No wonder nothing ever seems to get done in Los Angeles.
As we’ve seen far too many times, even the most minor improvement can get bogged down in an endless series of public meetings, in which every resident and pass-through driver has an equal voice, no matter how misinformed.
And people who bike, walk or take transit usually don’t count.
Which brings us to former LADOT head and current LA Metro Chief Innovation Officer Seleta Reynolds, who seems to think removing a traffic lane to improve bus headways “without extensive community engagement and consent” is equivalent to bulldozing homes to build freeways.
Never mind that one destroys the residences of people living in underserved communities, while the other simply removes peak hour lanes or street parking to move more people more efficiently.
No wonder so little happened in Los Angeles under her leadership.
I wouldn’t count on a lot of innovation from the LA County transportation agency going forward, either.
LADOT wants your input on the Downtown Mobility Plan, where pedestrians have long been second-class citizens on car-choked streets, and the city is just now forming an actual bike network to safely get you from here to there.
A Palo Alto columnist says plans for a bike on El Camino Real connecting Redwood City, Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Mountain View are a bad idea, because the street is too dangerous for people on bicycles if it keeps parking, and too inconvenient for shoppers who might have to walk a little bit without it. Never mind that bike lanes — particularly protected bike lanes — improve safety for everyone.
National
They get it. Bicycling says the best bike is the one that brings you joy. Unfortunately, you won’t get any joy from reading it if the magazine blocks you, since this one isn’t available anywhere else.
The tool is designed to help city planners, advocates, and elected officials plan more equitable transportation investments targeting traditionally underserved communities.
Which may be a mouthful, but it’s badly needed to help correct the deadly inequities on our streets, where people in low income communities or communities of color are more likely to be killed while biking or walking.
Photo by David Drexler from Long Beach Beach Streets (see below).
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Two Louisiana schools were put on lockdown when a man was seen carrying a rifle on his bicycle; police gave the all-clear when they determined he was just taking it to a pawn shop.
San Diego bike riders are dealing with a problem familiar to riders in other parts of the state, as trash and debris from a homeless camp piles up on an Ocean Beach bike path leading to the beach; a homeless advocate blames downtown sweeps that push homeless people to other parts of the city. Although as inconvenient as it is for people on bikes, not having a home is probably worse.
Unlike most other major US cities, San Francisco continues to improve safety for bike riders, as bicycling deaths dropped 58% over last year, averaging just 1.4 fatal bike crashes for every million residents. That compares to approximately 3.5 bike deaths for every million residents in Los Angeles last year.
A 62-year old Chicago man was the victim of a vicious attack when he was struck with a construction sign by another man while riding along a sidewalk, then beaten with his own bicycle, all for no apparent reason; he was hospitalized in critical condition.
A writer for the American Conservative says the outrage over the hospital worker who tried to wrest a bikeshare bike from a black teenager just reflects America’s “racism shortage.”
It looks like the California E-bike Incentive Program is finally happening, and on the verge of moving from its long-delayed vaporware status into something that could actually put a new ebike in your garage.
Or not.
Because the program is limited to low income households with gross incomes 300% or less of the federal poverty level.
And that’s just for the first $2.5 million.
Once that’s gone, the remaining $5 million will be reserved for people with a gross income of 225% of the federal poverty level, or who live in a disadvantaged or low-income community, or participate in at least one of these public assistance programs.
Which adds up to just $7.5 million, because the first $2.5 million of the $10 million budgeted by the state legislature is going to administration, and just getting us to this place.
As we’ve discussed before, the rebates will be for $1000, with another $250 for low income applicants, and an additional $750 for buyers of e-cargo bikes or e-adaptive bicycles.
You’ll be able apply through an online portal which is projected to launch in the second quarter of this year, which means by the end of next month, though that could change.
If you’re approved, you’ll receive a voucher good for 30 days on the purchase of an ebike that meets the following requirements. The voucher will be applied towards the full purchase price, including taxes, up to but not exceeding the total amount.
One more bit of good news — besides the fact that it looks like I may qualify, if I can get my application in fast enough.
The program will be administered by people who actually know what they’re doing.
The state has selected San Diego’s Pedal Ahead to run the program. That’s good news because they’ve managed San Diego’s loan-to-own ebike program for the last three years.
So they should, hopefully, be able to assume management of this one.
Although there are no guarantees when the state is involved.
Witness reports alternately said the driver honked at the bike riders as they were weaving across the roadway, or that the driver had fled the scene after striking one of the boys with his truck.
Either way, the violent assault was wrong. And a crime.
Thank you for letting me know about the Ceremony and bike ride yesterday in Long Beach. If I did not read about it on your report—I would not have known.
It was a well organized, unique and extraordinary bike event.
A Congresswoman from that area, DOT, Caltrans, and Bixby family were all there and spoke.
I went back to the bridge at 3 PM and road it again alone with hardly anyone else there.
Highly recommend a bridge path visit ride or walk if in the area—the climbs are great and so is the downhill—easy 25 mph with no pedaling.
Three observation areas on the bridge to stop and hang out.
Note: Does not go all the way to San Pedro—dead ends at the base of the North side of the bridge with the gate locked closed.
All photos by David Drexler
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Alhambra is considering a proposal to put more cars and speeding drivers directly in front of an elementary school.
A 27-year old man was sentenced to 30 years behind bars for the drunken Irvine crash that killed two passengers in his car, while driving at speeds up to 138 mph moments before the collision; however, there are questions about his mental competency, despite being examined by psychological experts nine times. This link would have gone to the Orange County Register, but they’d rather block access with a paywall than drive internet traffic.
There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for a convicted pedophile who faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and hate crime enhancements after repeatedly shouting racist epithets and attempting to swerve his car into another car with at least one Black passenger; in 2001 he was convicted of committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, and investigated for making obscene phone calls to a 19-year old woman.
A British woman decided she wasn’t going to be inconvenienced by a marathon race, and simply moved the orange cones blocking the road, and drove right through the runners. Then tried to justify it to the people trying to stop her.
Twitter post
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Bizarre shoving match at the Cannes Film Festival, where the head of the festival, who was eschewing limos and riding a bike to cut his carbon footprint, got into a shoving match with a cop, apparently for riding on the sidewalk.
A policeman asked you twice to stop. When he catches up with you in front of the Carlton you accuse him of assaulting you. I tell you again here, Thierry Frémaux, you were wrong and you are not above the law! We are several witnesses of what happened. This municipal police officer has our full support.
Thanks to J. Steve Mayo for the tweet.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.
After a 17-year old San Diego ebike rider suffered a broken pelvis when he was run down by a hit-and-run driver, his family sprung into action as citizen detectives to track down the 32-year old driver, who now faces charges. But even if he’s convicted, he’ll be out in less than two years, thanks to California’s lenient hit-and-run laws.
No more free ride for EV owners in the Lone Star State, after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill that will charge owners of electric vehicles $400 for the first year, and $200 for each subsequent year to make up for not paying gas taxes, although critics say the charges don’t add up. Just one more argument for buying an ebike, instead. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.
A crowdfunding campaign has raised nearly $100,000 for the pregnant hospital worker captured on a viral video trying to wrest a bikeshare bike from a Black teenager, who insisted he’d paid for it; the founder of the campaign says she been unfairly painted as a “racist Karen.” Although we still haven’t heard from the man she was trying to take the bike from.
A new study from New Jersey shows that fatal crashes involving pedestrians or bike riders are more likely to occur in low income neighborhoods and communities of color, which are less likely to have adequate sidewalks, crosswalks or bicycle infrastructure.
In just 20 years, Spain cut serious traffic crashes by 80%, now ranking as one of the safest places to drive in the European Union — even if they still have work to do.
Tragic news from Kolkata, where a 29-year old actress was killed when she fell off e bikeshare bike, and was run over by a truck drive. Although Indian media use the same terms for bicycles, motor scooters and mo-peds, so it’s hard to say for certain exactly what she was riding.
Less than a week after withdrawing from the Giro due to Covid, it was announced the Remco Evenepoel won’t race in the Tour de France or the Vuelta as he recuperates from the illness. Which sounds like BS, since it should only take a few days to recover unless he suffered major health problems. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.
They also report on pedestrian deaths, which we won’t get into here for lack of time and space. But suffice it to say Los Angeles doesn’t fare any better there, leading the nation with 142 walking deaths, compared to 115 for second place New York, despite Los Angeles having less than half the population of its East Coast counterpart.
But the 12 bicycling deaths the Bike League shows is a huge improvement over the carnage of just five short years ago, when 21 people lost their lives riding their bikes on the mean streets of LA.
Then again, only five people were killed riding bikes in the city in 2005. “Only” being a relative term, since one death is one too many.
New York showed the biggest improvement, though, with just five deaths in 2021, compared to a whopping 24 people killed riding bikes in the city just two years earlier.
Meanwhile, average LA bicycling deaths showed a relatively modest 18% increase for the five-year period from 2017 to 2021, compared to 2012 to 2016. (Figure 3.4.7)
On the other hand, Long Beach saw a whopping 167% increase for the same period. Although that number shrinks in significance when you consider that it reflects an average of just one additional death per year, from 0.6 to 1.6.
However, both cities fared better than Colorado Springs, Colorado and Little Rock, Arkansas, which saw massive jumps of 700% and 600%, respectively.
The good news, if there is good news for a subject like this, is that Los Angeles saw the same relatively modest 18% increase when looking at bicycling deaths on a per capita basis over the same five year periods. (Figure 3.4.9)
Once again, though, the numbers for Long Beach jumped 169%, which reflects an average of just over two additional deaths per capita per year.
Finally, bicycling deaths were 5.2% of all traffic deaths in Los Angeles, and 4.8% in Long Beach. (Figure 3.4.10)
When those numbers get closer to zero, we’ll know we’re finally doing something right.
This is who we share the road with. NBC-4 reports the suspected drunk driver driver who killed a mother and her two kids in a wrong-way freeway crash in Hesperia has an extensive record of driving under the influence in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Which means this would be at least his fifth DUI if he ends up being charged with driving under the influence, in addition to murder and other charges — just one more example of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.
Bicyclinginsists the best bike is a step-through, saying the universal design allows anyone to ride one in almost any circumstance. But you have to pay if you want to read it.
In an all-too common story, a 31-year old British man moved to the US, only to get killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike near his Chicago home; he declined medical treatment following the crash, only to suffer a fatal brain hemorrhage after he went home. A tragic reminder to always see a doctor if you hit your head in a crash or fall, even if you’re wearing a helmet.
Your next ebike could be a trike designed by German carmaker BMW, complete with a built-in fully covered kid carrier in the back. Or in my case, a corgi carrier.
German pro Nico Dent won Thursday’s 12th stage of the Giro, as Geraint Thomas defends the leader’s pink jersey, insisting that as someone from the Isle of Man, he’s used to bad weather. I recently learned the Isle of Man is my ancestral home, and my great, great grandfather on my father’s side did time for his role in a notorious bank collapse. Good times.
A new study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition says you’ll ride faster if you take a dump before the race. In other words, if you want to be number one, you gotta do number two first.
The group, which is working to convert a section of deadly Sunset Blvd from its current car sewer configuration into a Complete Street that serves all road users, as well as the surrounding community, is concerned that new CD13 Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez may be backsliding on his campaign promises to get the vital project built.
I’m including there full email below, so you can voice your support.
The city is finalizing its list of projects for 2024 grant applications. RIGHT NOW SUNSET4ALL IS NOT ON THAT LIST. Furthermore, the city has failed to meet with our community crowdfunded engineers for almost two years. We need the Council office to take action NOW by instructing LADOT to submit a 2024 ATP grant application for Sunset4All, prioritize Sunset4All for all state and Federal grant opportunities, and ensure LADOT collaborates with the engineers our community paid for!
We urgently need you to remind Councilmember Soto-Martinez to keep his campaign commitment:
“Obviously there are much larger plans I am very passionate about supporting…I will literally throw my entire support behind. The one at the top of my head is Sunset4All…That’s the one that’s gonna get a lot of support my first four years certainly” — Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez -December 22, 2022
There are two actions you can take:
1) Call Councilmember Soto-Martinez’s office and tell them to ensure a 2024 ATP grant application is submitted by LADOT on behalf of Sunset4All and to prioritize Sunset4All for all state and Federal grant opportunities. *Even if you’re not a constituent, the goal is to get his and his staff’s attention.
OFFICE PHONE NUMBER: 213-473-7013
2) Email Councilmember Soto-Martinez using our email template on the link below:
Caltrans wants your input on plans to close the bike lane gap on Santa Monica Blvd in West LA, west of the 405 Freeway. (Clicking on the second image will make it easier to read.)
Just as surely as the positive platitudes are true, so are the negative ones. Notorious traffic jams and hours of delays are the norm for those who drive the many freeways covering Los Angeles. But all the mileage is not wasted. Those same freeways take residents between coastal beaches, rugged mountains, tree-lined forests and stark deserts all within an hour of the downtown area.
If only there was some sort of cheap, clean and efficient means of transportation that could get people out of their cars and defuse those notorious traffic jams.
Seriously, nothing says LA like an impatient driver forcing his way into a memorial bike ride.
Twitter post
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Nice to see plans to extend the Ballona Creek bike path getting local neighborhood support.
Although after more than three decades living in Los Angeles, I didn’t even know there is a Sepulveda Creek.
Twitter post
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Somehow, I don’t think this is how protected bike lane barriers are supposed to work.
David Drexler forwards a Nextdoor photo of a “truck operator having difficulty trying to decide how to park with the new (controversial) curbed bike lane on 17th street in Santa Monica.”
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.
A local British counselor complains that building bike and walking paths on the grounds of a 12th century abbey will restrict the activities of dog walkers, because they could “cause accidents when not in control.” Although it’s not clear whether he’s referring to the dogs or bike riders being out of control.
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Local
The Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, wants your opinion on plans to shape their transportation, housing and climate policy for the next few years; the group may be awkward and ponderous, but they’ve also made some good moves to support active transportation in recent years. Thanks to Kent Strumpell for the heads-up.
Sayfullo Saipov, the convicted New York terrorist who killed eight people and injured dozens of others as he rampaged down a Manhattan bike path in a rented truck four and a half years ago, will spend the rest of his life in Colorado’s Supermax prison after he was sentenced to eight consecutive life terms. So that means when he dies, they’ll dig him up and toss him in a cell until he dies again, and start the process over. Right?
In a powerful statement, Pennsylvania bicyclists marked bike week by posing ghost bikes on the steps of the state capital representing the people killed riding bikes on the state’s roadways. California’s state capitol building doesn’t have enough steps for the roughly 160 ghost bikes we’d need every year.
The 70-something British woman who was knocked down, then run over by a drunk ex-cricket player while riding her bike suffered life-changing injuries, and suffers from nightmares every night a year later; the driver was sentenced to just two years, despite testing over four times the legal alcohol limit.
May 17, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Newsom kills funding for CA ebike rebates beyond 1st year, and Bixby bike-ped path opens on Gateway bridge this weekend
Calbike reports that over 17,000 people have expressed interest in the program, which only has $7.5 million left for actual rebates after the state has blown through $2.5 million of the original $10 million budget on outreach and overhead.
Which is kind of what happens when you spend a couple years dithering about what it should look like, instead of just getting the money out to people who need it.
The remaining funds should be good for just 3,000 to 7,000 vouchers, meaning at least 10,000 people are likely to walk away empty handed and out of luck.
And most will probably keep driving, instead of switching to a far cleaner, cheaper and more efficient form of transportation.
The revised budget also includes cuts to Complete Streets and investments in disadvantaged communities. Which is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing in the midst of a climate crisis, when the state is literally burning and people are suffering.
And the opposite of Newsom’s campaign promises to confront the crisis.
San Diego will now close Fifth Avenue in the city’s Gaslamp district to cars every afternoon and evening.
Because, apparently, they don’t do mornings down there.
Twitter post
Thanks to Glenn Crider for the heads-up.
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More proof you can carry pretty much anything on a bicycle — despite the constant chorus of naysayers who insist you need a massive SUV to carry anything bigger than a coffee cup.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.
We’re constantly reminded about stop sign-running bike riders as the reason we can’t have anything nice. But when someone on a bike runs a stop sign, they usually don’t kill anyone, unlike an on-duty DEA agent who was caught on video running a stop sign just before killing a Salem, Oregon man riding a bicycle.
No bias here. A Cambridge, Massachusetts letter writer says being bike friendly is a good thing, but the city is taking this whole bike safety thing too far, because some people might be inconvenienced, and stuff. Although getting killed or maimed by a driver is pretty damn inconvenient, too.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The Cherokee Nation announced the six women who will participate in this year’s Remember the Removal Bike Ride, ranging in age from 18 to 40; the ride follows the route of the horrific Trail of Tears, when tribal members were forcibly removed from their ancestral homes in the south, and made to march hundred of miles to new reservations.
CBS has picked up the story of the white hospital worker who tried to wrestle and whine a New York bikeshare bike out of the hands of the Black teenager who had rented it, saying the hospital she works for is looking into the incident. Which is probably bureaucratese for she can kiss her job goodbye.
Movistar cyclist Will Barta managed to escape serious injury crashing on a wet descent in Tuesday’s 10th stage, but he can’t say the same for his bike, which snapped in two during a brush with a retaining wall.
