This doesn’t bode well.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass gave her first State of the City address yesterday, with a focus on the city’s efforts to build housing and end homelessness, as well as increasing the size of the LAPD, LAFD and 911 services to improve safety.
What Bass did not mention was traffic safety, Vision Zero, the mobility plan, bikes, pedestrians, transit or alternative transportation.
We’ll see where her priorities lie when she releases her first city budget this morning, and whether any of that will be given the funding they need.
But right now, it looks like we’re going to be an afterthought.
If that.
Photo by Aayush Srivastava from Pexels.
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Carter Rubin of the Natural Resources Defense Council, aka NRDC, makes a compelling argument in favor of the very successful MOVE Culver City Complete Streets project.
And keeping it right where it is.
The project is under fire from the newly auto-centric conservative majority on the Culver City council, which wants to rip it out so cars can once again go zoom, zoom without having to make room for anyone else.
Here’s just a part of what Rubin has to say.
A recent analysis of the corridor shows MOVE Culer City has delivered substantial benefits with few tradeoffs.
- A 52% increase in bus ridership
- A 32% increase in cycling activity
- A 18% increase in pedestrian activity
- Only a 2 minute increase in average peak period travel time for people in cars
Hard-won progress deserves defending. So this week, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sent a letter to the City Council expressing our support for the MOVE Culver City initiative. In doing so, we joined over 20 other organizations that advocate for sustainable, safe, healthy and equitable transportation.
He also notes that removing the project could violate state environmental laws, as well as federal civil rights requirements.
In our letter, we make the case that any action by the city to increase the number of lane-miles available for mixed-flow vehicle traffic would require analysis, disclosure, and mitigation of potential environmental impacts pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The City must comply with CEQA before making any final decision on a project that changes conditions on the ground today.
Full removal of MOVE Culver City would entail adding approximately 2.6 lane miles of vehicular lanes to principal arterial highways, which is likely to significantly increase vehicle miles traveled, according to the state’s official CEQA guidance. That increase in VMT would contribute to additional greenhouse gas emissions impacts, as well as criteria air pollution, including ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and PM10 and PM2.5, from tailpipe exhaust and brake, tire, and roadway wear.
Further, we note that the City is required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to analyze changes to transit service that might disproportionately affect people of color, immigrants and other protected communities who ride transit.
Or to put it more succinctly,
https://twitter.com/CarterRubin/status/1648064537290215424
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They still don’t get it.
The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering is proposing widening a one-mile section of Alameda Street in Wilmington near the Port of Los Angeles, increasing the street to three lanes in each direction to boost automotive throughput and the largely discredited Level of Service.
But they’re throwing us a bone by adding a bike and pedestrian trail to greenwash their work while they set the climate on fire.
Maybe they could just give us the trail, and skip the damn climate bonfire.
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Go Human is awarding grants up to $40,000 to improve traffic safety in your own community.
Learn More at https://t.co/iPh8lFRQHQ@SCAGnews @OTS_CA #MobilityJustice #GoHumanSocal (2/2)
— GoHumanSoCal (@GoHumanSoCal) April 17, 2023
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Walk Bike Long Beach invites you to for a morning of bikes and coffee this Saturday.
Celebrate Earth Day this Saturday on your bike! We’ll do the usual group ride to get some coffee — this time aiming for Belmont Heights. Then back to Pedal Movement.
For EXTRA CREDIT, keep rolling with us and climb Signal Hill for a chat with the Sierra Club about the threat of future oil drilling in our community.
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Nice to hear from our bike-riding state senator and Congressional candidate.
Now we just need to get the rest of ’em on bikes, too.
Found some time for some great rides over the weekend. @streetsforall @bikinginla @bicispalagente @CalBike pic.twitter.com/JJGBI7JD5J
— Anthony Portantino (@Portantino) April 17, 2023
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Hard to tell just where this is, but it looks like it might be the Santa Monica Civic Center complex.
Or maybe SaMo High.
For how long were you going to keep this thing a secret @santamonicacity ? This is PROPER infrastructure; now that you’ve shown you know how to do it right, gimme some more! pic.twitter.com/ABWwXwlLbN
— Mobility For Who (@MobilityForWho) April 18, 2023
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In case you were looking for something to hang on the wall of my office, this will do nicely, thank you.
Of course, you’d also have to buy me an office.
Lazy Hazy Days
Artist: Jack Vettriano pic.twitter.com/SVrhPbIVPd— Cool Bike Art (@CoolBikeArt1) April 18, 2023
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.
No bias here. Officials in a Massachusetts town are up in arms after state officials begin work to remove a traffic lane and install bike lanes on a local bridge, insisting no one told them about the plans; one city councilmember actually insists there’s not enough bike traffic on the bridge to justify a bike lane, apparently forgetting that most people don’t enjoy risking their lives in traffic with safe infrastructure.
No bias here, either. A British Columbia letter writer complains that a “boondoggle” bike lane “smacks of ‘fiscal irresponsibility’ and ‘catering to cycling interests’ over the concerns of taxpayers,” apparently forgetting that people who ride bikes pay taxes, too.
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Local
Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers photos from Sunday’s Pico Union meets Mid-City CicLAvia.
South Pasadena Active Streets was honored by state Assemblymember Mike Fong for their work organizing bike buses for local elementary school students.
The Pasadena Star News looks forward to this weekend’s 626 Golden Streets through San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona and Claremont in the San Gabriel Valley. Assuming you can get past the paper’s paywall, that is.
State
Bakersfield’s popular Kern River Bike Trail will be closed until further notice for maintenance work.
San Francisco moves to make the city less livable with a proposal to rip out the pandemic-era parklets in front of restaurants.
Speaking of San Francisco, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is calling for quick action on Arguello Blvd, where masters champ and world record holder Ethan Boyes was killed recently; the organization notes the Presidio street is used by hundreds of families, commuters and competitive athletes every day.
Just like the failure of the $1 billion 405 Freeway widening project here in Los Angeles, the engineer behind the Bay Area’s $600 million project to widen the 101 Freeway admits that it accomplished nothing, as traffic congestion goes from bad to worse. Just one more argument to invest in transit, rather than flushing more money down the toilet on highway projects. Or widening streets to move more cars.
National
Streetsblog complains that Biden’s EV Revolution will pay Americans to drive some really dangerous pickups and SUVS that pose a risk to everyone on the road around them, particularly people walking and biking.
The Washington Post reports that men face a higher risk of dying than women at every stage of life, with the male sex accounting for 71 percent of pedestrian deaths and a whopping 87 percent of bicyclist deaths.
Road Bike Rider explains how to pack for a bike tour, while Cycling Weekly offers lessons learned from going tubeless.
Cycling News considers the best budget bike helmets. But neglects to include any of those budget prices.
A lawyer offers advice on what to do after a hit-and-run or road rage incident. Or both.
The internet is still going crazy over the square, tread track bike wheels.
A 19-year old Bend, Oregon man is building his own sustainable mountain bike company.
A Las Vegas writer takes a pleasant bike ride through the city to examine new construction in preparation of this fall’s Formula 1 race.
Great idea. North Dakota fourth and fifth graders are teaching kindergarten kids how to ride bikes.
If you build it, they will come. Bike ridership is outpacing motor vehicle use in Ann Arbor, Michigan, thanks to new protected bike lanes and banning right on red in some locations.
Maine considers a Stop as Yield law, allowing people on bicycles to roll stop signs instead of coming to a full stop, when its safe to do so.
New York’s city council is considering new regulations to combat ebike and e-scooter battery fires.
Tragic news from Virginia, where a 26-year old woman was killed while she was teaching her 6-year old daughter how to ride a bike, along with her boyfriend; they were all run down from behind by a 36-year old woman.
A New Orleans driver faces up to 15 years behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a “beloved” local butcher as he was riding his bike six years ago; no word on why it took so long to bring the man’s killer to justice.
International
Forbes considers the best bike computers. Even though the most enjoyable rides usually come when they’re broken.
Bikeshare is booming in Mexico City.
That’s more like it. A new British Columbia bill would require speed limiting devices on all heavy duty commercial trucks, while mandating a “safer road environment” for bike riders and pedestrians.
A new memorial bench handcrafted by a fellow bike rider honors a legendary Scottish man who wrote about bicycling for the local paper.
No surprise here, as a new report shows people in London’s poorest areas face the biggest risk of traffic injuries or death. Just like in Los Angeles, and most major cities.
Next time you’re in the Dutch city of Nijmegen, make sure to stop at the Velorama National Bicycle Museum, the country’s only museum devoted to the invention and growth of the now-ubiquitous bicycle.
The hit-and-run epidemic has spread to Spain, where a British tourist was killed when he was run down by a heartless coward who fled the scene.
A Russian man is riding his bike around the world to promote traditional Turkish music.
Competitive Cycling
Russell Finsterwald and Heather Jackson claimed victory in the men’s and women’s elite categories in San Diego’s Belgian Waffle Ride, while the race retired the number 12 in honor of 2022 winner Moriah “Mo” Wilson, who was murdered in Austin, Texas last year.
It was another stage win for L39ION of Los Angeles cyclist Skylar Schneider, who won her second in a row to conclude the women’s Tour of Redlands, while Blue Ridge Twenty24’s Emily Ehrlich claimed the overall victory in the GC.
L39ion of Los Angeles founders Justin and Cory Williams announced the launch of their third co-ed, multi-racial city-based cycling team in Austin, Texas, following the launch of another team in Miami. They may be single-handedly — okay, double handedly — doing more to ensure the survival, growth and spread of cycling in this country than anyone else.
Bicycling explains the new National Cycling League and how it works, and whether it fulfills the promised fan-first professional cycling experience. Read it on AOL this time if the magazine blocks you.
Finally…
What good is a wearable computer if the health data thitey measures is wrong? When life gives you speeding drivers, give them your own DIY traffic sign saying “slow the f*ck down.”
And that feeling when you sprain your ankle falling off a bike just before your widely panned set at Coachella.
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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.
Mayor Bass did well for Herself with a salary increase from 185k in Congress to over 400k as LA Mayor.