CD 15 candidate Frank Pereyda.

“For the LA Waterfront project to be totally successful, bike and foot traffic will have to be a major part of the planning process,” wrote Frank Pereyda, Council District 15 candidate, in Bikeside’s Survey on Biking and Walking.

One of the key issues in the Council District 15 election is transportation.  Bikeside’s survey provides an opportunity for CD 15 candidates to articulate their awareness and support of sustainable transportation, including biking and walking policies.  All CD 15 candidates were invited to participate in the survey in early September.

The LA Waterfront includes eight miles of proposed bicycle facilities stretching from Cabrillo Beach to Vincent Thomas Bridge, which you can see by clicking HERE.   However, the eight miles of bikeways are comprised of a mix of bike routes, bike lanes and bike paths.  Another obstacle for cyclists is the Waterfront’s lack of connectivity to CD 15′s on-street bicycle lanes.  “There’s a lack of safe bike access to the LA Waterfront,” noted Pereyda.  Although candidates view CD 15’s Paseo Del Mar as bike-friendly, Pereyda thinks CD 15 needs more well marked bike lanes and bike paths.

“I ride my bike once a month,” said Pereyda. “The best part of my bike rides is being near the ocean, the fresh air and great feeling of being outdoors.”  Bike friendly cities such as Long Beach, Oakland and San Francisco have succeeded in striking a balance between supporting the economic vitality of their ports and improving the quality of life for all residents. Why can’t Los Angeles?

Readers: Join Bikeside to flyer on behalf of the pro-walking and biking candidates of CD 15!  For more information, please contact Bikeside at contact@BikesideLA.org.  If you’re a cyclist who lives in Council District 15, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 8th! Click HERE to find your polling place!

]]> http://www.bikesidela.org/frank-pereyda-bicycling/feed/ 0 http://www.bikesidela.org/want-safer-streets-in-cd-15-vote-pro-biketomorrow/ http://www.bikesidela.org/want-safer-streets-in-cd-15-vote-pro-biketomorrow/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:11:42 +0000 Heidi Sickler http://www.bikesidela.org/?p=3649

CD 15 candidates who shared their bike-friendly ideas with Bikeside include (from left to right): Gordon Teuber, John Delgado, Justin Brimmer, Jayme Wilson, Joe Buscaino and Candice Graham. Photo by Enci Box, October 29th Watts Candidate Forum.

Bikeside asked candidates in the November 8, 2011 Special Council District 15 Election to take its bike friendliness survey and participate in the CicLAvia edition of Bikeside Speaks.

Of the eleven candidates on the CD 15 ballot, the following eight candidates engaged with Bikeside and committed to getting cycling on City Hall’s agenda, if elected to City Council:

• Justin Brimmer
• Joe Buscaino
• Rebecca Chambliss
• John Delgado
• Candice Graham
• Frank Pereyda 
• Gordon Teuber
• Jayme Wilson

Bikeside thanks these eight candidates for engaging the cycling community in the democratic process, and encourages CD 15 cyclists to support them in tomorrow’s Special CD 15 Election. Click HERE to find your polling place!

The other three candidates – Warren Furutani, Pat McOsker and Rudy Svorinich – did not complete Bikeside’s survey or participate in Bikeside Speaks.  Bikeside personally spoke with Furutani and McOsker about the survey, but the candidates did not follow through and complete it.  Neither did Svorinich after several conversations with his campaign staff over the course of two months.  Bikeside’s survey aims to measure candidates’ support for the five E’s of bike friendliness: engineering, encouragement, enforcement, education and evaluation.

Bikeside also introduced cycling and pedestrian policy questions at the October 2^nd Candidate Forum hosted by Mayoral candidate Kevin James, the October 22^nd LA Harbor College Candidate Forum and the October 29^th Watts-Willowbrook Candidate Forum.

Bikeside’s participation in the oil-dominated politics of CD 15 marks the second time that cyclists have been actively engaged in an LA City Council race since Stephen Box’s Council District 4 race earlier this year.  In May 2011, nine of the sixteen candidates in the CA-36 Congressional District election responded to Bikeside’s Survey on Biking and Walking, including the major frontrunners Debra Bowen, Janice Hahn, Marcy Winograd and Mayor Mike Gin.

Readers: If there’s a Special CD 15 Runoff Election on January 17, 2012, and you’d like to flyer in support of the pro-walking and biking candidate(s), please contact Bikeside at Contact@BikesideLA.org. 

CD 15 candidate Joe Buscaino.

“The most significant obstacle to CD 15 becoming more bike friendly is the amount of automobile traffic on our streets,” wrote Joe Buscaino, Council District 15 candidate, in Bikeside’s biking and walking survey.  “It makes biking more difficult for casual riders.  While we have some bike lanes throughout the district, I do believe we need many more,” said Buscaino (pronounced Boo-Sky-ee-No).  He believes Neighborhood Councils are in the best position to make neighborhoods bike-friendly.

One of the issues dominating the CD 15 race is neighborhood safety.  “Public safety is near and dear to my heart,” Buscaino told audience members and moderator Stephen Box at the October 29^th Watts-Willowbrook candidate forum.  “I will not cut city public safety services,” emphasized Buscaino. “Everything else, I’ll put on the table,” he added.

Buscaino has served as an LAPD officer for 15 years – six of those years as a Harbor Area Senior Lead Officer.  In January 2006, Buscaino founded the Harbor Area Teen Community Police Advisory Board (CPAB) – an organization LAPD Chief Charlie Beck expanded citywide.  The Teen CPAB focuses on educating teens about gang prevention measures and the fatal consequences of driving under the influence.

Bikeside left a flyer on a voter’s welcome mat right after CD 15 candidate Joe Buscaino did! Photo by Bikeside President Dr. Alex Thompson.

To make every street a safe place to bike for children, teens and adults, Buscaino says he wants to fully implement CD 15’s portion of the LA Bike Plan.  “I have also believed for some time that we should start installing more bicycle-safe street grates and lighting for bikeways,” added Buscaino.  The LAPD Senior Lead Officer told Bikeside he’s most excited about the Comprehensive Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan, which seeks to reduce injuries and fatalities through construction projects that improve safety of K-12 students who walk or bike to school.  “There are some areas in San Pedro and Wilmington that accommodate bike riding,” noted Buscaino, “but I am sad to say that we still have a long way to go here, as we do across Los Angeles.”

Buscaino says the best part about his bike rides is the exercise and “the environmental benefits of riding a bike instead of driving.”  As a California Conservation Corps Green Advisory Committee member, Buscaino says he’s excited about the Bike Plan’s Greenhouse Gas Emission Tracking Program.  Such a program would quantify emissions reductions generated by less driving and more bike trips.  In addition to car pollution, CD 15 residents are susceptible to the Port’s maritime and truck pollution, which costs $61 billion and results in 3,700 premature deaths each year.

A San Pedro voter invited Bikeside to photograph his “Joe Buscaino for LA City Council” lawn sign earlier today. Photo by Bikeside President Dr. Alex Thompson.

Sustainable transportation such as biking could help reduce pollution and support Buscaino’s push for green job and product growth.  “Even if I have to go through the White Pages,” Buscaino told the Watts candidate forum audience, “I’ll reach out to businesses to relocate to CD 15.”  Green transportation could help draw more green technology firms and research centers to CD 15 by sustainably connecting people to jobs.  Buscaino believes there’s room for bikeways growth in CD 15, including more bike paths, lanes and routes in San Pedro, Watts and Wilmington.  “I believe that bike friendliness is likely to spread if it is implemented in the City of Los Angeles,” the San Pedro insider told Bikeside.  ”Bike riders will demand more bike-friendly policies and programs in adjoining cities if they can get them in LA,” asserted Buscaino.

Embedded into every conversation about his campaign is Buscaino’s ties to the San Pedro community.  “The majority of my campaign contributions come from people who live in CD 15.  That is unheard of and unprecedented,” declared Buscaino at the October 29^th candidate forum. “I’m proud I’m not endorsed by public officials,” he told members of the Watts community.

Thank you, Joe Buscaino, for answering Bikeside Survey and for your interest in sustainable transportation!  Bikeside looks forward to working with you on making the streets of CD 15 safer for all road users.

Readers: Join Bikeside to flyer on behalf of the pro-walking and biking candidates of CD 15!  For more information, please contact Bikeside at contact@BikesideLA.org.  If you’re a cyclist who lives in Council District 15, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 8th! Click HERE to find your polling place!

CD 15 candidates who shared their bike-friendly ideas with Bikeside include (from left to right): Gordon Teuber, John Delgado, Justin Brimmer, Jayme Wilson, Joe Buscaino and Candice Graham. Photo by Enci Box, October 29th Watts Candidate Forum.

CD 15 Candidate Rebecca Chambliss.

“There are virtually no bike lanes on any streets in CD 15,” wrote Rebecca Chambliss, a realtor running for Council District 15.  “Many of the streets are narrow and it’s rare to see bikes on other than the main streets,” Chambliss noted in Bikeside’s survey.  As a cyclist who rides once a week, Chambliss says that the best part of her bike rides is “the freedom, the exercise and seeing things from a different point of view.”  Acknowledging the prevailing car culture in CD 15, Chambliss says the worst part about biking is “the traffic and the cars that don’t see or stop.”

San Pedro’s Paseo Del Mar is often recognized as the most bike-friendly area in CD 15.  Chambliss sees Paseo Del Mar’s bike lane and walk way as an example of what can be cultivated in other CD 15 areas with the support of local communities.  As part of her strategy to install bike lanes, Chambliss would “get some very local input as to where in CD 15 we could safely add bike lanes.” This includes the neighborhood councils, who “have direct access with and feedback from the people who live in the community and I believe they should have input,” wrote Chambliss.

Bikeside also asked Chambliss what she would do to ensure that the City of LA coordinates with Carson, Compton, Torrance, LA County and other adjoining jurisdictions to improve regional bike linkages. “I think it’s been started with education, laws against those harassing bikers and working to add more bike lanes.  I think there also needs to be areas for bikes to be kept in transportation hubs and attractions,” suggested Chambliss.  As a Councilmember, Chambliss says she’ll direct LADOT to install the Bike Plan’s Backbone Bikeways Network in CD 15, which includes bike improvements on Vermont Avenue, the Pacific Coast Highway, Anaheim Street, Gaffey Street, Del Amo Boulevard, Imperial Highway and Manchester Avenue.

Some of the Backbone’s arterial streets have 35 to 40 mile per hour speed limits, which are hazardous to cyclists and pedestrians.  Chambliss thinks that “setting speed limits in the top end of traffic and only having to review it every 10 years probably isn’t adequate with the increase in cars and bikes on the road.”  Instead, she’d like to see Caltrans’ methodology for setting speed limits give greater consideration to those who use the road and the surrounding communities.  She’s also supportive of allocating more resources to LAPD for bicycle safety and traffic enforcement.

Chambliss was the first CD 15 candidate to answer Bikeside’s survey on biking and walking.  She also joined Bikeside at the October 9^th CicLAvia and spoke with Bikeside at the October 22^nd LA Harbor College candidate forum.  Bikeside works closely with neighborhood councils to create bike-friendly communities and looks forward to collaborating with Chambliss on safe streets initiatives!

Readers: Join Bikeside to flyer on behalf of the pro-walking and biking candidates of CD 15!  For more information, please contact Bikeside at contact@BikesideLA.org.  If you’re a cyclist who lives in Council District 15, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 8th! Click HERE to find your polling place!

CD 15 Candidate Gordon Teuber.

“[I]n CD 15, we have a lot of opportunity to improve our bicycle opportunities.  We have some of the most beautiful coastline in all of California right in CD 15, in San Pedro, along Paseo Del Mar,” Gordon Teuber, CD 15 candidate, told cyclists at the October 9^th Bikeside Speaks.

“My vision is that I want to see a little bit more linkage between our beautiful coastline and our LA Waterfront.  We do have a great plan for the LA Waterfront, a $1.2 billion Waterfront Plan that’s been approved, and we’re going to have, some day, nine miles of bicycle path throughout the Port, and right now, we only have about a mile of it, unfortunately,” added Teuber.

Teuber said it’s difficult for cyclists to get from San Pedro to Long Beach and down to the Pacific Coast Highway.  His solution: build “better connections between our coastline and our Waterfront, and from our Waterfront over to Long Beach so we can be more bicycle-friendly for all of Southern Californiato enjoy CD 15.”

Teuber is consistently engaged with Bikeside, including speaking about cycling at candidate forums, answering Bikeside’s survey (read Alex Thompson’s post here), signing the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights and participating in Bikeside Speaks.  You can listen to Gordon Teuber at Bikeside Speaks in Enci Box’s embedded video below.

A proponent of bicycle safety, Teuber told Stephen Box that his son Gordy wears a motorcycle helmet every time he rides a bike. “I brought something along today because I wanted to tell you a little story about when I was five years old, and I didn’t have a helmet, and I went down my parents’ driveway, and over the curb and landed face first and knocked all of my teeth, broke my upper jaw bone, and ever since Gordy’s been riding a bike, he’s been wearing a motorcycle helmet,” said Teuber as he placed a BMX helmet on his son’s head.  The CD 15 candidate cautioned parents against the safety of the average child bike helmet. “[M]y opinion is that these bicycle helmets aren’t good, not for children, so I encourage all parents and families to get a bigger better helmet for their kids,” recommended Teuber.

CD 15 Candidate Gordon Teuber and his family take the stage at the CicLAvia edition of Bikeside Speaks.

As the former Director of Economic Development for Janice Hahn, Teuber has worked to create  more jobs in CD 15.  “We still have a lot of jobs down at the Port.  Don’t think that we don’t have a lot of job generation down there, and I think there’s a lot of opportunity to come back and grow some more,” declared Teuber.  In the absence of a Green Line Extension to Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, San Pedro, Watts and Wilmington, Teuber says biking helps connect people to jobs in CD 15.  “I recognize that in today’s tough economy, that a lot of people need to use a bicycle as an alternative form of transportation and that really links into public transit, and if you can’t really afford a car today, you can’t afford $4 per gallon of gasoline, you can’t afford insurance, a bicycle’s a great way to get from point A to point B to get to that bus line and get to a job,” remarked Teuber.

After participating in the last three CicLAvias, Teuber says it’s time to bring the event to CD 15.  “Absolutely, absolutely, in fact, you know, we do have a couple of bicycle races a year in Downtown San Pedro on a Sunday morning like [CicLavia] where we close down the streets,” Teuber reminded Box.  “We also have a lot of bicycle clubs in the South Bay.  A lot them go around the Palos Verdes peninsula, and I would think it would be great to have more events in the San Pedro area that are tied into our coastal communities,” suggested Teuber.

CD 15 Candidate Gordon Teuber discusses child bike helmets at Bikeside Speaks.

Teuber says he’s running for public office because he loves public service and is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and give it his all.  “I know in politics you gotta deal with everything from the little things to the big things, and it’s in my heart, I enjoy it,” said Teuber before signing the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights.

Thank you Gordon Teuber for engaging with cyclists at the candidate forums, Bikeside Speaks and through Bikeside’s survey! Bikeside looks forward to working with you on improving bike connectivity in CD 15!

Readers: Join Bikeside to flyer on behalf of the pro-walking and biking candidates of CD 15!  For more information, please contact Bikeside at contact@BikesideLA.org.  If you’re a cyclist who lives in Council District 15, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 8th! Click HERE to find your polling place!

CD 15 candidates who shared their bike-friendly ideas with Bikeside include (from left to right): Gordon Teuber, John Delgado, Justin Brimmer, Jayme Wilson, Joe Buscaino and Candice Graham. Photo by Enci Box, October 29th Watts Candidate Forum.

CD 15 Candidate Justin Brimmer

“My brother was riding a bike and a 16-wheeler hit him.  He flew up in the air about 30-40 feet, bounced on the ground, and thanks to God, he survived, but that’s a danger,” said Justin Brimmer, CD 15 candidate, at the October 9^th CicLAvia edition of Bikeside Speaks.  “We give them bikes, we give them the opportunity to express themselves and go green, but yet they have to risk their lives to do it. Unacceptable. We need bike lanes all throughout [Council District 15],” added Brimmer.

Brimmer told hundreds of cyclists that he’d work to bring the Bike Plan’s Backbone Bikeway Network (Backbone) to life in CD 15.  “[The Backbone] is necessary.  A lot of the folks in our district do not have cars.  A lot of the folks in our district have to depend on alternative modes of transportation to get to the places they need to go,” explained Brimmer before signing the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights.

To establish cycling as a long-distance form of transportation, Brimmer said more water stops are needed in CD 15. “When you’re riding and you’re using your bike, not just as a fun two-minute ride, but as a form of transportation, and just like they refuel with gasoline, we need to be able to refuel with Gatorade, or water or anything [cyclists] may need to keep them going that extra mile or two,” emphasized Brimmer who was joined on stage by his wife Misha and daughter Jordan.  You can listen to Justin Brimmer at Bikeside Speaks in Enci Box’s embedded video below.

When asked by former Bicycle Advisory Committee President Glenn Bailey which parts of the LA Bike Plan he’d implement first, Brimmer said he’d look for creative solutions to accommodate pedestrian, cyclists and skaters on CD 15’s narrow streets.  “I believe you have to have a requirement of at least 30 feet of right-of-way for five feet worth of bike lane space.  A lot of [CD 15] streets are too narrow to actually accommodate this [requirement]. The Bike Plan has to be adaptive so that it can accommodate this type of geographic that we have in the 15^th Council District. I know some districts, like in Venice, have a design that allows pedestrians to have one portion and bicyclists to have another portion.  That’s the type of thinking we need in the 15^th District,” replied Brimmer.

CD 15 Candidate Justin Brimmer signs the Cyclists' Bill of Rights at Bikeside Speaks with Jose Sigala and Stephen Box. Photo by Enci Box.

In addition to CD 15 representation on the Metro Board and enforcement of the city parking occupancy tax, Brimmer thinks bike facilities are part of a larger commitment to accommodate different modes of transportation that allows CD 15 residents to move.  “A lot of people in our district depend on public transportation.  We don’t have a Blue Line that goes all the way to San Pedro and connects Downtown.  The DASH Line is being cut.  Certain MTA Lines are being combined with other MTA lines.  So a lot of it is the dependence on a bike or a skateboard,” Brimmer told Stephen Box.

At the October 22^nd LA Harbor College CD 15 Candidate Forum, Brimmer finished first in a straw poll of 14 candidates. The former Hahn Deputy told audience members at Saturday’s Watts-Willowbrook Candidate Forum he thinks the real question is which candidate will truly fight hard to ensure that CD 15 receives its fair share of city resources.  “We have increased fines, fees, and taxes, but our city services are decreasing,” asserted Brimmer at the October 29^th Candidate Forum.  “It’s crucial that we have repaved streets.  The potholes are not only a danger to bicyclists, but they’re a danger to skateboarders, they’re a danger to car drivers, and I really think it’s a sign of a failing infrastructure,” insisted Brimmer.  The CD 15 candidate said one of the things he would change is how the city “distributes the miles that get repaved,” which “need to be based off of a triage system.  Based off of those streets that have the worst or have the most need, should be the ones that get repaved.”

The Brimmer Family at the CicLAvia edition of Bikeside Speaks. Photo by Enci Box.

To promote district pride and increase revenues, Brimmer said cycling can be “marketed in a way that invites the bicyclists internationally, if not nationally and locally, to come to our district and maybe eat there.”  According to Brimmer, transforming CD 15 into a bike tourism center will require opening up streets and creating pathways that attract cyclists of varying skill level to the area’s diverse landscape and terrain.  “So if you do want to bike up Western Avenue and go up those high hills, you need to be able to have that opportunity.  If you want to stay low and stay flat and go through the Harbor Gateway, you need that opportunity as well,” Brimmer enthused.

Over the last month, Brimmer has reiterated he’s running for City Council because he believes too many young people’s lives are being cut short. “One in four members in [CD 15] lives in poverty.  Sixty percent of our district is under the age of 34. So we have a fairly young demographic, but one of the things we have to understand is that we have to bring them to the forefront and give them something to do,” remarked Brimmer.  “So I knew that what we needed was a visionary and a leader who had a vision or something that was big enough for everybody.  Not only in San Pedro,Wilmington and Harbor City, but also the Harbor Gateway and Watts.  So that’s why in the [campaign] title we have a joint vision ‘From the Bridge to the Towers,’” explained Brimmer.

Justin Brimmer and Glenn Bailey, former Bicycle Advisory Committee President, at Bikeside Speaks. Photo by Enci Box.

Many thanks to Justin Brimmer and his family for participating in Bikeside Speaks and the democratic process! Bikeside looks forward to working with you on bringing the Backbone Network to life in CD 15!

Readers: Join Bikeside to flyer on behalf of the pro-walking and biking candidates of CD 15!  For more information, please contact: contact@BikesideLA.org.  If you’re a cyclist who lives in Council District 15, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 8th! Click HERE to find your polling place!

CD 15 candidates who shared their bike-friendly ideas with Bikeside include (from left to right): Gordon Teuber, John Delgado, Justin Brimmer, Jayme Wilson, Joe Buscaino and Candice Graham. Photo by Enci Box, October 29th Watts Candidate Forum.

CD 15 Candidate John Delgado and his sons Joseph and Paul William at the October 9th Bikeside Speaks.

“You know, I always tell my kids stories about growing up in San Pedro.  How I rode my bike everywhere.  I would ride my bike as a kid all throughout town and all throughout San Pedro,” remarked CD 15 candidate John Delgado at the CicLAvia edition of Bikeside Speaks.  “But there’s one thing you gotta remember about San Pedro: there’s a lot of hills and a lot of slopes.  It’s not like [Downtown LA] where you’re riding on flat land.  In San Pedro, you have to be ready to climb some hills!” Delgado reminded cyclists.

The Delgado Family joins Stephen Box at Bikeside Speaks.

“I think [CicLAvia] is great! Having all these families and kids out here riding on their bikes and just really having a great family time,” said Delgado who was joined on stage by his wife Gina Delgado and sons Paul William and Joseph.  Delgado told cyclists that he’d absolutely commit to bringing CicLAvia to CD 15 “by Paseo Del Mar, Harbor Boulevard, Ports O’Call, and all throughout San Pedro and also down through Wilmington through Machado Lake and Harbor City and then we could end at Watts Towers.  With the Waterfront development, with the USS Iowa coming down, I believe we could start from [Downtown LA] and ride all the way down to see the USS Iowa, which will be berthed in San Pedro.”  You can listen to John Delgado at Bikeside Speaks in Enci Box’s embedded video below.

To make streets safer for kids to bike and walk to school, Delgado would like to see better enforcement of traffic laws and including the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights on the DMV test.  Delgado would also like to see “more of the rail guards for the kids to ride bikes.  Even on campus, before school starts, kids can have an opportunity to get some exercise and ride their bike before they go into the classroom, and be fit.  Our school, where my kids go to, they had a bike-athon where kids rode their bike as a fundraiser.  And they just rode and rode and got a lot of exercise out of it and that was a great event.” Delgado also told Box that he believes it is “important that the kids have their helmets on.”  To improve CD 15’s transit connectivity, Delgado has also been looking into extending San Pedro’s Red Cable Car to the Blue Line and into Watts.

Gina Delgado and son Paul William on stage with Stephen Box at Bikeside Speaks.

“I grew up on the streets and now I want to give back and serve our community,” Delgado told moderator Stephen Box and members of the Watts-Willowbrook Community at the October 29th CD 15 Candidate Forum.  Delgado said that he’s running for CD 15 because he believes that Los Angeles “needs leadership and it needs accountability.”  His “One Vision, One Community” campaign aims to bring that accountability to the people through an open door policy.  ”If [people] want to ask me questions. If any bicyclist want to ask me questions, if they have any questions, my door is always open to hear them,” asserted Delgado.

Delgado said that he doesn’t believe in “raising thousands of dollars,” and that “our cities and our residents are taxed enough.”  According to Delgado, what the voters need is “accountability and they need to be able to talk to a real person about real issues.”  He  says he sleeps comfortable at night knowing that he’s done his best by “going out there and speaking to people one-on-one and not having to worry about the special interest groups saying do this or do that.”  “I’m just led by what I believe is right” asserted Delgado. “I’m [campaigning] the old fashioned way, by going street by street and walking.  Now that I see these [CicLAvia] bikes, I might just get a bike and do it bike-by-bike and bike through the neighborhood” Delgado told Box.

The Delgado Family at Bikeside Speaks.

Delgado affirmed his support for community engagement when asked by Box if he strongly supports the public establishing policy to ensure that citywide policy is sensitive to the needs of a local neighborhood.  “Yes, absolutely,” said Delgado.  “I believe that’s why the neighborhood councils are a great forum. I believe the neighborhood councils should be used in order to get those policies brought, not only to the local people, but to the community as a whole, and really preach that, and get that out to the communities,” elaborated Delgado.

The October 9th Bikeside Speaks took place in front of LAPD HQ and City Hall.

As the former President and Board Member of the San Pedro Central Neighborhood Council and member of the Land Use Sub-committee, Delgado told cyclists that he “gained the respect of the people in the community, of [his] colleagues, and they elected [him] as their president,” where he served for three years.  Delgado has helped revitalize San Pedro by refurbishing Leland Park and YMCA Bloch Field, re-establishing the San Pedro Youth Sports Association, and raising $200,000 to renovate the Peck Park sports facilities.

Thank you, John Delgado, for your leadership in Central San Pedro and for signing the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights!  Bikeside looks forward to seeing you and your family on the campaign trail!

Readers: Join Bikeside to flyer on behalf of the pro-walking and biking candidates of CD 15!  For more information, please contact Bikeside at contact@BikesideLA.org.  If you’re a cyclist who lives in Council District 15, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 8th! Click HERE to find your polling place!

John Delgado and sons Joseph and Paul William at Bikeside Speaks.

 

Bikeside’s 20-question survey aims to measure candidates’ support for the five E’s of bike friendliness: engineering, encouragement, enforcement, education and evaluation.  Wilson said that he favors bike-friendly engineering solutions that “minimize the negative impact of parking by accommodating bicyclists, carpool and car share vehicles in design of upcoming public parking infrastructural sites.”

Former San Pedro Chamber of Commerce President Jayme Wilson is one of 14 candidates vying for the Council District 15 (CD 15) seat vacated by former Councilmember Janice Hahn who was recently elected to the 36^th Congressional District seat.  CD 15 encompasses the communities of San Pedro, Watts, Wilmington, North and South Harbor Gateway and the Port of Los Angeles.  The election for the CD 15 seat will be held on November 8, 2011.  If more than 50% of the vote does not go to any one candidate, the top two vote-getters of any political party, will advance to the January 17, 2012 runoff.

A San Pedro voter invited Bikeside to photograph their "Jayme Wilson for LA City Council" lawn sign. Photo by Bikeside President Dr. Alex Thompson.

As you’ll see below, Bikeside’s survey covered topics ranging from implementation of the LA Bike Plan to regional planning to speed limits. Read on to see what Jayme Wilson had to say, feel free to comment below and don’t forget to vote on November 8th, if you live in CD 15!

[Editor's note: I just wanted to jump onto Bikeside Chris's post here and mention that I spoke 1 on 1 with Jayme at last week's candidate forum for a few minutes.  He really impressed me.  He knew about the relative affordability of bike lanes, and when I started running through cost comparisons of bike lanes, sidewalks, repaving and bike paths, he understood it all.  That's pretty uncommon to find someone who is that comfortable with the quantitative side.  Afterward, he launched into a description of a Safe Routes to School application he had collaborated on, and he discussed curb cuts and traffic calming.  On the whole, he gets it, as much as any candidate I've talked with yet.  - Alex Thompson]

CD 15 candidates who shared their bike-friendly ideas with Bikeside include (from left to right): Gordon Teuber, John Delgado, Justin Brimmer, Jayme Wilson, Joe Buscaino, and Candice Graham. Photo by Enci Box, October 29th Watts Candidate Forum.

Q&A With CD 15 Candidate Jayme Wilson

Bikeside: How often do you bike?

Wilson: Two or more times a year.

Bikeside: What’s the best part of your bike rides? What’s the worst? How can we cultivate more of the good and less of the bad?

Wilson: I am a huge advocate of bikers and active people in my community. I believe exercising, especially biking, is not only great for our environment but also an activity that enhances our health and promotes healthy living. I not only encourage my community members to participate in cycling activities, but as the next City Council member, I will see to it that there are more bicycle friendly roads available.  By fixing the sidewalks and making smoother roads in the 15th District, I believe the community will be more attractive for all active citizens to enjoy.

Bikeside: In Bikeside’s recent survey, 70% of respondents (386 out of 552) say that Los Angeles is not bike friendly. Generally speaking, what do you see as the obstacles to CD 15 becoming bike friendly?

Wilson: I believe the sidewalks in my district have not been maintained, making it hard for active members of the community to make much use out of them. It concerns me that the trees and the hedges are not being cleaned out, making it dangerous for cyclist to bike along the side of the road or even on the sidewalks.  Furthermore, there are also too few bike lanes incorporated into 15th District’s roads! As the next City Council member, I will see to it that there are funds being set aside for building bike friendly roads for active citizens to use.

LADOT Commuter Express Line 142 in San Pedro. Photo by LA Wad.

Bikeside: Which components of the 2010 LA Bike Plan do you plan to implement in CD 15 to make streets safer and more inviting for cyclists?

Wilson: I like the plan that has been incorporated into the West Hollywood and Santa Monica Boulevardwhere there exists Bike friendly routes and lanes added to their streets. I believe the 15th District has failed to develop a practical bike network that makes pedestrian and bicycle mobility a true option of transportation for their community.  Though, I support a shuttle service system to be active for key destinations of my district via the West Hollywood General Plan 2035: M-2 section. I do believe that we should seek to incorporate suggestions like minimizing the negative impact of parking by accommodating bicyclists, carpool and car share vehicles in design of upcoming public parking infrastructural sites. I believe we have the capacity to collect fees from developers and even set aside city funds to follow projects in sidewalk improvement, aesthetic repaving and landscaping, bicycle infrastructure, traffic calming devices, traffic signals and other street improvements that [support] the pedestrian/biking activities within the 15th District.  In addition, as funding becomes available, as a City Councilmember, I believe we should attempt to explore the development of bicycle stations throughout the 15th District and at major transit stops that [include] lockers, showers, bicycle repairs and even bicycle sharing facilities. Lastly, as employers of the local government, we should also provide incentives for employees to participate in car-sharing and bike sharing programs.

Bikeside: Are there areas of your district that are bike friendly?

Wilson: Yes, but too few and too far apart! That concerns me!

Bikeside: What aspects of those bike friendly streets can you cultivate in other areas?

Wilson: We need to incorporate public parking infrastructural sites for cyclists, improve our sidewalks, aesthetic repaving and landscaping, traffic calming devices. We need to add more traffic signals and other street improvements that [support] the pedestrian/biking activities within the 15th District.

Officer Michael Walker prepares to take a 1,600-mile bicycle trip from Long Beach to Seattle. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Officer Cory Mendenhall.

Bikeside: In your view, what are the pros and cons of Caltrans’ current methodology for setting speed limits?

Wilson: The new rules have lots of cons to poke at, speed limits are set based on how fast the “eighty-fifth” percentile of drivers are speeding.  This is not safe for our communities, especially our children, and [does] not protect our active members! The only pro in the matter, that I can think of, is that a law concerning how to evaluate speed limits is being upheld and maybe that people are going to get to their destinations faster, but not necessarily safer!

Bikeside: What have you done or worked on in the past that shows your record of being involved in Safe Streets campaigns?

Wilson: For three decades I have given my time and resources to serve on a variety of local organizations; I was a founding member of the Port of Los Angeles Charter School, which has guided young people to not only stay out of trouble, but also aided about 80%+ to graduate and go off to college.  I have served as a Chair of the San Pedro Business Improvement District and served three times as Chairman of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce.  Lastly, I was heavily involved in launching the Wilmington Waterfront Park, in fact Jesse Marquez, the director of the Audubon Center at Deb park, is one of my campaign endorsers.

Bikeside: What do you think should be the role of Neighborhood Councils in transportation policy?

Wilson: I believe that local representatives are the individuals that should take full responsibility in making sure the transportation policies of their community are not only safe, but can also promote active life styles. Citizens in the community should be exuded by energy when they get out of the house. The beauty and safety of the 15^th District streets can compel even the most inactive person to want to get out and take a stroll, we as city representatives, should just maintain the aesthetics of the sidewalks and streets, for the rest has been offered by our Districts’ geography.

Bikeside: After taking this survey, what do you think about LA and cycling? Does it seem like a more challenging question or easier? Has your perspective changed?

Wilson: I’ve always been a big supporter of safer, better streets. I thank you and your organization for bringing these vital issues to light.  As a City Council member, I would continue to support safer, more bike-friendly streets.

Readers: Join Bikeside to flyer on behalf of the pro-walking and biking candidates of CD 15!  For more information, please contact Bikeside at contact@BikesideLA.org.  If you’re a cyclist who lives in Council District 15, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 8th! Click HERE to find your polling place!

Graham was one of four CD 15 candidates to sign the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights and take the stage behind 1000 Watts of power at the October 9th CicLAvia Edition of Bikeside Speaks. “We need new ways of making things work. Up north and in other places where they do respond better towards bicycles, they have started educational programs in elementary school through high school. The people in Southern California aren’t respecting [cyclists] because they don’t know. They don’t care,” said Graham when asked by Bikeside’s Stephen Box what it would take to make CD 15 streets bike friendly. “That’s actually what the problems are. That’s why so many bicyclists are hurt every year, because of that. Ignorance is bliss in this city. Occupy LA knows that. All the protestors know that. All the cyclists know that and it’s time for [cyclists] to say you’re fed up and you’re not going to take it any more” added Graham at Bikeside Speaks. You can listen to Graham’s call for action in Enci Box’s embedded video below.

Graham told hundreds of CicLAvia spectators that more bike facilities in CD 15 could lead to more tourism industry jobs because CD 15 is “one of the most beautiful bicycling areas that a bicyclist could ever have. You have rolling hills. You have so many beautiful spots. You have the ocean. You have an invigorating feeling just being there.”

CD 15 Candidate Candice Graham and Stephen Box at Bikeside Speaks. Photo by Enci Box.

Graham reminded cyclists that transforming CD 15 into a bike friendly community will require targeted coalition building. “It’s a trickle down effect. If you guys want something to happen, we have to focus and create it. It’s like one spot. One spot. If you can finish and get CD 15 together, then we can conquer Los Angeles and we can get Los Angeles together, but it doesn’t start without a first step and you guys know that. Dream and you’re dreaming a long time. You’re sleeping a long time. Nothing worse than sleeping on the job. And that’s what Los Angeles has been doing” asserted Graham.

Bikeside President Alex Thompson Welcomes Occupy LA to Bikeside Speaks!

Thank you Candice Graham for signing the Cyclist Bill of Rights, taking Bikeside’s Survey and for advocating for a bike friendly CD 15! Bikeside looks forward to seeing you on the campaign trail, including the October 29th Watts-Willowbrook Community CD 15 Candidate Forum!

"Vote for M. Candice Graham" signs posted throughout San Pedro.

Readers: Join Bikeside to flyer on behalf of the pro-walking and biking candidates of CD 15!  For more information, please contact: contact@BikesideLA.org.  If you’re a cyclist who lives in Council District 15, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 8th! Click HERE to find your polling place!

Occupy LA at LA City Hall.

 

So our first thanks goes to CicLAvia – the event and organization that made it all possible.  Thank you for creating a new place in Los Angeles – 10 miles of city streets that didn’t know they belonged together – that drew tens of thousands of cyclists together.  Thanks especially Aaron Paley, Joe Linton, and Rachel Burke, as well as Romel Pascual, Ben Flores and Aram Sahakian.

Heidi Sickler – my biggest thanks.  Heidi dedicated herself to this project for weeks, making a project well outside Bikeside’s capabilities a reality with her hard work.

Thanks to Tom Forsyth, the dedicated bicycle attorney who represents wronged and injured cyclists, for supporting Bikeside’s effort to get the candidates excited about cycling.  You can check him out at BicycleAttorney.net!

Thanks to GEK Law, aka Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein LLP (more partners guys!)  GEK Law has served cyclists excellently as personal injury attorneys for decades.

Thanks to all of the individual donors who made this possible.

Thanks to LAPD for being gracious hosts and letting us do soapbox advocacy on their sidewalk.  Thank you Officer Kievit and

Thanks to Bikerowave for handling an enormous volume of flat tires, low tires, busted bikes, and bike valeting hundreds of bikes.  This means you Molly, Joe, JD, Richard, Apollo, Gav, Enzo, Deborah . . . and yes, last but not least, the Montana Man, Steve Mattson.

Thanks to Ron Durgin for representing Sustainable Streets with Bikeside at our booth.

Thanks to all the candidates, and their hard working staff and beautiful families: Austin Beutner, Candice Graham, Cary Brazeman, Gordon Teuber, John Delgado,  Jose Huizar, Justin Brimmer, and Kevin James!

Thank you to Fortnight Coffee – Peter Carvalho Molignano, Logan O’Brien, and friends – for keeping everyone maximally caffeinated.

And thank you of course to all the Bikesiders who made it happen.  Stephen Box, Jeremy Grant, Enci Box, Sara Bond, and Mihai!  Volunteers – Max, Jenni, Thai, Dylan, Julia, Kevin and Ivan!  And thank you Jose Sigala, for your excellent work with Heidi, Kevin, and the candidates.

Thank you Occupy LA, Don Ward, Glenn Bailey and Noel Weiss for joining us on stage.  And thanks to Matthew Deters for fabricating excellent signs and stands.  Gracias to Chuck Ray of the Mar Vista Community Council for connecting Bikeside with Austin Beutner’s campaign.  And to Mike Chamness for shirts, and the Real Ridazz for personality.

If there’s anyone I missed – thank you too!  We look forward to doing this again.

Best,

Alex Thompson

Edit: foolish AT – I accidentally left out Cary Brazeman in the original version of this post.

Gordon Teuber kicks off his campaign in art deco style!

So said Gordon Teuber in response to Bikeside’s recent survey of Council District 15 (CD15) candidates.  Gordon didn’t just leave it at that though, he continued:

“The worst part is worrying about safety with vehicles.”

I hear that – isn’t that what we all worry about?  Bike parking, showering at work, and sunscreen concerns aside, the core worry is tangling with vehicles where cyclists are outmatched.  Later in Bikeside’s survey Gordon agreed that LAPD needs more resources to enforce the CVC to keep cyclists safe.

You can meet Gordon Teuber at CicLAvia by swinging Bikeside Speaks (RSVP on Facebook!) – Bikeside’s gathering of political muscle outside LAPD HQ and City Hall at 1st and Spring.  We’ll be there from 11am to 2pm, conversing with political leadership, imbibing Fortnight Coffee, talking with LAPD officers, all while Bikerowave tunes up bikes.

Teuber is running in the special election to replace Janice Hahn, who resigned from LA City Council this summer to take her seat in Congress.

Teuber’s responses to Bikeside’s survey are a mix of first hand knowledge and qualified support.  He’s not afraid to admit he’s not informed on a subject.  For example, when asked which components of LA’s 2010 Bike Plan are most important, Teuber responded “To be perfectly honest, I have not thoroughly reviewed the 2010 Plan.”  But asked about the specific facilities proposed on the Backbone in CD15, Teuber responded ” I support bike facilities on these streets and highways.”

Close to Bikeside’s heart is the Neighborhood Council system, and Teuber believes in it as well:

Neighborhood Councils have a vital role in transportation issues. They are the eyes and ears on the street. They are usually the first ones to report problems to the Council Office and LADOT. They should absolutely have a voice in transportation policy.

Teuber also endorsed expanding CicLAvia from 10.5 miles to 15 miles!

Teuber signed off his survey boldly:

I appreciate BikesideLA’s involvement and advocacy. Cycling in LA is a challenging subject. Dealing with a overburdened, under maintained roadway system is going to be difficult in the future.

We appreciate your work also Gordon!

Meet Teuber at CicLAvia!

Bikeside Speaks is pulling together leadership around the city to talk about biking, especially how we might expand and extend CicLAvia across the region.  We’ll be on the corner of 1st and Spring hamming it up from 11-2, with Fortnight Coffee, Bikerowave bike tune-ups, and LAPD.

We can use all the help we can get to pay for event expenses, so if you’re willing to help, please donate!  We also seek volunteers, so if you’d like to volunteer, contact us on our volunteer page!

Bikeside Speaks Leadership Summit at CicLAvia, 10/9, 11am-2pm, corner of 1st and Spring

We’ll be unveiling the schedule for Bikeside Speaks as we approach CicLAvia, but for now know that it’s the perfect time and place to talk to LA’s political leadership about how you’d like CicLAvia more often and bigger and bigger.

Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 26, 2011

CicLAvia brings the people to the streets, Bikeside brings the candidates to the people!

Bikeside puts the Candidates, the Voters, the Issues, the Questions, and the Answers where they belong, on the streets of Los Angeles.

On Sunday, October 9th, Bikeside will celebrate CicLAvia’s vision for open streets with a special edition of Bikeside Speaks – “A conversation with the candidates” that focuses on the upcoming CD 15 Special Election as well as the 2013 Citywide races. The event will take place from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of LAPD Headquarters, right in the middle of CicLAvia’s third open streets celebration, this time transforming 10.5 miles of LA’s streets into 100,000 person party on foot, on skates, on bikes, in strollers, and even at the podium.

The CD15 race includes front-runner candidates such as Assemblyman Warren Furutani, Firefighter Pat McOsker, and former Councilman Rudy Svorinich. LAPD Senior Lead Officer Joe Buscaino leads a pack of local contenders that includes local business operators Jayme Wilson, Frank Pereyda, John Delgado and M. “Candice” Graham. CD15 Deputies Gordon Teuber and Justin Brimmer, and Real Estate Agent Rebecca Chambliss round out the crowded field in a campaign that opened with a sprint and then sped up.

Confirmed candidates are Justin Brimmer and Frank Pereyda. Deputy Mayor Larry Frank will be joined by General Managers Nazario Sauceda of Street Services and Enrique Zaldivar of Sanitation, along with neighborhood councils leaders such as Doug Epperhart, Nelson Williams and John Stammreich. Citywide candidates include Kevin James and Cary Brazeman.

Fuel for the bold and robust forum of candidates is provided by Fortnight Coffee, a mobile purveyor of fine caffeinated beverages.

Bikeside is one of the premier bicycle advocacy organizations in Los Angeles, effectively promoting the transportation, environmental and public health benefits of walking and bicycling. Thanks to Bikeside’s commitment to connectivity and relentless advocacy work, the recently approved 2010  Bike Plan includes a state of the art Backbone Bikeway Network that will make Los Angeles more navigable for cyclists.

Ciclovia’s originated 30 years ago in Bogota, Columbia when city leaders closed several main streets to vehicles and opened them to pedestrians and cyclists on Sundays. Over the years, a culture of street life developed resulting in giant street parties that are now held around the world with music, group exercise classes, dance parties, music festivals, games and, of course, people walking and riding their bikes.

LA’s third CicLAvia is the biggest yet, stretching from Boyle Heights to Downtown, MacArthur Park to East Hollywood, Chinatown to South LA! removing vehicles from the streets and filling them with LA’s unique expression of community, recreation, art, culture, and politics.

For more information on Bikeside Speaks, on the candidates running for The CD15 seat, or on the issues related to active transportation, visit Bikeside or join us on the streets on Sunday, October 9, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. To join the journey, visit Bikeside or join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter or simply “Follow your Feet” on Sunday, October 9, 2011

For more information contact:

Dr. Alex C. Thompson

President, Bikeside

AlexCThompson@gmail.com

Road diets do create a safer environments for the most vulnerable road users. However, speed limits are merely suggestions, so bus or no bus, it would be nice to have seen a 10ft car travel lane instead of 11ft, and a nice roomy bike lane with a hashed door buffer zone.   So, in the defeatist tone of a lot of folks that I’ve seen commenting on local bike blogs – “It’s good enough for now”.

The main motivation for this article is the overall tone of the LACBC support letter in favor of the road diet, which I ran across a day after the deal was sealed.

Now on to…

The Gripes

Outright ignoring the dooring hazard is irresponsible, especially for a Bike Advocacy group. Also, it seems that LACBC continues to make excuses for LADOT’s inability to come up with a first-rate bike facility while deriding cyclists’ for their lack of “education”. The Main St corridor through Venice is a key connector between two very active commercial, relatively walkable areas. It is heavily used by cyclists and deserves the best bikeway possible. LADOT instead offers the MUTCD minimum bike lane design, which pales in comparison to what Long Beach is doing for its residents.

I am aware of the usual excuse: protected bike lanes are not an accepted standard, therefore LADOT is not eligible for funding, yadda yadda. Make it happen, in Venice. Go that extra yard and get that grant money, call it a temporary pilot project if you have to.

A cornucopia of caveats and assumptions...

Getting doored hurts and can cause very serious injuries.

What’s most offensive about the statement above is the shift of blame from city planner to the cyclist. “You should have seen that door opening from a mile away, newbie cyclist!” Are we designing a bike lane for the 8-80 age group, or for those with heightened spider-senses? I was unable to attend LACBC’s recent ThinkBike workshop, but I’m fairly certain the Dutch would set the bar higher.

Cyclists in cities with amazing bike facilities don’t have to be educated about the perils of the door zone. Why? They have amazing bike facilities, which minimizes dangerous situations from the start.

Another gripe:  ”Build it now, improve it later” mentality.  Built it well the first time around, instead opting for mediocre and hoping for improvements decades down the road!  Smaller cities like Santa Monica are more nimble, and  actually do react to cyclists’ concerns in a reasonable amount of time.  Maybe it has something to do with accountability – there are less departments to infinitely shift blame and responsibility onto when your project is lagging.

But honestly, when’s the last time you’ve seen the Venice Bike lane being “improved”? There’s fresh, smooth pavement in the travel lane adjacent to the Venice bike lane, but the bike lane itself is untouched.  It’s just as gritty and dishoveled as it was 5-10 years ago.

The Numbers

The paragraph below is what mainly sparked my outrage, and caused me two nights of lost sleep while I mapped and double checked the collision data repeatedly. A bold statement butressed by a breeze of thin air:

Excerpt from LACBC Main St Road Diet support letter - a brief review indeed

I will assume that the erroneous statement meant a two-year time span, from 2008 to 2010. According to my calculations, there were 28 total traffic incidents involving cyclists on Main St in Santa Monica between Jan 1st 2008 and Dec . About a third of those incidents were Sideswipes (10 incidents), another third were Broadsides (9), with the rest being Uncategorized (5), Head-on crashes (3), or Rear-end collisions (1). I have absolutely no idea how anyone can clearly draw a conclusion about how many of these incidents were doorings or caused by the door zone, after all, there is no specific label for a dooring in SWITRS.

CORRECTION: During the same LADOT time span, there were 17 traffic collisions reported, not 28.  A lesser discrepancy than originally reported.

Jan 2008 - Dec 2009 Main St Collision Types (2 yr time span)

2008-2010 Main St Collision Types (3 yr time span)

Primary Collision Factors for those same 28 incidents, same two year three year time span – unfortunately not very useful without a mention of which party was at fault.

Note:  The dataset I used is mostly comprised of street intersections.  This PDF contains traffic collision data involving cyclists from February 2006 to February 2011.  I have not been able to acquire a more accurate list of street addresses from the Santa Monica Police Department. Also, my dataset does not state which party was at fault. Regardless of that, keep in mind that’s a subjective call made by the responding officer.  If LACBC has more detailed data like actual street addresses and party-at-fault, I would still like to see how it supports their conclusions.

Now, let’s not be naive, we all know a large portion of incidents go unreported – the estimate is around two thirds. The former SMPD Deputy Chief was allegedly doored on Main St, and even he chose not to file a report. And in at least one case, a cyclist in Santa Monica has been convinced by a police officer that he should not file a police report if the paramedics do not respond to the scene. He was doored in the Broadway bike lane.

Think about that scenario for a moment.  It often takes paramedics arriving on the scene AND a willing police officer to take a report in order for these incidents to even be recorded. Most of the time, cyclists are so shook up, they allow the motorist to leave without exchanging contact info.

So when you see a red H&R Felony or orange H&R misdeameanor on that map, you best believe someone was seriously hurt.  Imagine that map with the other 2/3 of the unreported collisions.

Another takeaway is that Main St isn’t as rosy of a picture as it’s painted.  Clearly, there is unresolved conflict between cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians.  And we’re duplicating the same lane layout just south of Rose, and somehow hoping for better results.

Conclusion

In retrospect, the aforementioned LACBC support letter was rushed, and the project backed mainly by a culture of fear. It’s a covert way of saying “this offer of a bike lane on Main St may disappear off the table if we don’t accept it as is“. The Main St road diet is a win, but the attitude that we should accept the first bike project LADOT offers without any scrutiny is a losing mindset. This paints cyclists as hungry dogs fighting for scraps. And as we gain political power in this city, we need to leave that mindset behind.

It would be nice to see bike advocates looking past the bare minimum design standards. We deserve better, the momentum is on our side.   Also, a bicycle advocacy organization should stray away from deriding the very people it claims to represent.

I understand that LACBC is considering this a win, and rightfully so, but why not set the bar higher? Extending the bike lane on Main St the last 0.7 miles is a no brainer.  Once it’s clear that there’s enough public support for the project as it stands, why not ask for more?

Don’t be afraid to criticize something that doesn’t feel right. Don’t be afraid to expect more from your city planners.

I used to think Alex Thompson was a conspiracy theorist, but now I truly wonder if that extra half a foot would have been eked out if Bikeside had not pushed the envelope on this issue.

“A field of twenty?! I’m excited, LA’s grassroots are deeper by the year, and I think a big rowdy race can only mean victory for democracy. It also means that Bikeside has an opportunity to get cycling on the agenda and change the politics of City Hall,” said Bikeside President Dr. Alex Thompson.

This survey marks the second time that cyclists have been actively engaged in an LA City Council race since Stephen Box’s Council District 4 race earlier this year. “One of the key issues in the CD 15 race is transportation. Viable candidates must clearly establish a philosophy for the movement of people and goods that is sensitive to the needs of all modes, including a commitment to supporting cyclists on the streets of LA,” said Bikeside and Sierra Club Board Member Stephen Box.

Bike friendly cities such as Long Beach, Oakland and San Francisco have succeeded in striking a balance between supporting the economic vitality of their ports and improving the quality of life for all residents. Why can’t Los Angeles? For decades, CD 15’s political wheels have been greased by the powerful oil lobby whose pipelines ensnare South Bay communities and LA City Hall.  Bikeside’s survey is a new opportunity for CD 15 candidates to demonstrate their oil independence and commitment to sustainable transportation. “I’m proud of Bikeside and the leadership role this organization is taking in engaging the cycling community in the democratic process.  Now it’s up to the CD 15 Candidates to establish themselves as bike advocates” said Bikeside Board Member and ArtCycle Producer Enci Box.

Photo by wirralwater. Port of Los Angeles.

Why should non-cyclists care about CD 15 candidates’ views on biking? We’re all susceptible to the assault of dirty air and Los Angeles remains the most polluted city in the nation, according to the American Lung Association’s 2011 State of the Air Report Card. In fact, fifty percent of the total U.S. population exposed to deadly air pollution live in Southern California and 80 percent of Californians who are exposed to emissions from the ports live in Southern California. Port pollution costs $61 billion per year and results in 3,700 premature deaths annually, according to Communities for Clean Ports.

Despite this ongoing public health threat, “we have a “transportation” mayor who can’t even pay lip service to cycling: in a 2,200 word speech to Mobility 21 in which he covered every aspect of transportation – from cargo docks to traffic signals to the subway – Mayor Villaraigosa didn’t mention cycling once.  Electeds will only pay us lip service till we become a force for change at election time, so that’s what we’re doing,” Thompson added.

Photo by Irargerich.

Bikeside’s 20-question survey aims to measure candidates’ support for the five E’s of bike friendliness: engineering, encouragement, enforcement, education and evaluation. In May 2011, nine of the sixteen candidates for the CA-36 Congressional Candidate Survey responded to Bikeside’s Survey on Biking and Walking, including the major frontrunners Debra Bowen, Janice Hahn, Marcy Winograd and Mayor Mike Gin.  There was unanimous support among all nine candidates for improving cycling conditions in Southern California and expanding CicLAvia.

There is a City Council race during a non-election year because Janice Hahn (D-CA), the former Councilmember for Council District 15, was recently elected to the 36th Congressional District seat. This left her seat open, so a special election must be held to fill her seat.

Council District 15 encompasses the communities of San Pedro, Watts, Wilmington, North and South Harbor Gateway and the Port of Los Angeles. Twenty candidates are running for the open Los Angeles City Council seat. If more than 50% of the vote does not go to any one candidate, the top two vote-getters of any political party, will advance to the January 17, 2012 runoff. Among those seeking the seat are ten Democrats, five Republicans, and five candidates with no identified party preference. To learn more about each candidate, visit www.BikesideLA.org.

Bikeside will be inviting the winner(s) of the November 8, 2011 Special Primary to participate in a follow-up survey if there is a January 2012 runoff. If you would like to recommend questions for the January survey, please submit your comments and questions to Bikeside at Contact@BikesideLA.org or in the comments.

As part of C.I.C.L.E.’s Community Workshops, Bikerowave volunteers stopped by A Place Called Home to demonstrate how a tire change is done proper.

Thus, a sunny Sunday morning, a group of Bikerowave volunteers sailed across town in cars and on bikes to do what they do best: pass on wrenching skills. En route, we were pleasantly surprised by the buttery smoothness of the newly-striped Expo bike lane. Pavement quality was considerably better Eastbound compared to Westbound. Just as the LA Eco Village post warns, the intersection at Rodeo needs improvement, crossing over those train tracks was a bit tense.

Bikerowavers: Karl, Enzo, JDF, JB, Joe and Molly

At APCH, folks of all ages brought in various velocipedes. After a quick primer on from JB, those attending broke up into small groups and worked on patching their own sabotaged tubes. They picked up on our tips and tricks quickly, and some were already confidently passing on the information to their peers by the end of the workshop.

Parked along Expo Community Garden fence

The tire clinic was followed by a Ciclavia South LA Exploration Ride, yet another test of the proposed future Ciclavia route. We had a chance to tour the Community Garden at Expo Park.

Jan is the owner of Boardtown Bikes in her hometown of Starkville. It took over two weeks for the police to file misdemeanor charges against Robbie Norton. Different part of the country, yet very similar situation to our own recent cyclist carnage in Culver City.

Unfortunately, and downright inappropriately, some media outlets chose to use the word “accident” to describe this attempt on Jan’s life. Even though they also have “ran over twice” in the article title.

As usual, reporters felt compelled to mention whether or not she was wearing a helmet.  In an otherwise sensible article, Starkville Daily News alludes to the “wear bright clothing” bit, because that is the imaginary armor that will protect cyclists from insane, bloodthirsty motorists.

Jan was treated for multiple fractures, significant head injuries, collapsed lungs and road rash over most of her body.

“The impact threw her into the air and she landed on the hood of the car. The driver continued for a few feet before stopping when Morgan was thrown to ground.”

Norton exited her vehicle and “observed the cyclist while talking on the phone,” before getting back into her car and running over Morgan again.

Norton had to be forced from her car by witnesses.

Jan Morgan spent four weeks in critical condition at a Tupelo hospital. She has recently started acknowledging human interaction with basic body motions and very simple verbal responses.

The motorist had the nerve to claim that she does not remember getting back in the vehicle and driving over her again as she lay unconscious on the road.

Bike Portland has also picked up on the story. The Morgan family and their friends are hoping to bring this heinous incident to national attention.

David, Jan’s husband, is keeping a daily blog of her slow recovery.

According to District Attorney Forrest Allgood and Clay County Prosecutor Angela Turner-Lairy, there is no law in Mississippi that allows for this case to be upgraded to a felony. As of June 22nd, the attempted murder of Jan Morgan is classified as a misdemeanor. The worst-case scenario for the motorist would be six months in jail and $500 in penalties.

Stephen Box made a sarcastic remark in Room 721 of City Hall that the June 7th meeting was “The Last BPIT.”  He was referring to his encounter with security, who allegedly violated the Brown Act in the lobby, leaving the meeting subject to being re-agendized.  I’m not sure that anything like that will actually happen, but I find it hard to disagree with the “last” designation.  Since I attended my first meeting, I have come to the conclusion that engaging in the BPIT process is analogous to fighting with a tar ball: each time you land a blow, the mess sticks to you more, and you are further immobilized.  The best way out is to stop fighting and get your work done elsewhere.  Here’s my recap of this month’s meeting, and hopes for future work both in City Hall and on the streets.

I missed the beginning of the meeting by about 20 minutes, so the introductions were already completed, as well as part of the second agenda item, “Environmental Analysis and Bicycle Facility Projects.”  Wendy Lockwood of Sirius Environmental provided loads of detailed information about producing EIRs, but every answer to every question went back to the same conclusion – “You can’t do it that way, because it won’t hold up in court.”  There seemed to be no way to strike a balance between the City’s need to cover their ass, and the public’s desire to move quickly.

Next we heard from Tim Fremaux, who “explained” DOT’s procedure for determining the traffic impacts of a particular project.  This segment was hopelessly devoid of content.  Tim outlined six steps, the first five of which were “collect data from dataset X” and the last of which was “plug all the data into the magic formula provided by our proprietary software.”  Rock Miller assured us that the algorithms and formulas used in the software are available in standard textbooks, and I’d really like to see those, but the presentation built me up without delivering.

We ended the meeting in the middle of Tim’s second presentation, reviewing DOT’s proposals for restriping various stretches of road that connect East LA to Alhambra.  Something that really frustrates me about this routine is that when the community comments on Tim’s presentations, he consistently reassures us that “this is just preliminary” but fails to take note of the suggestions that are offered.

Worst of all this month was that the final agenda item entitled “Assignments” was not addressed at all.  I had really been looking forward to leaving the meeting with a clear picture of which projects would be moving forward, and which stakeholders would take responsibility for them.

To understand how all this amounts to a tar ball, it helps to be familiar with a guiding principle of the 2011 Bike Plan called the “Six E’s.”  Those “E’s” are equity, engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation.  In the first half year of its life, the BPIT has addressed one-and-a-half “E’s.”  Since DOT and Planning are such major players in the meeting, engineering gets most of the attention, and all attempts at encouragement have been thought of as being done through engineering.  In other words, all I can remember talking about at our meetings has been where and when the City will paint bike lanes or sharrows on the road, which lane configurations would be most likely to attract potential cyclists, and how we can get clearance for these proposals to hit the ground.

How does this focus on engineering amount to a tar ball?  It adheres to any contribution you might bring to the table, and prevents your idea from moving forward.  You arrive at the meeting ready to strike a major blow for improving cycling conditions in Los Angeles, and the engineers trap you in their sticky mass of lane configurations and anti-gridlock zones.  You offer a great idea for getting more bikes on the street and you get stuck in a discussion of how difficult the EIR process is.  As far as I can tell, you’re not even allowed to talk about topics such as educating young kids about their rights and responsibilities if they choose to ride to school.

So why was this the “last” BPIT?  Well, it’s more accurate to say that it felt like my last BPIT.  I usually approach these meetings with great optimism about the ideas we have cooked up at Bikeside over the course of the month, but I leave feeling intense frustration at being paid almost dismissive lip service by the City and her consultants.  I’ve lost interest in batting around the proposals and EIRs and court precedents that are standing in the way of laying new paint on our roads.  My goal is not to put paint on asphalt, but to put people on their bikes.  The question on my mind is this:  Would I have made more progress by spending two hours engaging community members and drawing on-the-fence commuters into the world of cycling, rather than sitting at an impasse in a City Hall meeting?  I’m leaning toward the former.

As you continue your battle with a tar ball you eventually come to the conclusion that there are two ways to end the fight.  The easy way out is to simply stop fighting.  The tar drips to the ground, and you walk home.  You’re still slightly sticky, and a little worn out, but at the very least you’re free.  This second option – and what I propose for the future of the BPIT – is to continue fighting, but take the battle to  another front.  Think of it as finding the person who put the tar ball in your way, and fighting him instead.  No muss, no fuss.

Where should we take the fight?  Anywhere that real opportunities exist.  Planning wants to talk about why an EIR for X Blvd. is infeasible?  Fine, let’s move on to educating drivers and cyclists in that neighborhood about the rules of the road.  DOT wants to bog down the meeting with an hour-long PowerPoint about lane configurations?  Pass.  The community would rather talk about how local businesses can create incentives for people to visit them on their bikes rather than in their cars.  For that matter, we would also like to make some plans for taking a look at existing efforts to enhance ridability in LA, and figuring out whether those efforts are working or whether it’s time to cut our losses and try something new.  Ideally, every BPIT meeting should consist of six 20-minute sections, each devoted to one “E.”

Remember: We don’t have to wait for the City to tell us “It’s perfectly safe to ride now!”  We can turn every right-hand lane on every street into a bike lane, simply by filling them up with our comrades.

Two Tuesdays ago, I headed to City Hall knowing that the parties at the Bike Plan Implementation Team were in disagreement.  In fact, in my last article, I did my fair share to stir the pot.  I called out City agencies for neglecting to take input from the community when determining which cycling projects would receive priority.  In conversation with other activists, I heard concerns that some great target streets were not even on the City’s radar.  The strongest push from the community was for a clear mechanism for changing the focus.  And, of course, I hadn’t heard anything from the City.  In general, I was expecting some tension.

I was not expecting a firefight.

Not ten minutes into the meeting, community representatives hijacked the City’s agenda to express their frustration.  Joe Linton criticized the black-box nature of the decisions coming from Planning and DOT.  Alex Thompson complained that the target keeps shifting: Last month, the conversation was about the Top 10 list, but at this meeting, Planning wanted to discuss the 40-mile package of projects up for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).  Glenn Bailey brought up the fact that the City Attorney’s advice to conduct the costly EIR was not delivered in writing, and therefore not subject to public scrutiny.

Claire Bowin of City Planning, who facilitated this month’s meeting, was more focused on the printed agenda provided by her Department.  She attempted to steer the conversation back to the points that were published in advance of the meeting, but the advocates around the table took exception.  In our eyes, the agenda constituted part of the problem, as it was generated behind the closed doors of City offices, rather than as a collaboration with all stakeholders.

Though the fog of war hung heavy over the table, some points of light did shine through.

In the middle of the meeting, Tim Fremaux of LADOT presented the Department’s ideas for how to treat Cahuenga, Barham and Lankershim to connect Hollywood to North Hollywood.  I appreciated his sharp analysis of the current road conditions.  For example, when he addressed the impact of cycling facilities on the businesses along this route, he was careful to take into account the types of businesses.  The car dealerships will need different treatments than the coffee shops – a distinction that other engineers have missed in previous presentations.

Finally the meeting resulted in a handful of initial commitments.  Jill Sourial, representing Ed Reyes and Council District 1, proposed that a future BPIT meeting be dedicated to a workshop on how the City gathers and analyzes its traffic data.  Kang Hu of DOT agreed to establishing this baseline.  Rick Risemberg garnered a commitment from the City to distribute data and relevant statutes to the BPIT mailing list.  Kang Hu said “It will be done.”  Finally, Nate Baird pledged that he would more clearly express on LADOT Bike Blog when important documents have been updated.

To be sure, these concessions don’t represent great watersheds for the cycling community, but they do show that the BPIT is taking steps in the right direction.  While cyclists didn’t win big when it came to the actual implementation of the Bike Plan, the communication channels are more open than they were a month ago.  Now it’s on to the follow-up process, where we make sure that commitments are realized and the community’s needs are addressed.

Photo by Bikeside Chris

Thank you Michael Chamness, Loraine Goodwin and George Newberry for submitting your ideas for improving biking and walking in the 36th Congressional District! Visit BikesideLA.org for updated charts as responses roll in. Here’s what they had to say about legislative measures and initiatives that improve bicycle safety and infrastructure in Southern California.

All three candidates:

• Support legislation to amend the Affordable Care Act to require health insurance companies to offer discounted premiums for people who bike to work, as many European countries currently do. Dr. Goodwin noted that “persons who exercise should be considered for discounted premiums.”
• Pledge to support the expansion of CicLAvia beyond its current 7.5 mile route.

• Own a bike and rode their bike last week (George Newberry tells us that he rides a Trek Madrone!).

Here are some other results of the multiple choice answers:

• Michael Chamness and Loraine Goodwin will sponsor a national campaign that encourages motorists to respectfully share the road with cyclists.

• All three candidates commit to riding their bicycle to work at least once a week.

• Michael Chamness and George Newberry will sponsor or co-sponsor legislation that establishes funding parity among all modes of transportation, including bicycling and walking.
• Loraine Goodwin and Michael Chamness will support continued dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects such as ISTEA’s Transportation Enhancements Program.

• Michael Chamness will join Bikeside for the next Critical Mass ride and Dr. Loraine Goodwin will participate in a Critical Mass ride this year! We hope that other candidates will join us too!

Here are the results of the long form answers:

• In lieu of the Complete Streets Act, we asked candidates what they would do to ensure that roads are used to accommodate all modes of travel:
  • Michael Chamness (Coffee Party): “Bike lane mitigation for all road improvements statewide and increased investment credits for private developers.”
  • Dr. Loraine Goodwin (Democrat): “I will have to review this Act.”
  • George Newberry (Republican): “Ensure adequate lines are drawn.”

• We asked candidates what they will do to secure additional federal funding for bicycle infrastructure projects, such as TIGER II and President Obama’s FHWA Livability grants. Here’s what they had to say:
  • Michael Chamness (Coffee Party): “I would redirect subsidies from oil, gas, and non-renewable energy industries into mass transit and alternative transportation projects that include bike education and implementation programs.”
  • Dr. Loraine Goodwin (Democrat): “I organized several walk to school days and for years encouraged cities to adapt to encourage biking instead of cars.”
  • George Newberry (Republican): “Work with other Congressmen.”

• In Copenhagen, a city of 560,000 bicycles, 521,000 people and 35,000 bicycle parking spaces, 85% of residents own a bike. From Copenhagen, we have learned that LA can do more – much more – for cycling. We asked candidates what elements of Copenhagen’s Bike Plan they would recommend for Southern California, and on what timetable they would implement them:
  • Michael Chamness (Coffee Party): “Happy to dig deeper and offer ideas at a later date.”
  • Dr. Loraine Goodwin (Democrat): “Again, I would need to investigate these comparisons more.”
  • George Newberry (Republican): “I’d have to read it first.”

• LAPD staff assigned to bicycle safety and traffic enforcement are stretched very thin. We asked candidates if they would support significant federal funding for LAPD and other enforcement and public safety agencies to work and improve safety conditions for cyclists:
  • Michael Chamness (Coffee Party): “Sure.”
  • Dr. Loraine Goodwin (Democrat): “Definitely.”
  • George Newberry (Republican): “Yes.”

• Electric vehicles purchased in or after 2010 are eligible for a federal income tax credit of up to $7,500. We asked candidates if they think that bicycle owners who do not own a motorized vehicle should also be eligible for a federal income tax credit, and, if so, how they you structure the tax credit:
  • Michael Chamness (Coffee Party): “Definitely. The credit should reflect the entire purchase price/value of the bike.”
  • Dr. Loraine Goodwin (Democrat): “The cost comparisons are very different, but I definitely encourage biking and walking.”
  • George Newberry (Republican): “Yes, in the same way.”

• Potholes are a major safety hazard to cyclists. We asked candidates if they would sponsor legislation that directs municipal Departments of Public Works repairing streets with federal funds to prioritize corridors identified in the municipality’s bike plan (if one exists):
  • Michael Chamness (Coffee Party): “Yes.”
  • Dr. Loraine Goodwin (Democrat): “Again, cities do these inspections and repairs.”
  • George Newberry (Republican): “More funding should be put into the roads initially like the Europeans do.”

• Many Southern California drivers show incredible disrespect for cyclists. They fail to recognize that cyclists and pedestrians have a right to use streets as well, and treat them with dangerous disrespect. We asked candidates what the next Congressmember from the California 36th do to change these attitudes:
  • Michael Chamness (Coffee Party): “Put on a helmet and hit the streets with their constituents.”
  • Dr. Loraine Goodwin (Democrat): “I would be very happy to do whatever I can to increase bike and pedestrian safety. this has always been a problem even in heavy biking and pedestrian communities.”
  • George Newberry (Republican): “Increase advertising, but cyclists need to obey the rules of the road, as I try to do, and quit running stop signs and traffic lights.”

• Employees of the LA Department of Transportation once said that “for the bike to catch on we need a revolution in our bicycle infrastructure.” We asked candidates what they would do to make cycling a central part of the Los Angeles lifestyle:
  • Michael Chamness (Coffee Party): “Sponsor alternative transit projects and funding that continue to provide for expanding infrastructure to accommodate bike users on the roadways and within communities. Specifically, it’s crucial to track and leverage ridership data for future programming options.”
  • Dr. Loraine Goodwin (Democrat): “Most of the people I know love to bike. An evaluation of lifestyle and city infrastructure would be needed.”
  • George Newberry (Republican): “Advertising.”

Bikeside will use the results of this survey to make an endorsement. We will inform our readers, our email list, and our volunteers of our endorsement, and likely will phone bank on behalf of the endorsed candidate.

We look forward to hearing from the 13 remaining candidates (listed below) regarding their ideas for improving biking and walking in California’s 36th Congressional District. To request a Word version or link to the online survey, please email Bikeside President Alex Thompson at contact@BikesideLA.org.

CA-36 Congressional District

Candidates (5)

• Daniel Adler, New Media Entrepreneur in Marina del Rey
• Debra Bowen, California Secretary of State
• Loraine Goodwin, Physician, Teacher, Arbitrator of Madera – 1st to Complete Survey
• Janice Hahn, Los Angeles City Councilmember
• Marcy Winograd, High-School Teacher

Other (5)

• Michael Chamness, Non-Profit consultant – Coffee Party – 2nd to Complete Survey
• Steve Collett, Certified Public Accountant – Libertarian.
• Katherine Pilot, Longshore Office Clerk – no party preference
• Matthew Roozee, Business Executive, Mathematician – no party preference
• Maria Montano, Public school teacher – Peace and Freedom Party

Republican Candidates (6)

• Patrick Bobko, Hermosa Beach City Councilman
• Stephen Eisele, Businessman and Aerospace Entrepreneur
• Mike Gin, Redondo Beach Mayor
• Craig Huey, Small Business Owner
• George Newberry, Real Estate Agent and Retired Military – 3rd to Complete Survey
• Mike Webb, Redondo Beach City Attorney

The fuel for human powered travel is food; and food is theoretically indefinitely sustainable compared to extracted oil, since food is based upon solar power, regenerated topsoil, and reused water. In contrast, oil, which we use for either generating electricity (for those affluent enough to own either a hybrid or an electric vehicle) or by directly injecting it in a highly refined form into an engine’s combustion chambers exists in a very finite stock. But current agriculture (or more accurately agribusiness) complicates food’s sustainability since industrial food is now grown through non-sustainable practices; and this has been increasingly true since the 1940s. Our farming is now dependent on extracted hydrocarbons through chemical fertilizers and other similar features of industrial farming. So while muscle-powered movement minimizes our use of oil, it does not end it. Furthermore, because we are embedded in a world where looking at these words on a glowing screen is the norm for both the writer and the reader, we both are involved in the general destructiveness of our society. Any freedom from this shared responsibility is a romantic illusion.

For these reasons, believing that using a bicycle for transportation makes you more “green” in a substantial way over car users is at least partly self-indulgent. While it is common for people to desire environmental purity, no-one ever achieves it: not now; not 5000 years ago. Even so-called primitive people who had never heard of what Wes Jackson calls “carbon pools” effectively destroyed their environments according to Jared Diamond; and any serious attempt at being fully green would involve going to lengths that would make the shed-dwelling Unabomber Ted Kaczynski seem like a play-acting lightweight. Riding a bike is good; yes; but it does not change the underlying pattern of our society, and is only a drop in the bucket.

Why then ride a bike for transportation? There are still good reasons. First of all, it’s enjoyable in a way that driving a car in heavy urban traffic is not. Second, despite our inability to achieve green purity, any growth in awareness of what balanced human life involves on this small green planet is healthy. While we can never untangle ourselves from a general wastefulness and destructiveness–something that has accelerated immensely in the last five hundred years– we can be aware that every mile traveled on a bicycle–or on foot– involves a complex interaction between the sun’s energy, topsoil that if healthy has taken thousands of years to form, and the contribution of other factors that fall under the term “agriculture,” itself (we’re apt to forget) part of the larger mystery of the wild or of nature and her processes, which we can call the overall ecological framework. In an analogous case, while growing your own tomatoes or shopping at a farmer’s market will not bankrupt Archer Daniels Midland or Dupont, it might make you more aware of how your food is grown, where it comes from, and how it reaches your table. And while riding a bicycle instead of using a car will not “save” the world or make us ecological saints, it might make us more mindful of the complicated web in which we are all enmeshed. We might live according to what is true, rather than what is convenient or socially sanctioned. No individual can escape the parameters of his or her era. But within those parameters, we can live aware of the complicated reality that surrounds and contains us. Awareness is intrinsically valuable, and I hope also contagious.

My ideas come from my own embededness within a set of specific intellectual and cultural communities, and for those of you whose imaginations and intellects are sparked by these ideas, I recommend reading Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Kathleen Raine and Gary Snyder, among others. Each of these, from his or her own perspective, provides a much-needed long view so lacking in our mainstream society’s discourse: each strives to correct the big lie that, for both profit and convenience, we’re asked to believe. Ecological purity does not exist; sane living does. Equally, freeing ourselves completely from the social and cultural blinders of our society is impossible and probably even undesirable, but some real degree of clear thought is both possible and necessary. These four writers and others like them have helped correct my own myopic views.

Michele Appel at Bikerowave 2, photo by Alex Thompson

I got the Facebook message from “Heart CM”, the owner of the LA Critical Mass Group:

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.

No Front Light Ticket!!

After fumbling through the California Vehicle Code, the two officers decided to ticket the cyclist pictured for a lack of front lights (two of them are mounted on the fork, click for larger photo).  The cyclist showed up to court; the case was dismissed.  Not only did the city waste money by sending police to patrol, but the judge who heard the case and all of us that took time off work to testify on the cyclist’s behalf also wasted valuable time.

Santa Claus gets ticketed on Christmas for riding too far to the left...

On this same ride, Santa Claus was cited for “riding too far to the left” after a similar brainstorming session – notice the officer in the car leafing through the CVC.  Eureka!  A charge was made up – Riding too far to the left.  The cyclist was not holding up traffic, and the CVC allows the cyclist to make up his or her own decision on what “riding as far to the right as practicable” means.

Those two visual examples were not about bike license citation, but you can see plenty of those mentioned in the SM Daily Press on a weekly basis.  Getting rid of mandatory bike licensing would at least take away an excuse to ticket cyclists.

Bicycle registration is a redundant and futile process.  As long as owners write down the serial number at the time of purchase, all they have to do is include that in the police report.  Even so, the smarter thieves will sand off that part of the frame, rendering it unreadable.

I have filed police reports in two bike theft cases and provided serial numbers.  This did not result in getting anything back.  Most thieves will leave city boundaries to sell or strip the bike, so registering it is useless unless there is a regional, collaborative database that these serial numbers get entered into.

Bicycle registration alone is futile.   A legitimate, concerted effort by the SMPD and LAPD to bust bike theft rings and a centralized database of serial numbers would add some value to the bike registration process.

So, back to what’s up for discussion on Monday night’s agenda.  The Staff Report on Item 7-B from mentions that:

• Santa Monica’s current fine for riding without a license exceeds state law;  it could be dropped to $10
• Bike licensing fees may go up to $4 in order to cover costs ($2 for replacement or renewal)
• Eliminating the licensing program altogether is an option

In Long Beach, due to the mass ticketing on a Critical Mass ride, City Councilman Robert Garcia is proposing to make bike licensing voluntary.    We’ll see what route Santa Monica takes.

Get ready for a lively discussion on Monday night!

January 17, 2010
5:30 p.m.
Santa Monica City Council Chambers
1865 Main St.

LBPD Harassing Critical Mass participants (Long Beach Press Telegram photo)

In Southern California, ignorance runs rampant when it comes to the rights of a Cyclist. You only need to look as far as the comments on the Long Beach Press Telegram article reporting on LBPD gross mishandling of the latest Critical Mass ride. The average person has no idea what rights a cyclist has, and they don’t seem to have the common sense or compassion to allow another mode of transport or lifestyle to flourish.

The bigger problem is when law enforcement officers don’t know the law or simply choose to apply it in a biased manner. In Long Beach, they choose to harass cyclists that are trying to make a statement, putting them down in hopes of quieting them, much like Santa Monica PD in November 2007.  Add this to the previous incident of LBPD cyclist harassment, and you start to see a pattern emerge.

In Santa Monica, the Police Department has been out in full force ticketing sidewalk riders on Lincoln Blvd. It’s almost as if they’re trying to reach a quota, or they have a direct order from the Police Chief to do so. You see, Santa Monica has an ordinance that outlaws sidewalk riding, even if you’re on a deadly street with absolutely no bike lane or sharrows, bad pavement, and fast moving motorized vehicles like Lincoln Bl. Oh, the Police officers are exempt though, they can ride their mountain bikes on the sidewalk whenever they please.

You want to know what else makes this news extremely ridiculous? According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, 711 people were injured or killed on Santa Monica’s streets in 2008, of which 105 were pedestrians and 110 were cyclists. That is alarming, considering that the total population is around 92,000. That puts Santa Monica in 3rd place out of 103 cities of similar population size. Congratulations Santa Monica, you’re the 3rd most dangerous city your size for peds and cyclists in California!

CA Office of Traffic Safety - 2008 Santa Monica statistics

If you’re feeling adventurous, check the stats for the city of Los Angeles – you’ll see an even more alarming number of deaths, hit and runs, DUIs, etc. You know, the stuff that our social fabric is made of down here in Southern California.  LA is 2nd of 13 cities of its size when it comes to traffic-related injuries or deaths.

Riders in Santa Monica or Long Beach – you’re between a rock and a hard place. Your life is at stake on a daily basis, and the cops are definitely not on your side.  We’ve lost 13 cyclists in 5 weeks, our life is literally on the line.

Last time I checked, both Long Beach and Santa Monica were trying to stake a claim to being “bike friendly”. Heck, Long Beach even stated that it’s attempting to become the most bike-friendly city in America! It doesn’t help for politicians or city officials to be making such statements unless the Police Chief gets the memo as well.

To add insult to injury, SMPD’s list of Must-Do’s for cyclists adds the following items to their imaginary law book:

• Bicycle registration
• Using marked bike lanes or paths whenever possible
• Using a bell or horn and reflectors
• Wearing brightly-colored clothing

Dear SMPD – those are merely suggestions, not things a cyclist MUST do.

So if you live or ride through either of those cities, you better write a letter or call your representatives and tell them how you feel. Because you can bet that all the disgruntled motorists are complaining about cyclists in droves, whether it’s a valid complaint or not. It’s a numbers game. If your voice isn’t heard, the cyclist suppression will continue.

You’re either an activist or an inactivist.

According to the Los Angeles Times,

“(Shawn Fields’s car) threw the boy and his bike across the intersection”.

LA Times readers’ comments on that short article are quite representative of the lack of compassion and common sense in this town. Heartless motorists at their finest.

Shawn Fields posted the 10% required out of the $100,000 bail and was out by the next day, before a full 15 hours elapsed.

His next court date is on Wednesday, October 27th, 8:30am at the San Fernando Courthouse (900 Third St, San Fernando, CA).

If you ride a bike and you are not there, packing that courthouse, then you must not care enough for your own life. Sticking your head in the sand will not save you. Daniel was one of us, and your ass could be next.

Skip work and go there to raise hell, protest, whatever. My life is more important than my job, so I know where I’ll that morning.

We lost a young soul on the night of October 1st. Sincere condoleances to all those that knew Daniel.
—————
UPDATE
Show your support for Daniel’s family and friends – come out to the Funky Friday ride at 5:00pm Oct 15th, at United Threads in San Fernando.
—————

Time is running out for cyclists to comment on the 2010 Los Angeles bike plan

The first meeting took place in Hollywood on Saturday.  A group of cyclists spent an hour looking over large maps of the various networks of bikeways that should result from the plan.  Two hours of public comment saw the cyclists give their input, which ranged from identifying gaps within the proposed networks to requesting connectivity with adjacent cities to prioritizing bikeways on streets in low-income neighborhoods.

Additionally, specific details on implementation timescales were commonly requested.  If you look carefully at the maps at the public hearing you’ll notice that the name of one map has changed from “Implementation Strategy” to “Expenditure Plan”.  It’s the map that shows the first 5 years of bikeways – those that are the highest priority for LADOT.  So what’s with the name change?  The timeline on the map does not describe when the bikeways will be created, simply when funding for those bikeways will be obtained.  So the name change is appropriate but where is the timeline specifying when each bikeway will be completed?  Short answer: there isn’t one.

Another recurring request was for accountability from LADOT.  Several people noted that failure at the implentation stage was what led to the creation of only 50% of the bikeways in the 1996 Los Angeles bike plan.   There were calls for collaboration between LADOT and  bicycling advocates to ensure the bike plan stays on track, as well as quarterly public meetings with LADOT representatives.  Currently there are no plans to provide public updates on the status of the bike plan.

Concerned about the lack of an implementation timeline or accountability once these hearings end?  Concerned about something else?  Just want to see some big maps?  Then get yourself out to one of the upcoming meetings before it’s too late.

Remaining Bike Plan Public Hearings:

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 meeting did not start well.  News came in that a proposed bike lane along a stretch of PCH had been rejected for being “discontinuous”.  An update on the $900K grant from Caltrans to improve the bicycle route between Trancas Canyon Road and the Ventura County line was met with the illogical concern that the improvements would result in more cyclists using the road.  Well, yes, hopefully.  There’s not much point in having a bike route if no-one’s going to use it.

Later in the meeting, the attending cyclists quickly laid to rest the issue of whether those that run red lights should be ticketed – overwhelmingly, the answer was yes.  However, the deeper issue of whether cyclists should be targeted by law enforcement was addressed with results from an examination by the Malibu Times of the approximately 2000 collisions that occurred on PCH between 2004 and 2005  It found that nearly all involved some combination of alcohol consumption, driving at night, making an illegal u-turn, brakes failing, falling asleep at the wheel, or speeding.  There was no mention of cyclists.  The recurring theme to many of the cyclists’ comments was education for all road users, road improvement, and specific training for the Sheriff’s Department (Malibu does not have its own police force) on how to deal with cyclists.

As public comment ended and the commission members began to speak it became apparent just how far Malibu has to go in order to address the needs of cyclists.

PCH is a class III bike route but the high speed of motor vehicles and lack of space make it a dangerous place to ride.

Members of the commission (a commission tasked with making recommendations to the City Council on, amongst other things, traffic safety) appeared ill-informed of cyclists’ rights.  Multiple members of the commission were unaware of a cyclist’s right to take the lane in the event of sub-standard lane width, did not know that riding on the shoulder was voluntary, and that a cyclist cannot be ticketed for riding in the travel lane.  It was, honestly, an immensely frustrating exchange of common misconceptions from several commission members and cyclists’ rights to the roadway from the attending riders.  The representative from the Sheriff’s Department was misleading at best, stating that cyclists must ride as far to the right as possible.  Nope, the law says “practicable”.  It’s possible for me to ride over broken glass but it’s really not practicable.

Furthermore, calls for speed limit reductions and work to clear up landslides that have crept into the shoulder where most cyclists ride (though not because they are obligated to) were met with the refrain “our hands are tied” since Caltrans, a state-level department, is responsible for engineering and setting speed limits, not the city.  However, the PSC has worked with Caltrans before.  Just a few months ago Commissioner Chris Frost rode along with a Caltrans engineer to identify trouble spots along PCH, aided with information from the grass-roots organization “A Safer PCH”.  As a result of that collaborative effort crosswalks will be made more visible, and signs reminding drivers of speed limits will be added.  So it can be done.  It’s time to take collaborating with Caltrans on PCH safety issues out of the “too hard” bin again.

Again and again, the cyclists attempted to inform the commission of their rights, as well as offering up valid solutions to the numerous problems that plague PCH.  However, at least during the meeting, it seemed that the commission was focusing on how to enforce the law for cyclists, rather than how to improve the road conditions.  Making PCH safe for cyclists is no small task.  Sharing the road is difficult when cars move at speeds upwards of 50 mph and the road width is naturally limited by the ocean on one side and cliffs on the other.  But there are many measures that can and must be taken to protect vulnerable road users who have as much right to PCH as motorists.

I will say this for the meeting: it opened lines of communication between Public Safety Commissioners and cyclists who may not have met otherwise.  So I’d like to thank Commissioner Chris Frost for inviting us out there.  We’ve got a long way to go but opening a dialogue between the concerned public and city officials was a start.

Lindsay Lohan will likely serve 14 days of the 90 day sentence in County jail she began today.  She violated the terms of her probation on DUI charges.

The same day that Lohan turned herself in to the Beverly Hills Courthouse, the case against Celine Mahdavi was scheduled for a pretrial hearing on the 3rd floor.  I know because I walked through the gauntlet of photographers so I could surrender my tools and my camera to security to go upstairs and observe.

Celine Mahdavi hit Louis Deliz so hard that his teeth were embedded in her car, then drove away, Deliz’ body dislodging from her car and landing face down.  He lost most of the lower half of his jaw, all his lower teeth, broke both legs, broke nearly all his fingers, broke his hip, and punctured a lung (if memory serves.)  Just a few days ago, Louis had a massive seizure, and he is still seeing double from it.  To this day he can’t walk right, he can’t talk right, he can’t see right, and he has nightmares and flashbacks.  Mahdavi, 18 at the time, was pulled over a half mile from the accident where she tested positive for alcohol.

A few hours after Lohan began her 90 days in jail, Judge Elden S. Fox sentenced Mahdavi to 90 days of community service – 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, to be done in a 180 day period.  Most likely Mahdavi will be picking up trash with CalTrans or taking part in graffiti removal.

Fox also ordered that Mahdavi should pay full restitution to Deliz, serve 36 months probation, take part in alcohol counseling, participate in the Hospitals and Morgue program.

"She shouldn't drive unless she has a valid driver's license" - Judge Eldon S. Fox to hit and run perpetrator Celine Mahdavi, who permanently disabled Louis Deliz

The prosecution offered Mahdavi a plea of 1 year in jail and 5 years probation.  Instead, Mahdavi’s defense submitted a memorandum of disposition, effectively falling on the mercy of the court, and allowing the judge to sentence Mahdavi without trial.  Fox offered the far lesser sentence, with a variety of self contradictory justification.  Sometimes calling the collision an “accident” – implying that there was no intent without explanation – Fox explained how he considered a 1 year, 6 month, then a 4 month, and finally a 90 day sentence in County jail.  Finally, he explained, he settled on no jail time at all (or 1 day for each count, but 1 day also credited for each count.)

Fox talked tough to Mahdavi saying “I do not believe for one minute that you did not realize you were in a collision for a cyclist” and went on to specify that she should have known that he injured someone.  He explained to Deliz’ family that he found it hard to look at the photographs and evidence.  “My heart goes out to you”, Fox said.

Fox told Mahdavi that she cannot carry any deadly weapons during the 3 years of her probation, listing guns and knives as examples of deadly weapons.  Fox did not list cars as deadly weapons, only ordering that Mahdavi should not drive “unless she has a valid driver’s license.”

Know this cyclists – no one will defend you.  If you are hit it is unlikely the police will care.  If they do care, it is unlikely it will go to court.  If it does go to court, it is unlikely the judge will care.  You are on your own.  If you don’t have a big family like Louis does – one that will step in and step up to take care of you – then you can’t get hit.  You can’t get hit because you won’t get treated fairly.  I know getting hit isn’t under your control, just understand that no one that matters cares about you, and the “justice” system will not take care of you.

There is basically no reason not to hit cyclists and pedestrians – it’s open season.

(edited for correct spelling of “Celine” – thanks commenter Rach Stevo)

(Edit: Celine Mahdavi’s license is currently suspended it is my understanding, as a result of her not responding to inquiries from the DMV re this incident.  Lawyers at the hearing seemed to agree that she will be able to apply for removal of the suspension early next year.  What’s absurd to me is that she would be allowed to obtain a license at all, that her license is suspended and not revoked, and that the judge would leave this decision to the DMV, rather than ordering it suspended.

So, no Mahdavi on the streets (at least legally speaking) now, but possibly early next year.)

Bikeside Speaks is a lightning round of talks on current projects in bike activism, each of them followed by Q&A. We’ll also have several heavy hitters giving talks on their interface with cycling, to be announced! Here’s part of the lineup:

• Winning with Data – Crowdsourcing & LA Bike Map: Mihai Peteu
• Sara Bond: Personalizing Hit & Run
• Jeremy Grant: Connecting LA with the Backbone Bikeway Network
• Enci Box: Moving LA with The Greensters
• Stephen Box: Changing the world with Cyclists’ Rights
• Ron Durgin: Every street is a People Street – Sustainable Streets
• and a special presentation on Bikerowave, and it’s incredible progress as a bike co-op.

I’ll emcee, and I may even give a short talk on the Bike Plan.

This is an easy way to see what Bikeside and our collaborators are up to, and to get involved.  Come out and get engaged!

If you’d like to help out, email me at alexcthompson@gmail.com and we’ll plug you in.

(please note, Bikerowave will be closing earlier than usual in order to accommodate Bikeside.  Stands will be available outside for emergency repairs only.)

infeasible? unfeasible?

On Monday, Feb 22nd, KPCC ran it’s second round of bike discussions on the Pat Morrison show (the entire show is up now if you want to listen in). Due to more technical troubles, I was not able to get my thoughts in, and I feel like I need to put them out there. This is what I wanted to say in response to all the panelists.

“I want to remind everyone here that what we are discussing is an issue of life and death.  It shouldn’t even be a question of “is it Feasible?”, it should be “how do we get this done?”.  It seems like we’ve become desensitized to the point were we blame cyclists for getting in the way our motor vehicles. Like Alex said, we need a cultural shift just as much as paint on the streets.

Too often the cyclist is the one ending up criminalized or treated as a second class citizen. So, just to balance out what Michelle Mowery said in regards to cyclists requiring more “education” – we need more accountability for drivers, since they’re the ones that drive 2000 lb vehicles. For those listening right now, just in case you weren’t already aware of it, LA is plagued by an epidemic of hit and runs. Many of them are fatal. Many of them leave cyclists strung up in a hospital bed while the cops don’t even bother following up on the case.

I have another quick fact about Amsterdam which Michelle forgot to mention – in a collision involving a cyclists, the DRIVER is the one at fault until proven otherwise. Keep that in mind.

I’ve heard the quote about LA being a bigger beast. Yes, we all know that, it’s a terribly designed city from a human standpoint.  This is why the LA Bike Working Group is pushing forward and creating so much debate in the bike community – I think LA cyclists are starting to realize they need to strong arm their way into this slow-moving bureaucracy. We won’t back down from our demands or wait another 15 years until real action is taken. Our lives are on the line, so it’s fairly easy for us to stay motivated.

This city is so dehumanized, that various police forces, LAPD, BHPD, refuse to press criminal charges against motorists, even though there are witnesses at the scene of the crime, and full license plates are turned in. Our best option right now for justice, if we do survive a hit and run, is to pursue a civil suit. That’s sad.

We want results now. We want results yesterday. Everyone wants to know where our funding is going to come from. We at the LA Bike Working group are volunteering our time to this cause, for all
cyclists. You could even say we have an infinite bugdet and unquenchable enthusiasm. Why? Because, once again, our lives are on the line. I don’t hear that kind of urgency from city planners, and this is why I’ve been pouring in so much of my free time into the BackBone Network and into coming up with a Bike Plan for LA that speaks for me.

I am on the eighth floor of UCLA’s Broad Art Center, and I have a clear view of Downtown LA.  And I don’t see any streets with the words UNFEASIBLE printed on them. “

So that’s what I wanted to say, in a nutshell.