Tag Archive for car dependency

Contentious WeHo meeting for Fountain Ave, can San Diego end car-dependency, and getting FDs on the side of street safety

Day 233 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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The next two days are predicted to be the peak of the current heat wave, so be careful out there

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It sounds like I missed a contentious meeting on Tuesday.

Writing for Beverly Press & Park La Brea News, Sam Mulick describes how the public meeting to discuss the proposed redesign of Fountain Ave, just weeks after the hit-and-run death of Blake Ackerman as he rode his bike home from work last month.

And before next month’s final vote on the project.

According to Mulick, the meeting was attended by every member of the WeHo City Council, and included a presentation by senior transportation planner Chris Corrao, project manager for the redesign.

Phase 1 includes reducing the street to one travel lane in each direction, while removing on-street parking on the north side of the street and building protected bike lanes. Phase 2 would widen sidewalks and upgrade curb ramps, to be considered later.

The goal, explained Corrao, is to transform Fountain back into “the residential street that it was in the 1960s.”

Community members expressed outrage at the proposed parking losses and claimed the redesign would significantly increase traffic on Fountain Avenue and on Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards. Others urgently called on the council to approve the plan, citing a desperate need to protect bicyclists and pedestrians.

Mike Greenfield, who has lived on Fountain Avenue for decades, said the project’s impact on traffic would be catastrophic and he will pursue legal action against the city if it is approved.

“This is the most maddening thing – I had no idea it was going to get to this,” he said to raucous applause throughout the room. “Do you have any idea what’s going to happen to Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood and Santa Monica Boulevard? Total lunacy.”

However, both the Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who protect the city, said they would be able to respond to any emergency calls after the redesign.

Supporters of the project were equally passionate.

Alex Silberman, a West Hollywood resident, said the potential lives saved by implementing measures to slow drivers on Fountain Avenue outweighs the potential increase in traffic.

“We have seen cars slam into buildings. We have seen them slam into each other. We have seen them kill people, and we all share responsibility for not fixing this before Blake Ackerman was killed,” Silberman said to loud applause from attendees who support the redesign.

Although one opponent demonstrated an extreme degree of not getting it, arguing that it was a “disgrace” for people to use Ackerman’s death to justify the redesign.

Because, evidently, his death has nothing to do with safety on the deadly street. Nor did the needless deaths of anyone else on Fountain, apparently.

Which makes it all the more important to mark your calendar for next month’s WeHo City Council meeting on September 15th, at 6 pm.

And yes, I’ll do my best to be there, whether virtually or in-person, if I can manage to avoid any more family emergencies.

Top photo from vigil for Blake Ackerman on Fountain Ave; bottom image from Fountain Ave Project page

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Ouch.

A writer for the Voice of San Diego questions whether the city can ever end its dependence on cars.

And adds this comforting thought.

Even at the best of times, in the best of places, San Diego’s car-free transportation options are not good. It makes perfect sense to me why most people drive everywhere. Transit will almost always take longer, and it’s probably not very close to your house. Unless you have no other choice or pay “walkable neighborhood” rent prices, going out of your way to reject car culture feels borderline masochistic.

Sounds a lot like a little megalopolis a couple hours to the north, too.

San Diego has a plan for a more sustainable future, one with “mobility hubs” and express bus lanes, and progressive politicians claim to support it. Yet, history suggests their allegiance to the long-term vision is less important than cutting their short-term political losses.

This plan will require most of us to drive less, but it also delivers on things that politicians and voters say they want: better transit, increased walkability, shorter commutes, safer infrastructure. These investments are largely incompatible with transportation as we know it. It’s no coincidence that the “walkable” neighborhoods where most people want to hang out also have the least parking.

The plan is not all stick and no carrot, but San Diegans seem to want all carrot and no stick.

Seriously, she knows them so well.

And us.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to read the full piece, written by Bella Ross. Because she has a good grasp on the problems both cities face.

And you can probably add Orange County to that list, while you’re at it.

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An upcoming UC Berkeley study considers the persistent problem of getting fire departments to sign onto street safety projects designed to save lives by preventing injuries, rather than responding to them.

According to San Francisco Streetsblog’s Roger Rudick,

When cyclists and pedestrians get mashed by errant drivers, it’s fire departments and Emergency Medical Technicians who witness first-hand the horrific results of dangerous streets. So why doesn’t it follow that city fire departments are 100 percent supportive of street safety measures?

That’s the question behind “Safety vs. Safety: Understanding and Overcoming Conflicts between Street Safety and Fire and Emergency Response Description,” a soon-to-be-released study from UC Berkeley and the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety. “How do you change department culture?” asked Zachary Lamb, Assistant Professor of City & Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, and one of the study authors, during a presentation Wednesday morning about the research.

The study authors looked at Austin, Baltimore, Nashville, and, of course, Berkeley, to figure out what works and what does with efforts to get fire departments on board with bike lanes and other street safety measures. An overarching goal is to get fire departments to shift to ‘street trauma prevention‘, the way they try to prevent building fires instead of just putting them out.

Again, it’s worth taking the time to read Rudick’s full story. Let alone reading the actual study when it comes out.

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

A Decatur, Illinois man riding a bicycle was repeatedly shot with BBs fired from a passing car, using a fully automatic BB gun capable of firing up to 1,000 rounds per minute.

The sister of a fallen English bicyclist wants to know why the city council insists the pathway where he died in a solo crash is a sidewalk, if there are signs posted saying it’s a shared pathway.

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

A 26-year old British bike rider walked without a day behind bars when he was given a suspended sentence for seriously injuring a woman walking her dog on a sidewalk, while riding “furiously.”

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Local 

Streetsblog editor Joe Linton discovered an actual protected bike lane in Los Angeles, for a change, after concrete barriers appeared on brief strip of 3rd Street in DTLA.

West Hollywood will lower speed limits by 5 mph on a number of key corridors, including deadly Fountain Ave, and Sunset and Santa Monica blvds.

 

State

The San Francisco Police Department is offering a whopping $200,000 reward in hopes of solving the 2008 cold case murder of a man who was shot in cold blood after he was forced to a stop by the driver of a car, then got into an altercation with the occupants, as he rode his bike home from work.

There’s something seriously wrong when city officials have to beg drivers not to kill kids on their way to and from school, like these officials in San Francisco, and virtually every other American city.

Sonoma County’s State Route 1 is about to get centerline rumble strips and bicycle pullouts. Which is not the same as pull-ups, as any toddler parent could tell you.

 

National

People For Bikes discusses the growth in bicycling, and why participation matters.

That’s more like it. A DUI hit-and-run driver who killed a noted Bend, Oregon chef as he rode his bicycle two years ago will spend the next ten years behind bars, and permanently lose her driver’s license.

This is who we share the road with. Apparently, a pair of Houston, Texas food bloggers should have been wearing helmets and hi-viz to avoid the driver who plowed into the restaurant, and them.

The Green Bay Packers continued their annual tradition of riding bicycles borrowed from fans, including kids bikes, and invited the Seattle Seahawks to join them.

A Milwaukee columnist writes in praise of essential nonessentials, like trading cutoff jeans, T-shirts and tennis shoes for bike shorts with a chamois, and other assorted bicycling gear.

A Wisconsin letter writer reminds everyone that bike riders belong on the road, and their presence isn’t optional or frivolous.

Illinois has officially redefined what is considered a bicycle for insurance purposes, including any ebike or scooter with a top speed under 30 mph.

Good question. A nonprofit Minnesota newspaper celebrates the 5.5-mile Minneapolis Midtown Greenway as it turns 25, and questions why there aren’t more carfree trails in the Twin Cities.

A sharp-eyed Columbus, Ohio city worker helped return a stolen bicycle to a woman who had built it from scrap with her father, and ridden it across the country.

A Vermont city wants young scofflaw ebike riders to go through a restorative justice program, rather than appear in court.

A Boston public radio station discusses why and how the city’s bike lane debate became so divisive.

Great idea. The Boston Museum of Science will host a daylong discussion and activities to promote sustainable transportation in the city.

Actor Glenn Powell is one of us, riding his bike with his stunt double as he films a new movie with J.J. Abrams in Providence, Rhode Island.

A 49-year old Rochester, New York man will spend 20 years to life behind bars for stabbing another man in the shoulder to steal his bicycle in a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot.

A New York woman says she now thinks twice every time she gets on her bicycle after getting hit by someone on an ebike.

Key Biscayne, Florida upheld a ban on ebikes of every type in a contentious meeting.

 

International

Once again, the Mounties got their man — or bike, in this case, recovering a $10,000 mountain bike hours after it was stolen from a sleeping German tourist.

This is who we share the road with, part two. A British motorcyclist was busted for riding stoned on the same stretch of roadway twice in just three weeks — yet he only lost his license for a whole 16 months. So if you want to know why people keep dying on the streets, that’s a good place to start. 

A travel website recommends 17 “epic” New Zealand bike routes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist looks at the even dozen British and Irish cyclists preparing to take part in the Vuelta starting this weekend.

Ouch, part two. American Quinn Simmons says pro cycling isn’t much fun, and called on his fellow riders to be more honest and “behave like humans.”

American Brandon McNulty claimed the overall victory at the Tour of Poland earlier this month.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you get recognized by the electric motorbike-riding cellphone thieves you’re chasing. Don’t ride Cuban roads without bike lights.

And getting every bit of life out of your tires.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Altadena gets post-fire Bicycle Friendly Community mention, CA car-dependency, and a bizarre anti-bike blvd rant

Day 29 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Well, that was fun. 

We ended up taking the corgi to the vet yesterday for emergency treatment, after we pulled a grape stem out of her mouth Monday night.

That’s because grapes are highly toxic for dogs; even a single grape can be fatal a dog many times her size.

Five hours, $1200 and a shit ton of fluids later, she came back home with a clean bill of health, aside from a little inflammation that should resolve in a few days.  

Good times. 

So you’ll excuse me if I’m a little distracted and emotionally frazzled while I work on this tonight. 

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Great timing. No, really.

The League of American Bicyclists, aka the Bike League, announced their latest list of new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Communities yesterday, along with eight Honorable Mentions.

And only one of those was in Southern California.

Altadena.

Yes, that Altadena. The one that was left devastated and largely destroyed by the Eaton Fire earlier this month.

The city earned an Honorable Mention citation in their first attempt, in recognition of its efforts to improve safety and bikeability on their streets.

Of course, an honorable mention is like a pat on the head saying nice try, but keep working at it, even as much of the city will need to be rebuild from the ground up.

Meanwhile, Cheyenne, Wyoming was named a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community, something that would have been unthinkable back in the day, when I feared for my life dodging pickups and cowboy Cadillacs the few times I had the temerity to even try riding north from my Colorado hometown.

Then again, Los Angeles has been a Bronze Level BFC for over a dozen years, so that may not be saying much.

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No surprise here. Okay, maybe a little.

A new report from auto-parts retailer Motointegrator finds that California is the most car-dependent state, and New Jersey the least, based on the number of motor vehicles compared to how many could be expected given the relative population.

Santa Ana was the most car-dependent city, not just in California but nationwide, followed by ostensibly bike-friendly Long Beach and Chula Vista in San Diego County, with Riverside and Anaheim coming in at 5th and 6th, respectively.

Although the only real surprise is that Los Angeles somehow didn’t make the top ten.

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Um, okay.

A writer from Redwood City, California went on a rant against bicycle boulevards and taking the lane.

And, um, fire trucks. Or something.

He somehow conflates bicycle boulevards, aka neighborhood greenways, with bike routes and sharrows, insisting that actual bike lanes are always preferable.

“Bicycle Boulevards” are one big part of the Big Bikeway Bluff. That is what city managers do when they update the marketing material about “Transportation, Children, and Youth” but accidentally forget to do the real thing. As far as bicycle con-jobs go, “Bicycle Boulevards” play one league above “Bike Routes”, “Slow Streets”, and “Sharrows”. And mainly because the name has a nicer ring to it. “Boulevard” sounds like a quiet, tree-lined street without air pollution. Portland calls the same thing “Neighborhood Greenway” to play with the tree theme as well. I have to admit, it is a very clever and sophisticated con, and it runs very deep. It is running for over 40 years now and counting.

But in the end, all these different names stand for the exact same result: no bike lanes for children, no space for older citizens, and no safety for people with disabilities. Instead, they are just mixed in with 4,000 lbs. vehicles on 30 mph, car-lined streets. So the big question still remains: could “sharing the road” ever be made safe?

Except bicycle boulevards are usually considered a big step above bike lanes, and a key component in a low-stress bike network by giving bicycle priority over motor vehicles.

Yes, the streets are shared, but they are usually designed to physically slow drivers, and often include diverters to prevent drivers from going more than a few blocks without turning, while allowing bicyclists to pass through.

He goes on to accuse the Bike League of offering a false promise of safety by advising bicyclists to take the lane and dress like a clown.

No, literally.

And yet it’s US bicycle advocacy groups – like The League of American Bicyclists(LAB) – that will tell people on bicycles that they are safe as long as they follow these rules:

  • Ride like a vehicle
  • “Take The Lane”
  • Dress like a Clown
  • Always wear a bicycle helmet

Statistically, this kind of advice is killing several hundred Americans each year. And since any real bicycle advocacy group will recognize this as bad advice, we can say something seems very off with LAB. Organizations like these have money, people and resources to develop better policies. In fact, much better information is available for free through many research projects done by different universities.

Granted, it’s been a minute since I’ve been involved with the Bike League, but my understanding from their Bicycle Friendly Communities program is that they are big proponents of bike lanes, and especially protected bike lanes, as well as other safe bicycle infrastructure.

And yes, that includes bike boulevards.

Taking the lane is a strategy for when that bike infrastructure isn’t available, and riders are forced to mix it up with motor vehicles.

That’s opposed to riding in the door zone or hugging the curb like a gutter bunny, encouraging drivers to squeeze by in an unsafe manner. Taking the lane simply forces them to move left to go around you.

Never mind that the number of bicyclists killed while taking the lane pales compared to riders killed at intersections.

Then there’s this.

In case of emergencies, fire departments would use their fire trucks as a way to block off the street. Basically, the fire trucks are “Taking the Lane” to secure the firefighters and others. In the transportation world there is nothing bigger, brighter, and more visible than a bright yellow or red fire truck with its flashing lights on. And yet, in 2019, an estimated 2,500 vehicles crashed into these “blockers” that are “taking the lane” to protect fire crews. That is 6.8 crashes daily or 16% of all fire truck collisions. Tesla’s vehicles seem to have an especially bad relationship with fire engines. They constantly run into them. Who would want children riding in front of such technology?…

So if “Taking the Lane” and “Sharing The Road” are demolishing 2,500 parked fire trucks and countless more emergency vehicles, why would any city manager in San Mateo County assume this to be safe for children? Why would any respectable bicycle coalition recommend “sharing the road” experiments?

Well, if you put it that way.

No, there’s nothing to guarantee that drivers will see you in the road directly in front of them, no matter how garish your outfit. And yes, too many drivers can’t manage to avoid people, objects and vehicles in the roadway.

But the point of taking the lane and wearing bright or reflective clothing — or using ultra-bright lights — is to improve your chances of being seen, and force drivers to go around you.

It’s not preferable to having safe bike infrastructure, however, and only the most passionate John Forester disciples would argue otherwise.

And no, sharrows and bike routes are not safe infrastructure, and can actually increase the risk for riders, while too many painted bike lanes offer little better protection.

And don’t get me started on LADOT’s favored little white plastic car-tickler bendie posts.

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Caltrans announced they are postponing the release of the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study due to the recent fires along the highway.

In light of the recent fires and the ongoing recovery efforts, we have temporarily postponed the release of the draft Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Master Plan Feasibility Study and the 45-day public comment period. The Round Three Community Workshop to present the draft Study’s key findings will also be postponed.

Our hearts are with the residents of Malibu and all those affected during this challenging time. Please be assured that our District is actively collaborating with the City of Malibu to determine the most appropriate time to restart the Study’s engagement activities. We encourage you to continue providing comments through the project’s portal site, as we will monitor it closely. Your input is invaluable to us.

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Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette is co-sponsoring next month’s Tri Club San Diego February Duathlon, and urging people with better legs than me to sign up for the trail run sandwiched around a 10.5-mile bike race.

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

A Phoenix, Arizona man says he was intentionally run down by a road-raging driver after he slapped the man’s truck to alert him to his presence following an overly close pass. Too many drivers somehow consider touching any part of their car, for any reason, as akin to spitting in their face. Just another example of Driver Derangement Syndrome.

A Toronto website examines how a few miles of bike lanes on the city’s deadly Bloor Street turned into a battlefield in the war against bikes; one local pub even distributed t-shirts reading “Fuck Bike Lanes.” Because evidently, people who ride bikes in bike lanes prefer pubs that go out of their way to make them feel unwelcome. 

England’s Norfolk County scrapped plans for a short bikeway connecting two quiet, bikeable streets over complaints about “anti-social” bicycling behavior, forcing riders onto a dangerous, traffic-choked street in an apparent attempt to thin the herd.

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Local  

No shock here, as traffic fatalities exceed murders in the City of Angels for the second consecutive year; the sort-of-good news is that traffic deaths last year dropped 12.5% over 2023, to a still obscene 302 people killed on the mean streets of LA.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports that newly released documents show Forest Lawn Cemetery argued against safety improvements on deadly Forest Lawn Drive because they “have not observed substantial bicycle use” on it. Because people will usually rush out to ride streets where they don’t feel safe. And where they aren’t. Right?

Streetsblog looks at the progress for the coming Sixth Street PARC (Park, Arts, River & Connectivity) Project under the monumental — and somewhat lightless — Sixth Street Viaduct over the Los Angeles River.

The Santa Monica Daily Press announced the voting categories for their Most Loved competition, including the city’s best bike shop; you can find the rules and how to vote here.

 

State

It will now cost you twice as much to park at a meter in San Diego. Unless you ride a bicycle, in which case you can park for free.

Danville is looking for two new members for the city’s Bicycle Advisory Commission, after councilmembers tossed a couple well-known bicycle advocates out on their asses over “personality differences,” which appears to translate to getting on a councilmember’s nerves for advocating a little too strongly.

 

National

Now you, too, can be a bike influencer.

Bike Mag recommends ten gifts your mountain-biking Valentine will love more than chocolate.

Chicago Streetsblog remembers a local artist and bike advocate who literally flipped his way through life on his handmade chopped bicycle with a circular roll bar attached, allowing him to roll over on the roadway; Arthur Travis Duffey, better known as “Flip Bike Travis,” was 54 when he died in San Diego last year after a long battle with cancer.

A Pittsburgh news site examines the Dirty Dozen bike race, featuring a baker’s dozen of the city’s steepest hills, even though this year’s race isn’t scheduled until October.

 

International

Road.cc’s ebiketips rates the year’s best e-cargo bikes, from kid-hauling bucket bikes to an e-longtail.

If you build it, they will come. A new report says a ten-month old protected bikeway through the heart of Edinburgh, Scotland has increased bike riding rates, while making people feel safer, cutting pollution and boosting local businesses

The British government finally followed through on threats promises to pass a law against dangerous bicyclists by adding ten new laws concerning bike riders, including “cycling on a road dangerously” and “cycling on a road without due care and attention,” as well as belatedly requiring bike lights after dark.

Momentum looks at Bergen, Norway’s new Fyllingsdalen, the world’s longest bicycle tunnel actually built for bikes, which runs under a mountain dividing the city.

A Polish adventurer is making plans to ride a fat bike across Mongolia’s frigid Gobi Desert next month, covering 870 miles from the Altai region in Western Mongolia to Sainshand in the East, in temperatures that can exceed -20° Fahrenheit.

 

Competitive Cycling

American Marco “Randy” Osborne and Scotland’s Ella Conolly won the Pro Men’s and Women’s categories in the four day Andes Pacifico enduro race through the Nuble region of Chile; the race is a blind event, meaning the competitors see the course for the first time as it unfolds in front of them.

Ireland’s 28-year old Megan Armitage proved it’s possible to go from beginner to Olympic cyclist in just three years, after her partner, Australian pro rider Cyrus Monk, challenged her while watching the road cycling in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

 

Finally…

Your next bicycle could be made entirely of recycled ocean plastic. Your next bike bell could be an AirTag-equivalent anti-theft bike tracker.

And these bike race fans are really getting out of control.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.