Day 156 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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To paraphrase the bard, something may be rotten in the state of Metro.
LA Public Press reports that formal complaints filed by Metro Bike operator BTS, aka Bicycle Transit Systems, accuses transit agency officials of violating procurement laws and creating conflicts of interest to favor ride-hailing giant Lyft.
BTS alleges Metro was set to award Lyft a nearly $200 million contract to operate the city’s bikeshare system after illegally structuring the bid to benefit Lyft.
On May 22, the Metro Board of Directors was set to approve Lyft’s $198 million proposal to operate Metro Bike Share, a countywide rental system of 1,800 public bikes.
But the board removed the scheduled vote from the meeting agenda after BTS alleged in a “protest” letter filed May 14 that a Lyft subcontractor wrote a section of the county’s request for proposals for the Metro Bike Share contract. BTS claims the subcontractor’s involvement could have given the ride-hailing company an unfair advantage. BTS filed a second protest letter on May 20 naming the subcontractor and alleging broader issues with Metro’s procurement process.
It’s possible this is nothing more than a last-ditch effort by BTS and Metro Bike union members to retain the contract they’ve held since 2016.
But if there’s any truth to it, we deserve to know.
And something needs to be done to ensure a level playing field, and guarantee they select the best people for the job.
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Here’s your chance to help make car-centric Warner Center more bikeable and walkable, as Los Angeles moves forward with plans to remake the current office desert.
The city is looking for feedback at the Woodland Hills Farmers Market on June 21st, a short walk or bike ride from the Sherman Way G (Orange) Line Station.
HELP SHAPE THE WARNER CENTER ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION HUB
The Warner Center Active Transportation Hub project supports the transformation of the Warner Center area into an active transportation hub for jobs and housing. Active transportation includes walking, biking, scootering or using a wheelchair – any form of human-powered mobility.
Thanks to everyone who was able to join us at the Open House! If you missed it, check out the meeting presentation online.
ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT
Visit Our Booth at the Woodland Hills Farmers Market
Saturday, June 21, 2025 | 9 am – 2 pm
5650 Shoup Ave., Woodland Hills, CA 91367
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Drop by and tell us
- What would make you want to walk, bike, or roll more often in Warner Center area?
- What challenges need to be addressed?
- Your input will shape future solutions.
CAN’T ATTEND IN PERSON?
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As long as we’re on the subject of public meetings, the Orange County Transportation Authority, aka OCTA, wants to know how you want to spend Measure M transportation funds.
Annual Measure M Hearing set for June 10 to Ensure Accountability of Taxpayer Funds for Transportation
Taxpayer Oversight Committee will hold its 34th public hearing to ensure transportation funding is being delivered as promised to Orange County voters
ORANGE – The Taxpayer Oversight Committee will hold its 34th annual public hearing to ensure that Measure M, the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, is being delivered as promised to Orange County voters.
This year’s public hearing is scheduled for:
6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, at the Orange County Transportation Authority headquarters, 550 S. Main St. in Orange.
The independent, 11-member oversight committee was formed to monitor OCTA’s use of Measure M funding, approve all changes to the Measure M Transportation Investment Plan, and hold annual public hearings on the expenditure of funds generated by the half-cent sales tax. The original measure was first approved by voters in 1990 and overwhelmingly renewed in 2006.
The renewed Measure M is continuing to fund balanced and sustainable transportation improvements through 2041, estimated to invest approximately $14 billion in all. The voter-approved plan allocates 43% of funds to freeways, 32% to streets and roads, and 25% to transit, and includes two environmental programs focused on preserving natural habitats and improving water quality through stormwater capture systems.
The first Measure M helped fund more than $4 billion worth of transportation improvements. These include enhanced freeways, smoother streets, synchronized traffic signals, improved intersections, and regional Metrolink rail service – which continues to be funded by Measure M.
OCTA remains committed to relieving congestion, maintaining infrastructure, expanding travel choices for seniors and people with disabilities, and protecting the environment.
Measure M also supports projects that reduce travel times, improve safety, and coordinate traffic signal systems across cities.
Those unable to attend the public hearing can submit comments by visiting octa.net/PublicHearing.
All written comments must be submitted by noon on Monday, June 9.
Written comments may be addressed to:
Andrea West
Clerk of the Board
Orange County Transportation Authority
550 South Main Street
P.O. Box 14184
Orange, CA 92683-1584By phone at (714) 560-5611
Or by email at clerkoffice@octa.net.
For more information about Measure M or the Taxpayer Oversight Committee, visit octa.net/TOC.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A San Diego letter writer says the San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG’s, approval of a $27 million Complete Streets project to reconfigure University Ave “proved once again that it is run by a consortium of incompetents.” Because he recently drove to Balboa Park without seeing a single bus in the bus lane, or a bike in the bike lane, which apparently serves as conclusive proof no one ever uses them.
No bias here. An Idaho county judge jerked back the permit for a bike park, just ten days before it was due to open, after the owners had built a network of world-class mountain bike trails on their own dime.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A visitor to the Boston suburb of Somerville says they were nearly struck by reckless bike riders three times just trying to cross a street, requiring “evasive maneuvers that would make a Cirque du Soleil performer break a sweat.” Although commenters said having to take a step back isn’t the same as getting hit, and oddly, they’ve never had a problem there.
They’ve got a point. A British bike advocacy group urged Parliament to reconsider a plan for on-the-spot fines equivalent to $677 for bicycling violations in pedestrian zones, arguing that the considerate bike riders are easy to catch, while speedy and/or aggressive anti-social ones will get away scot-free.
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Local
Caltrans is resurfacing a 20-mile stretch of PCH through the harbor area — likely without building the bike lanes and pedestrian improvements required under the state’s Complete Streets policy — ensuring this stretch of LA’s killer highway will remain that way.
State
Thousands of people came out last weekend for Irvine’s second annual CicloIrvine open streets event.
Wrightwood’s Mountain High Resorts will open a new downhill mountain bike park on June 14th.
Sad news from Merced, where a 27-year old man riding a BMX bike was killed by a hit-and-run driver, who later called police to say he had hit “something;” police blamed the victim’s black clothing and a lack of reflectors, saying the driver was unable to see him from behind on the dark street.
West Sacramento is considering a Vision Zero plan with a goal of cutting traffic deaths in half over the next decade. Which is laudable, but half ain’t zero — which is what the “zero” in Vision Zero means.
National
Outside broke out the angle grinder to pick the year’s best bike locks.
A Las Vegas bike shop owner, and former Republican candidate for governor, is working to educate customers about the effects of tariffs that increase the cost of bikes and parts from China, while limiting availability.
A 16-year old Albuquerque, New Mexico boy, the oldest of the four kids charged with fatally running down a Los Alamos scientist in a stolen car as he was biking to work, will remain in custody pending trial after a judge ruled she couldn’t ensure public safety if he was released. No shit.
Ohio will invest nearly $52 million dollars in bike and pedestrian safety projects over the next four years, funding 44 projects in 33 counties.
An unsigned op-ed by “avid cyclists” says Boston’s “willy-nilly installation of bike lanes is the epitome of virtue-signaling,” and that encouraging senior citizens to use bikes as a means of transportation “is tantamount to inviting them to die or suffer serious injuries,” insisting they’re not being hyperbolic. Although it’s worth noting that Boston has an average of seven bicycling deaths per year affecting people of all ages, which makes it seem kinda hyperbolic.
A man and woman were injured when they crashed into a kite string while riding in a bike lane on bridge in Brooklyn, slicing the woman’s hand and forehead, while slitting the man’s throat; the string appeared to be coated in glass like the kind used for kite fighting in South Asian countries. A crowdfunding campaign to help pay the man’s medical bills has raised just over $4,500 of the $15,000 goal.
New York City will impose a 15 mph speed limit on ebike and scooter riders on city streets, forcing people on ebikes, including delivery riders, to go slower than someone on a decent road bike.
An upstate New York man was welcomed back to his Pennsylvania adjacent town after spending the last year riding over 13,000 miles circumnavigating the US, sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
A neighborhood group filed suit to stop Philadelphia from installing cement barriers to protect a bike lane, even though a bike-riding pediatric physician was killed there last year by a driver who drove through the current plastic bollards.
International
The dangerous trend of young bike riders popping wheelies and swerving into traffic has spread to the Caribbean’s Cayman Islands, according to a local website.
Irish Customs seized more than 4,000 ebikes worth more than $5.1 million alleged to have been illegally smuggled into the country to avoid European Union duty charges.
An Indian website says bicycling in the coastal state of Goa could be riskier than you think, due to reckless drivers and stray animals.
Competitive Cycling
Tragic news from the Tour of Iran, where 21-year old Mustafa Ayyorkun, a two-time Türkiye — formerly Turkey — junior road race champion died four days after suffering a broken neck when he collided with a teammate.
Finally…
When you’re carrying a dollar bill and a lottery ticket with a white powdery substance on your bike, don’t ride salmon.
And who wouldn’t want a dart board on your bike?
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
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