LA Planning’s “vacuous” and misleading report, tell Bass to focus on safer streets, and another successful CicLAvia

April 17, 2023 / / Comments Off on LA Planning’s “vacuous” and misleading report, tell Bass to focus on safer streets, and another successful CicLAvia

As we discussed Friday, the Los Angeles Planning Department’s recent report on the state of the city’s mobility plan is, as Streetsblog’s Joe Linton put it, “vacuous.”

Streets For All was a little harsher in their judgement.

Telling City Council and the general public that 67% of the mobility plan is complete just because it’s been started is an insult to our intelligence.

As they’ve previously reported, the actual figure is closer to three percent in the seven years since the transformational plan was overwhelmingly approved by the city council.

At that pace, the city will be lucky to complete ten percent by the 2035 expiration date.

If that pisses you off as much as it does me, let the city council know how you feel.

Especially since a Freudian slip by LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto seems to recognize just how little vision the city has when it comes to traffic safety.

Graphic by tomexploresla.

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As new Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass prepares for her first State of the City speech and releasing her first budget, the Daily News says she’s likely to focus on homelessness and alternatives to armed police responses.

But that may not be not all she should focus on, according to the paper.

Michael Schneider, CEO of Streets For All, which advocates for street improvements such as additional bike or bus lanes and other pedestrian improvements, said he doesn’t expect Bass to increase funding to the city’s transportation department – but that she should.

In L.A., traffic fatalities surpassed 300 last year, the first time in two decades the city had reached that grim milestone, according to a report this year. From 2021 to 2022, pedestrian fatalities increased by more than 19% while cyclist deaths rose 24%.

“I understand why the mayor is so laser-focused on homelessness … but we are a big, multi-faceted city,” Schneider said. “We need to be able to do multiple things at the same time. And right now, we’re not. The mayor’s office is paying almost zero attention to transportation. Angelenos are paying a price for that.”

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By all reports, Sunday’s Mid-City Meets Pico Union CicLAvia was another typical success, with a good time had by all.

Or nearly all, anyway.

Unfortunately, though, there’s not a lot of information available yet.

Although a story from KCBS-2 demonstrates how to write about CicLAvia while saying virtually nothing. But at least this story from KABC-7 had a little useful information.

KNBC-4 had a good report from the scene, but it doesn’t appear to be online yet. So check their website later.

https://twitter.com/Atticuz85/status/1647698155562209280

The next CicLAvia will be considerably shorter, as the event moves to Watts with the first-ever CicLAmini.

But really, there’s no reason to wait that long.

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How to bring joy to a bike advocate’s heart.

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The people who want to rip out the Move Culver City bus and bike lanes insist no one uses them.

Evidently, this is what no one looks like.

https://twitter.com/AlexFischCC/status/1647685802917494786

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That DIY handlebar basket is pretty impressive.

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Apparently, spokes must be hard to draw.

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 The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

A writer for San Francisco Streetsblog is harassed by cops wrongly accusing him of running red lights, while ignoring violations by wrong way motorists.

No bias here. An Ohio radio station bizarrely tries to tie ebike battery fires to Democratic politicians who support alternative transportation.

There’s a special place in hell for the Aussie driver who appeared to deliberately target a bike rider, then dragged his bike 100 yards down the road as he lay sprawled on the ground.

But sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Police in New York are looking for a couple men who are using the city’s bikeshare ebikes to snatch headphones off women’s heads.

Classic English rock group The Hollies got off the ground when lead singer Allan Clarke swapped the Christmas bicycle his dad gave him for an amp, to his father’s chagrin.

There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for the convicted British child killer who rode his bicycle around his English community the day of the Queen’s funeral, in an attempt to intimidate witnesses. Because bicycles are so intimidating, apparently.

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Santa Clara County could get the region’s first bicycle superhighway, if the county transportation authority approves plans for a 10-mile protected bike lane between San Jose and Santa Clara.

A Sacramento TV staton says Pebble Beach’s 17-Mile Drive’s $11.25 entry fee doesn’t apply to bike riders, who can ride one of California’s most celebrated scenic roadways without charge. Now if we can just get them to charge drivers to use the state’s other roads, too.

 

National

Singletracks says the bike shortage pendulum has swung the other way, creating a glut of used bicycles on the market.

SRAM has applied for a patent to make bike wheels from natural fibers including flax, hemp, jute, kenaf and sisal to improve comfort, control and safety, as well as avoiding carbon fiber’s interference with electronic signals.

Even car-centric website The Drive recognizes the danger SUVs pose to people on bicycles due to their ever-higher hood lines and sheer bulk.

The Denver community steps up to save a nonprofit bike shop after the owner died, and his daughter took over.

A Rhode Island magazine says it’s an uphill battle for bicyclists in the state, as people who began riding during the pandemic compete for road space with drivers who think they own the streets.

Data from New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare demonstrates the need for safer routes through the city’s Central Park.

A Pennsylvania teenager founded his own nonprofit group to repair used bicycles and donate them to people in need, as well as staging clinics to teach people how to ride them safely.

DC bicycling and pedestrian death spiked 37% last year.

 

International

Bike Radar raises the lid on the best commuter bike helmets.

Supermodel Gisele Bündchen is one of us, as she goes for a sunny, and apparently joyful, Brazilian bike ride, without soon-to-be ex Tom Brady.

Hundreds of people turned out for a bike ride to honor a fallen Hamilton, Ontario patrolman.

Bikes and dogs are now allowed on Montreal’s metro system anytime, as long as you avoid morning and evening rush hours.

A Welsh woman operates a thriving e-cargo bike-based business selling Masala Chai tea, thanks to a government program that provided her with the bike.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, with a 150-mile bike route past the scenic coast and castles of Kent, England. Or take a 158-mile journey through Italy from Assisi to Rome, past seven abbeys and three archeological sites.

Scottish stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill got his ten grand bike back, two years after it was snatched in a burglary, along with over $4,000 worth of other items.

A quartet of British teenagers were arrested for an attempted strong-arm bikejacking that left a man with broken fingers and a swollen face after he was brutally beaten with a metal bar.

Fans of the iconic Dursley Pedersen bicycle, with its unique uptilted diamond-shaped frame, turned out in Pedersen’s Danish hometown to mark the bike’s 130th anniversary.

A new German study shows riding a bicycle can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes, as well as high blood pressure and obesity — and the benefits of riding an ebike almost equal a traditional bike.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling bicycling blog predicts a rosy future for bikes, with bicycles now considered an essential element of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.

A Nigerian woman goes viral when a brief video shows her riding a bicycle with her three kids onboard, including a toddler strapped to her back.

A Zimbabwean paper profiles a local bike mechanic who maintains a busy business at his outdoor shop in a suburb of Zimbabwe’s capital city.

Mongolia’s capital of Ulan Bator addressed traffic congestion by hosting an event in the city’s central square to boost the use of bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

Slovenian Tadej Pogačar won Sunday’s Amstel Gold one-day classic, after Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix winner Mathieu van der Poel opted to sit it out; Pogačar says he owes van der Poel a thank you note for his advice on when to attack.

Pogačar won despite allegations of an unfair advantage after a pass by close-driving race vehicle.

With his victory, Tadej Pogačar became the first cyclist to win Paris-Nice, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Amstel Gold the same year.

VeloNews takes a dive into Strava data from competitors in last week’s Paris-Roubaix to demonstrate why it’s called The Hell of the North.

L39ion of Los Angeles swept both crits in stage four of the Tour of Redlands, with Skylar Schneider winning the women’s race and Cory Williams taking the men’s race; Schneider’s sister Samantha also made the podium after sprinting for third.

Former professional triathlete Heather Jackson made a successful transition to gravel, winning the women’s San Diego Belgian Waffle Ride with a solo breakaway; no word yet on who won the men’s race.

How to write about the United States Pro Cup Mountain Bike Series wrapping up in Fayetteville, Arkansas without mentioning who won.

 

Finally…

Your next e-foldie could be made by an iconic German car speaker company. That feeling when your wife somehow objects to you performing bike stunts dangling from a hot air ballon 2,000 feet above the ground.

And anyone can build a tall bike.

Bur how about a double decker bike for four?

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Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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