Eight-year old Bradley Rofer was walking his bicycle through a crosswalk on his way to school, with members of his family watching, when he was run down at 7:25 am.
Bradley was crossing Coto de Caza Drive at Oso Parkway when he was struck by the driver of an older Ford 150 pickup turning left from Oso onto Coto de Caza; it was his first day riding his bike to school.
It was supposed to be a fun day — Bradley was going to ride his bike to school for the first time. He’d learned proper bike safety rules and would be wearing a helmet. His family would be watching and cheering him on. He was ready.
Eight-year-old Bradley Rofer was used to impressing people in his Coto de Caza neighborhood. Riding his bike solo, starting a business that raised money for children with cancer, reading a 300-page plus Harry Potter book at age 7 — those were normal things for the Wagon Wheel Elementary School student.
September 2, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on California tax credit for carless low-income residents, more on Venice Blvd protected bike lanes, and new Fullerton bike park
California wants to pay you not to own a car.
Maybe. And sort of.
SB 457 started out as a proposal to refund $2,500 to adult taxpayers who owned fewer cars than they had eligible drivers, rising to $5,000 for a carless couple.
By tying it to income, and requiring the entire household to be carfree, the legislature significantly weakened the bill, while dramatically reducing the number of eligible households.
Which was probably the point.
In effect, they changed it from a bill to encourage car owners to go carfree, to subsidizing transit use for people who already are; the $1,000 tax credit would nearly cover a full year of unlimited LA Metro passes.
And in this case, the restrictions hit close to home.
While my wife and I would qualify under the income restrictions, her car would keep us from receiving anything, even though I no longer drive.
Under the original bill, I would have qualified by not owning a car, while she wouldn’t have, netting us $2,500 that we won’t be seeing now.
Still, it’s a step in the right direction.
And maybe one day the state will actually incentivize going carfree, and encourage people to take their cars and trucks off our crowded streets, and adopting more healthful forms of transportation.
Both for the person using it, and our society as a whole.
The project will create a continuous 5.1 mile protected bike lane extending east and west from the existing protected bike lanes in Mar Vista, along with a new 2.5 mile bus lane.
Work is projected to begin this November, after public comments and final design work.
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Orange County has received a $1.175 million grant to develop a new bike park at Craig Regional Park in Fullerton.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies are conducting a bike and pedestrian safety operation from 8 am to 10 pm today, cracking down on anyone who commits a violation that could endanger people on foot or two wheels, regardless of who commits it. The usual protocol applies — ride to the letter of the law until you leave the city, so you’re not the one who gets caught.
Adventure Cycling is rolling out a dozen two to five day bike routes, each starting in metro areas and with GPS as your guide, for anyone who doesn’t have the time or inclination to tackle a major cross-country ride.
Washington state will now have to incorporate Complete Streets principles, and consider the needs of all road users — including pedestrians, bike riders and public transportation users — in any state roadway projects. Let’s hope that works better for them than a similar requirement here in California has so far.
That’s more like it. A Cincinnati TV station tells drivers to keep out of bike lanes, and always yield to people on bicycles because of the danger their vehicles pose to more vulnerable road users. I’ll even give them a pass on not bothering to invest the ten seconds it took to find out if their state has a three-foot passing law. Hint: it does.
You’ve got to be kidding. A New Jersey man had his 19-year conviction overturned for stealing a bicycle from a special needs man and vandalizing it, then swinging a hammer at the victim, because he was apparently too drunk to understand his Miranda rights.
Never mind that ebikes open up this wild and wonderful world of bicycling we so love to countless people who couldn’t ride a bike before, or would love to ride one again.
Not to mention countless more who use them as a simple and efficient way to get to work or school. Or do their shopping without having to break out the family SUV.
Or own one, even.
But writer Ian Bogost doesn’t see it that way.
But I’ve been trying to live with one, and brother, I’ve got some bad news. These things are freaks. Portraying e-bikes as a simple, obvious, and inevitable evolution of transportation (or even of bicycling) doesn’t fully explain these strange contraptions. The Venicsame was said of Segways, and then of Bird scooters, and both flamed out spectacularly…
Perhaps my e-bike ambivalence comes in part from the bike’s strange social status. An e-bike isn’t cheap—the least expensive ones are about $1,000, and they go up to $5,000 or more. But the symbolic value one receives in exchange is minimal. Spending five large on a conventional bike would get you a status symbol—you’d come off as a cyclist for sure. For that matter, spending that dough on a Vespa would infuse you with an Aperol-tinged Italianate cool. You’d want to be seen arriving on your moped. But I don’t want anybody seeing me on my e-bike. It’s just kind of embarrassing.
Seriously.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but who honestly gives a rat’s rear about the social cachet of your bicycle, unless you are in fact dropping way too much on a high-end roadie designed to make you faster than your little legs and limited skills would otherwise allow?
You know, kind of like an ebike.
But wait, as they say in informercials, there’s more!
Currently, e-bikes are trapped in the weird smear between pathetic, loser bicycles and pitiable, low-end motorbikes. Especially in America, where bike infrastructure is far less developed than in the small, flat nations of Northern Europe that cycling advocates like to exalt as a model, e-bikes have become kind of a nuisance. Walking the streets of New York City, it now feels just as likely that you might get mowed down by an e-bike as a taxicab. Elsewhere, the narrow protected lanes and greenway trails built for human-powered bikes—already littered with stroller-pushers and joggers—don’t quite scale to the new swiftness of e-bikes. The pathways and roads themselves, perhaps already unsafe at bike speed due to uneven pavement and poor maintenance, feel even more dangerous on a not-quite-motorcycle.
So, no one wants ebikes and there’s no market for them, yet they’re as ubiquitous as taxicabs on New York sidewalks.
Additionally, @metrolosangeles has been surveying bus riders on 33. Nearly all respondents say a more reliable trip would encourage them to use the bus even more. Biggest bus rider priorities are speed, timeliness, reliability, and safety.
As someone who grew up in Colorado, I’d long seen the Sierra Club as a protector of the native environment.
But it didn’t take long after moving to Los Angeles to realize that the LA/Orange County chapter was mired in form of environmental conservatism unbecoming of local politics. And unwilling to upset the automotive hegemony and single-family home applecart to actually advocate for the change we need to save our city.
Let alone the planet.
Which leads to their endorsement of everyone’s favorite faux-environmentalist and termed-out councilmember, who apparently never met a bike lane he liked, or a NIMBY he didn’t.
My old friend Dr. Michael Cahn seems to sum up the sad situation pretty well.
Hats off to the East Side Riders for working to bring an ebike lending library to the South LA area.
Even if a certain writer for The Atlantic would be embarrassed to be seen on one.
With this partnership we will bring 80-100 e bikes to the community. Our community, Watts, Compton, South LA and Willowbrook will have the opportunity to enjoy bikes, run errands and get places. ESR is committed to teaching bicycle safety and safe riding skills. @HollyJMitchellhttps://t.co/BxeHfUribB
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Welsh cabbie has been sentenced to two years behind bars for deliberately running over a road raging bike rider who slapped the hood of his car and called him a fat fuck in a dispute over the man’s driving.
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Local
What took so long? Ever since a speeding driver blew through a red light and killed five people in Windsor Hills, along with a pregnant woman’s unborn baby, I’ve wondered when they would get around to claiming she wasn’t conscious leading up to the crash.
For the second year in a row, Governor Gavin Newsom killed a bill that would have allowed bike riders to treat stop signs as yields; this time he only had to announce plans to veto the bill to get it pulled by its sponsor. Never mind that it’s safely in use in an ever-growing number of cities and states. Maybe we’ll have to call getting ticketed for rolling a stop “getting Gavined.”
Calbike is looking for a full-time executive director, as well as a part-time individual giving manager. Let me know when that last position gets filled; I know a few individuals I’d be happy to give them.
But it’s worth repeating, as Kent Strumpell reminds us about tonight’s virtual meeting to discuss expanding the bus lanes and protected bike lanes on Venice Blvd in Mar Vista.
Super important! Virtual meeting for Venice Blvd. bikeway/busway expansion. The Venice Blvd. Safety and Mobility Project, Wednesday 6:30. Zoom registration and link: https://ladot.lacity.org/venicersvp.
The city needs to see strong support to move this project forward. It could be transformative, creating LA’s first crosstown protected bikeway.
The plan would expand the bike lanes from National Blvd in the east, to Lincoln Blvd in the west, and provide the Westside’s first safe bike commuter route.
Venice Boulevard is a part of the City of Los Angeles’s High Injury Network due to a disproportionate number of traffic collisions, according to a statement from LADOT. From 2012 to 2022 there have been 1,203 collisions and 25% of them have involved pedestrians or bicyclists, which is higher than average for Los Angeles. In that same time frame, there have been 58 people who were killed or severely injured in collisions on Venice Boulevard, according to the statement.
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Maybe the news about bike lanes on Ventura Blvd isn’t as good as it seemed.
A couple comments from Lionel Mares and Joe Linton paint the changes in a different light, describing them parking improvements to encourage more driving, instead of safer bikeways to get people out of their cars.
Let’s hear from Mares first.
I am glad that Ventura Blvd in the San Fernando Valley is getting a ‘Bike Lane’, but the traffic road design by LADOT is awful! The bike lane should be moved closer to the curb (by the sidewalk), and NOT in-between moving cars and parked vehicles!! The LADOT rendering (design) is awful!!
Even Streets For All can agree to this!
Why in the world are the bike lanes not at the curb? This is not a safe design for people on bikes.
Move the lanes to the curb so they’re parking protected, even if it means you have to go with parallel parking. https://t.co/STfC4KCf40
I have advocated for and demanded city officials and to Michael Schneider that we need better representation in the San Fernando Valley! We want better and safer Bike Lanes!! I can’t take it anymore! The silence is complicit! We demand better and safer streets for all people including bicyclists!
Linton explains the situation further.
Reimagine Ventura (in CD3, Blumenfield) is a half-mile project that is about adding more car parking – it does a road diet then allocates former car travel lane space to diagonal car parking. It “includes bike lanes” but only in the sense that it just keeps existing unprotected bike lanes. It came out of a parking study that analyzed protected bike lanes, then recommended against them.
Clearly, this isn’t the kind of “improvement” we need.
Now if someone will just tell LA’s elected leaders.
The worldwide love affair with the car, which promised consumers convenience, status and freedom, is over. The reality from Hotan to Hull and Lagos to Lahore is that the car is now a social and environmental curse, disconnecting people, eroding public space, fracturing local economies, and generating sprawl and urban decay. With UK temperatures hitting highs of 40C this summer, this reality has become impossible to ignore. Instead of the prospect of speed and cheap mobility, consumers now get soaring costs, climate breakdown and air pollution, the devastation of nature, mounting debt, personal danger and ill health, and the most serious energy crisis in 30 years…
From here on, it looks like death by 1,000 breakdowns for the private car. Just as the coach and horse were pushed out by automobiles 120 years ago, so the car is being steadily evicted from world cities by the authorities or by public revulsion. As thousands of jubilee street parties showed, car-free streets are popular, and the surest and best way to save money, improve health and make cities quieter and more livable. A recent report from the Centre for London shows how low-traffic neighbourhoods, introduced widely during the pandemic to encourage walking and cycling, reduce car use and make roads safer. Wales has slashed the default speed limit on residential roads from 30mph to 20mph.
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Yes, there’s a smarter way to shop with a bike.
A reminder that you can clip bicycle panniers to grocery carts while shopping. Then you can bag right into your panniers, balancing the load as the checker scans. @bikinginlapic.twitter.com/GTjjLg7vpI
The last time I checked, the willful destruction of private property was a crime.
Regardless of who does it, or why.
Another neighbor's bike was purposefully run over and destroyed by a City contracted tow truck driver, who laughed with nearby cops and parks workers as it happened. When someone came to let the driver know what he had done, the driver rolled forward and almost ran her over. pic.twitter.com/x4czEyKDyN
— Stop The Sweeps Seattle (@Stop_Sweeps_SEA) August 31, 2022
Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Los Angeles County supervisors have ordered unspecified “immediate steps” to slow speeding drivers at La Brea and Slauson, nearly a month after a red light-running driver traveling at an estimated 90 mph killed five people, as well as an infant just two weeks from full term. The supervisors also called for changes in California law to allow automated speed cams, which they could have backed before the bills died in committee during the last two legislative sessions.
A letter writer in The LA Times suggests connecting the Ballona Creek bikeway to the Los Angeles River bike path to create a network of bicycle superhighways, while another complains that cars don’t just go away when streets are closed. Actually, studies show they do, because traffic on nearby streets usually show only marginal increases when roadways or bridges are closed to cars.
State
Sad news from Santa Rosa, where the 52-year old chef of a Mexican restaurant was killed when he crashed into a car-blocking bollard while on a casual bike ride with ten co-workers on a local bike path. Just one more example of a protective measure intended to keep people on bicycles safe actually putting them in greater danger.
Sad news from Chicago, where an unlicensed driver allegedly ran a stop sign, killing a 55-year old man riding a bicycle on Saturday. And yet people somehow complain about scofflaw bike riders, who usually don’t pose a risk to anyone but themselves.
Everything you always wanted to know about the Vuelta a España’s red leader’s jersey but were afraid to ask, including that the maillot rojo was only adopted 12 years ago.
Bummer to take a wrong turn in the Vuelta time trial.
Cycling Weeklylooks at the newly formed National Cycling League, questioning whether the competitive crit teams represent the future of cycling, or just another gimmick. We’ll see if they actually begin racing next year, which remains questionable.
The problem with a transportation system that depends heavily on private automobiles is that, even if those automobiles no longer emit the same level of greenhouse gasses, they will continue to contribute to unsustainable and sprawling land use patterns, as well as the longer distances and travel times that are bad for us as individuals and communities.
Wednesday 8/31 – From 6:30-8 p.m., LADOT will host a virtual Venice Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project Workshop. On L.A.’s westside, the city is planning new bus lanes (between Inglewood Boulevard and Culver Boulevard) and new protected bike lanes (coupled with existing protected bike lane stretches, the protection would extend from Lincoln Boulevard to La Cienega Boulevard.) Sign up for the virtual workshop at LADOT Zoom page. Also give feedback via LADOT’s online survey. Find Spanish language links also at LADOT’s project page.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A British Columbia man calls on a hit-and-run bike rider to turn himself in, after the fat tire bicyclist caught the leash of the man’s small dog, crushing it to death and leaving his wife with facial abrasions and a broken nose. Granted, the guy was a jerk and should have stuck around. But allowing your dog run loosely alongside your bike is a recipe for disaster.
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Local
Black Lives Matter supporters marched in South LA to demand justice for Dijon Kizzee, who was shot by sheriff’s deputies while running away and after dropping his gun, in what began as a traffic stop for riding salmon, and quickly escalated.
No surprise here, as not everyone is a fan of Reno, Nevada’s new popup bike lane network; motorists are driving in the bike lanes, while a business owner complains his sales are down 30% due to the loss of parking. And of course that’s the only possible reason for the decrease in sales, not inflation, higher interest rates or any of the other multitude of problem besetting consumers these days.
He makes the case for the city council to get a head start on their promises to implement the Los Angeles mobility plan, rather than waiting for the inevitable drawn-out process to draft and approve an alternative to the Healthy Streets LA ballot proposal.
Schneider recommends ten streets currently scheduled for resurfacing work that they can start work on restriping right now.
Unless the councilmembers were just saying what they think we wanted to hear, with no intention of actually following through.
Today, four white men wearing black clothing and masks displayed a banner over the Highway 113 bicycle overpass that contained racist anti-Semitic statements.
We are sickened. White supremacy, hate and intimidation have no place here.
Caltrans forwards a notice that Camp Pendleton will close the bike path through the base for five days next month, so mark your calendar. And make plans to use the shoulder of the 5 Freeway through the base if you need to ride then.
Another notification to pass: Bike path from Pulgas Gate to south entrance to the San Onofre State Park will be closed for military operations from 15 to 19 September from 6:00 AM to 6 PM daily.
Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here, either. The New York Postcalls Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine an anti-car extremist for pushing a “pie-in-the-sky bike lane plan for the West Side Highway,” despite his record of 41 traffic violations in the past decade. Although bad driving ability is a pretty damn good reason to switch to bikes.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Congratulations, Los Angeles. We now beat the Bay Area in transit use, especially buses. The story wasn’t paywalled for me, for some reason; your results may vary.
LA Times readers sound off about what streets they’d like to see closed, after the city banned cars from Griffith Park Drive in the park. My first choice would be to close Hollywood Blvd to install a pedestrian plaza at Hollywood & Highland, followed by closing Broadway in DTLA, and Wilshire Blvd from Downtown to the coast.
About damn time. Los Angeles blacktop may not be black for long, as the city works to cover one million square feet of Pacoima streets and other paved surfaces with cooling reflective paint, which can lower surface temperatures up to 12° Fahrenheit. Of course, that’s just a small fraction of LA’s heat-sink paved surfaces. And something tells me they’re not building out the mobility plan when they do it. Thanks again to Robert Leone for the link.
The rich get richer. Santa Barbara County is beginning work on the new Santa Claus Lane bikeway, which will create a new Class I bikeway and multipurpose path connecting the California Coastal Trail to bike lanes on Carpinteria Ave.
Cities around the US are debating whether to keep pandemic-era road changes, as drivers, pedestrians, bike riders and diners debate who the streets are for. Although you know it’s not a serious report when they quote a spokesperson for the tiny drivers rights extremist group the National Motorists Association.
A 19-year old Durango, Colorado man faces DUI and vehicular homicide charges for the hit-and-run death of a bike-riding local fire captain; he abandoned his car, with the victim’s bike sill under the front fender, and the victim embedded in his windshield. At his age, the legal alcohol level is zero.
This, too, is the cost of traffic violence. A 42-year old State Department employee was killed when she was run down by a flatbed truck driver while riding her bike in Bethesda, Maryland; the diplomat had most recently served as head of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Section at the US Embassy in Kyiv.
Belgian pro Remco Evenepoel continued to hold onto to the red leader’s jersey in the Vuelta with a gap of 1:12 over Spain’s Enric Was; three-time defending champ Primož Roglič remains in striking distance at 1:53 back. All the American cyclists have dropped out of contention, with Lawson Craddock now the top US rider in 59th place, over 45 minutes back.
The LUX/CTS U19 cycling team, one of the most successful junior development teams, is shutting down at the end of this season, a victim of cycling’s failed sponsorship model.
He was taken to a nearby hospital with multiple injuries, and died sometime after arrival.
At his age, he deserved far better.
The 52-year old driver fled the scene, but was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run when she returned an hour later.
Anyone with information is urged to call 858/495-7800, or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888/580-8477.
This is at least the 61st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in San Diego County, including five just this month.
Twenty of those deaths have been at the hands of hit-and-run drivers.
Update: I received the following email Saturday morning; I’m withholding the sender’s name to protect her privacy.
This is the cost of traffic violence.
The article about an 82 year old bicyclist being murdered in Rolando Village on August 25th was my dear sweet church friend George.
I have known him for years.
He was STILL doing construction work and kept busy and never missed church.
At our church we all sit and eat together on Sundays after church service. I had lunch with George about 3 weeks ago.
He was telling me after 80 years old the DMV makes it hard to renew your license. That’s why he was riding his bicycle.
I am absolutely crushed to hear of his death.
Here I am up half the night thinking about him. It is 4 a.m. and I am googling articles to see what all happened. I can not believe this happened. All it takes is a few seconds and he is gone and families changed forever, including the driver’s.
George H. was the kindest man. Although the situation is maddening and disheartening, he would never want the driver to suffer for this.
I know George and knew how he was and he had a heart of gold. One time he employed a newly-made friend of mine who was homeless. The homeless man relinquished his 2 dogs to me to be able to get them off the street. When I told George about this stranger’s plight he hired the man in a blink of an eye. He was that way. A true Christian man. He will be greatly missed.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.
Did LA’s SoFi Stadium install bike lockers just to qualify for sustainability certification?
That’s the charge in an email I received recently, from a whistleblower who prefers to remain anonymous.
The gist of my story is basically the subject line – SoFi Stadium used to have 44 awesome free bike lockers. They are gone now, and after stirring the Reddit pot, I believe they were installed to get LEED points, and are now in the way of profitability.
First time I went to SoFi, I took my bike there. I was so excited to find that they have free bike lockers! I’ve been linking to my post every time someone asked how best to get to SoFi.
Yesterday I went again, and all the bike lockers were gone as confirmed by security. There I was, with my $3 bike lock, a helmet, a safety vest, and other stuff I didn’t want to bring inside, with no place to store them safely. The security people for the concert were about as helpful as airport TSA, and they directed me to lock my bike in the (unattended) parking lot. Thankfully George Clinton fans didn’t have enough criminal energy to steal anything.
But! I am so angry that SoFi did this. I bet they were either required to provide for alternative transportation, or maybe they collected some kind of “green energy” reward. There is no way they voluntarily installed the bike lockers in the first place since SoFi obviously wants people to pay for parking.
I contacted them to let them know that I was not happy, and I am sure they will lose a great deal of sleep over my complaint form. However, I really would like to find out if they can legally do this. If they were required to install them, or there was a financial incentive for providing sustainable transportation, I want to contact the appropriate agency so that they can look into it. Any ideas who I could contact? Any cycling advocacy organizations that have more experience with these things? I realize I’m quite possibly just wasting my time, but I feel rather passionate about bike infrastructure and climate change and I’m willing to take that risk. I just want to be as effective as possible, therefore looking for who best to contact if anyone has any insight or suggestions.
EDIT: Two people mentioned sustainability/LEED certifications, and that bike lockers could possibly be used to achieve a certain standard. SoFi Stadium was just certified gold in February 2022 and my inclination is that the bike lockers were removed afterward.
A YouTube video posted by hoohoohoblin confirms that the bike lockers have been removed, instead requiring bike riders to use open-air racks that aren’t even bolted to the ground.
Not exactly secure. Let alone providing no way to secure other items you might not want, or be allowed, to take into a concert or a game.
SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park encourage guests attending events to take alternate modes of transportation. In order to support alternate modes of transportation SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park has bike parking locations available throughout the district. Please be sure to bring your own lock to secure your bicycle.
Unattended bicycles that impede pedestrian or vehicular circulation are subject to removal and/or relocation. SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park and/or its agents shall not be responsible for fire, theft, damage or loss to bicycles or any other articles left in or on the same.
No mention of bike lockers.
So the question is why they were removed, let alone why were they even installed if they were going to be ripped out in less than a year.
It’s possible that the Redditors’ speculation is correct, and the lockers were removed once the stadium achieved its certification.
But my guess is far more mundane.
I suspect that SoFi’s bike lockers were subject to the same vandalism and theft that plagues bike lockers everywhere. And that they were removed because it simply wasn’t cost effective to maintain them.
But it would be good to hear from someone at the stadium to explain what happened. And what they’re going to do to provide secure bike parking.
At the very least, they could offer a free bike valet. Or work with Metro or some other provider to install a new Bike Hub.
Because those loose, free-standing racks ain’t gonna cut it.
After a lot of calculations well beyond my English major ken, she concludes that ebikes win going away. And that Denver’s modest ebike rebate program makes it the most successful existing CO2 removal program in the US.
Our old friend Zachary Rynew, aka Mr. Ciclavalley, calls this “Definitely one of the funnest sections of dirt in LA!”
And who doesn’t love fun dirt?
NEW YOUTUBE (4K): Not just one of the most well-known trails in LA, but Backbone is one of the biggest treats as well!@MRCAParkshttps://t.co/PvfOyjXaEs
Talk about not getting it. A letter writer in the conservative Washington Times says Democrats have left themselves open to attacks for “pushing bike paths for the wealthy and ignoring the real needs of the working and middle classes,” apparently having not a clue who really rides bikes.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Streetsblog reports on yesterday’s rejection of the Healthy Streets LA ballot measure, as the city council voted unanimously to place it on the 2024 ballot instead of adopting it outright.
Congratulations, Virgil Ave. Time Out says you’re the world’s 13th coolest street, even if San Francisco’s Hayes Street comes in three notches higher.
Closing arguments are expected Monday in the DUI murder trial of a 31-year old Fairfield man, who’s charged with killing a 52-year old man riding a bike last October; his BAC was just .04% — half the legal limit — but he was required to avoid alcohol entirely while on probation for a previous conviction.
The Vuelta’s red leader’s jersey changed hands for the third time in three days on Thursday, as Aussie Jay Vine won the rain-soaked stage, while Remco Evenepoel took the lead.
Sad news from Belgium, where 1960’s pro cyclist Herman Vanspringel died at 79. Vanspringel finished second in the ’68 Tour de France, losing the race on the final day, along with a second-place finish in the Giro and a third in the Vuelta; he was also a seven-time winner of the Bordeaux-Paris classic.
In other words, they’re kicking the can down the road once again. Which seems to be the city’s favorite sport.
It really was typical Los Angeles.
A number of council members spoke, seemingly with their hair on fire, about how dangerous LA streets are, how little the city has done, and how they need to be forced to keep their commitments.
Then they voted unanimously not to.
Shamefully, they also chose to ignore the large turnout in support of the measure, with Council President Nury Martinez cutting off comments while over 30 supporters were still waiting to speak.
Although they somehow had time to listen to those opposed to the measure, for some reason.
If you’re wondering why I sound angry, it’s because we’ve been here before.
In a powerful statement before the full council, Rosendahl said “The culture of the car is going to end now!” He reminded his fellow council members about the harassment cyclists face on the road, as well as the lack of support riders have received from the LAPD in the past. “We’re going to give cyclists the support they should have been getting.”
Under Rosendahl’s guidance, the city preliminarily adopted the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights, written a group of bike bloggers known as the Bike Writer’s Collective, sending it to the City Council for review and inclusion in the 2010 bike plan.
Except it never made it into the plan. In fact, it was never heard from again.
Rosendahl also shepherded approval of the innovative 2010 bike plan, with its three levels of bikeways forming a unified network designed to channel bike riders through their neighborhood, and throughout the city.
That was subsumed into 2015’s Mobility Plan 2035. And once again, never heard from again.
In fact, we were soon told the plan was merely “aspirational,” which probably explains why only 3% of the plan has been built out in the seven years since.
Charlie Brown, meet football.
Then there’s the city’s Vision Zero plan, also adopted in 2015, which pledged to eliminate traffic deaths in the City of Angels by 2025.
That was followed by the mayor’s Green New Deal, which promised to phase out gas-driven cars while providing safe and efficient alternatives to driving.
You can probably guess what comes next.
Now the city council expects us to trust them while they tee-up the ball yet again, pledging that the new ordinance they’re going to write will be even bigger and better than Healthy Streets LA.
Except (soto voce, crossed fingers hidden behind their backs) any ordinance they write they can also change at any time, for any reason. Unlike the Healthy Streets LA proposal, which could only be changed by a vote of the people had they adopted it yesterday.
So if a councilmember doesn’t want a particular project in his or her district, or LA’s notorious NIMBYs rise up in opposition, they can reject it in part, or in toto.
Or when a new council comes in, they can overturn it, again in whole or in part.
So much for forcing them to keep their commitments.
I’ve worked hard for 14 years now to kick over SoCal rocks, and shine a light on all the ugliness underneath, at serious harm to my own mental, physical, emotional and financial health.
But days like this, combined with the ongoing carnage on our streets, make me wonder if it’s all worthwhile.
And I know I’m not alone in feeling that way. Especially now.
But let’s give credit to Michael Schneider and Streets For All for all their hard work in getting us this far. And to everyone who turned out yesterday to speak to the council, whether or not they bothered to listen, and everyone who emailed and called their councilmembers fighting for a better result than the one we got.
You deserve better. We all do.
Instead we have to wait another two years for an expensive, uncertain electoral battle against the full force of LA’s NIMBYs.
Meanwhile, we need to hold the council’s feet to the fire to ensure they keep their promises, and come up with a workable alternative.
And stick to the damn thing this time.
Because I can’t speak for you. But I’m done falling for the same damn trick again.
Although there’s so much wrong here, I don’t even know where to start.
Reading between the lines, the driver apparently right hooked the bike rider, while illegally turning across the bike lane instead of safely merging in to make his turn, as required by California law.
And while the bike rider was clearly in the wrong to kick and threaten the driver, LAPD officers have made it clear to me in the past that a driver commits assault simply by getting out of his vehicle.
In other words, the bike rider was the victim of the crash, and could have been acting in self-defense when he threatened the driver, since leaving the car could have been seen as a threatening act.
A good lawyer could have a field day with this one if they find the guy.
LA Progressiveendorses a slate of candidates throughout the LA area, including Alex Fisch and Freddy Puza in Culver City, who it says face a well-funded NIMBY backlash from “homeowners who want to keep apartments, bike lanes and non-rich people out of their neighborhoods.”
Newport Beach considers what to do about speeding ebike riders, from restricting ebikes from certain trails to a blatantly illegal scheme to license ebikes, while limiting the licenses to local residents, the banning unlicensed bikes from the streets.
New nonprofit City Thread worked with five American cities — Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Providence — to build out 335 miles of bike lanes in just two years, a full 25 years earlier than otherwise expected. Someone please give LADOT their phone number. Pretty please.
American Lawson Craddock gambled on a breakaway on the next-to-last climb during Wednesday’s fifth stage of the Vuelta, but had to settle for fifth when he was reeled in by stage winner Marc Soler.
Britain’s Fred Wright stands 2nd in the Vuelta GC, while Craddock moved up to 4th; previous leaders Roglič and American Sepp Kuss slipped to 5th and 6th, respectively.
August 24, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Meager LA bikeway output in decline, support urged for Stop-as-Yield bill, and Carlsbad declares bike emergency
Before we get started, my brother the former Iditarod mushing and bike-riding adventurer is off on another cross-country bike tour.
He left yesterday on the Trans-America trail, taking it from Western Colorado to the Atlantic Coast.
I’ll try to keep you posted when he shares details of his trip.
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I doubt it will surprise anyone that bikeway implementation in Los Angeles fell last year.
And yes, that includes sharrows and bike routes, as well as protected bike lanes, bike paths and painted bike lanes.
Linton reports that implementation of bikeways fell precipitously under outgoing Mayor and erstwhile almost ambassador to India Eric Garcetti.
Although Garcetti doesn’t shoulder all the blame.
Under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, bike facility implementation peaked at 200+ new bikeway lane-miles annually. Since Mayor Eric Garcetti took office in 2013, implementation has fallen dramatically. Under Garcetti-appointed city Transportation Department (LADOT) General Manager Seleta Reynolds, new bikeway mileage has been dismal, hovering between 10 and 52 miles annually for the past seven years.
I got pushback when I declared on twitter that last year’s total was a fail, as Linton and others pointed out that the figures for last year included some high-quality installations.
Which is fair.
Under Villaraigosa, the city focused on what they referred to as the low-hanging fruit, where installation of a bike lane didn’t require removing parking or a traffic lane.
And while the city remains averse to doing anything to annoy or inconvenience people in cars, they have built more protected bike lanes and cycle tracks in recent years.
Not enough, but still.
And not enough are truly protected, as the city too often pretends that car-tickler plastic bendy posts offer some form of protection from motorists, who can simply drive over them at will.
Hopefully, a new mayor and city council will increase funding to LADOT to hire more bike-focused engineers, and wipe the dust off the city’s Vision Zero and mobility plans.
We can hope, right?
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Calbike is urging everyone to call their state senators to urge them to vote for AB 1713, the latest attempt to pass a Stop-as-Yield law.
The Spanish driver who killed two people and seriously injured three others when he rammed a group of bike riders, possibly intentionally, is being held without bail pending trial, as police investigate him for possible murder charges; he has a long record of traffic safety violations, as well a violence against women.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
New York police are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider, following the death of a pedestrian, who died days after the bicyclist collided with him while the victim was crossing a Manhattan street.
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Local
KCRW looks at the Healthy Streets LA ballot measure, which is being considered by the city council today, asking if the city can finally be friendlier to transit users and pedestrians. Because the measure’s not just about bikes, regardless of some perceptions.
Active SGV continues to live up to its name, as they continue to be one of the most active advocacy groups in the LA area; the group is bringing Slow Streets and open streets to the San Gabriel Valley, with a number of demonstration projects to show the value of traffic circles, outdoor dining, and bike lanes.
A 63-year old San Diego man was the victim of a hit-and-run when a driver turned in front of his bike, in a crash caught on security cam — even if the local TV station can’t be bothered to include it. Or even link to it. Schmucks.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. A North Carolina driver walked without a single day behind bars after copping to a plea deal for probation in the DUI death of a bike rider. Which sends a clear message to other drivers that it’s perfectly okay to get drunk, get behind the wheel and kill someone.
Newspaper readers in Hertfordshire, England like a government proposal to regulate bicyclists by requiring a numbered license plate and liability insurance to catch riders who totally ignore the rules. Even though that isn’t likely to happen, numbered plates or not.
The first ever, ten-day Tour De Maccabi bike race and adventure tour will take Jewish bike riders rom Krakow, Poland through Slovakia and Hungary, before ending in front of Europe’s largest synagogue in Budapest
