileges for 2 years.
4. A hit and run which results in the damage of property only will result in the loss of driving privileges for 1 year.

Thanks Don, and thanks Safe Streets Northridge for the endorsement!

Unfortunately, life and the 2010 Bike Plan intervened, and Bikeside has missed the legislative window to alter state law.  So, we may beef this initiative up so that we can get even more through in the next legislative session.

An OG endorsement, and OG support:

For about a year, Josef Bray-Ali and I were each others’ dopplegangers.  Josef founded the Bike Oven, Northeast LA’s version of the Bike Kitchen, out of his garage, and I co-founded the Bikerowave 18 months later, West LA’s version of the Bike Kitchen.  Both Josef and I were original members of Stephen Box’s watershed Bike Writers Collective, and we were in many ways, the angry voices in the wilderness in our respective corners of the city – RANT set to full.  Single men, in full ass kicking mode working against a recalcitrant system – those were the bad old, and the good old, days.

Josef Bray Ali at the opening night of the Bike Oven

I still feel a strong kinship with Josef because we still are cynical hardasses who want change now, not 5 years from now, and certainly not on the 30 year timeline laid out for the LA Bike Plan.  And Bikeside is proud to take pages from the Bray-Ali playbook and engage on complicated issues like LOS, or ADT.

Since Josef became a dad, he started the Flying Pigeon with his brother Adam, a bike shop next to the Bike Oven which sells city bikes of all flavors, including European cargo bikes.  That makes Josef a proud father of three, first, his greatest love – his daughter – and then the Bike Oven and Flying Pigeon.

Instead of stapling together $100 bills to make pants and t-shirts from their profits, or commissioning rocket ship bikes, Josef and Adam have set aside some funds to support organizations kicking butt for cyclists.  They’ve supported CicLAvia and LA Streetsblog, and today, they’ve pledged their support for Bikeside! We’re proud to have it, and it’s a mutual thing – we love Flying Pigeon and we love Josef’s fire, so we’ll be running ads for Flying Pigeon and, as always, seeking the Bray-Ali point of view to inform our efforts.

Cheers!

[edited to alter comments re Glenn Gritzner per Don Ward's request]

CicLAvia was even more amazing than last year, with folks coming from all over to enjoy the freedom of exploring the city car-free.  Seems like even Sandy Banks of the LA Times had a blast.  Restaurants could barely keep up with demand, that’s about as busy as I’ve ever seen MacArthur park and Little Tokyo.

Coincidentally, one of San Francisco’s (many) Sunday Streets took place this past Sunday as well.  A bit jealous that they have eight such events planned for 2011.

The question on everyone’s mind is when is it coming to their side of town.  Ciclavia South LA is trying to make their route a reality, they’ll need your help to get local businesses on board. Their next meeting is on April 20th at TRUST South L.A./SAJE, 6pm. Join the Google group to stay in the loop.

WideBicyclePanAndZoom from Nicholas Dahmann

Wilshire lane closures

Wilshire will be more rideable than usual for the next year or so, not due to any specific bikeway implementation, but due to the fact that traffic will move at a standstill during commute hours. One lane in each direction will be unusable, between Veteran and Bonsall. East-bound traffic in the morning is consistently backed up as far as Bundy. It’s time Tortoise and the Hare time – slow and steady wins the race. Time to bring out that cruiser and weave through parked cars.

From coast to coast

Streetsblog NYC has a short but effective clip showcasing the difference that a protected bike lane makes. When can we get some of these? A large percentage of people will *not* ride a bike unless it’s absolutely safe. Both the Santa Monica LUCE and the LA Bike Plan Implementation Team (BPIT) are good chances to lobby for upgraded, safe bikeways.

Tonight, item 4-B on Santa Monica’s City Council agenda intends to prioritize transit, bike, and pedestrian access throughout downtown. This seems like a valiant attempt to make the downtown core more accessible and welcoming to people, with improved connections to Bergamot Station, the Civic Center, and SaMo High. A potential 7th St bridge over the 10 freeway to connect SaMo High with the future Michigan Bike Boulevard will be discussed. Meeting starts at 5:30pm, City Hall Council Chambers – 1685 Main St, 90401. Public comment may not begin until 8pm or later, so bring reading material or a laptop if you plan on voicing your opinion.

BikeRoWave is leaving Mar Vista at 9:30am sharp – we really mean 9:30! 12-15mph pace.  (Blog, Facebook event)

There is also a UCLA group led by E3 (Economy, Ecology, Equity) leaving the Ackerman Bus Terminal at 9am.  In case you didn’t know, that’s where Westwood dead ends into the UCLA campus.  This one is also a slow paced ride, no rider left behind.
Ride safe and we’ll see you at Ciclavia!

Ciclavia 2010 by Jory (Flickr)

I’m referring, of course, to the planned ramp closures on Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards that are part of the 405 Widening Project.  The first phase of closures begins in August, and the subsequent phases eventually touch all eight ramps.  Some ramps will be closed for up to 90 days.  That’s three months of detours, three months of crawling traffic, three months of getting to work late.  See the table for the specific dates, and plan accordingly!

You may say, “That’s no big deal for me, I don’t have to take the 405.”  My response is that you don’t have to take the 405 to feel the effects of these closures.  Consider that, in October, three of the four ramps on and off of Wilshire will be closed at the same time.  This may result in increased traffic on Sunset and Santa Monica.  However, as Josef Brayj-Ali points out in Traffic is Not Like Water, stopping up the Wilshire ramps does not correspond to “damming the 405 river,” and the outcome can’t be predicted accurately.

You may say, “Do drivers even read BikesideLA? I’m a cyclist, and I’m going to zip past those jammed-up cars like I’m Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone!”  My response to that is “That’s great!”  But it’s not nearly good enough.  I’m calling out the need to look beyond the individual benefits that we enjoy as two-wheelers, and to embrace the collective advantages that we provide to all road users.  These ramp closures are a golden opportunity for the City and the bike community to demonstrate that putting more people on bikes, on buses and in carpools can reduce the strain on our failing infrastructure.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that trips from the Westside to the Valley should be made via bike during the construction.  What we should look at is increasing the number of local trips within West LA that don’t need a car.  What I envision is a highly targeted effort in the Westwood Village, Brentwood, Sawtelle, and West LA neighborhoods to lighten the load on their streets.  An effort that would help us overcome the chaos that will inevitably result from the broken traffic flow.  An effort that could establish a precedent which outlives the 405 Widening Project.

The foundation of this effort would be two-way outreach to inform the community, and to gather suggestions for improvements.  I’d love to engage the Neighborhood Councils and Homeowners Associations to get residential blocks and apartment buildings organized around commuting together.  Imagine a handful of “bike buses” traversing West LA, or full loads of passengers emerging from sedans upon arriving at the office.

We could use some help from larger organizations, too.  While the City is posting “Detour” signs to funnel cars to the next available on-ramp, it could also designate some safe routes for cyclists.  Local businesses could participate by offering promotions to patrons who arrive by bike or transit.  After all, better traffic flow on a street can only result in more exposures for the storefronts on that street.  There are lots of possibilities, and I would appreciate your ideas in the comments!

Let’s get prepared to milk this opportunity, and to demonstrate that promoting cycling means promoting more efficient road use, which benefits everyone.

Reason #5: DODGEBALL

When else are you going to get to play dodgeball in the streets of LA?  I don’t know, but it can’t be that often.  I hope, hope, hope to god that dodgeball will be back for this CicLAvia – CicLAvia Part Deux I’m calling it -and I’m an atheist!

Here’s some images from last year’s dodgeball games at CicLAvia – all photos from the slow witted blogger Alex Thompson:

Southpaw

Clobbered in the head - that will rattle your brainz.

Throwing with your eyes closed . . .

Throwing with your eyes closed usually leads to having you throw caught, like right here.

...so focus before you throw...

... and put your back into it!

CicLAvia 4-10-2011

The Tour De Box, Sunday, 1pm, NoHo, Hollywood, Echo Park

It’s four days to election day, and the Los Angeles bike movement’s first chance to elect one of their own, the illustrious Stephen Box, to LA City Council.  If there’s one thing you can do between now and election day, it’s come out to Stephen’s Sunday bike ride – the Tour De Box!  (on Facebook)

There’s a menu of options – you can go on a bike tour starting at any one of three locations, or you can join a food truck phone banking party at any three other locations, or you can go and a bike party and food truck phone bank party after.  It’s like a choose your own Stephen Box campaign adventure.

The bike tours are bike tours, that’s obvious.  At the food truck phone banking parties volunteers will make a quick 10 or 20 calls on behalf of Stephen at a location with a bunch of food trucks.  The Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association (MFVA) is supporting Stephen Box for City Council because of his work to keep food trucks legal.

The bike plan just passed, in case you were under a rock.  Stephen was there at the beginning, three years ago, urging us on, back when people said we would never get a good plan.  He roped me into the process, and countless others.  Stephen encouraged us all to insist on a great plan.  When the first draft of the plan was released in September 2009, Stephen was vocal that it wasn’t good enough, and he was right.  In part because of him, the plan went back to City Planning for revisions.  When the plan came back again last Fall, again Stephen stood up to insist on better, again against the advice of insiders, and again we won.  In the end, LA’s bike plan was transformed into an exceptional document, and Stephen had a lot to do with it.

Cyclists throughout LA should do what they can to support him – we owe him, but more importantly, if this is what Stephen has done so far, imagine what he can do with the authority and resources of a City Council office.

Tour De Box:

Bike Tours @ 1:00 pm:

• NoHo Bike Tour - meet at the Metro Station in NoHo
• Mid-City Bike Tour – meet at the Campaign Headquarters (5619 Hollywood Blvd.)
• East Side Bike Tour – meet at the Mulholland Fountain at Crystal Springs and Riverside

(Look for the Stephen Box sign, and wear your “Cyclists for Stephen Box” t-shirts!)

Food Truck Phone Bank Parties @ 1:00 pm:

• NoHo – 5250 Lankershim Boulevard
• Mid-City – LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard
• East Side – Campaign HQ, 5619 Hollywood Boulevard

Before the exciting news about our own BikeMap, let’s see what others have released recently.  Berkeley’s Safe Trec has put together a demo that allows you to query traffic collision data for counties in Northern California (you must first request a login).  You can scroll through a list of the results or view them on a map.  The layout is rudimentary, but SafeTrec offers some solid statistics:  collision severity, collision type (head-on, sideswipe, etc), parties involved, factor that caused the collision.  These are all fields that have to be filled out when the law enforcement agent arrives on the scene of a traffic collision, and it all ends up in a centralized, statewide database known as SWITRS.

The Bay Citizen has its own sharp-looking map of bike collisions in San Francisco also based on SWITRS data.  Also impressive – the charts, which rank the most dangerous neighborhoods, streets and intersections, examine which party is most often at-fault, and list the most common crash causes.  They have drawn up some conclusions, which were contested by San Francycle.

I am glad to see others taking a shot at visually organizing heaps of publicly-available collsion data that otherwise would end up in a boring Powerpoint presentation.

We have also picked up steam on LA Bike Map with the help of Jason Leung, who has done wonders for our existing interface.   For now, we are focusing on using this new tool to create custom maps for a pedestrian safety study in Santa Monica.  Once it’s ready for prime-time, we’ll move these changes to the LA BikeMap, making it easier to comb through user-contributed incidents as well as the “official” traffic reports taken by various police agencies in LA County.

Bikemap v2.0 displaying traffic incidents involving bikes within Santa Monica city limits

New features

• larger map area
• snappy time slider
• login-based system for quicker incident reporting
• ability to save a search and share it as a link
• better clustering of incidents to show most dangerous stretches of road

Incident Heat Map

An Alpha release v2.0 will be available for public testing in April.  We’d like some input in order to make it more practical and easy to use, so when the time comes, you will catch the invite on BikeSide.

At USC, I had to cross Figueroa.  In Santa Monica, Lincoln and Bundy effin suck.  In Little Armenia, you have stank nasty grimey pothole-ridden Hollywood Blvd.   In either of those cases, you can either walk out of the way to a crosswalk and wait a minute or more, or you can mad dash across.  That’s known as jaywalking, a term propagated by US automobile interests in the early part of the 20th century to scorn pedestrians and make drivers feel more entitled.  “Jay” insinuates that the one crossing the street is inexperienced.

Revisiting Donald Appleyard’s Livable Streets from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Based on Donald Appleyard’s 1981 Livable Streets book, it visually expresses how the physical width of a street affects the social life of nearby residents. Appleyard was an Urban Design professor at UC Berkeley that believed that “good urban design must be for the poor as well as for the rich.” He studied social and psychological effects of traffic and neighborhood layout and was the first to quantify this data.  Appleyard died a year after the publication of Livable Streets, at 54 years of age (struck and killed by a speeding automobile in Greece).

Social network on a light traffic street

The case study in the Streetsfilm video refers to light, medium, and heavy traffic streets in San Francisco in the late 1960s. The conclusion: streets with lighter traffic have more nearby friends and acquaintances, and they tend to identify the whole block as their public space. Residents of the street with more automobile traffic have less friends and tend to be constrain themselves to their apartment or building, exhibiting a much smaller comfort zone.

How traffic flow affects personal comfort zones

If Hollywood Blvd wasn’t a Nascar speedway, I would go to Taron Bakery for spicy cheese pies a few times a week instead of once a month.   Making even a right turn onto Hollywood Blvd always feels like jumping into a swimming pool full of sharks.

I’d like to see the Comments section fill up with stories about the most daunting street in YOUR neighborhood.  Off the top of your head, what street poses a similar barrier in your area?  Think about what you’d be doing differently, what social interactions you may be missing out on, and which business or venue you would patronize more.

I find Figueroa’s potential future redesign and ongoing mobility projects in Long Beach to be very inspiring. A ray of hope in an otherwise frustratingly stagnant transit climate. There, I ended on a positive note.

Come walk precincts with Bikeside every Wednesday from 530pm to 830pm

It’s time for cyclists to get out in numbers and support Stephen Box for City Council. He’s our candidate, he fights for us everyday, and if we get him in City Hall, the sky’s the limit for biking in Los Angeles.

Come out every Wednesday from now till election day (3/8) to walk precincts in support of Stephen Box.

We’ll meet at Box4CC Campaign Headquarters at 5:30pm, receive brief instructions from Campaign Manager Enci Box, and then we’ll hit the streets by 6pm. If you have to come a bit late, do come, and Enci will direct you to us.

Bring a bike (or if you must, drive), since we may be walking in a neighborhood that is biking distance but not walking distance from HQ. We’ll walk till around 830pm, and then retire, hopefully to some warm place with pizza, coffee, pie and hot cocoa.

Bring a friend or twenty!

When: Every Wednesday, from 530pm to 830pm
Where: Box4CC Campaign HQ, 5619 Hollywood Blvd
What: Walk precincts canvassing in support of the bikeyist candidate in Southern California, Stephen Box!

Contact Alex Thompson at contact@BikesideLA.org with any questions.

It’s Good News for cyclists who want the City Council to issue a resolution in support of the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights along with a resolution establishing a Complete Streets policy for transportation projects.

The Cyclists’ Bill of Rights was written by the Bike Writers Collective and it has gone around the world, sometimes imitated and often endorsed! It was featured in the Wall Street Journal and the London Telegraph, it was endorsed by LA’s City Council, it was modified and adopted by LA’s Equestrian Advisory Committee, LA’s Horse Council, a local Harley Owners’ Group, cyclists in Florida, and by a group of activists in the Philipines.

LA’s Taxi Cab Riders have a Bill of Rights, Taxpayers have a Bill of Rights, Patients have a Bill of Rights, the Police have a Bill of Rights, Transit riders have a Bill of Rights, and cyclists are now one step closer to getting the City Council to issue a resolution in support of the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights.

The Complete Streets policy initiative is a national, state, and local campaign that brings transportation planners and engineers together in the design, consruction and operation of streets that meet the needs of all users, including cyclists, pedestrians, transit passengers and motorists. The Complete Streets concept has a positive impact on the local economy, on public safety, and on the livability of local streets.

At the federal level, advocates are encouraged that funding and infrastructure discussions are now embracing the Complete Streets philosophy. At the state level, legislation is slowly moving into place that codifies the Complete Streets standard. But at the local level, Mayors and City Councils are capitalizing on the revitalizing power of Complete Streets policies, moving with great agility and agility to bring the vision to local streets.

November 5, 2010 is a Great Day for cyclists because the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights and Complete Streets are both on the City Council agenda for endorsement by Resolution.

But it’s Bad News for LA’s cyclists because it’s the City Council in Baltimore, not City Council in Los Angeles, that is holding up the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights and Complete Streets as a commitment to supporting cycling as a transportation solution on city streets.

In Los Angeles, we have a City Council directive from 2008 that called on City Planning, the LADOT, Public Works, the LA Bicycle Advisory Committee to consult with the LAPD and the City Attorney on the inclusion of the CBR principles “into the City of Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan and other relevant documents and practices.” That didn’t happen but it must.

In Los Angeles, we have a Bicycle Plan working its way through the Planning Commission and City Council, acknowledging the January 1, 2001 implementation of the California Complete Streets Act but arguing that Los Angeles is not legally required to consider the needs of all modes. LA must account for the needs of all roadway users, not look for loopholes.

It’s Good News for cyclists because the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights and Complete Streets are both gaining traction. It’s Bad News for cyclists in Los Angeles because City Hall is looking for the legal minimum on the delivery of city services and on the support of cyclists on the streets of LA.

It’s true that West Hollywood already has made an effort to calm traffic, but there’s a lot to be done in order to get the desired effect.  According to WeHo News, “based upon the City’s telephone survey, we learned that 91% of West Hollywood residents own or lease a vehicle – with half owning/leasing 2+ vehicles”.  Along with the gridlocked motorized traffic resulting from morning and afternoon crosstown commuters, it seems that city planners have taken a cue that something visionary was needed.

Support the plan if you can make it to tonight’s City Council meeting, and keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to give the WeHo Bike Task Force feedback on where improvements can be made.

There is a City Council meeting tonight, Oct 25th at West Hollywood Park Auditorium, 647 N. San Vicente Bl.

Meeting info and Agenda – General Plan is item 2-H
http://www.weho.org/index.aspx?page=18&recordid=1006

In case you have a hard time finding it, the Auditorium is sandwiched between the outdoor pool and the library reconstruction, SW corner of San Vicente and Melrose.

Tour De Fat Los Angeles!

There are two great events on Saturday that I want to make sure you don’t miss.  First, there’s the TDF.  No, not the Tour De France.  It’s the Tour De Fat . . . the bikes & beer festival sponsored by New Belgium Breweries!  New Belgium Breweries are the famous brewers of every cyclist’s favorite beer (it better be in your top 5 at least!), Fat Tire Ale.  The event is this Saturday, beginning with a bike parade (register at 10 am, ride at 11) and with performances and fun till 5 pm.  It’s being held LA Historic Park in Downtown LA – the park formerly known as Not A Cornfield.  Check out the details on the Tour De Fat website or on Facebook!  I’m so glad to have the Tour De Fat here – last year we really wanted to have it come to LA but it just didn’t happen – I’m impressed and stoked that C.I.C.L.E made it happen this year.

If after the Tour De Fat you’re in the mood for bike culture talks, come to Bikerowave for three talks by bike activists.  Don Strauss and collaborators have created a new accredited Masters in Urban Sustainability program at Antioch University, and as part of that program speakers will talk about bike culture, how it came about, and how it can move forward in Los Angeles.  Who might those speakers be?  Well, Don Strauss himself, Ron Durgin of Sustainable Streets, and myself!  I can’t tell you what Don and Ron (don and ron and don and ron . . .) will talk about, but I’ll talk about a bunch of projects in bike activism, how they evolved, and some lessons.

I went to the two previous events – a sustainable dinner and a panel on sustainability – and was very inspired by the presentations from accomplished activists – from the South Central Farmers to former CRA insiders.

The event begins at 7pm, and if possible you should RSVP with Don at dstrauss@antioch.edu.  Afterward we’ll go for a short bike ride visiting some scenic and sustainably meaningful haunts on the Westside.

And now,  I present you the Ten Commandments of the Tour De Fat!

1. Put no means of transport before thy bike: Come by bike because not only are bikes fun, but they help stave off some of our most wicked ills: Traffic, laziness, and pollution. Tour de Fat has a solution: ride this day, every day, and definitely when Tour de Fat heads your way.

2. Honor all other bikes: All bikes are good bikes, and all those who ride them are good people. This is the one Bike Festival that cherishes bicycle diversity on our Cruise-ade through town.

3. May every generation come forth: This is a family friendly event. Costumes, bikes and a parade? We were thinking like kids when we created Tour de Fat.

4. Thou shall come as a participant not a spectator: It’s a costumed celebration of human-powered transportation. Muscles not motors, coasters, v-brakes and rotors. Come in your favorite alter ego, because when everybody’s weird, no one is.

5. Thou shalt not bring booze; But enjoy the supplied malted adult refreshments responsibly: Please do not bring any outside alcohol on the ride or into the park. It could result in getting the event shut down…don’t be that guy. And when you imbibe in our tasty brews, remember this is a Bicycle Festival with beer, not the other way around.

6. New Belgium shalt not profit: Our goal is to raise money for bicycle and environmental charities. New Belgium Brewing Company does NOT retain any of the events’ proceeds. Please think of your $5 beer tokens as donations to a worthy cause. All sales are final; beer tokens do not expire and will be accepted next year (does not include TEXAS).

7. Remember the purpose, and bring not your pooches: No canine friends allowed this year. We’re a dog-loving Brewery, but sadly not all municipalities and parks are. Please leave your best friends at home for their safety and the safety of others.

8. Keep the day true with thy good juju: The ride is free, but we suggest a $5 donation to the good bike advocates who are putting it on for you (does not include TEXAS). If you give more, you will not incur flats, mechanical troubles, or dry skin for a while…maybe. This is a celebration of the bike, not an anti-car rally. All tools have their place.

9. Thou shall rise early: Since Tour de Fat is a free show, we sometimes get more folks than we can accommodate. Once we’re full, we will handle overflow like a restaurant or bar: one in, one out. We reserve the right to determine the appropriate crowd size in the name of safety and enjoyment for those inside.

10. Thou shalt not steal thy neighbors’ bike: Don’t even think of leaving with a bike that doesn’t belong to you. Modern-day horse thieves will be dealt with by angry mob, pitchforks, and torches.

This time it’s Long Beach Police Department, a little outside Bikeside’s typical territory, but it’s so egregious that it’s worth review.  The cyclist argues with the officer about the vehicle code, and at 2:14, the officer says:

You know what, because you’re argumentative, I’m gonna give you another ticket.  And then you can fight two tickets.

That’s a retaliatory ticket.  While the officer is in his car, presumably preparing to cite the cyclist, the cyclist explains that he is fighting a previous ticket, and has been to Long Beach City Council to protest this sort of treatment.  He also explains that he is videotaping the officer.

Ah, now the officer becomes more reasonable, and explains that he won’t cite the cyclist because he’s already fighting a ticket for the same thing.  The officer explains that he’ll wait to see what the outcome of that ticket is.

It gets worse.  At 4:30, the officer states that “the California Vehicle Code section states that ‘bicyclists must ride to the right side of the road.’” Uh, sorry, no.  Bicyclists must right as far to the right as practicable IF riding slower than traffic and IF a bunch of exceptions don’t apply:

21202.  (a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:

(1) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.

(2) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

(3) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a “substandard width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

(4) When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.

Not only that, but on a one way street, of which there are many in downtown Long Beach, you can ride on the left hand side if you like:

(b) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway of a highway, which highway carries traffic in one direction only and has two or more marked traffic lanes, may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of that roadway as practicable.

If I had to take a guess, that officer has a cheater card – a card with brief summaries of laws (which are therefore approximations) – and he’s reading that.  One common summary is “bicyclists must ride to the right side of the road.”  However, all cyclists know that in urban areas more often than not a lane should be taken, can be taken, and the exceptions do apply.  As well, many times we move as fast as traffic, and therefore have full access to the roadway.  Whomever is training these officers needs to get with the program.

So, what’s the strategy?  Well you could call the Long Beach PD Watch Commander at (562) 570-7236.  Or you could call the District Attorney’s office at (562) 491-6301, or the City Attorney’s office at 562-570-2200.  Or you could call the City Councilmembers – here’s their contact info:

• Robert Garcia, (562) 570-6919
• Suja Lowenthal, (562) 570-6684
• Gary DeLong, (562) 570-6300
• Patrick O’Donnell, (562) 570-6918
• Gerrie Schipske, (562) 570-6932
• Dee Andrews, (562) 570-6816
• James Johnson, (562) 570-7777
• Rae Gabelich, (562) 570-6685
• Steven Neal, (562) 570-6137

Whatever you do, do me a favor and make some calls.  Let’s support our cycling brothers and sisters in Long Beach and make some noise. Make some calls and then post who you called in the comments!  Be assertive, insist on action and accountability.  Above all – ask for suspension of the officer – threatening someone with a ticket because they argued for their rights is unacceptable bullshit.

I already know who I’m gonna call.

(PS – if you know who the cyclist is, contact me at contact@BikesideLA.org)

While the youngsters were lining up out in front of United Threads, Daniel’s extended family was keeping busy preparing hot dogs in the rear parking lot. The owner of Cupid’s brought in some delicious chili. The helpful folks at Pedaler’s West dished out some last minute bike checkups and made sure young and old alike had enough air in their tires to keep them afloat.

As the sun set, there was a BMX trick show-off,

… followed by a bunny hop contest.

Fifty or so riders, along with 3-4 cars as escort headed out west on Mission Bl, up to Riverside, continued west to Reseda, then south to Devonshire and back east towards the intersection where Danny was killed. It was nice to see parents riding along with their children, bringing some life to these otherwise empty, wide streets. Some motorists honked in support as they drove past. Passerbys inquired about the ride’s purpose.

I cut out about one third of the way through to head back to the NoHo Red Line station, while the rest of the group made their way to the improptu memorial at Laurel Canyon and Chamberlain St.

Altar near Chamberlain and Laurel Canyon (Photo courtesty of San Fernando Sun)

Some of Danny’s friends recognized that the intersection is a dangerous one, with the northbound lane on Laurel Canyon leaving a cyclist with very little room to maneuver, between the car traffic and the curb. This is also clearly visible in the above photo. In this case, Danny would have to have taken full control of the lane, and the intoxicated Shawn Fields plowed straight into him, sending him flying across Chamberlain St.

But I’m sure all those gory details will be discussed during the court case. First hearing will be on Oct 27th at San Fernando Courthouse, 900 Third St at 8:30am.

In the meantime, why not use common sense and change what’s obviously wrong here. Why do we have such lax laws against drunk driving? Why was there absolutely no on-street cycling infrastructure at that intersection? Could Danny be alive today if the speed limits in the Valley were lower? What can we do to make streets safe for people again and make southern California more livable?

It’s nice that his legacy is carried forward by those he shared a common interest and friendship with. I just wish I didn’t have to use words like “legacy” and “carried forward”.

So here’s a handful of thoughts aimed at getting the ball rolling.  Think about the bike plan and what you want from it.  We’ll all be riding on the result.

[Note: Where I say "respondents" I am referring to those who answered the DOT online public outreach survey conducted for the bike plan.  'Proposed' always refers to those bikeways that can be accommodated within existing conditions.]

1) Bike Lanes: Further study

The bike plan divides the future bikeways into two categories: ‘proposed’ and ‘bike lanes: further study’.  ‘Proposed’ means the roadway is ready for the bikeway to be constructed and ‘further study’ means studies are allegedly needed to assess the overall impact of the bikeway before construction can begin.  Neither the studies nor the bike lanes are guaranteed to be implemented.  Piecemeal implementation of the 1996 bike plan left cyclists in Los Angeles with an incomplete and fragmented network of bikeways.  Only 339 miles of 673 miles of designated bikeways in the 1996 bike plan were ever completed and more than 35% of those are bike routes identified by signage only.  Since 90% (511 miles) of the bike lanes in the 2010 bike plan are in this ‘further study’ category – which is also described as ‘speculative’ by the bike plan – this is potentially a huge pitfall.

Existing, proposed, and potential (now known as 'further study') bikeways from the 2010 bike plan. Over 90% of the bike lanes allegedly require further study before construction can begin, and the majority of proposed bikeways are 'bicycle friendly streets'.

2) Bike paths

Ninety-nine miles of bike paths are proposed, compared to just 56 miles of bike lane.  Bike paths are physically separated from roads and are typically used for recreational purposes rather than utilitarian.  Since bike paths are, by design, away from regularly-serviced streets they are initially more expensive to construct and remain more costly to maintain than a bike lane.  They receive little or no policing, especially at night, making them a more risky option.   According to DOT, one mile of bike path is almost 100 times more expensive than one mile of bike lane ($2.64 million per compared to $28k).  Bike paths are almost as desirable as bike lanes, according to the DOT survey, (35% vs 43% for most preferred facility) but only 16% of respondents said they needed a bike path to reach their destination, compared to 63% who said bike lanes were the most needed facility.  In summary, all of the bike lanes in the plan (both proposed and those labeled as requiring future study) would cost $19.5 million while the total cost for all future bike paths is over a quarter of a billion dollars ($263 million).  Worth it?  Have a think!

Is the 2010 Los Angeles bike plan going to meet your bicycling needs? Read the bike plan and attend a public hearing to make sure your voice is heard.

3) Bicycle Friendly Streets

‘Bicycle friendly street’ (BFS) will be the designation applied to streets that cannot accommodate a bike lane or bike route, e.g. if the roadway is too narrow.  BFSs are not particularly cheap ($30k – $300k per mile) but are proposed as a way to ‘provide continuous bicycle access’.  That is, they will bridge the gaps between more significant facilities, such as bike lanes.  There are 5 levels of BFSs, where treatments range from mere signage to sharrows to traffic diversion (a list of treatments can be found on pg 55 of the Technical Design Handbook).  Approximately three-quarters (over 600 miles) of the proposed bikeways are BFSs  so it’s important to consider the kinds of treatments that would make your bike ride safer and more comfortable.  Do you think the suggested treatments are effective?  Which ones need to be prioritized?  Currently, specific details on which streets will receive which treatments are not publicly available.  One concern is that 600 miles of streets could simply be given “share the road” signs and promptly dubbed “bicycle friendly”.  Is this enough?

Things I particularly like: requiring a public hearing for any proposed removal of existing bicycle lane or path, distributing educational leaflets about bicyclists’ rights to drivers renewing their licenses through the DMV, encouraging schools to install quality bike parking, increasing the bicycle carrying capacity of local buses, and installing bike-sensitive detectors at intersections.

Didn’t know all of that stuff was in the bike plan?  A summary of the suggested programs, along with schedules and lead departments, is in chapter 4.  Look it up!

Mull these things over, identify programs you think are particularly (in)efficient or (un)important and consider how they will be funded and implemented.  Attend a hearing and make your voice heard.  I’ll be attending the Hollywood hearing, possibly others as well, so I hope to see you there.

Bike Plan Public Hearings:

Saturday, September 25, 10am-1pm. Hollywood Municipal Building, 6501 Fountain Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90028

Wednesday, September 29, 11:30am-1:30pm. Webinar Public Hearing. Check website for details.

Wednesday, September 29, 5pm-8pm. Felicia Mahood Senior Center, 11338 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025

Thursday, September 30, 5pm-8pm. Constituent Service Center, 8475 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90044

Saturday, October 2, 10am-1pm. Braude Constituent Service Center, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd, Room 1B, Van Nuys, CA 91401

The hit and run survey has been getting a lot of action and we’re up to 230 responses!  Thanks to everyone who took five minutes to run the 5 question gauntlet.  A special shout out to Chris Kostman of AdventureCORPS, who tweeted and promoted the survey.  I’ve run into Chris here and there over the years, and the things that he and other members do in the name of adventure define epic – check out the Furnace Creek 508 for example.  Rach Stevenson, Kay, and Gary Kavanagh – Life Before License team members – deserve some recognition for doing great outreach the last two weeks for Life Before License.

I hope you’ll join us Sunday, even if it is short notice:

Life Before License organizing meeting
Sunday, September 12th, 1pm – 3pm
Seventh Day Adventist Church of Hollywood
1711 N. Van Ness Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028

*classroom – enter parking lot and look for bikes!*

City planners have been meeting regularly with Santa Monica Spoke to gather our input, and we now have a second City Council member, Terry O’Day, who is championing cycling infrastructure.

Actions like this make you feel like your local government is listening.

Current Santa Monica Bike Map

So where’s the conflict you ask?

In early July 2010, Santa Monica approved the Land Use and Conservation Element plan, in an attempt to make the city cleaner, greener, and improve its residents’ health and quality of life.

Agensys, a pharmaceutical company is on the verge of occupying the 1800 block of Stewart St for 50 years. The lot is adjacent to Bergamot Station, in the exact spot where the Expo Bike Path would end.  Currently, Agensys is dodging the requirement of providing bike access through their property.  The only concession they’ve made is allowing pedestrian walkway – cyclists would have to dismount and walk their bike until they’re off Agensys grounds. The pedestrian walkway would be closed off at night, rendering it useless as a reliable thoroughfare.

On page 35 of the LUCE Chapter 4 – Circulation section, Michigan is designated as a bike route (LUCE Circulation PDF – 14mb).  By approving the LUCE plan, Santa Monica has made a commitment to “minimize, and where possible, eliminate pollution and motor vehicle congestion” (pg 2, Circulation PDF).  If Agensys was to create a bike path through their property, the would extend the Expo Bike Path into Santa Monica by providing a connection to Michigan Ave. This would be a very powerful alternative for cross-town cyclists.

Michigan is already well-known by locals to be a safe route just south of the nasty 10 freeway.  Students use it to get to SaMo High, and riders use it out of sheer necessity – when you have deathly-fast moving Olympic above and hilly Pico below, you’re not left with much of an option.

Proposed LUCE Map - Michigan is highlighted through the Agensys lot

The City Council-approved LUCE plan lists Michigan as a bike route. Also in Ch 4, page 38, there’s a blurb about large property developments or superblocks, which would apply in this case – they have to “provide through access for bicyclists and pedestrians.”

I don’t see how this is even a point of contention. If a company gets a hold of this plot of land, especially if it’s for such a long time, then they have to abide by the city’s rules. The LUCE commitments cannot be skirted. The only issue up for discussion at this point should be how to make it happen. Indeed, this is the first major test of the potency of the LUCE plan.

My job was to state the obvious. To read about the issue in more detail, see what Santa Monica Spoke members have to say. See what Gary has to say in his report. You will also find a link to Barbara and Kent’s original report.

Come speak your mind:

Wed, Sep 1: Planning Commission at City Council chambers
Tue, Sep 14: First Agensys vote at City Council
Tue, Sep 28: Final City Council decision on Agensys

http://bit.ly/LB4Lsurv

Share it on your twitter account, share it on Facebook, and ask your friends, family, and community to take the survey.  This survey will get them thinking about hit and run, driving privileges, and what should come first – life or license?  We have to change the law for 37 million Californians . . . we better get started now!

Life Before License had it’s first organizing meeting last Sunday, the 15th, in Hollywood.  Activists of all stripes came together and we discussed means and plans of attack for addressing hit and run.  The free ranging discussion led to a consensus position – the laws that govern our streets, from top to bottom, must be reformed.  Life Before License, therefore, is our first step on a tough journey of comprehensive reform.

We left with a plan to build a broad coalition of all road users and a commitment to changing hearts and minds.  The first step toward change is understanding the lay of the land.

If you want to go a step further and get involved, we’ll be holding our 2nd Life Before License organizing meeting this Sunday, 8/29:

Life Before License Organizing Meeting
Hollywood Adventist Church - classroom
1711 North Van Ness Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90028

Or contact Bikeside via email at contact@bikesidela.org

You can RSVP via Facebook or Twtvite!

LA Streetsblog Re-launch party this Wednesday, 8/25

Damien Newton, founder of LA Streetsblog, thought he would have to shutter his operation when funds dried up earlier this summer.  A month ago, he announced that LA Streetsblog will live, and resume normal volume of publication this Thursday.

There will be mad prizes, check out Green LA Girl to find out about the goodies! See you there!

Four (UPDATE: LA County Fire Department says three) cyclists were hit this morning on Mulholland at Las Virgenes.  Purportedly three (UPDATE: LA County FD says two) of them are in critical condition in DTLA.  They were hit by an elderly woman turning left.  Check back here for updates as we get more information.  If you have information on this collision or the status of the cyclists, please contact us at contact@BikesideLA.org.

Four cyclists were hit this morning on Mulholland & Las Virgenes, supposedly by a left turner.

UPDATE: Inspector Don Kunitomi of the LA County Fire Department says that it was three cyclists, not four as previously reported.  They confirmed that two cyclists were transported in critical condition.  They could not confirm where to.  The call was made at 7:30 am and response reached the scene – two cars and one helicopter – at 7:40 am.

Best wishes to the injured riders and their families.

UPDATE:  KTLA has an article up now with better info.  The collision occured at Mulholland Highway and Stokes Canyon Road.  The motorist was an 81 year old woman.

Helicopter shot of the scene of the collision

UPDATE, 6:23pm: NBC 4 ran a piece just now which brings in some new details (AT appearance at 1:10!)  I got to ask NBC 4 reporter Ted Chen about what he knew about the cyclists’ conditions.  They’re not life threatening injuries at this point though one has multiple pelvis fractures.

Midnight Ridazz also has a thread.  @Danceralamode found a Facebook page post by Dorothy Twitchell saying:

The cyclists involved are my teammates. While none of their injuries are life threatening (thank god!), they are serious. When we rec’d the initial word they were air lifted to UCLA we feared the worst. They are happy to be alive! One may s…till need surgery and there is a long road of recovery and rehab for them!!

She actually made a left turn in front of them and panicked when she finally did see them… and stopped in their path!!

Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

• 6:30pm – 8:30pm Bikeside Speaks! (RSVP on Facebook, Tweet-vite)
• 8:30pm – 11pm “bike-in” screening by the Disposable Film Festival (RSVP on Facebook)
• afterward, party at the Hotel Erwin on Venice Beach

Cynergy Cycles will host the Disposable Film Festival’s bike-in screening in it’s parking lot.  Bring a bike and a blanket and watch quality films from “disposable media” like cell phone cameras or flip cams.  Before that Bikeside Speaks will present cutting edge projects in bike activism – here’s the first part of the lineup:

• Betsy Butler, Democrat for State Assembly
• “Cool Ass” Mike Bower’s project 1000 Bikes – a non-profit project to put bikes in the hands of foster kids and their families.
• Gary Kavanagh of Gary Rides Bikes and Santa Monica Spoke will talk about redefining freedom of mobility beyond the motoring age.  Did Gary just call the end of the motoring age?  I think he did.
• Stephen Box, candidate for City Council District 4 in LA, will inspire and engage . . . and probably put the crowd in stitches as he did last Bikeside Speaks.

There will be an awesome Specialized bike raffle, all proceeds going to Bikeside.  Check back here for updates on the full line-up of speakers!

Look for Bikeside Speaks to head east, way east, in September!)

This flyer was not made by Alex Thompson.