Tag Archive for Highland Ave

Pasadena ebike rebates start tomorrow, Americans know wider highways won’t fix traffic, and LADOT wants your input

June 30, 2023 / / Comments Off on Pasadena ebike rebates start tomorrow, Americans know wider highways won’t fix traffic, and LADOT wants your input

Today marks the start of a four-day holiday weekend for many people, myself included. 

Which means the drinking and driving is likely to start early today, and continue through Tuesday.

While riding a bike remains the best way to get to the fireworks and other festivities, you’ll want to watch out for distracted and drunk drivers, because chances are, they won’t be looking for you. 

So ride defensively, stay safe, and come back here bright and early on Wednesday to catch up on anything we may have missed over the weekend. I’ll be around if there’s any breaking news in the meantime, so make sure you’ve signed up for email alerts near the end of that long, long blue column on the right if you haven’t already. 

And have a great 4th of July!

As for the photo up above, it’s a sad day when even clowns aren’t safe on the streets, judging by the residue by the curb near my apartment.

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Pasadena will begin its ebike rebate program for city residents tomorrow.

Meanwhile, California’s nascent program, which was supposed to be launched by today, remains nowhere to be seen.

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A new study of registered voters across the US shows that two-thirds of Americans know widening highways doesn’t solve traffic problems.

Even if government officials and transportation agencies — like Metro — don’t seem to get it.

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Good question.

The Highland Ave survey considers the section from Franklin to Santa Monica, so it doesn’t go up to the Hollywood Bowl, or down to the subway on Wilshire.

The survey for Culver Blvd covers the street from Berryman Ave to Centinela west of the 405.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1674463066866561037

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A brief thread from Richard Masoner of Cyclicious fame effectively frame the problem of shared responsibility in a world of distracted drivers.

https://twitter.com/cyclelicious/status/1674470650331926529

https://twitter.com/cyclelicious/status/1674472139620225024

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Gravel Bike California’s latest epic takes you riding on Mendenhall Ridge in the Angeles National Forest, by way of Metrolink.

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

A New Orleans advocacy group is teaming with the local bikeshare to give away bike helmets to promote bike safety in the city with the country’s highest per capita bicycling death rate. Except that’s just more victim blaming in the guise of safety, because it doesn’t do a damn thing to get the people in the big dangerous machines to sober up or pay attention to the road and people ahead of them.

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

Yes, Fox News was right about naked men participating in annual Body Pride Ride as part of an all-ages Seattle Pride parade, but a photo of children walking past naked bike riders comes from the London World Naked Bike Ride in 2017, instead. But they wouldn’t want to mention that since the Naked Bike Ride is a protest about climate change, not gay pride. 

A pair of British ebike riders shot up a number of parked cars, for no apparent reason.

Awful news from Germany, where a former Olympic gold medalist cyclist was convicted of sexually abusing a child.

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Local 

BikeLA, nee Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, is looking for auction items for their upcoming LA Bike Fest, in case you or your company has anything of value you can donate. Maybe I can give them an autographed copy of this blog.

 

State

The California Transportation Commission — not Caltrans — announced the latest round of 134 active transportation projects for the Active Transportation Program’s (ATP) Cycle 6, including projects in LA’s Boyle Heights, National City and Tehachapi.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department will now offer bicycle safety classes in lieu of citations for scofflaw ebike riders. Once again putting the onus for safety on the potential victims, rather than the people in the big, dangerous machines.  

While the San Diego media has fanned the flames of driver anger over the new bike lanes on Park Blvd, bicyclists complain that the painted lines on one block don’t offer any protection.

A San Luis Obispo weekly looks at the effort to build a bike path along the California coast, which has been ongoing since the ’70s.

Caltrans plans to improve safety along El Camino Real in Redwood City, including adding bike lanes, by 2028. And just hope no one gets killed in the next five years, apparently.

No surprise here, as vandals and bike thieves have targeted Stockton’s nonprofit bikeshare fleet.

 

National

A new movie tells the story of a 12-year old bike thief who is none too happy when her estranged dad re-enters the picture. Although it might be pushing it to expect the bike community to have sympathy for a bicycle rustling waif.

GearJunkie offers a primer on the carbon fiber found in bike frames and other assorted parts.

Bicycling says the US Bicycle Route System is now even cooler with the addition of new routes, including its first ferry ride. Although you may be out of luck if the magazine blocks you, since it doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else. 

A 69-year old California man has spent the last two years riding back and forth across the US to raise funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation to provide prosthetics for Paralympic athletes. And has high praise for Nebraska drivers.

Heartbreaking story from Detroit, where a man was found not guilty after his three dogs attacked and killed a nine-year old girl as she rode her bike, then began eating her leg; the law requires a person to know their dogs were dangerous before they can be held responsible. Maybe he didn’t know they were dangerous, but he may have starved them.

An artist in Lansing, Michigan has designed a series of artistic leaf-shaped bike racks. Which aren’t likely to be used, because a) they don’t look like bike racks, and b) they appear to be just bolted to the sidewalks, meaning they could be unbolted, too.

Boston plans to build a bike lane on the city’s Boylston Street, and parts of Beacon and Berkeley, to address safety concerns for bicyclists in the Back Bay, although some residents bicker about losing parking spaces. Meanwhile, Back Bay NIMBYs bizarrely warn someone is likely to die because of the protected bike lanes, even though protected lanes have been shown to improve safety for all road users. This story has been brought to you by the letter B.

Maybe there’s hope yet, as teams of architects and designers reimagine what New York streets could be without cars.

New York’s fire department is cracking down on ebike shops selling and storing unsafe lithium-ion batteries.

 

International

A new interactive game invites you to ride a ghost bike to the afterlife to save lost souls. Although in this case, the ghost bikes are magical couriers who ride between the world of the living and the world of the dead. It still sounds like it’s in very poor taste, though, given what ghost bikes represent in the real world. 

Downtown Vancouver has introduced a summer-long free bike valet. Which is a service that every city should offer. 

A British Columbia family ditched their SUV for an environmentally responsible e-cargo bike, and haven’t looked back.

Transgender comedian Suzy Eddie Izzard is one of us, taking to the streets of London wearing a miniskirt on a bikeshare bike.

British bike riders raise understandable concerns after discovering that the bike racks at a new Aldi store can simply be lifted out of the pavement.

The Connexion examines the French love of all things bicycle, dating back to the nineteenth century.

Parisian Mayor Anne Hidalgo enters the emerging conflict between ebike and e-scooter users and people on foot, not by cracking down on electric micromobility, but with what Streetsblog calls a common-sense plan that includes taking still more space from drivers.

An unlicensed Scottish driver was arrested for the hit-and-run that killed a noted local bicyclist in Ibiza, Spain; police found his abandoned Jeep three miles from the crash scene.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay calls Belgium’s Wout Van Aert the Bo Jackson of the Tour de France, but the paper insists on hiding the story behind its draconian paywall. Am I the only one who is less likely to subscribe to any publication after being confronted by their paywall?

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling previews the competition for the Tour de France’s green sprinter’s jersey sponsored by the car brand.

Velo says riders preparing for the Tour de France are pushing for more safety measures in the wake of Gino Mãder’s death in the Tour de Suisse, arguing that “the worst-case scenario is really scary.”

 

Finally…

Who could have imagined that a wheel-less, tread-operated bicycle could be horribly inefficient? That feeling when the first ebike with built-in AI is as weird as it sounds.

And this looks like my pre-4th beer run.

Thanks to Jon for the heads-up.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

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

Road rage driver intentionally runs down Oceanside rider, TransComm approves Incomplete Streets, and Bike the Vote on hiatus

August 18, 2021 / / One comment

Forget hit-and-run. Call it attempted murder.

Police in Oceanside are looking for the road raging driver who intentionally ran down former semi-pro cyclist Adam Atkinson Saturday morning.

The unknown driver followed Atkinson for about a mile after exchanging words with him, before slamming into his bike from behind on eastbound on Vista Way.

The impact flung Atkinson through the air as the driver continued down Vista Way, leaving him with a pelvis broken in two places, as well as broken bones in his elbow, collar bone and shoulder blade.

Police are looking for a black four-door BMW with front end damage and a missing passenger side mirror, driven by a man in his mid-20s. He’s wanted for assault with a deadly weapon.

Hopefully, that will be upgraded to reflect the seriousness of the crime, which could have easily killed Atkinson.

And was probably meant to.

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels.

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Streetsblog reports the City Council Transportation Committee gave their blessing to a trio of incomplete Complete Streets projects on Highland, Culver and La Brea at yesterday’s meeting.

In other words, LADOT somehow envisions these as among the few Complete Streets projects that can somehow be implemented without changing the roadway.

So either the streets are already complete and capable of safely and effectively serving the needs of all road users, which means the projects aren’t necessary.

Or LADOT has no intention of actually making them complete, and just wants to call them something that sounds good and allows them to check a box when applying for funding.

I’d put my money on the latter.

Committee Chair Mike Bonin at least asked LADOT to work with the local councilmember’s office to implement the mobility plan.

But I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Especially after the committee approved the projects as written, while politely asking them to think about doing the right thing when it comes to bus and bike lanes.

Here’s how Streetsblog’s Joe Linton summed up the whole sad affair in his story.

Streets for All had urged its followers to press the committee to implement the La Brea bus-only lanes already approved in the city’s Mobility Plan. Councilmembers Mike Bonin and Paul Koretz questioned why the planned bus facilities had not been included in La Brea’s preliminary designs. LADOT staff responded that the department tries to “balance the needs” and “our corridors are width-challenged.” This portion of La Brea is at least 75-feet wide throughout. The DOT representative stated that a bus lane would “compromise the objective” of this project, but could proceed independently.

Bonin encouraged LADOT to work with the local council office to implement the bus lane, stating that it is a Metro priority and important for equity. Sadly, the directive to work with the local councilmember is tacit acknowledgement that each councilmember has (and frequently uses) veto powers to get in the way of street improvements needed to save lives, and improve transit, health, and quality of life.

Nice to know that adding a bus lane to make La Brea even somewhat complete would somehow compromise the objective of a Complete Street.

You can click on any of the tweets above to read the whole thread, and the link above to read Linton’s story.

Although this exchange pretty well sums it up.

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Disappointing, but totally understanding decision from Bike the Vote, which will be sitting out next year’s elections.

Having done that job myself, both on behalf of this site and as a board member of the LACBC, I can attest to just how draining it can be. And Bike the Vote went far beyond anything I tried to do.

Hopefully, someone will step up and fill the vote before next year, when we’ll elect a new mayor, city attorney, city controller and half the city council.

Because the only voice the bike community has comes from our perceived ability to influence elections. And if candidates don’t think our vote matters, they won’t even ask for our support, let alone support policies to make our streets safer and more welcoming to people on bicycles.

Otherwise, we can look forward to more Orwellian fiascos like we saw yesterday.

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In better news, Zachary Rynew calls our attention to newly striped bike lanes in the San Fernando Valley.

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This is who we share the road with.

A Metro bikeshare dock is no match for a street racing jerk driver. But at least no one was using it at the time.

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

No bias here. Despite admitting that most ebike riders obey the law, a San Diego TV station paints a picture of young scofflaw riders flaunting both the law and safety, while failing to distinguish between ped-assist ebikes, mopeds and electric motorbikes. And goes on to frighten parents over kids riding their ebikes to school. Better to just shove them into the family SUV and drive them like normal parents, right?

No bias here, either. A Florida driver walks with probation for racially profiling a teenage bike rider, and illegally detaining him for allegedly breaking into cars — which he wasn’t.

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Local

CicLAvia estimates just 4,000 people turned out for LA’s first open streets event in two years, belying the pent-up demand expected after the pandemic.

Be prepared to turn off your flashers in the future, as the LA City Council began the process of banning strobe lights at demonstrations, despite worries that it could criminalize flashing bike lights.

If you’re missing a bicycle in the Venice area, you might want to check with the LAPD, after they busted a “prolific” bike thief who now faces seven counts of grand theft.

You may want to find another route through the ‘Bu this weekend, when the annual Malibu Triathlon will take place on PCH.

 

State

San Diego’s annual Bike the Bay rolls this Sunday, the only time bicycles are legally allowed on the iconic San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.

That’s more like it. Alameda forgoes the plastic bendy posts that too often pass for protection, and installs concrete “chonky curbs” anchored with rebar to keep drivers out of a two-way protected bike lane.

 

National

They get it. Smart City says electric cars won’t save our cities, but ebikes might.

Seattle took advantage of the pandemic to go on a bike lane building “binge,” installing seven miles of protected bike lanes. Bearing in mind that Paris installed 31 miles of segregated bike lanes in a matter of months.

The nine-year old diabetic boy riding cross-country with his dad to see the Statue of Liberty got his wish, rolling into New York after 18 weeks and 3,300 miles.

Bizarre crime from Salt Lake City, where a woman was arrested for fatally shooting her girlfriend during an argument while riding their bicycles.

That’s more like it. A 21-year old Wisconsin man faces up to 25 years behind bars after pleading no contest to the hit-and-run death of a man riding a bicycle. Even I think that’s just a tad excessive.

After she was struck by a distracted driver, a Connecticut safe streets advocate examines why bike riders always get blamed for a crash, even by their own friends and family. Just going by my own experience, she’s right.

The New York Times’ Wirecutter makes their picks for the best commuter bike helmet., while Consumer Reports reminds you even the best helmets only last around five years. The best bike helmet is the one you’ll actually wear, commuter or otherwise.

 

International

Momentum says belt-drive bikes could be a game changer for commuters.

A Vancouver writer takes us back to the earliest days of traffic violence and driver privilege, as a London woman became the first known traffic fatality 125 years ago yesterday, after the new driver of one of just 20 cars in the city yelled at her to get out of his way.

That’s more like it, too. Dublin planners have rejected plans for a 428-unit apartment building because it didn’t include adequate bike parking.

More proof that NIMBYs are the same everywhere, as business owners in Belfast, Northern Ireland complain about plans for a bikeway that would reduce on-street parking by 25%. Even though studies have repeatedly shown that bike lanes are good for business, more than making up for any loss of parking.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a speeding driver got just three years behind bars for seriously injuring a six-year old kid out for a bike ride with his dad, while stoned on a cocktail of weed, coke and ketamine.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list — riding 300 miles from Paris to London on a series of cycle tracks. And a ferry, of course.

You think you can ride mountains? A Pakistani mountain biker has become the country’s first woman to ride to the base camp on the world’s second-highest mountain by bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch cyclist Fabio Jakobsen caps a remarkable comeback by winning Tuesday’s 4th stage of the Vuelta, just over a year after he was lying in an induced coma fighting for his life following a horrific crash in the Tour of Poland.

Rouleur looks at the history of the maillot rojo — or red jersey — worn by the leader of the Vuelta’s general classification; the red color is a relatively recent addition to the race, which began in 1935, but has only been run annually for the past 66 years.

Next week’s Deutschland Tour will feature a star-studded cast of riders who skipped the ongoing Vuelta for the four-stage German race.

Team USA presents a guide to the cycling events at the upcoming Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Olympic road cycling gold medalist Anna Kiesenhofer says the one thing she’s sure of after her surprise win is that she won’t be turning pro, due to a fear of what can happen in the peloton.

Tragic news from Colorado, where a mountain biker died while competing in the Leadville Trail 100 race; details are scant, but other riders suggested he may have fallen during a high speed descent or suffered a medical issue.

 

Finally…

We may have to deal with distracted drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about rampaging elephants. Instead of worrying about bike thieves when you park your bike, you might be visited by the Bike Fairy.

And let’s hope the new “cyclist’s paradise” doesn’t retain a faint whiff of its previous existence.

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

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