Tag Archive for Los Angeles

Good news and bad news as CA legislature hits halftime, and “oopsie” shouldn’t get killer drivers off the hook

June 11, 2025 / / No comments
Day 162 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Streetsblog provides a halftime report from the California legislature, as bills move to one house after passing in the other.

Or die an ignominious death upon failing.

Among the winners so far are AB 954, aka The Bike Highways Bill, and AB 891, Quick-Build Project Pilot Program.

The former would set up a pilot program to connect existing bikeways into bike highways, while the latter would instruct Caltrans to use quick-build designs to improve state roads.

Among the other bills also passing in the Assembly was AB 366, allowing interlock devices for drivers convicted of DUI.

Bills passing in the state Senate included SB 71, streamlining CEQA environmental review requirements for public transportation, bike and pedestrian projects that would reduce car dependency.

Also passing the Senate was SB 445, which imposes a deadline on local agencies to review permits for Complete Streets and sustainable transportation projects.

Dying for this year were a bill that would have placed a statewide bond issue to fund sustainable transportation projects on next year’s California ballot, and one to allow victims of climate disasters or their insurers to sue oil companies to recoup their losses.

Meanwhile, the long awaited Stop As Yield, aka Idaho Stop, law that would allow California bike riders to treat stop signs as yields — and possibly roll through red lights after coming to a complete stop — will have to wait until we have a new governor in two years.

It wasn’t introduced this year because Gavin Newsom already vetoed two previous versions of the bill.

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This is why people keep dying on our streets.

Life is cheap in Los Altos, where a man walked without a day behind bars for the distracted driving death of a 38-year old woman riding a bicycle after he was sentenced to probation and community service; he had faced up to six years for felony vehicular manslaughter. Not a single year, as the story suggests.

And life is equally cheap in Michigan, where a former cop walked without a day behind bars for killing an 83-year old man riding a bicycle, after he was sentenced to 12 lousy months of probation; the victim had just finished a ride across the country, and was on his way back home to Florida.

So what’s the point of even having traffic laws, if overly lenient judges won’t even hold drivers accountable for killing someone when they break them?

Just saying “oopsie” shouldn’t be good enough.

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

A San Francisco woman has filed suit against Waymo after she was doored by the passenger of a Waymo self-driving cab, and prevented from taking evasive action by another Waymo cutting across the bike lane.

A new website tells you everything you always wanted to know about where and how to bike in and around Lake Tahoe. Okay, not literally in, unless you’ve invested in waterproof bike lube. 

 

National

CNN recommends the best bike shorts for a more comfortable ride, according to “seasoned cyclists.” Which raised the question of how were they seasoned, and whether they should be grilled, baked or air fried.

The rich get richer, as Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Community Boulder, Colorado could soon get a protected bike lane on a dangerous stretch of one of the city’s main drags.

Kindhearted residents of five Iowa counties collected over 200 donated bicycles to restore and distribute to community members.

That’s more like it. A 25-year old Missouri woman was sentenced to ten years behind bars for the drunken collision that killed a 25-year old man riding a bicycle last year.

Hundreds of people turned out for a Slow Roll memorial ride to remember a 38-year old Ohio woman who was killed when an 18-year old driver crossed onto the wrong side of the road, slamming head-on into her and another woman riding their bikes together, along with a third person who escaped the crash. Maybe if we had a turnout like that when someone gets killed here, we could see some real change in LA, for a change. 

This is how Vision Zero should work. An Ohio city received a $1.4 million grant to install new sidewalks and shared-use paths where two young boys were struck by a driver while riding their bikes last year; a nine-year old boy was killed, while a 10-year old survived with serious injuries.

Streetsblog says if New York’s mayor really wants to improve traffic safety, the city should take advantage of a one-year old state law allowing it to lower speed limits to 20 mph, rather than scapegoating ebike riders, since NYC drivers injure over 9,600 pedestrians each year, leaving less than 40 due to all other causes.

Speaking of New York, the highly publicized crackdown on ebike riders is turning out to be, in the words of the bard, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” as judges are simply putting the vaunted criminal summonses on hold pending dismissal.

Philadelphia advocates are racing to get a bike lane approved by City Hall, for the streets around City Hall, in advance of a summer repaving project and before the city council takes the rest of the summer off.

Apparently, Florida drivers don’t know how to avoid curbs, because they keep crashing into the barriers for a new curb-protected bike lane in Palm Springs.

 

International

Now you, too, can bike your way to better brain health and away from dementia, which is good news for all of us.

Britain’s Cyclist Magazine recommends the best Father’s Day gifts for bicycling dads. Even though the best gift is just more time to ride.

The BBC has finally realized that bicyclists with bike cams aren’t “vigilantes” or “grassing snitches,” belatedly concluding that cameras help bring dangerous drivers to justice and are often the only recourse riders have. Although California law doesn’t allow them to be used against drivers for traffic violations or misdemeanors, technology be damned. 

Dutch ebike brand VanMoof is back from the dead with two new models, after it was rescued from bankruptcy by the electric scooter division of McLaren.

A local campaign by a group of young Scouts in Romania has blossomed into a nationwide movement to build safe bike infrastructure, in a country where kids under 14 are banned from biking on public streets.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, as a writer for the BBC rides Morocco’s 520-mile Route of the Caravans, offering a view of the country few tourists ever see.

A new Chinese-made ebike conversion kit promises to install the first time in just three minutes, and ten seconds thereafter, while offering one of the smallest and most portable sizes yet; a crowdfunding campaign will launch soon offering an early bird price of just $349. Although how that could be affected by Trump’s on-and-off tariffs is TBD. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Seriously? The solo Race Across America, aka RAAM, kicked off in Oceanside CA yesterday, sending competitors over 3,000 miles virtually nonstop to Annapolis, Maryland. But the only mention anywhere in the news comes from a radio station in Osage Beach, Missouri.

 

Finally…

When you’re the king’s sister-in-law, of course you wear $900 pumps to a mountain bike park. That feeling when an apparently AI-written story recommends five scenic cyclist-friendly trails, but can’t be bothered to tell you where they are.

And this is pretty much the opposite of sticking the landing.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

California once again chooses highways over people, Bike Highway bill advances, and bike items at LA Council Committees

June 10, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 161 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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No surprise here.

Calbike complains that California’s transportation budget once again prioritizes highways at the expense of active transportation.

CalBike and other advocates had a modest ask from California’s nearly $20 billion 2025 transportation budget: give back $400 million stripped from the Active Transportation Program (ATP) in 2024, as the legislature promised to do in last year’s budget. Yet the legislature’s version, released today, includes no additional funding for the ATP.

Last year’s cutbacks limited the program to funding just 13 projects for safe biking and walking infrastructure across the state. The missing funds could immediately jumpstart 30 local infrastructure projects that applied for funding and are ready to break ground.

That $400 million works out to just two percent of the massive transportation budget.

Two. percent.

Also known as a rounding error in the whopping $321.9 billion state budget. But the state would rather go against its own climate goals to keep funding highways, at a time when the state is literally burning.

So if you don’t feel comfortable on California streets, you can rest easy knowing that drivers will still be able to go zoom zoom, thanks to the money that didn’t go to improve your safety.

At least until induced demand catches up with them.

Photo by Vitaly Kushnir from Pexels. 

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Speaking of Calbike, the California bike advocacy group celebrated the passage of AB 954, aka the Bike Highways Bill, in the state Assembly.

As examples of what something like that would look like, they singled out LA County’s 35-mile San Gabriel River Trail, and the partially completed 110-mile Santa Ana River Trail, as prime examples.

The group also issued design guidance on Class IV bike lanes, defined as on-street bikeways separated from car traffic by some type of physical barrier.

Although you can probably guess how many Class IV bike lanes Caltrans built between 2018 and 2023, after the legislature approved them in 2015.

Yep. Just this side of zero.

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Streets For All asks you to support three bike-related issues at Wednesday’s joint meeting of the Los Angeles City Council Transportation and Public Works committees, in person or by commenting in advance.

Item #5 looks at using cameras to better enforce bike lanes, item #14 would assign the maintenance of bike paths and lanes to Public Works, and item 15 is the long awaited HLA implementation ordinance.

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Here’s one that’s also worth supporting.

The Long Beach City Council will vote on a $51.3 million contract to build the Studebaker Road Complete Streets Project — which looks to be a transformational redesign — at today’s 5 pm council meeting.

The Studebaker Road Complete Streets Project brings corridor-wide infrastructure improvements to Studebaker Road, spanning nearly five miles from 2nd Street to Carson Avenue. This initiative aims to enhance mobility, safety, and efficiency for residents and visitors who travel along the corridor.

By building a safer, more accessible active transportation network, the project will transform an area currently dominated by car travel. The corridor connects key destinations, including Long Beach City College, CSULB, McBride High School, Sato Academy, Tincher Prep, El Dorado Park and Library, Alamitos Bay, and the 2nd and PCH retail center. These improvements will benefit pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers alike, fostering a safer, healthier, and more inclusive Long Beach.

This project is part of the Elevate ’28 Infrastructure Investment Plan, a historic initiative dedicated to enhancing Long Beach parks, community facilities, mobility access, and streets. Learn more at lbelevate28.com.

Thanks to Joe for the heads-up. 

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Culver City’s annual Pride Ride returns at the end of this month.

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Senior bike racing returns to Pasadena’s El Dorado Park next week.

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This may just be the photo of the year, capturing the chaos that erupted on LA streets over the weekend.

Los Angeles, 2025📸 afpphoto

— Bicicleteiros (@bicicleteiros.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T17:58:55.987Z

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

Apparently, thinking traffic safety advice that only stresses bike helmets and hi-viz kinda misses the point — “like telling women to wear long skirts for their safety” — is somehow “woke” in the minds of people who don’t seem to have any idea what “woke” means.

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

An Austin, Texas woman is looking for the hit-and-run ebike rider who crashed into her bicycle, leaving her with seven broken bones in her wrist and foot.

A British parody account reminds us that it’s always the bike rider’s fault.

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Local 

A new UCLA study based on data from cities around the world shows that increasing density and making streets safer and more comfortable for active transportation are the best predictors of high walking and biking rates, while simultaneously reducing traffic deaths, air pollution and stress for road users.

 

State

A 55-year old Santa Rosa woman is in life-threatening condition after a pickup driver somehow couldn’t manage to avoid someone he admitted to police he saw riding her bicycle in a crosswalk.

 

National

Marketplace says the bike industry is finally adjusting to the disruptions that began with the Covid bike boom, followed by the post-Covid bike bust.

GQ recommends the best bike helmets. Because who would know better how to protect your skull than <checks notes> a fashion magazine?

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list — a 700-mile bikepacking route crossing the entire state of Washington.

Great idea. An Oklahoma City bike club is changing lives by taking elementary and middle school students on afterschool bicycling field trips around the city.

People For Bikes looks at the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator, a Bentonville startup accelerator focusing on helping bicycle businesses succeed and grow.

Chicago could get a new rail trail, after local residents halted a freeway on the site.

A Minnesota broadcaster somehow feels the need to remind scofflaw bike riders that they, too, are subject to traffic laws — but only for their own safety! — as if only people required to take a driving test would know that.

After two-and-a-half years of work, a Detroit man and his son finished their own DIY “Captain America” ebike, patterned after the chopper ridden by Peter Fonda in Easy Rider.

An innocent person once again paid the price for a police chase, after a 68-year old Philadelphia man was injured when a cop chasing a driver crashed into his bicycle, as well as the suspect vehicle, after following the driver into a bike lane; fortunately, the victim was hospitalized in stable condition.

A Florida man learned the hard way that it’s probably not the best idea to steal a bicycle from a police detective’s son.

 

International

Women in West Yorkshire, England don’t feel safe riding their bikes, due to “verbal abuse, sexual comments and motorists passing too close.” In other words, like women nearly everywhere else.

A British bus driver will spend the next four years behind bars for killing a nine-year old girl riding her bike on the sidewalk — yes, the sidewalk — after falling asleep behind the wheel while high on drugs.

A driver in the UK demonstrates that there are all kinds of distracted driving.

America’s hit-and-run epidemic has spread to India, where two college students were both killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding their bicycles to campus in Uttar Pradesh.

 

Competitive Cycling

It was a good weekend for Belizean cyclists, as one rider from the country won the elite Tulsa Tough crit, while another made the podium with a 3rd place finish in the masters Punta Cana Grand Prix in the Dominican Republic.

Evidently, it doesn’t take a magician to make a cyclist disappear.

 

Finally…

When life gives you bike lanes, use ’em to prop up the bike boosting your business. That feeling when a six-year old ad featuring a dated bike hero pops up with no context or explanation.

And if you can’t even drive a shopping cart, always blame the bike for getting in your way.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

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

June 9, 2025 / / One comment
Day 160 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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No surprise here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s hope they can get something done.

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

Logo for LA ’28 from Wikipedia. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

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

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

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

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

 

National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

International

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Competitive Cycling

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

 

Finally…

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

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

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

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Slap on wrist for road raging driver who brake-checked paracycling champ, and “Bicycle Thieves” star dies at 85

June 6, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 157 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Life is cheap in New Zealand.

A road raging driver got just two lousy months of community detention — think curfews and electronic monitoring — and a year of probation for brake-checking two-time paracycling world champ Eltje Malzbender as she was training with a friend on a three-wheeled bike in 2020.

Brian David Mills pled guilty to cutting them off with his van and jamming on the brakes, after yelling “get off the road you fucking bastards,” then fleeing without stopping.

Malzbender took the brunt of the impact on her head, but was lucky to escape with relatively minor injuries.

The judge imposed the lenient sentence, despite what was described as Mills’ “sporadic history of careless driving and violence offenses” stretching back to the late 1980s.

Mazbender recovered in time to compete in the Tokyo Paralympics a year later.

She used paracycling to recover after she was left for dead on the side of the road by another hit-and-run driver in 2016, suffering a traumatic brain injury that left her with lasting injuries including loss of short term memory, co-ordination and the ability to speak.

There’s a special place in hell for anyone who would deliberately injure any disabled person, regardless of what a judge says.

Or should be, anyway.

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Sad news from Italy, where Enzo Staiola, who played the soulful-eyed son in the 1948 Italian cinematic masterpiece Bicycle Thieves, died in a Roman hospital.

The 85-year old Staiola was just eight-years old and had never acted before when the director literally plucked him off the street to star in the film.

He retired from acting just seven years and a dozen films later, performing with stars like Gina Lollobrigida and Marcello Mastroianni, as well as in the iconic Barefoot Contessa with Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner.

Staiola’s death was attributed to complications from a fall.

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You’ve got to be kidding.

The parents of a seven-year old North Carolina boy have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, after he was killed by a driver while walking home from a nearby grocery store with his ten-year old brother.

Just because they let the kids walk a whole two blocks without adult supervision — for the first time.

But the 76-year old driver gets a walk, because police said it was just an “oopsie.”

“In such cases, adults must be held accountable for their responsibilities to ensure a safe environment for their children,” police said in a statement.

As long as the adult in question isn’t operating a motor vehicle, apparently. Or responsible for designing a dangerous roadway.

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Gravel Bike California explores the bike culture at the Cub House LA Invitational Bike and Car Show + Swap Meet.

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Metro Bike reminds you about their free half-hour bikeshare rides this weekend.

https://twitter.com/BikeMetro/status/1930656190490427703

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Mercedes-Benz unveils their new ebike.

No, literally.

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

Ab Oklahoma City man was apparently murdered by a road raging driver, after the 37-year old driver was found dead in the street with a gunshot wound, as police concluded he was killed after a confrontation while riding his bicycle.

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Local 

Long Beach may have a speed limit on the city’s popular beach bike path, but there’s no record of police actually enforcing it for the past five years.

 

State

The Bike East Bay advocacy group installed a popup safety project to reimagine safer streets in Berkeley.

A pair of San Francisco petitions are calling for protecting transit funding from Newsom’s budget cuts, and keeping the currently car-free Market Street from reverting into a “traffic-choked car-sewer” after the mayor allows driverless Waymo vehicles in.

Sacramento is proposing a lane reduction for a street on the city’s High Injury Network, removing two lanes to slow traffic while adding a center turn lane and bike lanes; the city is also planning a two-mile bike and pedestrian project along another street.

 

National

Wired recommends the best bike lights.

A Detroit children’s charity is partnering with Target to give away 180 bicycles to kids in need.

Good for them. A couple of Michigan men are planning to ride 3,400 miles from Grand Rapids to Los Angeles, hoping to raise $50,000 to benefit LA firefighters.

Kentucky bike shops are already getting hit with Trump’s tariffs, with prices climbing 10% to 30% in recent days.

A “modern-day Paul Revere” plans to ride his bike to every Boston Dunkin’ today, eating a Dunkin’ Munchkin at all 92 locations, and covering 80 miles while consuming 5,000 calories to mark National Donut Day.

Lyft will install speedometers on New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare in response to the mayor’s “emergency” order imposing a 15 mph speed limit for ebikes, but will leave it up to riders to actually obey it. Meanwhile, a letter writer says the crackdown was needed, because you can’t expect New Yorkers to look both ways before crossing a street.

It takes a real schmuck to steal the bike a Florida teenager inherited from his dead father.

 

International

Sixty-four-year-old former pro cyclist Luis “Lucho” Herrera voluntarily appeared before Colombian prosecutors yesterday to answer allegations from two former paramilitary members that he paid them about $9,700 to kill four of his neighbors 2002, because the four men refused to sell him their farmland; Herrera won the 1987 Vuelta, and was the first Colombian to win a stage in the Tour de France.

A group of British conservation volunteers are accused of leaving a forest a mess, while sending a message that bikes and kids aren’t welcome, after digging up an unauthorized mountain bike track in a Sheffield nature preserve.

The milk of human kindness must be running low in Singapore, where Facebook users were quick to blame a bike-riding victim after she was struck by a left-turning driver, whose view was obscured by a stopped delivery van.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling News offers a streaming guide to watch pro cycling in the US this month.

Canadian cyclist Derek Gee celebrated his 4th place finish in the Giro by spending the next three days in bed, but with the added confidence of knowing he can now ride with the best.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you have to pay 50 bucks for your free bike storage — okay, make it five. Or when a bike lane becomes a garbage lane.

And tell the jury they can come in late, because there’s a bike ride going on.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Is something rotten in the state of Metro, make Warner Center more bikeable, and help spend OC Measure M funds

June 5, 2025 / / No comments
Day 156 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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To paraphrase the bard, something may be rotten in the state of Metro.

LA Public Press reports that formal complaints filed by Metro Bike operator BTS, aka Bicycle Transit Systems, accuses transit agency officials of violating procurement laws and creating conflicts of interest to favor ride-hailing giant Lyft.

BTS alleges Metro was set to award Lyft a nearly $200 million contract to operate the city’s bikeshare system after illegally structuring the bid to benefit  Lyft.

On May 22, the Metro Board of Directors was set to approve Lyft’s $198 million proposal to operate Metro Bike Share, a countywide rental system of 1,800 public bikes.

But the board removed the scheduled vote from the meeting agenda after BTS alleged in a “protest” letter filed May 14 that a Lyft subcontractor wrote a section of the county’s request for proposals for the Metro Bike Share contract. BTS claims the subcontractor’s involvement could have given the ride-hailing company an unfair advantage. BTS filed a second protest letter on May 20 naming the subcontractor and alleging broader issues with Metro’s procurement process.

It’s possible this is nothing more than a last-ditch effort by BTS and Metro Bike union members to retain the contract they’ve held since 2016.

But if there’s any truth to it, we deserve to know.

And something needs to be done to ensure a level playing field, and guarantee they select the best people for the job.

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Here’s your chance to help make car-centric Warner Center more bikeable and walkable, as Los Angeles moves forward with plans to remake the current office desert.

The city is looking for feedback at the Woodland Hills Farmers Market on June 21st, a short walk or bike ride from the Sherman Way G (Orange) Line Station.

HELP SHAPE THE WARNER CENTER ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION HUB

The Warner Center Active Transportation Hub project supports the transformation of the Warner Center area into an active transportation hub for jobs and housing. Active transportation includes walking, biking, scootering or using a wheelchair – any form of human-powered mobility.

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us at the Open House! If you missed it, check out the meeting presentation online.

ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT

Visit Our Booth at the Woodland Hills Farmers Market

Saturday, June 21, 2025 | 9 am – 2 pm

5650 Shoup Ave., Woodland Hills, CA 91367

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Drop by and tell us

  • What would make you want to walk, bike, or roll more often in Warner Center area?
  • What challenges need to be addressed?
  • Your input will shape future solutions.
CAN’T ATTEND IN PERSON?

Take our 10-minute survey!

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As long as we’re on the subject of public meetings, the Orange County Transportation Authority, aka OCTA, wants to know how you want to spend Measure M transportation funds.

Annual Measure M Hearing set for June 10 to Ensure Accountability of Taxpayer Funds for Transportation

Taxpayer Oversight Committee will hold its 34th public hearing to ensure transportation funding is being delivered as promised to Orange County voters

ORANGE – The Taxpayer Oversight Committee will hold its 34th annual public hearing to ensure that Measure M, the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, is being delivered as promised to Orange County voters.

This year’s public hearing is scheduled for:

6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, at the Orange County Transportation Authority headquarters, 550 S. Main St. in Orange.

The independent, 11-member oversight committee was formed to monitor OCTA’s use of Measure M funding, approve all changes to the Measure M Transportation Investment Plan, and hold annual public hearings on the expenditure of funds generated by the half-cent sales tax. The original measure was first approved by voters in 1990 and overwhelmingly renewed in 2006.

The renewed Measure M is continuing to fund balanced and sustainable transportation improvements through 2041, estimated to invest approximately $14 billion in all. The voter-approved plan allocates 43% of funds to freeways, 32% to streets and roads, and 25% to transit, and includes two environmental programs focused on preserving natural habitats and improving water quality through stormwater capture systems.

The first Measure M helped fund more than $4 billion worth of transportation improvements. These include enhanced freeways, smoother streets, synchronized traffic signals, improved intersections, and regional Metrolink rail service – which continues to be funded by Measure M.

OCTA remains committed to relieving congestion, maintaining infrastructure, expanding travel choices for seniors and people with disabilities, and protecting the environment.

Measure M also supports projects that reduce travel times, improve safety, and coordinate traffic signal systems across cities.

Those unable to attend the public hearing can submit comments by visiting octa.net/PublicHearing.

All written comments must be submitted by noon on Monday, June 9.

Written comments may be addressed to:

Andrea West
Clerk of the Board
Orange County Transportation Authority
550 South Main Street
P.O. Box 14184
Orange, CA 92683-1584

By phone at (714) 560-5611

Or by email at clerkoffice@octa.net.

For more information about Measure M or the Taxpayer Oversight Committee, visit octa.net/TOC.

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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 says the San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG’s, approval of a $27 million Complete Streets project to reconfigure University Ave “proved once again that it is run by a consortium of incompetents.” Because he recently drove to Balboa Park without seeing a single bus in the bus lane, or a bike in the bike lane, which apparently serves as conclusive proof no one ever uses them.

No bias here. An Idaho county judge jerked back the permit for a bike park, just ten days before it was due to open, after the owners had built a network of world-class mountain bike trails on their own dime.

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

A visitor to the Boston suburb of Somerville says they were nearly struck by reckless bike riders three times just trying to cross a street, requiring “evasive maneuvers that would make a Cirque du Soleil performer break a sweat.” Although commenters said having to take a step back isn’t the same as getting hit, and oddly, they’ve never had a problem there.

They’ve got a point. A British bike advocacy group urged Parliament to reconsider a plan for on-the-spot fines equivalent to $677 for bicycling violations in pedestrian zones, arguing that the considerate bike riders are easy to catch, while speedy and/or aggressive anti-social ones will get away scot-free.

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Local 

Caltrans is resurfacing a 20-mile stretch of PCH through the harbor area — likely without building the bike lanes and pedestrian improvements required under the state’s Complete Streets policy — ensuring this stretch of LA’s killer highway will remain that way.

 

State

Thousands of people came out last weekend for Irvine’s second annual CicloIrvine open streets event.

Wrightwood’s Mountain High Resorts will open a new downhill mountain bike park on June 14th.

Sad news from Merced, where a 27-year old man riding a BMX bike was killed by a hit-and-run driver, who later called police to say he had hit “something;” police blamed the victim’s black clothing and a lack of reflectors, saying the driver was unable to see him from behind on the dark street.

West Sacramento is considering a Vision Zero plan with a goal of cutting traffic deaths in half over the next decade. Which is laudable, but half ain’t zero — which is what the “zero” in Vision Zero means. 

 

National

Outside broke out the angle grinder to pick the year’s best bike locks.

A Las Vegas bike shop owner, and former Republican candidate for governor, is working to educate customers about the effects of tariffs that increase the cost of bikes and parts from China, while limiting availability.

A 16-year old Albuquerque, New Mexico boy, the oldest of the four kids charged with fatally running down a Los Alamos scientist in a stolen car as he was biking to work, will remain in custody pending trial after a judge ruled she couldn’t ensure public safety if he was released. No shit.

Ohio will invest nearly $52 million dollars in bike and pedestrian safety projects over the next four years, funding 44 projects in 33 counties.

An unsigned op-ed by “avid cyclists” says Boston’s “willy-nilly installation of bike lanes is the epitome of virtue-signaling,” and that encouraging senior citizens to use bikes as a means of transportation “is tantamount to inviting them to die or suffer serious injuries,” insisting they’re not being hyperbolic. Although it’s worth noting that Boston has an average of seven bicycling deaths per year affecting people of all ages, which makes it seem kinda hyperbolic.

A man and woman were injured when they crashed into a kite string while riding in a bike lane on bridge in Brooklyn, slicing the woman’s hand and forehead, while slitting the man’s throat; the string appeared to be coated in glass like the kind used for kite fighting in South Asian countries. A crowdfunding campaign to help pay the man’s medical bills has raised just over $4,500 of the $15,000 goal.

New York City will impose a 15 mph speed limit on ebike and scooter riders on city streets, forcing people on ebikes, including delivery riders, to go slower than someone on a decent road bike.

An upstate New York man was welcomed back to his Pennsylvania adjacent town after spending the last year riding over 13,000 miles circumnavigating the US, sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

A neighborhood group filed suit to stop Philadelphia from installing cement barriers to protect a bike lane, even though a bike-riding pediatric physician was killed there last year by a driver who drove through the current plastic bollards.

 

International

The dangerous trend of young bike riders popping wheelies and swerving into traffic has spread to the Caribbean’s Cayman Islands, according to a local website.

Irish Customs seized more than 4,000 ebikes worth more than $5.1 million alleged to have been illegally smuggled into the country to avoid European Union duty charges.

An Indian website says bicycling in the coastal state of Goa could be riskier than you think, due to reckless drivers and stray animals.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from the Tour of Iran, where 21-year old Mustafa Ayyorkun, a two-time Türkiye — formerly Turkey — junior road race champion died four days after suffering a broken neck when he collided with a teammate.

 

Finally…

When you’re carrying a dollar bill and a lottery ticket with a white powdery substance on your bike, don’t ride salmon.

And who wouldn’t want a dart board on your bike?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

It was World Bicycle Day — but not in LA, OC Bike Coalition says no to Class IV bike lanes, and Metro rides Rail-To-Rail

June 4, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 155 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Happy International Corgi Day to all who celebrate.

And seriously, why wouldn’t you?

Photo from 6th Street Bridge during 2023 Heart of LA CicLAvia.

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Yesterday was World Bicycle Day.

Or as it was known here in Los Angeles, Tuesday.

Just one more example of the city not treating us as second-class citizens, because they don’t even give us a passing thought.

Case in point, last month’s Bike to Work Day, which Los Angeles officials observed by ignoring it. And us.

Meanwhile, Zag Daily says it’s a pivotal time for bicycling, which is why World Bicycle Day matters.

Think Global Health says regular bicycling is good for physical, mental and yes, planetary health, but more sustainable urban planning is needed.

An Indian writer penned an ode to the humble bicycle.

In a purely performative move, New York renamed a bicycle tunnel as the “World Bicycle Day Bike Underpass” for one whole day. But at least that was better than LA did. 

The Coachella Valley marked World Bicycle Day by reminding drivers to use caution around people on bicycles.

Then there was this —

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The Orange County Bike Coalition has come out against Class IV protected bike lanes, calling out the “known hazards (they) cause to the riders that use them.”

Like other bicyclists we’ve heard from in San Diego, the OCBC expressed concerns about riders risking injuries by colliding with the raised barriers separating them from traffic.

Although it’s hard to reconcile anecdotal reports of hazards with studies showing they dramatically increase ridership and improve safety for everyone using the roadway.

Let’s hope that’s something researchers will take a look at.

And find a way to both protect riders from drivers, and from the bike lanes themselves.

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Metro is hosting a relaxed, family friendly ride to explore the newly opened segment of the Rail to Rail Active Transportation Corridor in South LA this Sunday.

The three-mile round-trip ride even includes a scheduled snack stop at Granny’s Kitchen Southern Style Soul Food along the way.

Although maybe someone should tell KTLA-5 that it helps to mention what day the ride is in their news reports. 

………

Who needs new tires when you’ve got duct tape?

Duct tape fixes everything
byu/Visible-Grass-8805 inJustridingalong

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

Streetsblog takes a look at that off-the-rails Kern County Grand Jury report that criticized spending on Bakersfield bike lanes, concluding, in effect, that it’s too hot and smoggy to ride a bicycle in the summer, so everyone should just stay in their cars.

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

When you’re carrying meth and magic mushrooms, and trying to hide an $1,100 bike behind a bush outside Cheyenne, Wyoming, make sure it’s yours — and doesn’t have an AirTag on it.

Police in Northern Ireland are investigating after a viral video captured an adult riding a bicycle with a child draped over their back, and narrowly avoiding a collision.

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Local 

Los Angeles is narrowing the sidewalk on a 500-foot stretch of Balboa Blvd to make room for more cars — specifically left turn lanes — in a process Streetsblog’s Joe Linton describes as “harmful to city budgets, pedestrians, cyclists, climate, air quality, historic preservation, etc.” After all, who needs sidewalks anyway, right?

Metro’s Adopt-A-bike program is bringing mobility to families impacted by the January firestorms by providing them with free donated bicycles.

Culver City Crossroads offers more information on the CC city council’s unanimous support for extending the Ballona Creek Bike Path.

Santa Monica continues to improve the former quick-build MANGo greenway, and plans to build another on Washington Ave.

 

State

MSN reposted the San Diego Union-Tribune article we linked to yesterday about the California Ebike Incentive Program’s apparently successful third attempt at managing the 128,000 people who attempted to apply for a voucher last week, for everyone who couldn’t see it, like me. And I was even quoted in it.

The AIDS/LifeCycle ride passes through Monterey County on its way to the Central Coast for the last time, with 2,500 people taking part in the final tour.

Palo Alto councilmembers are pushing back against the city’s new bike plan, which calls for bike lanes on major traffic corridors.

This is the cost of traffic violence. Sad news from Stanford, where the president of the campus Democrats was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding an ebike on campus — raising the question of why a university campus even allows drivers to go fast enough to kill someone.

 

National

Sorry not sorry. A writer for Bicycling makes a concerted effort to stop apologizing for the “otherwise self-assured” way she rides. But maybe they should be apologizing for reposting the same damn story that originally appeared in 2017. 

This is the cost of traffic violence, part two. An off-duty Harris County, Texas police sergeant riding a bicycle was killed by a 63-year old man driving a U-Haul truck, in an allegedly drunken hit-and-run.

A Michigan man is building prosthetic limbs from readily available bicycle parts in an effort to help the nine out of ten people worldwide who don’t have access to artificial limbs.

A new campaign ad targets Boston Mayor Michelle Wu over her support for bike lanes, even after she ripped out the protective barriers.

 

International

A European website says bicycle tourism is changing how we see and spend on the continent.

Cyclist recommends the best road bikes — as long as you have a somewhere between the equivalent of $6,700 to $17,300 to spend.

Apparently, crappy bikes aren’t allowed to have great brakes worth more than the bike itself.

A writer for Cycling Weekly says bicyclists have a right to be angry about infrastructure, but it’s not worth fueling a culture war by haranguing people online. I’ve learned through long and painful experience that it’s just not worth engaging with the haters on social media, because it’s an argument no one ever wins.

In what may be the understatement of the year, the owner of Germany’s Canyon Bikes says “it was another challenging year,” after losing the equivalent of more than $43 million last year.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly says Simon Yates proved he’s one of Britain’s best-ever cyclists by winning the Giro, after riding “undercover” until the final weekend.

Mexican media continues to celebrate the success of Isaac del Toro’s second place finish in the Giro, calling it the best ever performance by a cyclist from the country. And marking the 21-year old as someone to watch going forward.

British cycling legend Sir Mark Cavendish will be honored by renaming a raceway in his honor on my ancestral home, where my great-great-great-great grandfather helped bankrupt the local bank.

LA28 announced venues for an accessible 2028 Paralympic Games, with most of the events located in Downtown LA and Exposition Park. Although it’s questionable how competitors and spectators will get to the games when the city isn’t building the bus and bike lanes they promised to make them car free.

 

Finally…

Your new wheels could pay homage to Eddie Van Halen’s Frankenstrat guitar. It’s about damn time a bicycle was portrayed as an upscale, laidback status symbol on TV.

And that feeling when you have to bunnyhop a feline at the finish line.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Happy World Bicycle Day, protected bike lanes boost bike commuting, and CA Ebike Incentive Program finally gets it right

June 3, 2025 / / No comments
Day 154 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Happy World Bicycle Day!

AOL marks the day by counting down the most iconic bikes in pop culture history. And it’s a tough crowd, since mean Miss Gulch’s bike from the Wizard of Oz only comes in at number four.

Meanwhile, a travel website says the future of US travel is two-wheeled, and it’s happening now. They also list some of the best cities for bicycling now, and a trio of cities to watch.

None of which is Los Angeles.

You can celebrate by getting out on your bike today and riding somewhere, anywhere. Because the best argument for more and better bicycling is seeing more people on them.

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No surprise here.

A new six-year, 28-city study shows that protected bike lanes resulted in 1.8 times greater bicycle commuter usage compared to standard bike lanes, 1.6 times greater than shared lanes — aka sharrows — and 4.3 times more than streets without any bicycle infrastructure.

Yes, that’s 430%.

Protected bike lanes also showed 52.5% greater bike commuting mileage than standard bike lanes, and a whopping 281.2% more than shared-lanes.

………

The California Ebike Incentive Program offered an update on last week’s surprisingly successful round of voucher applications, and somehow managed to avoid patting themselves on the back for finally getting it right.

Although that legal disclaimer on the last line is a winner.

Meanwhile, the San Diego Union-Tribune offered an update on their ongoing series of reports examining the program, not always favorably, saying the third time was the charm.

Although I can’t seem to find a way to read it without a subscription, so let me know if I missed anything.

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Metro will offer free transit and Metro Bike rides this weekend, starting at 4 am  Friday in honor of the grand opening of the long-awaited LAX/Metro Transit Center.

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Hats off to the Burbank Leader for correctly recognizing the difference between ebikes and electric motorbikes, as Burbank cops stage a crackdown on the latter, rather than the former.

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Local 

The Culver City city council approved funding to work on plans to extend the Ballona Creek Bike Path northeast from where it currently ends at Culver City’s Syd Kronenthal Park. Or begins, depending on your perspective.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers photos and an open thread from Saturday’s Let’s Go Glendale open streets event on Glendale Ave.

Crispin Glover is one of us, as the “reclusive” Back to the Future star went for a bike ride in Los Angeles, days after his father Bruce Glover passed away at 92. I rode the hell out of my bike to cope with the death of my father over 30 years ago. And yes, it helped.

Jennifer Garner is one of us, too, as she took a casual ebike ride through the streets of Brentwood.

Santa Monica unveiled a trio of options for the city’s erstwhile airport, although none appear to offer any consideration for bicycling.

 

State

The Los Angeles Times says Gavin Newsom and the California legislature are preparing the biggest CEQA overhaul in a generation, as a result of national criticism that the state can’t build sufficient housing and public infrastructure anymore.

 

National

Over 22,000 people have signed a petition calling on the US Department of Transportation to prioritize funding for bicycling infrastructure in major US cities.

Momentum recommends five rail trails to explore this summer — although the closest one to Los Angeles is Redding’s 16-mile Sacramento River Trail.

Bicycling examines strategies to keep girls from quitting bicycling when they grow up, while inspiring a lifelong love of riding. Unfortunately, the story is hidden behind their paywall, so you’re out of luck if you don’t subscribe.

The Today Show talks with the founders of All Bodies On Bikes, a size-inclusive nonprofit bicycling community with 14 chapters across the US.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 83-year old Sitka, Alaska man continues to ride, after switching to an ebike in his late 70s when he started having trouble keeping up with his younger friends.

Cleveland continues its transformation from last century’s Mistake by the Lake, to a modern multi-modal American city, announcing plans to convert a couple downtown streets into paired one-way streets with protected bike lanes to improve comfort and safety for bike riders and pedestrians.

It may be harder to tell shit from Shinola now, as the upscale Detroit brand will no longer be making and selling bicycles.

A pair of New Jersey women will spend the next six years behind bars, after pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter for killing a 22-year old NYU graduate who was riding a bicycle on a state highway last year, while they were doing 90 mph in a 50 mph zone and illegally passing other vehicles on the shoulder.

 

International

Road.cc examines the new study that shows “rude” and “impossible to please” British bike riders are putting local leaders off, and “unwittingly undermine their own discourse” online. Which is a reminder to always be nice and polite to the commenters who threaten to kill you on social media.

Bollywood actress Nia Sharma is one of us, explaining that bicycling is freedom on two wheels, and she’ll take riding a bike over driving any day.

An Indian website examines why the country’s workplaces still discourage bicycling, even though it reduces sick days and boosts productivity.

 

Competitive Cycling

Mexico News Daily says Isaac del Torro may have finished second in the Giro after losing to Simon Yates on the penultimate stage, but he won in the hearts of his countrymen.

 

Finally…

Freddy Mercury, on the other hand, wasn’t one of us, fat-bottomed girls notwithstanding. That feeling when a bike race is like a nearly empty bottle of ketchup.

And apparently, riding a bike naked is better than having a brain tumor.

I mean, who know?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Update: 30-something man on bicycle killed by hit-and-run driver in South LA; nearly 1/3 of SoCal bike deaths this year hit-and-runs

June 2, 2025 / / No comments

Once again, someone on a bicycle in Los Angeles has been left to die alone in the street by a heartless coward.

But for a change, we actually learned about it the next day.

According to multiple sources, the victim was run down from behind while riding west on East Century Boulevard near San Pedro Street, in the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood of South LA, around 11 pm Sunday.

The victim, identified only as a man in his mid-30s, died at the scene, his mangled yellow road bike lying nearby in the crosswalk.

Unfortunately, security video was too blurry to provide a description of the suspect vehicle or driver, and there doesn’t appear to be any immediate witnesses.

Google Maps shows a bike lane on the west side of San Pedro, but none on the east, where the crash appears to have occurred.

Anyone with information is urged to call the LAPD South Traffic Division at 323/421-2500, or anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 800/222-8477 or lacrimestoppers.org.

As always, there is a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of LA.

This is at least the 16th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, the fourth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County, and just the second we’ve learned about in the City of Los Angeles — which is likely a dramatic undercount.

This is also at least the fifth bike rider killed by a hit-and-run driver in Southern California this year.

Update: The victim has been identified as 34-year old Jose Villalobos.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jose Villalobos and his loved ones.

Thanks to Jeffrey for the heads-up. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , , ,

New study shows mid-block safety boost from bike lanes, and wild police chase nearly disrupts Unbound Gravel race

June 2, 2025 / / No comments
Day 153 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It’s a busy week here at BikinginLA World HQ, with International Bicycle Day tomorrow, and National Corgi Day on Wednesday.

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No surprise here.

A pair of new studies concluded that bike lanes improve mid-block safety — any kind of bike lane, as a matter of fact, whether separated, buffered or just painted.

Separated bike lanes were the safest, apparently referring the plastic bollard demarcated bike lanes that pass for protected in Los Angeles.

Of course, the problem with any bike lane — aside from drivers who use them as parking or traffic bypass lanes — comes at intersections, where the risk to riders is the greatest.

………

You’ve got to be kidding.

The Unbound Gravel race was nearly disrupted by a wild police chase through the countryside around Emporia, Kansas early Saturday morning, when sheriff’s deputies had to block a pickup driver from crashing through the course after he blew through a closed intersection.

At one point, he tried to pass patrol cars attempting to stop him by driving in a ditch, rolling his truck after he crashed into a sheriff’s vehicle when he tried to drive back out — and kept going anyway.

The chase finally came to an end about half an hour after it began when deputies once again spotted the truck, blocking it in and taking the driver and his passenger into custody.

They both face multiple, and well-deserved, charges.

Yet somehow, it all appears to have happened without the participants in the race knowing how close they came to disaster.

Meanwhile, Americans were shut out of the Unbound Gravel podium for the first time, with Kiwi Cameron Jones winning the men’s race, and Switzerland’s Simon Pellaud second, after they worked together on a 50-mile breakaway to capture the win.

New Hampshire triathlete Karolina Migoń won the women’s edition in record time, shaving nearly an hour and a half off the previous best; Serena Bishop Gordon finished second.

………

Streets For All is urging you to support a version of Measure HLA in Los Angeles County tomorrow.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will meet on Tuesday, June 3rd and consider moving a LA County version of Measure HLA forward.

The agenda item is #17 “Equity, Accountability, and the Accelerated Implementation of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Master Plan.” You can read the full motion here.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

MOST IMPACTFUL:

Attend the meeting live and make public comment in support of Item 17!

IN PERSON

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025 at 9:30am

Board Hearing Room 381B

500 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

VIA PHONE

Call (877) 226-8163 and enter Participant Code: 1336503. Press 1 to be added to the public comment queue

Can’t make a live public comment?

EMAIL PUBLIC COMMENT [FILL IN THE BOTTOM!]

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

Denver, Colorado bike riders are concerned after the city removed plastic bollards marking a downtown protected bike lane, apparently because someone thought it would be more attractive without them — but increasing the risk of riders crashing into the low protective barriers that remain.

No bias here. The New York Post blames bike lanes for causing gridlock for drivers trying to avoid congestion pricing tolls on the Queensborough Bridge, instead of placing the blame on drivers trying to illegally avoid the tolls.

Seriously? A new study from the UK suggests bike riders could be their own worst enemy, with local politicians blaming riders’ “rudeness” for their own reluctance to support bicycle projects, concluding “nothing we ever do will make cyclists happy.” Which is probably because politicians seldom do enough to begin with.

………

Local 

LA County sheriff’s deputies busted five high-end bike thieves for the April theft of 337 Ari mountain and road bikes worth a whopping $1.7 million while in transit to Los Angeles; the men allegedly employed a sophisticated scheme to redirect redirecting truck drivers while using box trucks and passenger vehicles to deliver the bikes to waiting warehouses.

Long Beach unveiled the newly remade Artesia Blvd, complete with new bike lanes, crosswalks and 400 trees.

 

State

He gets it. An op-ed from a Marin County sustainable transportation advocate calls on Caltrans to build new bicycle and pedestrian facilities on Tiburon Blvd on the Tiburon Peninsula, making the case for a multi-modal Complete Street despite the opposition of some residents.

 

National

Portland is a “cyclist’s paradise,” according to a new study that rated it the most bike-friendly America city; New York, San Francisco, Denver and Minneapolis round out the top five, which could come as a surprise to a lot of people who live and ride in them. Needless to say, Los Angeles didn’t make that list, or the five after that. And probably wouldn’t have made the next ten, either. 

A Seattle man defied stage four prostate cancer to take part in the annual Seattle to Portland ride, covering 206 miles in just two days.

A special needs teacher from Glenwood Springs, Colorado resets at the end of the school year by traveling throughout North and South America by bicycle.

A Chicago bike rider was collateral damage when couple cops lost control of their patrol car and rolled it; one officer was hospitalized with a serious leg injury, while the rider was in good condition after being struck by debris while standing on the sidewalk.

This is the cost of traffic violence. An 18-year old driver crossed the centerline on a roadway in Lucas County, Ohio, crashing head-on into a pair of bicyclists; 38-year old Roseann Marie Peiffer, described as “true legend” and “a beloved figure in the local bicycling community,” tragically died at the scene, while the other rider survived with non-life threatening injuries.

New York ebike riders are complaining about the NYPD’s crackdown, arguing that giving criminal summonses to lawbreaking bicyclists, rather than traffic tickets, is unfair; meanwhile, a cop dramatically raised the stakes by pulling a Taser on a red light-running bike rider.

 

International

How a bike can help you live carfree, even in the mountains.

Montreal turned city streets over to the people on two wheels for the 40th consecutive year, offering carfree routes up to 60 miles.

Iceland’s Lauf Cycles is raising its prices due to Trump’s tariffs, which affect components even though the bikes are assembled in Virginia.

A 74-year old British TV chef is riding her bike 450 miles from Land’s End to the White Cliffs of Dover, in hopes of raising the equivalent of $135,000 to help feed disadvantaged people in the south of the country.

 

Competitive Cycling

Britain’s Simon Yates fulfilled the promise he showed in winning the 2018 Vuelta by coming from third place to crash 21-year old Mexican cyclist Isaac del Torro’s Giro pink party.

Yates took the lead on the penultimate stage with a devastating attack that left the others gasping for breath, while finishing nearly five minutes ahead of the former leader.

Yates also made up for his epic loss in the 2018 Giro, when he cracked on the final stages after leading the race for 13 days, and withdrawing in 2020 and 2022.

Del Torro finished second overall, while capturing the white jersey for the tour’s best young rider.

The first American pope gave the Giro peloton a papal blessing, telling the riders they are always welcome in the church just before they set off on the first-ever route through the Vatican gardens in the race’s 116-year history.

The peloton held a moment of silence before Sunday’s final stage of the Giro to remember the wife of former Dutch cyclist Robert Gesink; Daisy Gesink passed away from an “aggravated illness” just one year after the longtime Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider retired.

You could win Yate’s signed pink jersey. Let’s just hope they washed it first.

Nineteen-year old Brit Matthew Brennan captured the first tour win of what looks likely to be an impressive career, winning the final stage of the Tour of Norway to capture the general classification.

Norwegian cyclist Mie Bjørndal Ottestad won the women’s Tour of Norway, clinching the victory with a win on the second and final stage, with first stage winner Justine Ghekiere taking second.

 

Finally…

Why settle for ugly bollards when you can have tulips? Why waste your time in some dark warehouse when you can go to a rave on two wheels?

And that feeling when Winnie the Pooh steals your bike.

5/28 Winnie the Pooh DT PHX Bike thief $150 reward
byu/CampSuccessful inphoenix

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

CA Ebike Incentive finally gets one right, LA far from the happiest place on Earth, and life is cheap for an ex-Chili Pepper

May 30, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 153 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Oops.

I got tied up with other things, and missed last night’s application window for the California Ebike Incentive Program.

Okay, I just forgot about it until it was too late. Which kinda tells you just how concerned I am about it after all the damn delays and fails.

But I’m told the program had announced they had accepted 1,000 applications less than half an hour after the window closed at 6 pm, so it must have gone okay for a change.

Even if they’re still throttling the application process, for no other reason than they can’t seem to process any more.

At this rate, it’ll only take four more years to give out all the available funds.

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No surprise here.

The new 2025 Happy City Index was released yesterday, revealing that many of the world’s happiest cities are also among the most bike-friendly.

Needless to say, Los Angeles isn’t among them, on either count.

In fact, the City of Angeles tied for a relatively sad number 70 — 36 places and 72 points below San Diego, which came in just one point ahead of Bruges and Amsterdam.

Yes, Amsterdam.

We’re also behind such remarkable garden spots as Columbus OH, Washington DC, and Beijing, China. Because everyone knows humid, swampy and politically riven DC is just this side of the happiest place on earth.

But at least we can take comfort in knowing we’re ahead of San Jose, Moscow and last place Pula, Croatia.

So take that, Pula.

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Life is cheap in Alhambra.

Not-so-Red Hot Chili Pepper Josh Klinghoffer walked without a day behind bars for killing a 47-year old man who was walking to an Alhambra grocery store, while Klinghoffer was “likely” driving distracted.

The guitarist, who toured with Pearl Jam recently after leaving the Chili Peppers in 2019, was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation and 60 days community service after pleading no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence.

Klinghoffer could have faced up to six years in prison for felony manslaughter without the plea deal.

More proof that it helps to be famous. And able to afford a good criminal lawyer.

Thanks to Nuance Enjoyer for the heads-up.

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The popular Finish the Run/Finish the Ride runs and rolls through Griffith Park this weekend.

The event raises funds and awareness for safer streets across California.

Tomorrow is reserved for the runners and walkers, with distances of 5K, 10K and a half-marathon, aka 13.1 miles, while Sunday is dedicated to riders and rollers, with rides of 12 miles, 20 miles, 35 miles and 62 miles.

Finish the Ride began with the crash that founder Damian Kevitt barely survived when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding on Zoo Drive, and dragged onto the the nearby 5 Freeway before he could free himself, as told to the LA Times in the video below.

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

A British man whose wife was killed by someone on a bicycle says he’s all in favor of giving life sentences to bike riders who kill pedestrians. Even though drivers who recklessly kill bike riders and pedestrians usually walk with a slap on the wrist. See Kinghoffer, above.

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

A Dublin, Ireland columnist writes that the biggest risk she faces on the roads comes from other bicyclists — especially men who get upset when they find themselves behind a slower woman, and pass her without a sound. But if they pass without a sound, how does she know they’re upset and not just assholes? And why does she just assume that other bike riders — not her, of course — have sense of superiority towards people in cars?

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Local 

People for Mobility Justice is marking the end of Bike Month by hosting a community bike ride through the Florence-Firestone neighborhood on Saturday.

A bike corral operated by Hermosa Cyclery at last weekend’s Fiesta Hermosa in Hermosa Beach was filled with over 1,000 bicycles each day of the three-day festival, over half of them ebikes.

Credit the grassroots Car-Lite Long Beach with keeping the city’s bike lanes clear through their bi-monthly volunteer cleanup efforts.

 

State

Calbike argues that quick-build infrastructure projects improve safety and urges you to contact your assemblymember today to support AB 891, which would create a quick-build pilot at Caltrans.

A June 16th public meeting could decide the fate of mountain biking in San Bernardino County’s 855-acre Wildwood Canyon Park Property, as California State Parks gathers input on how the property should be classified and what it should be named.

West Sacramento opened a new bike and pedestrian bridge over a highway gash that has long divided it in two, allowing riders to safely cross between the north and south sides of the city. Correction: I originally located this in Sacramento, not realizing that Sacramento and West Sacramento are two different cities. Thanks to Debra for the heads-up. 

Streets For All is expanding outside of Los Angeles for the first time, as the transportation PAC merges with San Francisco’s KidSafe SF to extend the reach of both groups; the new entity will be known as Streets For All San Francisco; follow them on Twitter/X and Bluesky.

It’s the beginning of the end for the AIDS/LifeCycle Ride, which sets out from San Francisco for the last time this Sunday; the ride will arrive in Los Angeles on Saturday.

 

National

Escape considers kits to fit a dad body.

A law enforcement website stresses the importance of better bike training, especially as more police agencies adopt ebikes.

Dallas approved its first new bike plan in 14 years, even as some councilmembers warned it’s not enough to keep up with other major cities. On the other hand, if they actually build it, they’ll be way ahead of Los Angeles.

A Chicago woman will be sentenced today after pleading guilty to killing a bike-riding university professor; she was driving in the bike lane at more than twice the legal alcohol limit when she ran him down from behind.

Police in Chicago blamed distraction and a failure to slow down for the city’s first bicycling death this year, along with the deadly front-end design, extreme weight and poor sight lines of the driver’s EV Hummer, even though the 18-year old victim was alleged to have run a red light.

Ebike advocates dodged a bullet when a committee in the New York legislature killed a bill requiring registration of ebikes — but Streetsblog warns it was just the first shot in an expected fusillade.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch argues that her cops have to give criminal summonses to scofflaw bike riders because they don’t have licenses that can be suspend — but many drivers continue to drive after their licenses are taken away.

While we’re on the subject of Commish Tisch, she defended her crackdown on ebike riders before city councilmember who fear it could hurt immigrants — even though ebike crashes and pedestrian injuries were both down by double digits in the four months before the policy went into effect.

A Florida sheriff’s department warns everyone to lock their bicycles securely, so they don’t end up a pile of parts, like this.

 

International

A new report from adventure travel company Explore Worldwide ranks the iconic Blue Ridge Parkway through North Carolina and Virginia as the world’s most beautiful bike route, with Montana’s Going-to-the-Sun Road close behind; Oregon’s Crater Lake route and Missouri’s Katy Trail are the only other US routes to make the list.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a speeding 75-year old driver was sentenced to a lousy ten months behind bars for killing a 63-year old woman as she was riding with a friend; he claimed he couldn’t see them because of the lights of an oncoming car, despite their hi-viz and bike lights. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive. 

British bicycling deaths were down two percent last year — and a whopping 25% in the past ten years. Which shows what happens when the government actually gives a damn, unlike a certain North American superpower I could name.

Tennis star Novak Djokovic is one of us, after he took advantage of a break in the French Open to ride a bike around the Arc de Triomphe — something he doesn’t plan on doing again.

A new position paper from a German bicycle industry association seeks to put ebikes on an equal footing with regular bicycles by limiting ebikes to 750 watts and a support ratio of 1:4, although some industry leaders warn it could kill off the ebike business; ebike engine maker Bosch stands accused of protectionism for participating in the report.

 

Competitive Cycling

Hola! says hello to Mexican cycling star Isaac del Torro, taking a look at just who the history-making rider is.

Germany’s Nico Denz crossed the finish line nearly one full minute ahead of the pursing riders to win the Giro’s stage 18, while del Torro retained his 41-second lead over second place Richard Carapaz.

A Catholic website says new Pope Leo XIV will greet the Giro peloton when it makes a detour through Vatican City on Sunday.

Sad news from Belgium, where former pro Ludo Dierckxsens collapsed and died on the 600-mile Stand Up for Cancer ride; the former Tour de France stage winner was 60 years old.

 

Finally…

You’re not a gravel pro until you pee in your bibs. That feeling when someone actually questions whether bicycling is a good form of exercise.

And what makes newspaper columnists somehow assume they’re all experts on bicycling?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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