BikinginLA

Just 186 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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My apologies for the late appearance of yesterday’s post. My site went down just as I was about to publish it, so I wasn’t able to get it online until my web host got it working again in the morning. 

You can catch up here if you missed it. 

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He gets it.

The climate columnist for the Los Angeles Times says yes, sitting in traffic sucks, but climate change sucks a lot more.

Talking about California Governor Newsom’s head-scratching decisions to approve projects that can only exacerbate climate change despite his forward-leaning public posture in fighting the onrushing climate emergency — including approval of a half-billion-dollar freeway widening project on I-80 between Sacramento and Davis — Sammy Roth writes this,

But the common thread is this: Instead of putting carbon at the center of his decision-making — which is what one of the world’s most powerful politicians should be doing just about every time — Newsom is treating climate like most other political issues.

Some days he and his team are taking groundbreaking steps to phase out gasoline cars; other days they’re expanding freeways, and failing to fully protect people from extreme heat because they’re worried it would be too expensive, and making it harder to install batteries. They’re letting politics play far too large a role in the risk-reward calculation, to all of our detriment.

He goes on to conclude this way (although it should be noted that electrification will do nothing to reduce induced demand or traffic congestion),

Hopefully over time, as we get more electric cars on the road, “induced demand” from highway expansions will become less of a problem, because more of the cars sitting in traffic will be powered by solar and wind. But for now, state officials have made very clear — in theory, not in practice — that electrification isn’t enough. We also need to start driving less. California’s formal climate plan sets targets of reducing “vehicle miles traveled” by 25% per person by 2030, and 30% by 2045.

That means we’ll need to spend more time walking, biking and taking trains and other public transit — and more money building infrastructure to support those modes of transit. So why is Newsom wasting nearly half a billion dollars widening a freeway when the result will be more smog-spewing traffic, more climate pollution and less money for the stuff we actually need?

It’s worth a read.

Because while Newsom presents himself as a leader in fighting the effects and causes of climate change, his actions often paint a far different picture.

And it’s up to us to make sure he lives up to his word.

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The Santa Monica Mirror reports that nearly five months after an atmospheric river washed out the beachfront Marvin Braude bike path between Chautauqua Blvd and Entrada Drive, nothing has been done to repair it.

As in, nothing.

Compare that to the emergency repairs that fixed the collapsed I-10 Freeway in DTLA in less than two weeks following a devastating fire at a storage facility under the elevated highway.

Which means the estimated 10,000 people who use the path every day have faced a truncated trail that ends far short of the former terminus at Will Rogers State Beach. And bike riders have been forced onto a particularly dangerous section of PCH through Pacific Palisades if they want to continue north towards Malibu.

The paper says LA County, which is responsible for that portion of the trail, hopes to have a schedule for repairs next month.

LA County Public Works hopes to have a concrete schedule for repairs by mid-July; the cost of which is estimated at $800,000, according to a spokesperson with the department.

“LA County Public Works engineers continue to finalize the repair design for the Marvin Braude Bike Trail at Will Rogers State Beach.” read a statement from the department. “The California Coastal Commission is currently reviewing the project.”

Note that they’re only promising a schedule for repair work, rather than actually beginning — let alone completing — the long overdue repairs.

And we’ll excuse their unintended pun of promising a “concrete schedule” for fixing the concrete pathway.

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Need a little extra cash?

Uber will pay you $1,000 if you agree not to drive for five weeks, and walk, bike, ride public transit or use ride-hailing services instead.

Like Uber, for instance.

The company will select 175 people to participate in the “One Less Car” challenge; it’s open to residents of Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Miami, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver.

I’d toss my hat in the ring, but something tells me they’re not looking for people like me who are already carless.

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It’s now 190 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And three full years since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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Local 

More proof that bikes can be lifesavers in an emergency. A young boy in Valencia was able to escape an alleged kidnapping attempt at a local pool by riding away from the suspect on his bicycle; sheriff’s deputies are looking for the man who followed the kid before he got away.

 

State

An estimated 15,000 people are expected to turn out for the Huntington Beach 4th of July Bike Cruise tomorrow, held annually on the Saturday before the 4th.

San Diego officially broke ground on the $25 million, 3.5-mile Imperial Avenue Bikeway.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for the owner of a white, adult Giant bicycle with a black rear rack, which was recovered when they arrested a 14-year old boy on animal abuse charges while he was riding the bike. He’s accused of killing chickens. In other words, murder most fowl.

The seemingly uninformed editor of a Palo Alto paper says putting bike lanes on the city’s Camino Real will hurt small businesses, arguing that car traffic is essential to their success. Which ignores repeated studies that show bike lanes are good for business, and the increased retail sales that result from them tend to more than make up for the loss of any parking.

Bad news from Northern California, where an allegedly lightless bike rider was killed by a pickup driver in an early morning crash in tiny Colfax.

 

National

Cycling West reposts a recent US university study showing ebike incentive programs are a costly way to cut emissions, but also promote health, equity and cleaner air.

REI is recalling their Co-op Cycles REV 12 Kids Bikes due to the risk the training wheels could detach and cause a fall.

A new bike park broke ground in Lahaina, Hawaii, offering fresh hope to young residents after last year’s devastating fires.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole two bikes in Eugene, Oregon from participants in the Texas 4000 charity ride; 25 people are riding from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to raise funds for cancer research and support services.

Streetsblog Chicago talks with photographer and longtime city resident Vicktor Köves, creator of Chicagoans Who Bike, about his ongoing visual essay depicting the wide range of people who ride bicycles in the city.

The New York Times considers the consequences of New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s shortsighted decision to put congestion pricing in Manhattan on indefinite hold, after complaints from a handful of diner customers.

Baltimore baseball fans are forming a group to ride to Oriole games together. Which is what happens when a team actually encourages bicycling to their games, unlike a certain Dodger team we could name.

 

International

Frequent contributor Megan Lynch forwards news that bicycling giant Specialized is accused of owing Salvadoran apparel workers over $650,000 in unpaid wages and severance a year and a half after they lost their jobs.

There’s not a pit deep enough for the London cop accused of stealing cash from the body of an Italian filmmaker who died of a heart attack while riding his bike.

Twenty-two-year old English soccer player Anthony Gordon is one of us, becoming the butt of jokes in training camp when he fell off his bicycle two days after making his international debut with the team. Because apparently, grown men aren’t supposed to ride bikes, or crash them. Or maybe just not English footballers. 

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 86-year old British man is Everesting on a trainer in his back yard in memory of his late wife — 60 years after he crashed on a rain-slicked road near the finish line, and lost out on making the podium with the legendary Eddy Merckx in the 64 Tokyo Olympics.

Munich correspondent Ralph Durham sends news that the rich are getting richer, as the city nears completion of a spoke-and-hub bikeway network leading to the city center, with the red pathways on the map approved, and the blue already completed — although you may have to read German, or at least rely on a translation app to read the story.

A German columnist celebrates the “lightness of being a cyclist” after getting back on her bike, a year after breaking her elbow going over the handlebars.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo looks at the current status of the leading contenders for this year’s Tour de France, which begins tomorrow, including Tadej Pogačar’s admission that he recently had Covid, but he “recovered good.”

Hats off to 14-year old Santa Cruz, California mountain biker Nathan Peterson, who is winning cross-country races while riding his grandfather’s rebuilt 1994 Merlin Mountain.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your local bike path is the world’s worst, and people are using it anyway. Every decent bike trail should have at least one good brewery along the way.

And yes, Biden may have fallen off his bicycle, but at least he rides one.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin