Comments on: LABMP: What is the LA Bike Master Plan? (3/100)

By: Streetsblog Los Angeles » Today’s Headlines

Streetsblog Los Angeles » Today’s Headlines — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:27:20 +0000

[...] Dr. Alex Thompson explains what the bike plan is and why it matters. (Westside Bikeside) [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:44:03 +0000

1975 was the year of the first plan. The Transportation library in the MTA building at Union Station has it on file. It’s an exciting plan and rather ambitious. The 2009 plan could learn a lot from it. Go check it out. And the library is super fun, in the nerdy way a good library can be.

By: Alex de Cordoba

Alex de Cordoba — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:18:57 +0000

Thanks for presenting this easily overlooked point that helps explain the behaivor of LADOT and our elected officials. Cyclists are not viewed as a partner in creating viable transportation solutions for our city, we’re merely a nuisance. The plan is nothing more than a hollow document so that a bureaucrat somewhere puts a check in a box saying, Yes, LA has a bike plan.

By: Roadblock

Roadblock — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:24:44 +0000

Bicycle tickets should fund bicycle infrastructure exclusively. Then I wouldn’t feel so bad about my $460 ticket.

By: angle

angle — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:26:54 +0000

These are great points, and I wonder if it’s possible to find out exactly where the money went that was procured to (supposedly) implement projects contained in past Bicycle Plans.

According to the introduction of the 1996 Bicycle Plan (posted on the LADOT bicycle services site), the ‘96 Plan “replaces and supersedes the Bicycle Plan adopted by City Council in July, 1977.”, so it’s possible that 1977 is the first year for the L.A. Bicycle Master Plan.

By: joe linton

joe linton — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:14:07 +0000

Overall I agree with your general point: The justification for the bike plan i that it helps the city get funding. The justification for the plan isn’t necessarily to plan to truly make L.A. a bike-friendly city. I think it’s really good that you bring this up, because I think that some folks assume something along the lines of “oh… LA is doing a bike plan, they must be really enlightened and really be doing and planning good things for bikes” – not necessarily the case.

I checked the link, which was interesting and something I wasn’t entirely aware of. It seems to me that there’s a requirement for a mobility plan in a required general plan… and according to the link, the mobility element includes “Existing and proposed transportation facilities (including major roadways, transit, multimodal and intermodal facilities, pedestrian walkways and bicycle facilities, and intermodal connectors)”

It’s not a critical point, but I wouldn’t quite say that that mobility plan “must include bicycle facilities” or that “federal government requires you to have a bike plan.” It seems like there are cities in L.A. County (I am guessing now – probably Bellflower – and maybe Burbank until recently… maybe others) that did not specifically have a bike master plan, but actually got bike path projects funded by Metro (with federal monies.)

It seems like cities can do their mobility plans and include or not include bike stuff – and stay on the fed’s good side either way. I’ve never heard of a city being turned down for federal monies because of insufficient bike planning. I wish!

Alex Baum has a well-worn paper copy of the 1983 or 1984(?) bike plan, that I saw with my own eyes once. It was actually interesting how much of the 1996 corresponded to the 80’s plan – I remember it included Fletcher Drive, which we (at the LACBC) were campaigning for, which still hasn’t been implemented. (except momentarily by DIY-ers!) I will see if I can get my hands on it and scan it and post it online.

By: Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:48:03 +0000

The federal requirement is for bike planning in a municipalities long range transportation plan, not necessarily separated from the LRTP itself. It can be found by following this link, also linked above:

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=4326b3462801c075d9d260366f1f811e&rgn=div5&view=text&node=23:1.0.1.5.11&idno=23#23:1.0.1.5.11.3.1.12

I can’t find a record of plan prior to 96 – can you?

By: joe linton

joe linton — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:14:24 +0000

Overall, generally you are correct. a couple items though:

The first LA bike plan was around 1984 – with the olympics.

Also, I don’t know of a federal requirement for a bike plan. The plan helps make federal $ easier to get – cities with plans get extra points on their applications for Metro funding, There is a state requirement for a bike plan – though, for LA, that’s a smaller pot of $ than the federal $ via Metro.