BikinginLA

Day 113 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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They got him.

Just in time to celebrate Earth Day, the LAPD busted the bike-riding creep who allegedly used an electric chainsaw to fell at least five trees lining the streets of Downtown Los Angeles.

The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was taken into custody sometime before 6:30 pm yesterday.

Hopefully we’ll learn more today.

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Congratulations to Culver City, which came in at number 14 on a list of the nation’s top eco-friendly cities for car-free travel.

Although I’m guessing that measure was taken before the city ripped out the protected bike lanes in the MOVE Culver City project.

The survey from Realtor.com and LocalLogic listed Hoboken, New Jersey number one; that city has now gone seven consecutive years without a traffic death, proving that Vision Zero can actually succeed with buy-in and funding from city officials.

Bay Area cities Berkeley, San Francisco and Emeryville also made the list.

Los Angeles didn’t, for obvious reasons.

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The California Ebike Incentive Project explained the rules for the second round of deliberately throttled ebike incentives planned for next week, including what documentation you’ll need and how to get it.

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A pair of bills sponsored by Streets For All moved forward in the state legislature, including one requiring speed limiters for repeat speeding drivers, and another streamlining the permit process for transit projects.

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A hard-hitting Bluesky thread from Dr. Grace Peng demonstrates why her South Bay commute is only for the brave; click through for the rest of the posts.

The short bike ride between my allergy shots and Bafang Dumplings is only for the bravest

— Dr Grace Peng (@gspeng.bsky.social) 2025-04-22T19:55:33.841Z

It starts without a bike lane, so I take the full right lane. If you look carefully, you'll see a bike stencil in that gutter bike lane too narrow to fit the stencil. I kept taking the lane rather than risk close passes by SUVs in the gutter lane@bikinginla.bsky.social @streetsblogla.bsky.social

— Dr Grace Peng (@gspeng.bsky.social) 2025-04-22T20:01:34.887Z

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

That feeling when the mere sight of the dotted white lines indicating a coming British bikeshare station replacing a handful of parking spaces is enough to send the local residents into apoplexy with shouts of the “war oscars.”

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Local 

A 14-year old boy was hospitalized after he was stuck by the driver of a minivan while riding a bicycle in Canyon Country Tuesday night.

Long Beach’s popular Beach Streets open streets event will shut down large parts of Willow Street and Santa Fe Ave to cars on Saturday, May 10th.

 

State

San Diego approved a sweeping master mobility plan designed to improve traffic safety and make the city less dependent on private cars and SUVs; according to one councilmember, the goal isn’t to mandate people out of their cars, but “incentivize it and plan for it through smart land-use decisions.”

The Palm Springs Historical Society wants to take you on a bike tour of the area’s Midcentury Modern neighborhoods, with four opportunities this week, for the low, low price of just $95 to (gulp) $950.

Speaking of Berkeley, the Bike East Bay advocacy group set up $6,000 worth of temporary pop-up bike lanes and other traffic calming measures to show how much nicer the city’s 9th Street could be without cut-through car traffic.

Sad news from the Bay Area, where a 44-year old East Oakland security guard was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle home from work, after getting off a BART train.

A teenage girl from Concord has been chosen to take part in the 1,000-mile Remember the Removal bicycle ride for members of the Cherokee nation, following that path of the horrific and shameful Trail of Tears.

More sad news, this time from Sacramento County, where a 63-year old man was killed in a collision while riding his bicycle.

 

National

Smithsonian considers what can be done to make ride hailing, bikeshare and other transportation options accessible to everyone.

Prospects are dimming for a long-promised bikeway connecting Albany and Corvallis, Oregon, with key sections of the 10-mile long bike path still unplanned and unfunded, eleven years after the project was first introduced.

Trump’s tariffs aren’t the only thing hurting the bike industry these days; bike burglars and hijackers are also leaving their mark, like whoever stole an entire truckload of bikes from Ari Bicycles on their way from Los Angeles to the company’s Utah warehouse.

A Colorado bikepacking bag maker still had to lay off workers because of Trump’s tariffs, despite sourcing almost all their materials from the US, because their suppliers had to get their materials from overseas.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 92-year old South Dakota man started ebiking two years ago, and has clocked more than 2,000 miles.

Chicago bike and pedestrian advocates took advantage of a street construction project to turn the blocked street into a pedestrian plaza.

 

International

Momentum lists the top seven environmental benefits of bicycling for every day, including Earth Day.

An Ontario, Canada judge says “not so fast” to Premier Doug Ford’s plan to rip out some key Toronto bike lanes, ordering a temporary pause while he considers the evidence in the case.

London’s 138-year old cast iron Hammersmith Bridge is now open to bicycles and pedestrians following a near $4 million refurbishment project, though when or if the bridge will ever be open to cars again remains to be determined. Let’s hope not.

Good question. A physician in Cork, Ireland asks when will we take our heads out of the sand and realize that bicycles are the future of urban mobility.

A man from Spain’s Basque Country was killed, and his 14-year old son suffered a broken leg, when an allegedly stoned driver plowed a group ride near Calpe in southeastern Spain on Easter Sunday.

In another mass casualty crash, a Taiwanese driver plowed into a group of bicycling students, injuring seven bike riders, one seriously, while driving on the wrong side of the road.

Christchurch, New Zealand is cracking down on bike theft by focusing on the city’s most prolific bike thieves, including one man accused of stealing seven bikes in four days.

 

Competitive Cycling

Only one American man had as many Giro pink jerseys as the Pope did, and only two American men had as many rainbow jerseys; then again, along with his Catholic dogmas, he also had more Pinarello Dogmas than most of us, too.

If you read this early enough, you may still be able to catch the men’s La Flèche Wallonne on the Peacock streaming service starting at 3:45 am PDT, or the women’s race at 7:55 am.

It takes a major schmuck to steal a $150 bike intended for Indiana University’s  Little 500 from a student just days before the iconic race.

 

Finally…

Oh, nothing. Just a fine English chap riding a Penny Farthing through the South to honor another fine English chap on a Penny Farthing. That feeling when your heart goes pitter patter while trying to dock a bikeshare bike.

And hats off to the Irish triathlete busted for speeding on a bicycle in a 31 mph zone.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.