The Orange County Transportation Authority wants to know how you get around the county.
And yes, the correct answer is by bike.
OCTA Seeks Community Input on O.C. Transportation Needs
Transportation Needs Assessment Survey is available online and in multiple languages through March
ORANGE – The Orange County Transportation Authority is conducting an online survey to gain better insight into how people living in Orange County are changing the way they get around the county.
The Transportation Needs Assessment Survey is intended to gauge people’s opinions on the current public transit system and help shape future transportation planning in Orange County.
The online survey is part of an ongoing effort by OCTA to reach out to current riders of OC Bus and Metrolink, as well as non-riders, to deliver a balanced and sustainable transportation network for the county and to enhance overall quality of life.
The survey, at www.OCTAsurvey.com, will be online through the end of March. In an effort to engage residents from a variety of backgrounds, the survey is available in English and six other languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
“Our goal is to ensure all residents have a voice when it comes to transportation needs,” said OCTA Chairman Steve Jones, also the mayor of Garden Grove. “The Transportation Needs Assessment is an opportunity for residents to have a say in local and regional mobility and to ensure everyone is being served.”
The brief survey, which should take approximately 10 minutes or less to complete, asks how residents currently get around Orange County, and seeks suggestions on what can be improved to encourage people to use public transportation or consider active transportation options, such as walking and cycling.
For more information about the OC Bus system, visit www.OCBus.com and take the survey at www.OCTAsurvey.com.
Although I’m still not sure there’s life beyond the Orange Curtain.
Photo by 3888952 from Pixabay.
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While we’re on the topic of points south, San Diego is already making plans for this year’s Bike Month and Bike to Work Day.
Save the date! The 30th Annual SANDAG Bike to Work Day will be Thursday, May 14, 2020. Online registration will open on March 2. Register by April 12 for a chance to win a $500 gift card to Moment Bicycles!
Interested in hosting an official Bike to Work Day pit stop? Applications will be accepted from March 2–20. Support new and experienced riders throughout the county as they roll by a pit stop to pick up a free t-shirt, snacks, and encouragement.
Be sure to stay tuned to the SANDAG Facebook page to vote for this year’s official Bike to Work Day t-shirt later this month!
For more information about Bike to Work Day, visit the iCommute Bike Month web page.
Needless to say, LA Metro apparently hasn’t given it much — or any — thought, with last year’s page still online., and no mention of events past next month.
Which could go a long way towards explaining why LA’s Bike Month, and Bike to Work Day in particular, have petered out in recent years.
Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up.
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Leone also forwards a busy calendar of events from the San Diego County Bike Coalition, starting with a bike touring weekend and basic road safety class tomorrow.
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A Twitter thread from Streetsblog makes the case that the proposed widening of Magnolia Blvd in North Hollywood is a zombie project that has somehow lived on, despite a call to narrow the street in the city’s mobility plan.
This project was apparently partially funded via 2009 federal grant. The $8.4M is $5.46 million federally funded, plus $2.94 from local Proposition C monies. The decision-maker is L.A. City Councilmember @PaulKrekorian
— StreetsblogLA (@StreetsblogLA) February 20, 2020
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.
Bike riders in Christchurch, New Zealand, face a rising bikelash, as drivers demand that riders need to be educated and wear hi-viz. Or maybe just get the hell off the roads.
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Local
CicLAvia is starting the year off on the right foot, or maybe wheel, with a six-mile route down historic Central Ave in South LA this Sunday.
Spectrum News 1 profiles LA’s Areli Morales, who relies on Metro Bike bikeshare to support her carfree lifestyle.
The beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Trail is getting a much-needed facelift north of the Santa Monica pier, including widening the path and adding a separate walking path like below the pier, in time for the busy summer riding season.
State
Calbike says a change in state law led to the passage of a $90 million bond to fund San Diego bike projects.
A Palm Springs bicyclist wants the city to rip out some recent road diets on arterial streets, saying he prefers sharrows. Unlike most bicyclists and the bike curious, who would rather see some degree of separation from cars, if not protection.
Conejo Valley high school students will be collecting new or used bicycles for Wheels to Africa on March 7th; the Virginia nonprofit ships bikes to Africa to provide mobility for people in need.
National
It’s rude to draft a stranger without getting an okay first. But for a woman, it’s downright creepy and scary to have a man on an ebike on her wheel for the entire ride.
Peloton didn’t just offer to give people one of their “like new” stationary bikes in exchange for a Flywheel stationary bikes after winning a lawsuit against their competition. Owners report Peloton plans to brick their Flywheel bikes at the end of next month.
Curbed explains everything you always wanted to know about ebikes, but were afraid to ask; meanwhile Electrek finds five ebikes under a grand.
Portland bike owners can now report stolen bikes online. Which should solve the problem of cops who don’t want to be bothered with writing up a report.
Houston wants bike riders to get creative with rolling two-wheeled artworks for the city’s first Art Bike Parade in May.
A Saint Louis bike rider was run down by a heartless coward who fled the scene in a crash caught on security cam video. Not an apparently driverless El Camino, as the story suggests.
Chicago will now allow parking enforcement officers to photograph drivers who block bus or bike lanes so a ticket can be mailed to the owners, even if they move their vehicles before they can be ticketed onsite.
Massachusetts will finally get a hands-free law for drivers on Sunday. Although studies show even hands-free mode isn’t safe.
A writer for Gear Patrol rides his first double century, from New York’s Hudson Valley through Vermont.
New York Mayor de Blasio threw his own Department of Transportation Commissioner under the bus, backtracking on a long-delayed bike lane just a day after she had announced it was moving forward.
An op-ed by a pair of “avid” New York bicyclists offers advice on how to how to ride a bike in the city and live to tell the tale.
A Florida sheriff’s deputy in an unmarked car crashed into a man on a bike after the victim allegedly darted into traffic.
International
A British man gets a well-deserved four and a half years for using a three-foot samurai sword to steal a bicycle from a 13-year old boy.
A UK website makes their picks for the best bicycling gear of 2020 to get the most out of your ride.
A mountain bike and helmet triggered a search, and hopefully a rescue, after they were left untouched for four days on New Zealand’s Great Barrier Island.
Unbelievable. The allegedly intoxicated man who ran down five Australian bicyclists as they rode in a bike lane was granted bail on a previous drug charge just one day before the crash. Just one more example of authorities keeping dangerous drivers on the road until it’s too late.
This is who we share the roads with. An Australian man was the victim of a vicious ax murder a couple hours after he was involved in a road rage incident.
The coronavirus claimed an indirect victim when an Irish bike rider was killed in a collision in Thailand, after he was prevented from flying home due to travel restrictions imposed as a result of the virus.
Finally…
Apparently, accused bike path terrorists are just a tad touchy when you wake them up. Harrison Ford was a dirty, rotten fibber when he denied riding an ebike.
And Aussie road champ Amanda Spratt gets goat bombed.
https://twitter.com/AmandaSpratt/status/1230196465273888768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1230196465273888768&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2F271389-g-says-overall-peloton-standard-has-gone-evenepoel-20-sets-2020-alight-froome
I took the OCTA survey and near the beginning of the survey I checked bus, car and bike as my modes of transportation. From there on, all of the questions were about buses. I was disappointed that there were no questions about biking.