Tag Archive for Failure to launch

CA ebike incentive launch just this side of a total shitshow, and Hollywood Blvd may be safer but business owners hate it

December 19, 2024 / / One comment
Just 12 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb. 
Yet no city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it. 

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Just seven six days left in the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Stephen C and Todd T for their generous donations to bring you all the best bike news and advocacy from around the corner, and around the world.

Time is rapidly running out to support this year’s fund drive. So just stop what you’re doing and give now! 

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The California Ebike Incentive Program actually launched yesterday, so we can finally stop our failure to launch countdown, after nearly a full year since it’s previously promised launch date, and three-and-a-half years since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law.

Now if they could just a) get their collective shit together, and b) at least make some effort to meet the demand.

I’m told this was the typical experience for people attempting to apply for an ebike voucher.

1) Attempt to login at exactly 6 pm

2) When that fails, attempt to login again, and again

3) Keep trying to login until you finally get in

4) Get a message saying you are in a very long line to apply

This message was received by someone attempting to apply at exactly 6:30 pm and 23 seconds.

That was followed by,

5. Attempt to login again an hour later

6. Get the following message when they finally let you in

So far, everyone I’ve heard from has had a similar experience. And I’ve yet to hear from, or even about, anyone who actually got a voucher.

Though I’m sure there has to be someone, somewhere.

Seriously, though we’ve been predicting this for months, if not years.

The initial funding of a paltry $3 million is ridiculously low for a state of 38 million people, even when limiting applications to lower-income residents, ensuring that demand would far exceed the available funds.

And outside administrator Queue-it appeared to throttle the application process, ensuring that only a handful of people fortunate to get in on the first or second try would even get a chance to apply.

I’m told the problem may have stemmed from Queue-it launching the program a few minutes early, so that people who attempted to log in at 6 pm had already been blocked by those fortunate few who coincidentally tried to login ahead of time.

Unless, of course, those people somehow knew the window would open before 6 pm. But that would be cheating, right?

At lease the website didn’t crash, as has happened in other states.

Let’s be honest, though.

This program, as now established, is just an underfunded joke.

Funding for California’s electric car rebate program has likely now exceeded $1.5 billion — yes, with a B — fueling sales of over 600,000 vehicles.

Not around 1,500, which is how many ebike incentives were predicted to be funded in the first round.

And without the interminable three-month between application windows faced by ebike buyers.

While those EVs are much cleaner than gas-powered cars, they are still cars. They take up just as much space, and pose just as much risk to others as any other car, while contributing the same amount of particulate pollution from brake, tire and roadway wear.

Ebikes don’t.

Ebikes can easily replace car trips of up to ten miles – which represents the overwhelming majority of motor vehicle trips — while removing nearly one car for every ebike pressed into service.

Ebikes are also much cleaner than even zero-emission vehicles, requiring significantly less energy to operate, and contributing almost no wear and tear to the road surface.

And ped-assist ebikes work to improve the health of the user, unlike motor vehicles, which reduce life expectancies with every mile driven.

Never mind that limiting ebike rebates to lower-income residents is counterproductive in a state with more cars than people. Or that Pedal Ahead, the group administering the program for the California Air Resources Board, is currently the subject of a criminal investigation by the state DOJ.

Other cities and states have tied vouchers to a commitment to replace or reduce motor vehicle usage, making them more efficient at replacing motor vehicles than California’s misguided approach of only funding ebikes for people who may not be able to afford a car in the first place.

But at least the launch wasn’t a total shitshow.

So there’s that.

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Early indications are that the lane reduction and protected bike lanes on east Hollywood Boulevard are improving safety, according to councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez.

But as usual, that’s not good enough for local business owners, who complain that their apparently nearsighted customers can’t see their stores, since they now have to park a few feet from the curb.

Sure, that makes sense.

They also complain that drivers have to wait while other cars park, and that fewer lanes cause traffic to slow down.

Which is kinda the point, yes.

Although that would seem to benefit local businesses by making their businesses more apparent to drivers who would otherwise speed past, just like they did before.

And God forbid that they would want to enjoy the benefits that other cities have seen, as more walkable and bikeable business corridors usually see increased sales over the long run.

But that would require a little patience, which seems to be sadly lacking these days.

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Um, sure.

John Franklin, author of Britsh bicycling skills manual Cyclecraft — and the country’s answer to Effective Cycling author John Forrester — says bicycling on the country’s roads is “very safe,” while calling for “less exaggeration of danger” facing bicyclists.

Meanwhile, South Bay-based LA bike writer Peter Flax says the books offer useful information for experienced bicyclists. “But as far as offering a philosophy or policy prescription that can grow participation and make cities safer, they are complete dogshit.”

Which is just one of many reasons I strongly recommend his new book, which is perfect for holiday giving.

Even if you’re giving it to yourself.

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Sadly, no surprise here.

Ghost bikes make drivers uncomfortable, which is exactly the point, reminding them to drive safely because the cost could be another human life.

And they make city officials uncomfortable, because they offer a stark reminder of their failure to build streets that protect the lives of their residents.

So while they may offer some silly excuse like ghost bikes are unsightly, or get in the way — as if officially sanctioned objects like homeowner trashcans don’t — the real real reason can be found in their red faces, sweaty brows and tight collars.

Although you’d think someone like Claremont resident Donna Orange would deserve better.

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‘Tis the season.

Twenty San Diego elementary students got new bicycles courtesy of the San Diego Unified Police Department.

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

A San Diego letter writer wants the city to charge bicyclists for annual bike licenses to pay for all the bike lanes he claims no one uses, because apparently, our taxes somehow don’t pay for them like his does.

A Toronto news outlet considers the burning question of why does Ontario Premier Doug Ford hate bike lanes so much, as he carries on the legacy of his late bike-hating, crack-smoking brother, former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

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Local  

Streets For All asks you to email Metro to demand that the Vermont Ave Bus Rapid Transit project comply with the recently passes Measure HLA, with is now law in the city of Los Angeles.

Longtime Los Angeles Times writer and editor Shelby Grad relates how he transformed from a bike lane pessimist to falling in love with those little strips of striped asphalt. Hint: It didn’t happen here.

Momentum profiles Santa Monica film editor Caro Vilain, whose viral pro-cycling videos are “fueling a fun-filled cycling revolution.”

 

State

This is who we share the road with. A police chase has once again taken the life of an innocent victim, this time in Fullerton, where a driver fleeing from the cops caused a multi-vehicle pileup, killing a woman in her 60s; this was the suspect’s second crash of the chase, which really should have convinced pursuing cops to break it off and track him by other means just a tad less risky to the public.

San Francisco has paid out $40 million over the past five years to settle 151 claims from pedestrians run over by city workers, with dozens still outstanding.

 

National

Smart Cities Dive considers the two men charged with ripping up Biden’s bike, rail and EV friendly transportation policies, and implementing Donald Trump’s vision for how we’ll get around.

New legislation expected to pass both houses of Congress and be signed by Biden could mean an end to exploding ebike batteries by setting safety standards for them. Or maybe not, since that was part of the bipartisan budget deal Trump blew up at the last minute yesterday.

Oregon is investing $330,000 to reduce motor vehicle use in underserved communities.

A Colorado Congressman has introduced a bill to require automatic emergency braking systems on all new passenger vehicles, capable of detecting bicyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, regardless of skin tone, clothing color or protective gear; the bill is named in honor of 17-year old US national team member Magnus White, who was killed by a driver while on a training ride last year.

A Pittsburgh attorney is teaching kids leadership skills by taking them on bicycling adventures through other states that they might never see on their own.

New York cops caused their own police chase crash when a suspected drug dealer fleeing from police slammed into a man riding a bicycle, before ditching the car several blocks away.

Florida thieves are targeting online bicycle sellers by arranging meetings for a test ride, then taking off without paying for the bikes.

It’s back behind bars for a former Florida bridgetender convicted of failing to look before opening a drawbridge while a woman was walking across it, causing her to fall to her death; she will now serve ten years for violating her probation for the original conviction by smoking cannabis to help her sleep. Then again, I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I caused that, either. 

 

International

Historic cycling brand GT Bicycles is temporarily ceasing operations, significantly reducing staffing and liquidating existing merchandise as parent company Pon Holdings announces a major restructuring; a Bike Radar columnist says the company’s death would be a tragic loss for bicycling.

A Toronto collision sent two pedestrians and a man riding a bicycle to the hospital with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries, after they were collateral damage in a multi-vehicle crash. Once again pointing out the danger motor vehicles and the people who drive them pose to everyone around them.

Nice gesture, as bicyclists in Brighton, England greeted workers with a cake, mince pies and alcohol-free Prosecco to thank them for building a new protected bike lane. Although why they would then punish them with mince pies is beyond me. 

An Irish family ditched the car and fell in love with their new cargo bike, going so far as to decorate it for holidays, and worrying when they have to lock it up somewhere.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sad news from Belgium, where Belgian cycling legend Rik Van Looy died two days before his 91st birthday; Van Looy was known as the King of the Monuments after becoming the first cyclist to win all five single-day Monuments in the same year, as well as being a two-time world champ with a remarkable 371 total wins.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your potential pro career depends on always having the wind at your back. Your old bike parts could be somebody’s new Christmas ornaments.

And no, those new bollards aren’t there to stop people from driving golf carts in the bike lanes.

That’s just an added benefit.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

CA ebike voucher program sets next failure to launch deadline, and Times calls out fear-mongering over Measure HLA

February 23, 2024 / / One comment
Just 312 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can. Only 19 signatures to go to reach 1,000! 

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Good news, maybe.

But don’t hold your breath.

San Diego’s inewsource reports that the next soon-to-be-missed deadline for California’s moribund ebike rebate program is now scheduled for sometime this spring.

That comes after self-imposed deadlines of January 1st, 2023, and the significantly more vague deadlines of second quarter, 2023, then last fall, which is the most recently missed deadline.

Not that we weren’t all expecting it to launch in 2022, after it passed the state legislature and was signed into law all the way back in those heady pandemic days of 2021.

So if anyone feels like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football, you’re in good company.

The story begins with a focus on San Diego nonprofit Pedal Ahead, which has been tasked with operating the program for the California Air Resources Board.

The nonprofit plans to operate a similar program statewide under a $10 million grant it received from the California Air Resources Board, or CARB. But roughly a year after its originally planned launch date, the program has yet to officially start.

CARB spokesperson Lys Mendez told inewsource that the state’s E-Bike Incentive Project is now expected to begin in the spring, as officials need more time for “infrastructure building” — essentially, making sure Pedal Ahead runs smoothly statewide. That includes organizing with e-bike retailers and community groups that can help get the word out and educate the public about the program, she said.

In other words, the same bullshit they’ve been feeding us for the last year.

The only real news in the story is that the soft launch that was supposed to take place last year actually did happen, despite the complete and total news blackout up to this point.

But as inewsource previously reported, Pedal Ahead suffered from low participation when it launched its San Diego program in 2020, with just a fraction of local participants logging enough miles to keep their bikes — and some reporting far fewer miles than what’s required, or none at all. The program also didn’t use an income requirement, allowing people who didn’t qualify as low income to receive a bike.

Despite that, Pedal Ahead beat two other applicants to administer the state program, with CARB citing the nonprofit’s “proven, on-the-ground experience” in San Diego.

Some money has been spent ahead of the program officially opening statewide. A preliminary “soft launch” is already happening in San Diego, the East Bay in Northern California, Fresno and in tribal communities, Mendez said. In those locations, she said the state is “currently testing key aspects” of the program.

Some, as in a quarter of the original $10 million in state funding has already gone to overhead, leaving just $7.5 million available for rebates.

Of that, $5 million is reserved for the lowest income applicants, with just $2.5 million for everyone else who qualifies with an income less than 300% of the federal poverty level.

Never mind that I would have qualified if the program had launched on time a year ago, and won’t now.

So I hope someone enjoys riding my ebike.

Maybe I can get Tern to sponsor me with one of these, instead. It could happen.

The other news in the story is that even after the moribund program finally crawls its way through the earth to launch, like Dracula after dark, it could take a full three months to be approved for a voucher once you apply.

Residents must also be at least 18 years old to apply for a voucher to get a free e-bike from a program-selected retailer, such as a local bike shop. Participants will need to own the e-bike for at least a year and complete surveys about the experience.

The approval process may take up to three months.

Yes, three months.

And if that’s not a sign of the sheer incompetency behind this program, I don’t know what is.

Frankly, I’m ready to give up on the whole damn thing and ask my state legislators to fire both CARB and Pedal Ahead, and start over from scratch.

Because the thing that other cities and states have seemed to find so easy to do — get ebike rebate programs up and running through multiple rounds of funding — seems to be impossible here.

Meanwhile, if Tasha Boerner’s AB 2234 passes, even adults will be required to pass an online test in order to be able to legally buy one, let alone actually ride it, if they don’t already have a driver’s license.

Because living in poverty isn’t humbling enough, evidently.

Thanks to Ellectrek for the heads-up.

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They get it.

The Los Angeles Times writes that all the fear-mongering over Measure HLA — the Healthy Streets LA ballot measure — ignores that what’s really scary is LA’s deadly streets.

According to the paper, some of the city’s most powerful officials have been trying to sabotage the measure, rather than actually doing something to reduce deaths and injuries resulting from traffic violence.

Never mind actually eliminating them, which was supposed to happen by next year. But won’t.

But even though the projects have been on the books for years, last week the city’s top budget official released a questionable new $3.1-billion estimate for the plan, while the union that represents city firefighters claimed that making the streets safer will slow emergency response times.

It’s fear-mongering designed to scare Angelenos into voting against the measure. But what’s really frightening is that L.A. leaders could have started building a more walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly sustainable city years ago and perhaps averted some of the recent deaths. They had the blueprint to make streets safer but didn’t make it a priority. That’s why Measure HLA is necessary.

It’s worth reading the whole thing to see just how much your life is — or more accurately, isn’t — worth to many of those leading this city.

Let alone the people responsible for saving it.

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Bike Long Beach will host a murals and coffee ride tomorrow, to avoid conflicting with Sunday’s CicLAvia, along with a virtual monthly meeting on Monday.

Bike Long Beach Feb Meeting

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Don’t forget Saturday’s 46th Annual LA Chinatown bike ride tomorrow, and Sunday’s Melrose Ave CicLAvia.

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It’s now 64 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 31 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.

No bias here. Streetsblog says Oakland complains about a lack of resources to build bike lanes, but they somehow had the resources to rip one out along the city’s Embarcadero.

Britain’s CyclingMikey, scorned among the motoring crowd for recording scofflaw drivers with his bike cam, says bicyclists “are seen as the cockroaches of the road.” Well, tell us something we don’t know.

Berlin’s rightwing mayor is fulfilling a campaign promise to make more room for cars by ripping out bike lanes. Which is more proof that we’re never more than one election from losing all the gains we make.

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

Apparently, someone has our back, but not in a good way. After a 19-year old driver hit a bike rider in San Antonio, Texas, someone opened fire, riddling the car with bullets.

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Local 

The Beverly Press says Measure HLA could pave the future for mobility in Los Angeles.

 

State

Calbike calls on California to divest from wasteful, induced demand-inducing highway projects, and invest in Complete Streets and the state’s transportation future.

Calbike also introduced a slate of 16 bills they’re backing for the current legislative session, including bills that would mandate Complete Streets following Caltrans resurfacing projects, similar to Measure HLA, as well as mandating motor vehicle speed limiters and truck sideguards.

An Orange County mother has made it her mission to preach ebike safety in the face of rising ebike injury rates. Although I’ve yet to see a study that shows ebike injury rates in relation to ebike ridership, without which claims of rising or worsening injuries are merely anecdotal.

San Diego will pay nearly $3 million to the family of Hossein Samadi, who was killed in a 2020 collision with a city truck parked in a bike lane Carmel Valley Road without warning cones or flashers.

San Francisco Streetsblog attempts to cut through the latest misinformation regarding the city’s Valencia Street centerline bike lane.

Bike Magazine examines how Davis became “Bike City, USA.”

 

National

Vehicle-to-everything technology, aka V2X, rears its ugly head once again, as a writer for Streetsblog says we could improve safety for bicyclists by allowing cars and bikes to talk to one another. As long as you’re willing to wear a transponder every time you ride, or be held accountable anytime you don’t.

Velo marks Black History Month with a look at eight groups making bicycling more inclusive across the US.

NPR reports bike helmet use declined almost 6% each year for the last five years, while ebike head injuries saw a 49-fold increase, with just 44% of injured ebike riders wearing helmets. Although as noted above, those numbers are virtually meaningless without a comparison to increasing ebike ridership rates, and comparing helmet use by ebike riders who suffered head trauma with similarly injured riders of regular bikes.

An Oʻahu bike club uses two wheels to explore Honolulu’s Kalihi Valley, one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods.

This is why you let the police handle it. A Portland woman was nearly killed when she went with friends to a homeless camp to help recover a stolen bicycle, and was shot by a man with a high-powered air rifle.

Denver opened a new $14 million, 1.5-mile protected bike lane that bike riders have been waiting on for more than eight years.

Cleveland’s Vision Zero program is called into question after 550 people were struck by drivers while walking or biking in the city.

The husband of fallen US diplomat and bicyclist Sarah Debbink Langenkamp says littering can get you up to five years behind bars in Maryland, but the driver who right hooked his wife with a 50,000 pound truck walked with a traffic ticket that carried a lousy $2,000 and 150 hours of community service.

 

International

More on the “clever policing” that London cops used to bust a $165,000 bike theft ring by using a bait bike. Something that remains off-limits for the LAPD, over misplaced fears of entrapment, thanks to a singularly uninformed opinion from former City Attorney Mike Feuer, who wants to be my next Congress Person; yeah, good luck with that. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the link. 

Meanwhile, bikejacking victims call for more cops around London’s Regent’s Park, where gangs of moped-riding thieves are reportedly targeting a list of high-end bicycles, including Pinarello, Bianchi, S-Works and Brompton, which are then shipped to Russia to evade sanctions.

A British letter writer says excuse me, but 1 million bicyclists a year, 2,739 cyclists every day and 114 an hour does not a low number using a bike lane make.

Paris is now officially the most bike-friendly city in France.

Over a quarter of Belgians rode an ebike last year, as electric bicycles continue to gain in popularity. That’s a figure we may never see here, as long as officials continue to drag their feet on an underfunded rebate program, and fight against safer, more livable streets.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling site looks forward to this year’s trends in bicycle fashions. Which are pretty much the same as last year, and every other year.

 

Competitive Cycling

British cyclist Adam Yates was forced to retire from the UAE Tour following a concussion protocol fail, when he continued riding after a crash, until he radioed the crew to ask what happened since he didn’t remember anything.

A writer for Cycling Weekly knows just how it feels when Phil Gaimon steals your hard-won KOM.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you get hit with a bicycle during a pro wrestling street fight. Or when even an Aggie understands we’re second-class road users.

And presenting the driver psychology course for bicycling safety.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
 
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