Los Angeles Seeks Bike Input, Sort Of.

Los Angeles is updating their Bicycle Masterplan, and they don’t care what you think. That’s why we’re Storming the Bastille February 20th!

“Alex, they’re organizing four meetings to seek community input, obviously they do care.” Wrong. FAIL! Yes, there are four meetings for the community to provide input for the plan. That’s four meetings for 3.8 million people. Even if only one in 200 residents rides bikes, that’s only one two hour meeting for each 5000 bikers. Everyone get’s 1.5 seconds of speaking time, so prepare your speech!!

(even with over a hundred riders, SMCM needed a LAPD escort, which was appreciated, to safely cross the VA and 405 via Wilshire)

That’s not all. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, who controls the plan, didn’t announce these meetings until January 23rd. With meetings on the 16th and 20th of February that’s less than a months notice for the meetings. The LADOT isn’t exactly reaching out to the community to promote these meetings either, or at least they’re aren’t very competent.

Where are these meetings located? One is located at the absolute end of the universe, a few miles from the water in San Pedro. San Pedro deserves it’s chance for input, but it’s not exactly the center of the LA biking scene, and certainly not in the top four of regions that need to offer input. Further, there’s not one meeting in the Los Feliz/Silverlake/Hollywood/Bicycle District area. If you live near the original Midnight Ridazz meeting point, the center of LA’s urban bike scene, you’ll have a long ride to attend one of these meetings.

Community input sessions are becoming a popular screen for green washed transportation plans. We’re learning this recently at LUCE workshops in Santa Monica. Santa Monica planners, consulting with Nelson\Nygaard Consultants, are planning not to have bikers on Wilshire Blvd. That’s right, Santa Monica doesn’t want us on Wilshire, but they’re making plenty of room for commercial Disneylands every 8 blocks. I would love to link to some documentation, but I can’t because their website is so out of date. Transparency stymied by an poorly updated website . . . where have I seen this before? That’s right, the LA Bicycle Masterplan.

Every amateur politician knows that listening to critics is an excellent way to appease them without addressing their concerns. It’s time for cyclists to say “take your community input and SHOVE IT, we want community control!”

Storm the Bastille with us, and head to Bikerowave afterward for a movie. Details:

Community Input session in West LA:
6:30pm-8:30pm
Wednesday February 20, 2008
Felicia Mahood Multi Purpose Center
11338 Santa Monica Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Ride to the meeting:
Westside – meet at Bikerowave at 6:00pm, leave at 6:15pm.
Eastside – leaves from Santa Monica Bl & Vermont Av Redline Station at 5:15pm

Afterward: Movie at Bikerowave!!!