Just 66 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
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The bouncing baby pedestrian plaza on Westwood’s previously nearly useless Broxton Ave is having a soft opening this weekend, apparently ahead of the official opening at some undetermined date in the future.
Rendering from Westwood Village website.
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Evidently, the Los Angeles Times doesn’t buy the city’s promise of a carfree 2028 Olympic any more than the rest of us, politely noting it’s running short of time and money.
Which is putting it mildly.
Local officials have a litany of projects they want to complete ahead of 2028, including adding charging infrastructure and improving Metro stations close to venues, but so far attempts to secure federal funds have been hit-and-miss.
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $3.3-billion list of projects needed to make the Games run smoothly is 5.2% funded. If the money doesn’t come through soon, transit planners predict some critical projects may be scuttled — making it tougher for visitors and commuters to get around town.
Los Angeles has just four years to build the bus lanes, bike lanes and sidewalks necessary to move the hundreds of thousands of tourists likely to arrive for the Games.
And doesn’t even have a final list of the venues where it will take place. Let alone a plan for how to get it done, or the funding to do it.
Which just adds to the city’s long and ever growing list of transportation promises made and not kept.
Or have you forgotten all about Vision Zero and Garcetti’s Transportation Green New Deal? Not to mention the 2010 bike plan, and every failed bike plan that proceeded it.
This city is great at making transportation promises.
But keeping them, not so much.
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Santa Monica bicyclists will now enjoy concrete protection from motor vehicles and the people driving them on 26th Street.
Brand new concrete-curb-protected bike lane on 26th Street at Broadway in #SantaMonica being installed today – spotted by @MobilityForWho who took these pics pic.twitter.com/nco0AVqps6
— StreetsblogLA (@StreetsblogLA) October 24, 2024
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It looks like Culver City’s shortsighted and auto-centric decision to rip out the MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes could cost it nearly half a million bucks.
Oops.
Metro staff report says Culver City has to return $435K for removing Metro-funded Move Culver City bike lanes (looks like ped and transit grant components remain intact) pic.twitter.com/hIvZdLWi5w
— StreetsblogLA (@StreetsblogLA) October 22, 2024
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A new short film explores how Taiwan’s Liv Cycling came to be the world’s leading women’s bicycling brand.
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It’s now 310 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 40 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A Seal Beach cop had to inform a “well intentioned” letter writer that California bike riders aren’t required to licensed and/or registered, which would take a significant change in state law. And requiring big black license numbers to be painted on little kids bike helmets would be just a tad problematic, for a number of reasons.
No bias here. A Tucson, Arizona woman was killed in a hit-and-run as she rode her bike at 3:30 am, yet the cops somehow decided it was her fault for making an unsafe turn, even though they haven’t talked to the driver because they don’t even know who the hell killed her. Then again, what else would they expect on a road named Speedway?
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Local
Seriously? The Beverly Press reports in detail on last week’s Fountain Ave protest demanding a halt to the plans for a lane reduction and protected bike lanes on the West Hollywood street. But somehow apparently failed to notice the larger demonstration held at the same time supporting them.
State
Calbike considers the state of protected bikeways, ten years after the Protected Bikeway Act of 2014 was passed by the legislature.
A San Francisco woman was collateral damage when she was struck by a driver being chased by the cops while riding her bicycle; the driver abandoned the car after hitting her and fled as a passenger in another vehicle, while a third driver drove off in the abandoned car, and was arrested after crashing into a building. I’d say this is yet another example of an innocent person being injured as a direct result of a police chase, but I’m still trying to figure out what the hell happened.
A Streetsblog guest post considers how the San Francisco mayoral candidates stand on safe streets. Hopefully on the curb.
National
Bicycling unveils their Gear of the Year for 2024, offering over 100 of the best bicycling components, clothing, devices and tools. Read it on AOL this time if the magazine blocks you.
A new Chicago report shows the city’s investment in traffic calming and bike/ped safety measures has resulted in a 27% drop in traffic deaths since 2021.
After police recovered a bicycle stolen from a Walmart in upstate New York, the store fixed it up and donated it to a local high school student instead of selling it.
Philadelphia has finally gotten around to making it illegal to stop in bike lanes, which had been allowed for up to 20 minutes. And somehow, the decision is bizarrely considered controversial.
A Miami man has been sentenced to life for the “cold-blooded murder” of a 48-year old man on the city’s Rickenbacker Causeway, shooting the victim to death after knocking him off his bike with a motorcycle, as he rode in a peloton with his cycling club.
International
A longtime British Columbia bike rider patiently explains why a bicyclist could be in the way of your car, from cars parked in the bike lane to roads designed to be shared, speed differential be damned.
They finally get it. The Toronto Star changed a headline that initially read “Residents, cyclists clash at Etobicoke bike lanes meeting” to reflect the fact that people who ride bicycles are residents of the city, too.
A British appeals court is allowing a lawsuit challenging cuts to bike funding in England to move forward, saying the case, which could establish sustained, longterm funding for bicycling in the country, has a real chance of success.
Disgruntled motorists are calling a new Cambridge, England roundabout an obscene, chaotic and distracting “birthday cake” marked by 36 traffic lights, colored panels and bike lanes, but bike riders say it’s finally safe to ride.
It takes a major lowlife to steal bikes from a UK children’s bicycling club.
The British government has launched a new campaign urging consumers to “Buy Safe, Be Safe” when it comes to purchasing an ebike, saying if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
The city of Fukuyama, Japan is urging the country to recognize a scenic 20-mile bike route through Hiroshima Prefecture as a new National Cycle Route, adding to the six currently running through the country.
Competitive Cycling
Both road cycling and mountain biking have been kicked out of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, held every four years between British Commonwealth countries, as a cost-cutting measure; fortunately, track cycling events will still be held since that’s presumably cheaper.
Finally…
Well, who hasn’t been hogtied to a quad bike by an angry farmer while trying to retrieve your ebike? Or attempted to make the jump from snooker champ to Ironman competitor?
And yes, it is possible to live carfree in San Diego for a whole year.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
