Spontaneous fires have been an ongoing problem with lithium-ion batteries, leading some cities to ban them, while some buildings prohibit ebikes as a result.
A San Francisco bike rider became collateral damage when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver, who accelerated suddenly after stopping in the middle of the road to record an appearance by YouTube gamer iShowSpeed.
Except a news helicopter just happened to be watching from above, and followed the driver until police arrived.
Oops.
Driver hits cyclist and flees after blocking San Francisco intersection to film iShowSpeed pic.twitter.com/qlVavBKMdd
Bike riders in Copenhagen can catch the green wave, catching nothing but green lights when riding a bike at a relatively sedate 12 mph. Even if it sounds like taking a few puffs before surfing.
Twenty-four-year old Canadian Magdeleine Vallieres won the women’s elite road race in an upset at the Worlds on Saturday, becoming the first of her countrymen to wear the rainbow jersey; New Zealand’s Niamh Fisher-Black was 23 seconds back second, with Spain’s Mavi Garcia third.
Day 269 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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Please forgive yesterday’s unexcused absence.
I had the birthday from hell on Wednesday, highlighted by a broken refrigerator, and losing my wallet on a Metro bus.
And learning that for some inexplicable reason, while drivers can request a replacement license online and get it a few days later, anyone who doesn’t drive has make an appointment to go to the DMV in person to request a new ID, then wait weeks for it to arrive in the mail.
Just one more way non-drivers are treated like second class citizens in the state, however you get around.
Which is exactly the opposite of how it should be, since it’s the people in the big dangerous machines who pose a risk to everyone around them.
NPR offers eight biking and walking safety tips they say might save your life. Most of which seem reasonable, although they think you need to turn off your earbuds at every intersection. Even though no one ever tells drivers to turn off their eight speaker surround sound systems in their soundproof, hermetically sealed motor vehicles, at intersections or anywhere else.
A grieving family filed a lawsuit against the city of Everett, Washington, four months after a 13-year old boy was killed when he rode his ebike into a dangerous cable that should have been removed; it was only taken down after the Mexican Consulate intervened, warning that other kids could get hurt.
A group of Atlanta residents came together to build their own $10,000 DIY bike lane — but instead of ordering its removal, city officials encouraged it as part of the city’s tactical urbanism program. Something Los Angeles officials have clearly never heard of, since they immediately remove any DIY safety improvements.
International
An Edmonton, Alberta TV station shares a moving tribute to a local physician who “gained thousands of followers on Twitter by sharing his real-time insights on ICU struggles, physician burnout, and public health policy” after he was killed in a mountain biking crash. Thanks to Megan for the link.
A San Diego County road improvement project including bike lanes “appears to reduce lane capacity and a road diet that is hostile to motor vehicles,” a US Department of Transportation official wrote, rescinding a $1.2 million grant it awarded nearly a year ago.
In Fairfield, Ala., converting street lanes to trail space on Vinesville Road was also deemed “hostile” to cars, and “counter to DOT’s priority of preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles.”
Officials in Boston got a similar explanation, as the Trump administration pulled back a previously awarded grant to improve walking, biking and transit in the city’s Mattapan Square neighborhood in a way that would change the “current auto-centric configuration.” Another grant to improve safety at intersections in the city was terminated, the DOT said, because it could “impede vehicle capacity and speed.”
In other words, anything that might slightly inconvenience anyone in the big, dangerous machines, or somehow inhibit their ability to go “zoom, zoom” to their heart’s content is now on the chopping block, regardless of how much it might reduce congestion or how many lives it could save.
Never mind that some of Trump’s own supporters ride bicycle, and demand for better bike and pedestrian safety and active transportation networks is rising in both red and blue states.
And despite the desire of government officials to return to a more petroleum-driven past, canceling projects like this will do nothing to reduce congestion or improve safety, while likely having the opposite effects.
The world is rapidly urbanizing, and experts predict that up to 80 percent of the population will live in cities by 2050. To accommodate that growth while ensuring quality of life for all residents, cities are increasingly turning to technology. From apps that make it easier for citizens to pitch in on civic improvement projects to comprehensive plans for smarter streets and neighborhoods, new tools and approaches are taking root across the United States and around the world. In this thoughtful, inquisitive collection of City Tech columns—originally published in Land Lines magazine and updated with new reflections and resources for the book—Rob Walker investigates the technologies that have emerged over the past few years and their implications for planners, policy makers, residents, and the virtual and literal landscapes of the cities we call home.
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People For Mobility Justice is co-hosting a bike tour of Eastside toxic sites next weekend.
Canada’s new Vancouver Crossing Loop offers a 314-mile gravel route that begins and ends in Victoria, British Columbia; the trail is designed for ebikes and beginners, as well as seasoned bicyclists. However, what they’re seasoned with remains to be determined, although they are known to be somewhat salty.
A Scottish van driver was sentenced to six years behind bars for killing a 32-year old father who was riding his bike to work, while he was busy reading paperwork instead of watching the road — and he was somehow still working as a commercial driver, despite nine previous traffic violations and a history of illegal drug use.
Day 266 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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No surprise here.
It turns out that Xavier Omar Rigby, the 22-year old Florida man accused of killing a 38-year old woman riding an ebike — then driving eight blocks with her body lodged in his windshield before falling off — is a repeat offender.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, he admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking weed after he was arrested for driving on the wrong side of the road two years ago. Although the Daily Mail reports prosecutors plea bargained the charged down to just reckless driving last year.
The Daily Mail also says this wasn’t even Rigby’s first hit-and-run, since he was involved in another hit-and-run in 2022 — three years before killing the bike-riding Florida mother last week.
Oh, and when police arrested Rigby this time, they found him at a liquor store about a mile from the crash scene.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
That’s more like it. A pair of British men have been sentenced to life behind bars on murder charges for deliberately driving their pickup into a couple of young men riding ebikes, after chasing them on the wrong side of the road when they mistook them for burglars; the driver will have to spend at least 34 years in prison before he can be considered for parole, while his passenger was sentenced a minimum of 29 years.
Authorities in the UK have arrested six men and one woman for attempted murder after intentionally crashing into an 18-year old bike rider; five of the suspects have already been released on bail. Must have been a very crowded clown car.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Colorado magazine recommends eight fall bike rides in and around Denver. Which was always my favorite time to ride when I lived in the city, after the tourists were gone and the students in class, the air was crisp and cool, and the leaves turned vibrant colors.
Life is cheap in Colorado, where a 46-year old man walked without a day behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a bike rider; he received just one year of probation and a lousy 20 hours of community service as part of a very lenient plea bargain.
A Montreal PhD candidate crunches the numbers, and finds that despite the bikelash, bike lanes only take up 2.3% of the city’s roadways, with infrastructure for the big, dangerous machines claiming the other 97.7%.
Day 265 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with some people?
The debate at West Hollywood City Hall that resulted in approval of the Complete Streets makeover of Fountain Ave last Monday was acrimonious.
To say the least.
And in any such debate, some people will inevitably be upset by the result. But why take that anger out on a memorial for a victim of traffic violence?
It was two months ago, nearly to the day, when Blake Ackerman’s ghost bike was installed, as his friends and loved ones, many of whom had flown in for his funeral, carefully attached photos and inscribed messages on the bike.
In the two months since, it has been carefully maintained, as someone — whether family members or friends — kept it clean and replaced the flowers before they could whither.
Then sometime after that contentious vote, some vindictive vandal destroyed all that.
According to the WeHo Times, the heartless destruction occurred sometime overnight, with the vandal ripping up photos and signs, dumping flowers and shattering vases. But at least they left the bike itself alone.
A photo taken the next morning showed shards from broken vase next to the sparse white bike.
It broke my heart to pass by in the days since, knowing the love and grief that had been poured into it.
So I resolved to buy a bunch of flowers to put on his bike, just to show that someone cared, and that hate and rage can’t be allowed to win.
But before I got there on Sunday, someone had beaten me to it, placing a small bunch of flowers in the basket, and adorning it with artificial white roses.
Maybe others in the community will be inspired to add to it, showing that we care, and sending a message that love is stronger than hate.
They swerved around him, with one boy letting out a scream as them continued down the path.
But instead of leaving him behind, the man chased the kids, and knocked the victim off his bike when he caught up to him. Within seconds, the man was on top of him, repeatedly punching the kid with one hand while holding a knife in the other, shouting that he was going to kill him.
The boys then recorded the man stomping of the victim’s ebike, cutting the cables and slashing the tires as they cried out for help.
The attack only ended when a Good Samaritan stopped his car and got out to help, and the attacker slunk away into the night.
The boy, whose name has been withheld, was lucky to escape without serious injuries.
Sheriff’s deputies are looking for a muscular white man with a mustache in his 30s or 40s, who was riding an orange bicycle.
If you think you know this jerk, call the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at 661/260-4000
Riding a bike is associated with a 19% lower risk of all-cause dementia and a 22% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, compared with taking nonactive travel modes such as a car, bus or train, found the study that assessed nearly 480,000 participants from Great Britain and published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Physical activity has long been associated with lower dementia risk in multiple studies, so much so that the 2024 Lancet Commissionidentified it as one of 14 factors responsible for preventing or delaying approximately 45% of dementia cases. More than 55 million people worldwide have dementia, a number expected to nearly triple by 2050.
An enterprising — or maybe desperate — Santa Fe, New Mexico bike rider started a fire to signal police, after he was the victim of a hit-and-run driver fleeing the cops after allegedly choking a family member; police arrested the 24-year old man on DUI and hit-and-run charges, as well as domestic violence and false imprisonment. Yet he was somehow still on the road despite three previous DUI convictions.
The Road Cycling World Championships are under way in Rwanda, with Remco Evenepoel winning his third consecutive time trial; Jay Vine finished second and Ilan van Wilder third, while Tadej Pogačar just missed the podium in fourth.
Day 262 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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This is who we share the road with.
A San Diego driver is under investigation for a fatal Long Beach crash that appears have been the result of road rage.
The Times of San Diego reports that two drivers were weaving through traffic on eastbound Seventh Street at high speeds when one of the drivers, in a 2023 Tesla Model 3, crashed into the rear of a box truck carry hazardous materials, killing the driver and injuring two passengers. The driver of the Tesla was also taken to a local hospital with undisclosed injuries.
Fortunately, none of the hazardous material was released.
The other driver, in a dark-colored Subaru, apparently fled the scene.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Collision Investigation Detail Detective Ashley Van Holland of the Long Beach Police Department at 562/570-7355, or anonymously at 800/222-TIPS (8477).
Not that we weren’t told they had been 86’d long before now, while still managing to manage the latest round of incentives, where they finally got it right.
Although it certainly makes you wonder what the hell took them so long.
Sad news from Atwater, near Merced, where someone riding a bicycle was killed by a driver near the local high school. Although the story didn’t even mention that the car had a driver until the last sentence.
Alameda is joining “Week without Driving,” a national campaign sponsored by American Walks and Disability Rights Washington to get people to leave their cars at home for the week of Sept. 29 to Oct. 5. Or at it’s known here in Los Angeles, just another week to clog the roads and run over anyone in your way.
The Washington Postdigs into the story of French ultra-endurance bicyclist Sofiane Sehili, who was arrested for illegally crossing into Russia from China while trying to set a record for the fastest crossing of Eurasia by bicycle, despite having a valid visa to enter the country.
Day 261 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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They get it.
Well, some of them, anyway.
As we mentioned on Tuesday, the Complete Streets makeover of Fountain Ave in West Hollywood will go forward, after a seemingly endless multi-year process.
One that saw far too many avoidable deaths and injuries along the way, along with countless dollars in property damage.
Sam Mulick, a reporter for the Beverly Press & Park LaBrea News, reported on Monday’s West Hollywood City Council, where the first phase of the Fountain Ave redesign was approved on a 3-2 vote.
Councilmembers John Heilman and Lauren Meister cast the no votes, while Mayor Chelsea Byers, and Councilmen John Erickson and Danny Hang voted yes.
I’ll let you read Mulick’s story if you want Heilman’s and Meister’s reasoning for opposing the project.
But at least Meister asked the right questions, even if it seemed like she could benefit from sitting down with someone who could correct a few misperceptions on traffic safety.
Heilman, however, seemed to be a lost cause.
But let’s take a moment to examine why the other three supported the project, which could have a dramatic effect on traffic safety, while significantly improving livability on the corridor.
“It’s our responsibility to create options for a diverse community,” (Byers) said. “That is something that’s really important to me especially in this extremely dense area of our community. Kids, especially, have been locked inside of their homes … it is because cars and collisions and the violence they experience interacting with them is the No. 1 contributor to kids’ deaths. And that is a horrific reality that we can transform without having to send families to suburbs.”
Then there were these heartrending comments from Erickson and Hang, both of whom seemed to fully grasp the cost of keeping the street in its current deadly, car-choked form.
“This is my backyard and the sheer fact that I walk by Blake Ackerman’s ghost bike every single day to walk my dog is truly one of the most haunting experiences I have ever had to experience,” (Erickson) said. “This process that we have been going through for five years is killing people. It’s just that simple.”
Councilman Danny Hang said that the redesign will help lower income residents who travel without cars and help the city meet climate goals by reducing emissions. Hang added that the redesign is personal to him because his partner was the victim of a vehicle collision on Fountain Avenue and was hospitalized as a result.
“Fountain Avenue has long been one of the most dangerous corridors in our city,” he said. “Just over a decade we have seen dozens of severe crashes and five lives lost. Those aren’t just numbers. Those are our neighbors and friends and family members and for me, the most important measure of success is simple – fewer people getting hurt and more people getting home safely.”
However, the war isn’t over.
The project will come back before the council again next year, when they will have to approve a construction contract for the first phase. Any change in the makeup of the council could adversely affect that vote.
But for now, at least, we’re finally on our way to a safer Fountain Ave. Even if it comes too late for Ackerman, and too many others.
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Local
Metro approved $85.5 million in grants for 16 projects throughout Los Angeles County, primarily for first mile/last mile connections and improving mobility for the Olympics; among the projects are new protected bike lanes on Overland Ave in Culver City, and closing another gap in the LA River bike path through the San Fernando Valley.
State
Huntington Beach is considering extending restrictions on ebike-riding kids, requiring them to ride on city streets or bike lanes near places like schools and churches. Never mind that bike lanes are, by definition, on streets, or that once again, there appears to be no distinction between ped-assist ebikes and illegal dirt bikes and electric motorcycles.
San Francisco voters recalled Supervisor Joel Engardio by a nearly two-thirds margin over his support for turning a two-mile stretch of the Great Highway into a linear park; now recall proponents will try to force its return to a smog- and traffic-choked coastal highway.
Vancouver, British Columbia is reversing course once again on bike lanes in the city’s 1,000-acre Stanley Park, after the Park Board approved a new mobility plan containing separated bike lanes, just two years after ripping out previously installed bike lanes through the park.
Sports Illustrated says the stampede to join the ever-expanding Team Visma-Lease a Bike cycling team continues, as 23-year old Italian “superstar” Davide Piganzoli signed a three-year “mega deal” with the team. Although that seems like a very generous use of the term “superstar” for someone who just graduated from the U23 ranks.
It all starts when the woman walked up to people working the race, asking if there are any men competing in the women’s race.
When one man says no, to the best of his knowledge, she asks if the competitors have been “sex tested” to ensure they’re really women.
As if.
One of the volunteers takes offense and holds her hand over the woman’s phone, telling her not to record her. She responds as if she’s somehow being violently assaulted, running away and calling out to another woman for help.
The video ends when a man gets in her face and telling her to “get the fuck out of here.” Which, in all honesty, is probably exactly how I would have responded.
In a second video, she accuses the same man of attacking her with an empty Costco pizza box. If by attacking, she means simply holding it up to block her camera, while she demands to know his name “for the police report.”
She also says that someone stole her signs. Although if that happened, it was after I stopped watching because I just didn’t have the stomach for it.
According to Fox News, though, the incident is being investigated by the local police. Because apparently, they don’t have any real crimes to deal with.
To me, she comes off as a Karen who intentionally instigates the entire incident by harassing people just trying to support a local bike race. And this country is divided enough without creating incidents to elicit your own faux outrage.
Let alone a national news network blowing it out of any rational proportion.
But you can watch it and decide for yourself.
Who are these lunatics??
After I get my phone back, I walk up to the race organizer who attacked me to ask for his last name for the police report.
And then he attacks me again with an empty @Costco pizza box before stealing my signs. Why are these so angry at women? pic.twitter.com/DCwvHBG9RW
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here, either. Cupertino is weighing a number of proposals to weaken the city’s Bicycle Pedestrian Commission, to “ensure equal representation on large infrastructure projects between drivers and pedestrians.” Because evidently, all those poor, put-upon drivers just don’t have enough of the roadway as it is, and have to risk their safety every day sharing the road with people walking or on bicycles.
Palo Alto is weighing options for tunnels for pedestrians and bike riders under the local railroad tracks, or possibly a centerline bike lane on a bridge over the tracks. Even though tunnels tend to get filled with trash, and are significantly safety-challenged, especially for women and particularly at night. And just ask San Francisco bike riders whether center-running bike lanes are a good idea, after they were ripped out on Valencia Street because nearly everyone hated them.
More proof that bikes are good for business. A new study shows that bicycling is now one of Iowa’s top 50 industries, generating $1.4 billion in economic impact affecting all 99 counties, with the biggest gains in the service and retail sectors, such as restaurants, bars and bike shops.
Police in Milwaukee may be close to solving the brutal murder of an 18-year old woman who disappeared after going for a bike ride 46 years ago, after DNA testing pointed a finger at a 22-year old man who committed suicide in 1980; investigators got a search warrant to exhume his grave for DNA samples.
Philadelphia is getting a speed cam on a second dangerous street, after seeing significant safety improvement following the installation of speed cameras on another deadly street five years ago. To which Los Angeles responded <crickets>.
Nice guy. A suspected hit-and-run driver faces charges for resisting arrest, after police investigating the crash that killed a 19-year old Pennsylvania man riding a bicycle had to force their way into his home, then carry him out when he refused to cooperate.
Day 259 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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There’s good news on Fountain Ave for a change.
After three-and-a-half hours of public discussion, a deeply divided West Hollywood City Council voted to move forward with a Complete Streets makeover of the deadly corridor — including curb protected bike lanes.
First up was a vote to approve staff recommendations 1 & 3, which passed 3-2:
Consider approval of 30% Plans for Phase 1 of the Project;
Approve Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement for Services with Fehr & Peers in the amount of $131,040 to provide Construction Administration and design contingency for Phase 1 of the Project;
Second, the council voted unanimously to approve recommendations 2 & 4, amended to include an assessment of removing peak hour parking:
Provide direction on recommended immediate traffic calming measures that can be made in the next 1-2 months ahead of the delivery of Phase 1 of the Project;
Authorize Staff to initiate Phase 2 of the Project, including the release of a Request for Proposals for a Phase 2 consultant, and the expansion of the Steering Committee to guide the visioning process;
Finally, they approved recommendation 5 to exempt the project from CEQA by another 3-2 vote:
Find Phase 1 of the Fountain Avenue Streetscape Project statutorily and categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Public Resources Code sections §21080.25, §15301(c), and §15304(h).
By my count, public comment broke down 25 to 18 in favor of the project, though there were a handful of comments that required a secret decoder ring to figure out whether they were for or against.
And a few even that didn’t work for.
While the final outcome is great news, the close vote means it would only take a change of one vote to halt things in its tracks when the project returns to the council next year to approve a construction contract.
So it’s still fingers crossed for now. But things are looking pretty good.
AB 366 extends the operation of interlock devices indefinitely after a driver is found guilty of a DUI and repeals related reporting requirements
SB 71 streamlines CEQA review requirements for public transportation and bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects that reduce car dependency
SB 720 modernizes state regulations allowing municipalities to create and operate red light camera programs
On the other hand, a number of good bills failed to advance.
AB 891 would have required Caltrans to develop quick-build projects to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians
AB 939 would have placed a bond on next year’s statewide ballot to fund sustainable transportation throughout California
AB 954 failed to pass despite being significantly watered down, going from a mandate requiring that Caltrans build bike highways, to merely defining them in state planning documents
SB 445 would have created deadlines for permitting Complete Streets and sustainable transportation projects to prevent local governments from dragging out the process while they barter for concessions
Finally, one failure was good news, as AB 697, which would have allowed the expansion of State Route 37 through protected habitats and wetlands in Sonoma County, suffered a welcome death.
Although all the charges are misdemeanors and traffic citations at this point. But let’s hope it’s enough to keep the 47-year old man from driving again until he’s 87.
Or maybe ever.
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Active SGV is hosting bike rides in Montebello and El Monte this Saturday.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
An economist with the libertarian Hoover Institution is convinced new bike lanes on El Camino Real between Menlo Park and Sunnyvale aren’t worth the lost business during construction work and a loss of parking, because he and his wife only saw on bike rider at the exact moments they happened to go by. Never mind that bikes can be harder to see because bike lanes move riders more efficiently than traffic lanes, and that bike lanes usually result in higher retail sales.
A Florida man with a history of road rage assaults got out of his truck to threaten a 19-year old bike rider, who yelled at him about speeding, then told him to “shut the fuck up” when the driver responded by flipping him off. Thanks to Mike for the heads-up.
Writing for Cycling West, Peter Abraham says he was excited by Caltrans’ plans to install new bike lanes on deadly PCH through the ‘Bu, until he learned about the 11 to 20-year timeline — and that’s if they can get funding of up to $268 million. So we might as well get more ghost bikes and white tires ready, because we’re likely to need them before they get this damn thing fixed.
State
British adventurer Matt Garman set out from San Diego to ride across the US, with a single bag containing just one set of clothes, a cellphone and a credit card, to raise funds for a children’s charity. And that ain’t gonna protect him from any early winter weather along the way.
Huge protest in @turulromaniei ! A cow tried to enter in the peloton! 😱🐮 Fortunately no cyclist was injured, you can hear them laughing but that was REALLY close. La vaca Lola. 😂#TurulRomanieipic.twitter.com/K2woi7ftLm
Day 258 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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I got a little dose of inspiration yesterday.
My wife, the corgi and I attended the first part of SAFE’s 10th anniversary celebration yesterday evening, before we had to leave for a family commitment.
The nonprofit group known as Streets Are For Everyone was born from Damian Kevitt’s first Finish the Ride, after more than 600 people turned out to ride with him to finish what started out as a pleasant bike ride with his wife, before it was interrupted by a heartless hit-and-run driver.
But in time, it became clear that Kevitt had been struck by the driver of a van while riding on Zoo Drive, and dragged hundreds of feet onto the northbound 5 Freeway by the fleeing driver.
He freed himself from under the van by sheer force of will. And likely survived only because the trailing drivers saw what was happening and stopped to protect him, and because some of those cars has people with medical training, who began treating him at the scene before paramedics arrived.
The odds that he would survive his multiple life-threatening injuries were somewhere between slim and none. But his mother refused to give up and fought for him at every turn. And Damian’s sheer will to live was evident when he told her and his wife that he would one day finish that ride, whatever it took.
In those ten years, Damian has gone from a victim to founder of a successful organization that has spawned other traffic safety groups and shepherded a number of important bills through the state legislature, as well as memorializing victims and calling attention to our most dangerous streets.
He has become someone I truly admire and consider a good friend. And along with Streets For All founder Michael Schneider and Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, he’s one of the first people I reach out to with any bike or pedestrian safety problem that demands a solution.
We are lucky to have people and groups like that fighting for us every day.
Listening to the inspiring stories from other victims of traffic violence, along with SAFE staffers and volunteers, it coalesced in my own mind just why I do what I do, and what keeps me fighting when our mean streets and uncaring officials continue to drag me down and break my heart.
For the first time in a long time, or maybe ever, I can now sum it up in two simple sentences.
I want everyone who wants to ride a bicycle to be able to ride one, regardless of who they are or where they live.
And I want everyone who leaves home today on a bicycle to get home safely.
That’s it.
I’ll keep fighting for that as long as I have any fight in me. Sometimes I think that day was yesterday. And sometimes I think I’m just getting started.
One other note before we move on.
One of the speakers yesterday described how he was struck by a driver and badly injured just five months after moving to Los Angeles. And yesterday’s CicLAvia was the first time he had ridden a bike in this city since.
It was a reminder just how important CicLAvia and other open streets events like Beach Streets in Long Beach, and Active Streets in the San Gabriel Valley, are to all of us.
Because without them, many people in the this car-choked megalopolis wouldn’t ride bikes again.
Or at all.
Top photo: Damian Kevitt speaking at SAFE 10th Anniversary event.
And it’s important to note that Linton’s lawsuit is a personal matter, unrelated to his work for Streetsblog.
In a very narrow ruling, the judge concluded that Metro could join the suit, but could only focus on the Vermont case, and not any other possible cases.
In the discussion in court, the judge engaged Metro’s lawyers regarding how expansive this case would be. Metro’s earlier filing noted that my lawsuit “attacked” Metro’s authority to build “the Vermont Project and other Metro projects.” The judge asked Metro’s lawyer if it was ok to strike references to other projects, and just focus on Vermont. Metro’s lawyer agreed. Towards the end of the discussion, the judge summarized that this trial would focus on one project on Vermont, and that another day could focus on another project on, for example, Western or Alameda
That’s it for now.
Going forward, Metro will undoubtedly argue that HLA is a city ordinance that does not apply to them as a county agency, while Linton’s attorneys will argue that Metro is working for the city on a city project, on a city street included in the city mobility plan.
It will be interesting to see how this develops from here.
Although I’m not sure if they were more appalled because of the Instagram posts or the gender identity of the person behind them.
I haven’t commented about the shooting here because it falls outside of the scope of this site.
But as someone who lived through the killings of both Kennedys and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the attempted assassinations of Presidents Ford and Reagan, and the near-fatal shooting of Alabama Governor George Wallace, I can attest that no good ever comes from political violence.
And you can’t kill an idea, good or bad, with a bullet.
Known for high-performance gear and a culture-first approach, the company’s MAAP LaB Los Angeles landed on iconic Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice, their eighth location outside of Australia.
According to StupidDope, it’s designed to be a creative hub for bicyclists and creatives.
At its heart lies a social coffee bar, an anchor point meant to bring riders together before and after their rides. It’s more than a retail space; it’s a venue where cyclists and Venice locals alike can gather, share stories, and connect over a shared passion for performance and design. This approach reflects MAAP’s “Life Around Bikes” philosophy — a reminder that cycling culture is about more than the ride itself.
They’re not the first to try that approach.
And Abbot Kinney is littered with the gravesites of other high-end bike brands who thought they had a “can’t miss” concept in the ideal location.
