Tag Archive for 2028 Olympics

Op-ed says put Metro in charge for carfree LA28, CHP vetoes noise cams, and reality show family victims of traffic violence

Day 274 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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An op-ed from a Los Angeles advocate says if LA really wants to hold a carfree Olympics, we need to give Metro more power.

Or rather, just put Metro in charge, and let ’em rip.

Joshua Seawell, head of policy at the Inclusive Abundance Initiative, says Metro showed what it could do during the pandemic, by closing Wilshire Blvd to traffic for two weeks to finish a leg of the D Line subway ahead of schedule.

That success tells us how to serve Angelenos, let alone the world: Let Metro cook. Empowering the agency — with its ever-increasing competence, guaranteed funding stream, mandate straight from voters, and accountability to a board of electeds — would be a smart way to resolve stasis and reduce regulatory headwinds.

Sure, a reform package from the state or county should generally obligate Metro by default to follow each city’s permitting standards and to make good-faith efforts to modify projects at the request of cities. But it should formalize an expectation that cities, in turn, move quickly and put up funds or match funds to the best of their ability (perhaps drawing on their own allocations under Measures M and R). Metro should also be allowed to judge when those standards and modifications are sufficiently specific, objective and cost-effective.

He clearly has more faith in Metro than I do — especially in light of the agency’s failure to include bike lanes required by Measure HLA on Vermont Ave, asserting that the measure doesn’t apply to it as a county agency.

But he has a point, in that no one — no person, department or agency — is fully responsible for streets and transportation in LA County.

We have far too many hands stirring the pot. Yet not one has the authority to cut through red tape to get things done, and no one is accountable.

Which is the best way to ensure that little or nothing ever gets done. And what does get done takes far too long, and costs too much.

We’ve already seen what happened with former Mayor Garcetti’s vaunted Twenty-Eight by ’28 plan, which was repeatedly watered down to the point of near meaninglessness.

So whether it’s Metro or someone else, someone needs to be in charge.

Or dreams of a carfree ’28 Los Angeles Olympics will remain just that. If not a nightmare.

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No surprise here, as the CHP studied noise cams and, like speed cams before them, said they just won’t do the job.

Even though they’re already doing the job other places.

According to the On The Road column from the Southern California News Group,

In a report to the Legislature in January 2025, the CHP said that of the three devices installed, only one generated data which the CHP could analyze on a web-based interface. All three devices were found to be “inadequate as a standalone enforcement tool and unsatisfactory in their ability to identify individual offending vehicles to the degree necessary for enforcement action,” the CHP concluded.

The devices had technical problems, location limitations, there were privacy concerns, and there also was the possibility that any revenue generated from tickets using these noise cameras would not cover maintenance and staffing costs for them, the CHP report said. Based on the study’s results, the CHP did not recommend using the cameras as a standalone enforcement tool for ticketing drivers suspected of exhaust noise violations.

So you can look forward to many more years of floor-shaking bass, blaring car horns and thundering muffler-free motorcycles, cars and trucks.

Because once again, the CHP said no, just like they do with everything else.

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This is the cost of traffic violence.

A truck driver faces charges following a Michigan crash that killed three members of the Putman family, known for the TLC reality show Meet the Putmans.

The family members known as Papa, Neenee and Aunt Megan all died at the scene, while five other members of the family were hospitalized, some in critical condition.

The Florida-based driver was charged with three counts of moving violation causing death, and five counts of moving violation causing serious impairment of a body function.

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Mark your calendar for next month’s Corazón del Valle Active Streets event.

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Pro cyclist Sean Green became just the second person known to climb and descend all of Scotland’s Munros, a group of 282 mountains topping 3,000 feet elevation, descending them all by mountain bike.

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

Someone clearly missed the irony of posting red and green colorblindness tests to remind London bike riders to stop for red lights, when studies show the people on four wheels are more likely to break the law than the people on two — and more likely to cause a near miss or crash when they do.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Police in Charlotte, North Carolina arrested and handcuffed a 12-year old boy for the crime of “recklessly riding a bicycle;” a video of the kid in cuffs has already viewed over 50,000 times. If that was a crime when I was a kid, I’d still be behind bars. 

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Local 

Pasadena police are urging drivers to slow down for National Pedestrian Safety Month, something that would improve safety for everyone, regardless of how we all get around.

Speaking of which, the Pasadena Department of Transportation is teaming with local nonprofit Day One and the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition to sponsor the city’s eighth annual Walkober.

 

State

Ultramarathoner Kilian Jornet is nearing the completion of his quest to climb every mountain over 14,000 feet elevation in the lower 48, while running and biking from one to another; he recently topped California’s Mt. Whitney and Mt. White, with only Mount Shasta and Washington’s Mount Rainier left.

Santa Barbara is rolling out a new citywide bike parking plan, pledging to replace traditional hitching post racks with something newer and more secure.

Sad news from Fresno, where authorities identified a 15-year old high school student who was killed by a driver while riding his bike on Monday; a woman passing by the next day prayed for drivers to slow down. Which is probably a prayer we can all share. 

A San Francisco group has opened the Big Art Loop, a walking and biking trail connecting 100 large sculptures around the city.

Sacramento is already removing and replacing pavement on the city’s two-year old Del Rio Trail biking and walking trail, after construction defects resulted in cracks in the pavement shortly after it opened.

 

National

Prevention considers whether bicycling or walking is better for weight loss, but just throws up their hands and calls it a tie.

DoorDash says their new delivery robot is designed to “travel seamlessly on bike lanes, roads, sidewalks and driveways.” So you’ll now have even more competition for what little road space we’ve got.

Great idea. A Colorado Rotary Club is sponsoring a fundraising ride to help eliminate malaria deaths by bringing healthcare to remote villages of east-central Africa.

A career criminal in Houston, Texas is suspected of breaking into homes and stealing bicycles — yet was somehow out on the streets despite a series of prison sentences totaling 99 years behind bars. And this in a state that’s supposed to be tough on crime. 

They get it. Officials in St. Louis says pedestrian safety will be improved by a new bike lane project, since studies show bike lanes — especially protected bike lanes — improve safety for everyone.

Members of the horrorcore rap group Insane Clown Posse stepped up to donate to a crowdfunding page for a 12-year old Indiana girl, who was killed when she was struck by the driver of a semi-truck while riding her bike across a roadway, after her family posted a photo of the girl wearing the group’s t-shirt.

Boston will test several different kinds of bike lane barriers in hopes of replacing the flimsy car-tickler flexposts currently in use — and too often favored by Los Angeles officials — with something more durable.

Authorities in New Jersey are continuing to investigate the hit-and-run crash that killed two high school girls sharing an ebike; the driver was arrested after literally running away from the collision. And even then, the radio station insists on saying the two best friends were somehow killed by a Jeep, rather than a driver in one.

Philadelphia residents fought it out in the endless battle of bike lanes versus parking during a contentious five-hour city council meeting, as drivers argued bike riders need to compromise, while bike riders said their lives are at stake. So, apparently, they just expect us to compromise our lives. Seems reasonable. 

Eighty-five-year old New Orleans bluesman Little Freddie King is one of us, as he recovers in the hospital after falling from his new ebike, explaining that his “two-wheel Cadillac let him down.”

 

International

Momentum ranks the top ten bike-friendly North American cities to visit this fall, none of which are in California. Or any closer than Oregon, for that matter.

A London father describes how a custom e-cargo bike replaced the family car and changed his life.

A team of 18 London firefighters will ride 370 miles over five days to raise funds for a firefighter’s charity, visiting every fire and rescue station in Kent, Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex.

No surprise here. A Russian court has extended the pre-trial detention of French ultracyclist Sofiane Sehili until November, after he was arrested last month for illegally entering the country while attempting to set a new record for crossing Eurasia by bike, despite holding a valid visa. Like others arrested in the authoritarian country, he will likely be used as a bargaining chip to gain concessions from other countries.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Rwandan world championship road race was “an utter sufferfest” even for the peloton’s best climbers, with Tom Pidcock describing it as “the most unenjoyable race of the year.”

Velo says Tadej Pogačar’s total domination of the men’s worlds has reignited debate over whether he is better than the legendary Eddy Merckx. Which is something that should only be considered when his career is over, because he might be one day. But today ain’t that day. 

 

Finally…

That feeling when a website maps and ranks the best bike routes in Sequoia National Park, just in time for the government shutdown. If your bike brakes malfunction and you have to roll through a red light, try to find something soft to crash into — like a police car, for instance.

And now you, too, can own Albert Einstein’s bicycle seat. So maybe you can solve the unified field theory by putting it on your own bike.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Paris offers a guide to transform LA streets in time for ’28 Olympics, and video of Ackerman ghost bike vigil in WeHo

Day 209 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Maybe there’s still hope for Los Angeles.

Momentum takes a look at the transformation Paris made to the city’s streets prior to the 2024 Olympics, and looks for lessons for Los Angeles, as well as other cities.

The magazine spells out five key changes Paris made, from expanding bicycle infrastructure and pedestrianized streets to offering financial incentives to leave your car at home, that offers steps other cities could take to emulate the City of Lights.

Take financial incentives, for instance.

The Parisian government has introduced financial incentives to encourage cycling. Subsidies for purchasing bikes, especially electric ones, and grants for bike repairs make cycling more affordable. These measures aim to lower the entry barriers and promote a culture of cycling .

The “Coup de Pouce Vélo” program, launched in 2020, provided up to 50 euros for bike repairs and up to 200 euros for the purchase of a new electric bike. This program has been extended due to its success, with over one million Parisians benefiting from these subsidies . The country of France has also offered as much as 4,000 euros as an incentive to switch from a car to an e-bike or bicycle…

Governments can support cycling by offering financial incentives for purchasing and maintaining bikes. Subsidies and grants can make cycling more accessible to a broader population, fostering a more inclusive cycling culture .

Research: A study by the European Cyclists’ Federation found that financial incentives are one of the most effective ways to increase cycling adoption, with countries like Belgium and the Netherlands leading the way in offering substantial subsidies.

Then they take it a step further — or five steps, actually — to consider how to make tough choices and navigate political will, which is where Los Angeles has repeatedly failed.

It’s worth reading.

Because right now, the talk of making major changes to LA’s streets in time for the 2028 Olympics looks like just that.

Talk.

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The West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition shares video of the vigil and ghost bike for Blake Ackerman, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding home from work earlier this month.

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Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, is holding a meeting this afternoon for volunteers to help encourage the use of public transportation throughout LA County.

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

A competitive cyclist in St. Louis, Missouri will be out of commission for the next several months because a hit-and-run driver brake-checked him after rolling down his window and yelling at the victim; that comes just two weeks after another rider was verbally and physically assaulted in the city, though police won’t say if the two incidents are related.

Someone appears to be sabotaging the bikeway on New York’s Marine Parkway Bridge by leaving string across the path at neck and head level, resulting in a number of injuries, although the NYPD continues to say “no criminality is suspected.”

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Local 

KCAL News takes an aerial view of the beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Path.

Someone described only as a minor was airlifted to a Valencia hospital after being involved in an ebike crash. Although what kind of ebike they were riding or whether anyone else was involved hasn’t been explained at this time.

Streetsblog says the landscaped walkway along Valinda Ave in unincorporated Los Angeles County between La Puente and West Covina is a community treasure.

 

State

Santa Ana says they’re halfway through a lane reduction project on Standard and McFadden avenues, and have begun installing “improved” bike lanes.

A four-year old boy was lucky to escape with abrasions after he was struck by a driver while riding his bike in San Diego’s Mission Bay Park Sunday evening.

The San Francisco Standard says if there’s a war on cars, the cars are winning as the city slowly surrenders to the automobile, despite efforts to encourage alternative transportation.

 

National

Go ahead and ride your bike just on Saturday and Sunday, or whenever your weekend occurs, because a new study shows “weekend warrior” workouts alone are enough to significantly reduce the risk of death from all causes for people with diabetes. And as we all know, diabetes sucks. 

A lawyer with the Bike League offers an update on multiple lawsuits filed by cities, states and advocacy groups over active transportation funding frozen by the Trump administration over unrelated issues like noncompliance with immigration or DEI orders.

A group of nine women have set off on a seven-week ride down the West Coast from Seattle to San Diego to awareness and funds for victims of sex trafficking.

Denver bike riders say they were left out of plans for a nearly $1 billion transportation bond measure that includes hundreds of millions for bridges, roads and underpasses, but virtually nothing for bikeways.

A Florida man was killed by a sheriff’s deputy while taking his usual morning ride to the beach as the deputy was responding to a crash with lights and siren; investigators suspected that he might not have been able to hear the siren, or could have thought emergency vehicles had all passed before riding his bike out into the intersection.

 

International

Momentum rates the best North American rail trails to ride this summer. Not that the summer isn’t half over by now, but still. 

A Mexican man has gone from cutting sugar cane in Belize to being recognized as the “bike guru” of the city of Orange Walk.

After a ten-year bike boom, Calgary, Alberta has gone bust, with roughly just a quarter of the bike lanes called for by 2020 actually built, and no one in charge of bike lanes at City Hall.

The New York Times examines the battle over bike lanes in Toronto as local bicyclists fight back against plans to rip out the city’s bike lanes.

Bicyclists in London are accusing a local council of trying to sweep the unsolved hit-and-run that killed a man riding a bicycle by removing and destroying his ghost bike.

An English woman says instead of being the best time to ride, summer is actually the worst time to ride a bike in London due to “fair-weather cyclists, drunken riders and tourists,” causing gridlocked bike lanes, unpredictable behavior and a more chaotic commute.

Yet another tragic reminder to always carry ID with you when you ride, as detectives in the UK thanked the public for their help in identifying a man in his 70s who collapsed and died while walking his bike. Put a copy of your driver’s license in a secure pocket, wear a RoadID, write your name and phone number on your bike, or use some other form of identification that won’t get stolen if you’re somehow incapacitated in a fall or crash. 

An Irish man finished a year-long, 7,400-mile ride to Vietnam to raise funds for cancer patient support services.

Sad news from South Africa, where an incoming junior on Princeton’s Ivy League champion rowing team was killed while she was riding a bike back home in Johannesburg.

A consultant is encouraging Malaysia to enact a national code spelling out the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists, in a country where most people don’t know where bikes are legally allowed, or how to drive safely around them.

 

Competitive Cycling

To the surprise of no one, Tadej Pogačar won the Tour de France for the fourth time after taking control of the race midway, saying the victory left him speechless and he didn’t want to discuss speculation he’s chasing Eddy Merckx as the greatest cyclist of all time. Never mind that guy who claims he won the race seven times, but isn’t found anywhere in the record book.

Pogačar didn’t win the final stage, however, after Wout Van Aert dropped him on the climb to Montmartre, after the Tour dropped the traditional ceremonial, champaign-swilling final stage in favor of a more competitive finish.

Twenty-four-year old German cyclist Florian Lipowitz not only finished his first Tour de France wearing the white jersey for best young rider, but made the podium with a third-place finish in the general classification. 

Britain’s Geraint Thomas said goodbye to the Tour de France with his five-year old son on his handlebars, seven years after he won the race for the only time.

Fifty-four-year old Ofer Calderon didn’t compete in the Tour de France, but still rode along the Champs-Élysées in full Israel Premier Tech cycling team gear, invited by the team’s owners after surviving 484 days as a hostage in Hamas captivity.

The Washington Post examines the spreading rumors of motor doping in pro cycling, and whether officials are up to the challenge of keeping up with constantly changing techniques and technology.

Dutch great Marianne Vos won the opening day of the nine-stage Tour de France Femmes.

Spain’s Mavi Garcia’s became the oldest stage winner of the Tour de France Femmes by taking Sunday’s stage with an aggressive attack, breaking Annemiek van Vleuten’s record by more than two years.

Velo says 29-year old Mauritian cyclist Kim Le Court’s best pro season got even better when she donned the yellow jersey after Sunday’s stage of the Tour.

Velo examines the 10-rider strong North American contingent competing in the women’s Tour.

 

Finally…

The case for stealing Pee-wee Herman’s bike, again. And using your bike to smash a car windshield in a dispute over removing a political sign is not actually one of its many accepted uses.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Carfree Olympics threatened by lack of bikeshare near LAX, and CA failing those who need clean transportation most

Day 204 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It was only last month that Los Angeles celebrated the opening of the Metro Transit Center at LAX.

We were told about the station’s great walkable and bikeable design, and how that would help LA host a carfree 2028 Olympics.

Just one problem.

There’s nowhere to rent a bike anywhere near the airport if you arrive in the city without one. Which most LAX passengers could be reasonably expected to do.

I learned about that yesterday in an email from Sacramento-based League Cycling Instructor and Bike League member Anya McCann, who tried, and failed, to find a bikeshare dock or dockless bike after landing at the airport.

But I’ll let her tell you the story.

I grew up in Los Angeles and spent another 20 years there as an adult. My father was a lifelong City of LA employee and he worked hard to get bike facilities built over his 40 year career and post-retirement as a community advocate.

This weekend I flew down to LAX to attend an event and decided to make it an adventure to find ways to get to my Mom’s without asking someone to pick me up or getting a $50 Uber.

I brought a bike helmet, used a backpack as luggage, and, as I’ve done in many other cities, explored how to grab a rental bike (preferably e-bike) and bike to my Mom’s house…a ride distance I used to do when I was a child with Dad on weekends for fun.

Surprise: There are no rental bike stations within a 30 minute walk of the LAX. (Although I saw several brands of e-scooters laying around all over the place.) Even if I caught an uber into the Marina, there were no e-bikes available at that time. And, I note from the service map that I would have to return it 1.6 miles from Mom’s and walk the rest of the way.

I ended up walking 1.4 miles from Terminal 1 to Westchester to catch the Big Blue Bus #3, which got me to the same block that is the closest Metro e-bike docking station I would have used – and then did the 1.6 mile walk to Mom’s. While it is a pleasant walk along a path I do just for fun and exercise, with luggage it is more of a commitment. I exited the airport at 3:30 and arrived at my destination at 5:35…a longer trip than I hoped for to travel 14 miles.

Los Angeles needs some better multi-modal access that includes more bike rental stations, and I hope your plans for improvements before the Olympics includes stations at the airports (at LAX they could be out on Sepulveda Blvd.). There also needs to be clear and connective bike lane access to get around Westchester Parkway or Lincoln Blvd to Marina del Rey from LAX that people would understand if they have never been there before.

That should be where the story ends.

But this is Los Angeles.

So we shouldn’t really be surprised by the response McCann received when she reached out to Metro Bike about the problem.

Hey there, sorry for the inconvenience on finding a bike station to get a bike. Some bad news, Metro bike share is possible going away since they weren’t able to renew their contract with the city and has been taken over by another company. Not sure if said new company will continue using bikes or an alternative form of transportation. Once again, sorry for your troubles.

So not only is there no Metro Bike dock near LAX, there could soon be no Metro Bike, period.

And those dreams of holding a carfree Olympics could be disappearing before our eyes.

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She gets it.

In an op-ed for Smart Cities Dive, the woman who led the launch of Upway in the US argues that California’s push for clean transportation is leaving behind the people who need it most.

Marta Anadón Rosinach writes that California’s e-car and ebike rebate programs may have been successful, but too often leave out low-income people who most need an alternative to private vehicles and public transit, but can least afford it.

It’s time we rethink the definition of “clean mobility” to include equitable access. A zero-emission car might qualify on paper, but it won’t help a shift worker in Stockton without a dollar to spare or a teenager in San Bernardino commuting to school. Public buses and trains don’t reach everyone, and when they do, they often don’t run frequently or reliably enough to replace a private vehicle. But a light electric vehicle, paired with safe, connected infrastructure, can.

LEVs — including e-bikes, e-scooters and other compact rides — are cheaper to own and operate than motor vehicles, require less space and fewer resources, and work well in urban areas. For low-income workers, students and families without reliable transit, they can be a lifeline. But so far, LEVs have been left to the private market — if you can afford one, great; If not, too bad.

She goes on to argue for increasing the funding for California’s ebike incentive program, and allowing the vouchers to be used to purchase more affordable used ebikes.

Along with investing in a statewide network of safe, physically separated routes for light electric vehicles connecting neighborhoods to schools, jobs and transit.

It’s worth taking a few short minutes to read the whole thing, because it’s pretty hard to argue with.

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A new ranking of the country’s most dangerous cities for pedestrian and bicyclists says Albuquerque, New Mexico is worst for walkers, while Stockton, California sucks if you’re on two wheels.

For once, Los Angeles fares relatively well, ranking 31st worst for pedestrians, and all the way down at 64th worst for people on bicycles.

Surprisingly, bike-friendly Long Beach fared much worse for bike riders, ranking 38th worst in the US, but slightly better than LA for pedestrians at 41st.

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Active Streets comes to the heart of the San Gabriel Valley in November, with five miles of open streets connecting El Monte and South El Monte.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1947458366537654327

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

No bias here. A writer for the conservative California Globe accuses San Francisco of having an anti-car agenda, arguing the city’s “relentless” “transit-first dogma prioritizes buses, bikes, bike lanes and pedestrians while slashing critical parking spaces and discouraging driving”, “strangling the mobility of our most vulnerable residents.” Um, sure. Whatever you say.

A city in Yorkshire, England is ripping out a protected bike lane that local businesses blamed for taking away parking spaces, while a secondary concern was the risk of injury from the armadillos used to separate the bike lane from motor vehicles. So instead of removing or replacing the armadillos, they’re just ripping out the whole damn thing.

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Local 

The 29-year old San Clemente man accused of intentionally slamming his car into a group of people standing outside of an East Hollywood night club last weekend has been charged with 37 count of attempted murder; Fernando Ramirez was allegedly kicked out of the club for fighting prior to the attack. .

 

State

A coalition of advocacy groups is calling for secure bike parking to be included in the state’s Green Building Standards Code.

Twenty-four-year old Ventura surfing instructor Elieah Boyd is recovering after surgery to reattach her arm, which was ripped off when a train hit her 80-pound ebike as she was trying to push it across the tracks earlier this month.

A 77-year old San Francisco man was killed when he was struck by someone riding a privately owned electric scooter on the city’s Market Street; the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition reminded everyone about the hierarchy of road user safety, with pedestrians more vulnerable than people on bicycles or scooters, who are more vulnerable than people in cars.

 

National

Denver bike riders are justifiably angry after someone riding a bicycle was killed by a hit-and-run driver at an intersection where a protected bike lane was proposed, but never built; a 28-year old man was later arrested for the crime.

Colorado tries preaching to the choir, placed new bicycle safety signs along the roadway in the city’s Washington Park, insisting that hundreds of bicyclists, walkers and roller skaters will see them every day — but no drivers, since cars are banned from the park. And yes, most of those people probably drive, but thousands more people could see the same message if they put it on a billboard next to the freeway.

A legally blind teacher isn’t letting his lack of eyesight keep him from biking across the full breadth of Iowa on the back of a tandem in the annual RAGBRAI ride across the state.

That’s more like it. A 69-year old Philadelphia man was sentenced to 6 to 20 years behind bars for swerving into a bike lane and killing a Children’s Hospital physician riding her bike to work, while driving at over twice the legal alcohol limit.

After someone stole a Virginia pastor’s mountain bike off his car five years ago, he responded by posting about the theft online and offering to repair bicycles for free — leading to a weekly backyard bike wrenching service, as well as giving away over 2,000 refurbished bicycles.

A New Orleans bike rider was killed last week on a street where a local bicycle advocacy group has been calling for a protected bike lane for the past three years.

 

International

Bicyclists riding “a very dangerous road” into London’s Kensington and Chelsea boroughs say they’re forced to choose between risking a fine equivalent to $135 for riding on the sidewalk or their lives.

A group of neurodivergent teenagers completed a 1,000-mile bike ride down the full length of Great Britain to prove that they are capable of doing anything.

Britain’s ETA insurance company calls bike storage the missing link in the country’s bicycling revolution.

A new ranking of Europe’s best city’s for bicyclists ranks Paris first, with Amsterdam third, while Copenhagen is nowhere to be seen.

Ukrainian troops accused Russian solders of deliberately shooting a man riding a bicycle in the embattled Donetsk region for no apparent reason. And trust me, you don’t want to see the drone video.

Ebikes continue to shed pounds, as Dahon’s newest folding ebike weights just 26.5 pounds, reportedly without skimping on features and performance.

 

Competitive Cycling

France’s Valentin Paret-Peintre took first place on the legendary Mont Ventoux over former race leader Ben Healy, while Tadej Pogačar put another two seconds on second place Jonas Vingegaard, who crashed into a photographer after crossing the finish line.

Norway’s Tobias Halland Johannessen was hospitalized after he collapsed following the finish stage 16 at the top of Mont Ventoux, over a mile above sea level.

US cyclist Alexis Magner is reported to be “amazingly okay” after she had to be resuscitated and rushed to surgery when she crash into a lamppost near the finish line on the final day of Belgium’s Ladies Baloise Tour.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can be a pro mountain biker. No schadenfreude here, even though Lance’s defiant former manager got a well-deserved boot from the Tour.

And nothing like riding RAGBRAI after losing an entire person.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

LA tripping over transportation for ’28 Olympics, and New York cops dismiss kite string that severely injured bike rider

Day 160 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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No surprise here.

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez says the city is tripping over itself in the lead-up to the 2028 Olympics — including being behind on planned transportation improvements.

And that’s after Metro has already backed off on several improvements originally promised in the Twenty-Eight by ’28 plan, including adding more bus and bike lanes, as well as completing the LA River Bike Path before the Games.

Meanwhile, People For Bikes listed their top priorities for the coming year. starting with redefining electric motorbikes, which are too often confused with ebikes, and improving standards for lithium-ion batteries.

But they also listed reimagining LA’s transportation system in time for the Games.

Looking ahead to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, and following two major wins in 2024 at the city and state levels, PeopleForBikes is working alongside local advocates and bike companies to champion an overhaul of Los Angeles’ transportation system to include more safe and connected bike infrastructure. Leveraging the attention on and injection of funding into Los Angeles ahead of 2028, we are proud to support the Festival Trail, a multimodal network that links and expands on existing projects to connect residents and visitors to LA28 venues and several of Los Angeles’ famous attractions without needing a car. We are also advocating for mobility hubs that feature bike share stations and bike parking at major transit stations. At the state level, we supported legislation that would provide $3.5 billion for active transportation projects in Los Angeles.

These investments in preparation for the Olympics can benefit Los Angeles far beyond 2028 by supporting mobility opportunities for all Angelenos, particularly in communities that have been historically underserved by public transportation. This is also a chance to show that transformation in one of America’s most car-centric cities is possible and provide a model for other cities to transform their transportation networks to cater the needs of all road users, regardless of whether people walk, ride a bike, take transit, or drive a car.

Let’s hope they can get something done.

Because the city hasn’t given us any reason to believe they can do it on their own.

Logo for LA ’28 from Wikipedia

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Police in New York bizarrely concluded no one broke the law when a man was was nearly killed by an apparent kite string as he was riding a bicycle.

He required multiple transfusions to replace the blood lost when the string slit his throat, severing his windpipe, even though it seems unlikely that a normal kite string could do that kind of damage.

People who were riding with him suggested that the string could have been intentionally strung across the bike lane, or that it could have been coated with glass for kite fighting.

A woman was also injured when the string struck her hand and forehead, moments before injuring the man, who was riding just behind her.

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

The bicycling community in Wellington, New Zealand is fighting back against whoever has been scattering tacks on bikeways for the past decade, offering free puncture repairs and sweeping up tacks and other objects with magnets.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Irate Salt Lake City drivers complained about getting stuck for multiple light cycles and surrounded by angry bicyclists during a growing, weekly bike ride, as motorists honked, called the riders names and yelled at them to obey the law. Someone should at least teach that group how and when to properly cork an intersection.

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Streetsblog says AB 891, California’s Quick-Build Project Pilot Program, is a third of the way home after passing the state Assembly; now it needs to pass in the state Senate and survive Newsom’s overactive veto pen.

A San Francisco man faces a felony hit-and-run charge for last month’s crash that seriously injured a 5-year-old girl riding her bike with her mother. Although under California’s lenient hit-and-run penalties, he’ll face no more than four years behind bar — which will likely by plea bargained down to a slap on the wrist. 

Sad news from Northern California, where a 13-year old girl was killed by a driver while riding an ebike in a South Lake Tahoe crosswalk.

An estimated 2,100 people turned out for the 32nd annual America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride around Lake Tahoe, with rides up to 100 miles to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

 

National

Wired offers advice on how to buy a bike helmet, while a Pittsburgh paper considers how often you should replace it.

Some rare tariff good news, as Chinese-made bike helmets and aluminum-frame bicycle trailers maintain their exemptions until the end of August.

An Oregon man encountered a turtle while riding his bicycle, which initially played dead before scrambling off the pavement. Unfortunately, that tactic seldom helps bike riders escape threats from drivers.

Oregon Republicans want to rip away funding currently directed to rail, transit, bicycle and walking projects, and redirect it to the State Highway Fund to benefit the people in cars at the expense of everyone else.

Pink Bike offers more information on the delayed opening of Idaho’s Panhandle Bike Ranch, after a judge jerked the park’s conditional use permit just ten days before its planned opening.

Trump’s funding freeze is putting at risk $6.3 million previously approved by the Biden administration to close gaps in a 230-mile pedestrian and biking corridor between Butte and the Idaho border, part of Great American Rail-Trail route.

Bicyclists Colorado State University in my bike-friendly hometown held the second annual Ollie’s Ride for Change, including a Pokemon-themed bike parade, to remember a ten-year old boy killed by a distracted driver while riding his bike in a nearby town; the woman behind the wheel was sentenced to a lousy year behind bars after she was convicted of careless driving.

Bowling Green, Kentucky got its first green lane, but for biking not bowling.

No surprise here, either, as Nashville advocates issue their first State of Our Streets report, calling for more walking paths and protected bike lanes, as well as including quick-build projects as part of the city’s Vision Zero plan.

As the NYPD continues its misguided crackdown on scofflaw bike riders by issuing criminal summonses instead of traffic tickets, the state legislature considers a Stop As Yield law, aka Idaho Stop Law, that would legalize treating stop signs as yields, and red lights as stop signs, taking away tools they use to for pretextual stops and to target riders. California isn’t likely to get one until Gavin Newsom leaves office, since he’s already vetoed it twice.

Sad news from Charlotte, Virginia, where the 73-year old father of a local traffic safety advocate was killed when he was struck by a semi driver while riding the recumbent bike he used to maintain his independence.

Good news from Melbourne, Florida, where 15-year old boy reclaimed the bicycle he inherited from his dad, who died of Covid, after it was stolen while he was working as a lifeguard; he got it back with the help of his swim coach and the local police, as well as hundreds of people who shared the news on Facebook.

 

International

Bike riders in Halifax, Nova Scotia accuse the mayor of scapegoating bicyclists and backing out of campaign promises by calling for halting bike lane construction, pending a review on congestion and costs.

A Canadian columnist says no, a ringing bike bell doesn’t mean you have to get the hell out of the way — and if someone on a bike hits you, sue ’em.

A new research report indicates that young adults aged 25-34 are driving the rising popularity of ebikes in Britain.

Something doesn’t add up in the UK, where two men face murder and attempted murder charges for the alleged hit-and-run death of a 16-year old boy who recently arrived from Yemen, striking the teen as he was walking after first crashing into an ebike rider — raising questions of why police think the act was intentional and who was the intended target.

She gets it. A Belgian writer wants to know why an unlicensed DUI driver was released by police after killing someone riding a bicycle, asking what’s the message that sends about accountability on the country’s roads.

You’ve got to be kidding. Life is cheap in Cyprus, where a 42-year old driver walked with a lousy $1,370 fine for killing a 62-year old man riding a bicycle while traveling at nearly twice the posted speed limit, and was banned from driving for five whole weekends.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-four-year old Kiwi cyclist Ally Wollaston says she’s overwhelmed after a final stage sprint gave her the overall victory in the women’s Tour of Britain, edging out previous tour leader Cat Ferguson by four seconds.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your classic space-age bicycle looks more like an oversized pizza cutter. Now you, too, can have horns coming out of your bike helmet, or maybe a banana.

And when you’re a convicted felon riding at night with illegal narcotics and a loaded firearm, stay in your lane and put a damn light on it.

The bike, that is, not the lane. Or the gun.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Broxton ped plaza soft opening this weekend, and promise of carfree LA Olympic plan short on time and money

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.

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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.

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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.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin