Tag Archive for Los Angeles

No Week Without Driving in car-centric LA, fight for safe & simple red light cams, and 16-year old kid killed in e-motorbike crash

Day 273 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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This is day two of a Week Without Driving.

Or as it’s known here in Los Angeles, just another week.

Because officials in this city would never want to suggest to drivers that they might want to leave their car at home for even a week, no matter how good the cause.

And this is a very good cause.

According to the website,

If you can drive or afford a car, you may not understand what it’s like to rely on walking, rolling, transit and asking for rides. But for nearly a third of people living in the United States – people with disabilities, young people, seniors and people who can’t afford cars or gas – this is our every day.

We created the Week Without Driving experience so that those who have the option to drive can learn firsthand about the barriers and challenges that nondrivers face and work with nondrivers to create more accessible communities for all.

And one of those barriers, as I learned last week, is just how difficult it is to replace a lost ID here in California if you don’t drive a car.

Unlike drivers, who can request a new license online with just a few clicks and get it days later, non-drivers have to fill out a form, and schedule an appointment to appear in person at the DMV.

Since evidently, anyone who doesn’t drive is such a strange thing they have to ensure we actually exist.

Never mind that the next available appointment here in Los Angeles is mid-November.

Yes, November.

Then, and only then, according to the DMV’s website, you can expect a replacement ID to arrive in your hot little hands “just” three to four weeks later.

Which means it will be just a couple weeks before Christmas before I’ll once again have a little piece of plastic to tell anyone who the hell I am if I should get hit by a bus.

All because my wallet fell out of my pocket while riding one.

Yet when my wife realized she’d somehow become separated from her driver’s license when the paramedics took her to the hospital recently, she received a replacement little more than a week later.

So not only should drivers use this week without driving to walk in our shoes, officials in this state should try giving up their licenses to see how the DMV treats anyone crazy enough to live without a car in car-centric California.

Go on. I double-dog dare ’em.

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Streets Are For Everyone is urging, well, everyone to email or call California Governor Gavin Newsom to demand — okay, politely ask in a very firm manner — that he sign SB 720, the Safer Streets Program.

The bill is intended to modernize and simplify the regulations for red light cameras in California, to overcome the problems that have prevented their installation and, in too many cases, led to their removal.

And yes, I’m looking at you, Los Angeles.

This is how SAFE describes the problem, taken from a summary of their report.

California’s roads tell a grim story. SAFE reviewed the data. Since 2013, severe injuries and fatalities tied to intersection violations have surged 96.1%. In 2023 alone, red-light violations were linked to 195 deaths and more than 1,200 severe injuries. And these aren’t just drivers—the victims include cyclists and pedestrians, who made up nearly one in five of those killed or seriously injured.

Even seasoned drivers admit they hesitate after a light turns green, waiting to see if someone will barrel through the intersection. That hesitation isn’t paranoia—it’s survival.

Never mind the economic costs.

The human toll is incalculable, but the economic cost is staggering. Using the CDC’s WISQARS Cost of Injury calculator, SAFE estimated the financial burden of intersection crashes between 2021 and 2023:

  • $985 million in costs from severe injuries, nearly a third of it from medical expenses.
  • $6.96 billion in costs from fatalities.

Altogether, more than $7.9 billion was drained from California in just three years. That’s money that could have gone into schools, hospitals, infrastructure, and community programs—but instead was lost to preventable crashes.

SB 720 is designed to address the problem by improving red light enforcement.

There is a better way. Senate Bill 720—the Safer Streets Program—offers a critical chance to modernize California’s red-light enforcement. Modeled after the state’s successful speed safety camera bill (AB 645), SB 720 would:

  • Eliminate facial photography, capturing only license plates.
  • Treat violations like parking tickets, keeping enforcement simple and privacy intact.
  • Require revenue from citations to be reinvested into safety improvements—not city general funds.
  • Reduce the cost of citations to a flat $100 for the first citation and increase fines for those who repeatedly run red lights in proportion to the number of violations.

This approach has already proven effective in other states. Red light camera programs across major U.S. cities have reduced fatal crashes by 21% and saved an estimated 1,300 lives in a single year. When programs are dismantled, crashes and fatalities climb again.

It’s already passed both houses of the legislature, and is just waiting for Newsom’s signature, which is anything but a sure thing.

And that’s where you come in.

Once again, here’s how SAFE sums it up.

The data is clear. The solutions exist. And yet, lives continue to be lost every day California delays reform. SB 720 is now in the Governor’s hands, representing a chance to save lives and reclaim billions of dollars for our communities.

The question is not whether red-light running is preventable—it is. The question is whether California will finally choose to act.

Because every number in these statistics is more than a data point, it’s a life, a family, and a future stolen. And the cost of inaction is simply too high.

You’ll find a sample letter here, along with links to email, tweet or call.

I’m also told that anyone who gets at least ten people to sign will get a super cute photo of this super cute corgi.

And if that doesn’t seal the deal, I don’t know what will.

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A 16-year old boy died in an Orange County hospital on Friday, three days after he was injured in a Newport Beach ebike crash last Tuesday.

Although he was reportedly riding an electric motorcycle, rather than a ped-assist bicycle.

Which does not make it any less tragic.

The crash occurred about 5:55 pm September 23rd, near Superior Ave and Nice Lane. There’s no word on whether this was a solo crash, or if there was a driver involved.

Anyone with any information is urged to call the Newport Beach Police Department at 949/644-3747 or email alaverty@nbpd.org.

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

A London law firm has claims pending from a dozen clients who say they were injured by faulty Lime Bikes; meanwhile, a London columnist says “Good,” because maybe it will reduce the number of dangerous bicyclists. Yeah, that’s worked really well to get dangerous drivers off the road, hasn’t it.

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

A Secaucus, New York Uber Eats deliverista faces charges for fleeing from police following a dispute with a customer, then whacking a cop over the head with a bike lock and vase trying to get away.

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Calbike calls for codifying language for self-driving cars to include a high standard for safety around bicycles and other vulnerable road users.

Berkeley has reimagined three interconnecting streets in the neighborhood below the UC campus to improve safety for bike riders, walkers and transit users through the use of bus boarding islands, concrete curbs and parking protected bike lanes.

San Francisco Streetsblog’s Roger Rudick says let’s all thank Oakland for building a bike cut-through they previously said was impossible.

It was a bad weekend in Northern California, where a 63-year old man was killed when he was struck by two drivers while riding a bike in Oakland after reportedly failing to stop for a stop sign, a bike rider was struck by a driver, and possibly killed, in Stanislaus County, and someone apparently stole a Carmichael hit-and-run victim’s ebike while leaving him to die in the street rather than calling 911.

 

National

A surprising new study shows that road bicycling is actually more dangerous than mountain biking, especially for older riders. So, go out and shred to your heart’s content. But be careful biking to the corner market, let alone riding your next century.

A French pastry chef opened a popup patisserie in a Seattle bicycle store, in other words, a bake shop in a bike shop.

Indianapolis has set a new record for bicyclists hit and killed on the streets this year, just three-quarters into the year.

Bike counters showed an average of 486 cyclists per hour on New York’s Vanderbilt Ave when it was closed to car traffic, demonstrating a high demand for safe infrastructure, despite dithering from the city’s lame duck mayor.

The New York Times visits Brooklyn’s massive and still-growing Bike Flea Market; meanwhile, the New York borough is getting a “game-changing” Dutch-style bike hub.

Tragic news from New Jersey, where two kids were killed when a driver broadsided the ebike they were riding.

Dozens of people rode their bikes through Opelousas, Louisiana to raise awareness and support for families living with the devastating effects of sickle cell disease.

Forty-five-year old Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen is one of us, going for a casual Miami bike ride with her jiu-jitsu trainer boyfriend.

 

International

A British woman says once she hit 60, she rented out her apartment and set out on her bike with just a tent; seven years and 24,000 miles later, she has no plans to stop.

Spanish motorcyclist Aleix Espargaro is one of us, even if it means he’s out of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix after crashing his bicycle.

A man rode his bike 1,250 miles from London to Prishtina, Kosovo to raise funds in honor of his father, after the older man died of pancreatic cancer. Which is the same damn disease that killed my mother 25 year ago.

A New Zealand woman known as the Helmet Lady has died, 31 years after her successful campaign to make bike helmets compulsory for all bicyclists in the country, following the bicycling crash that left her 12-year old son paralyzed from the neck down.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-year old British cyclist Max Hereward is trying to raise the equivalent of  over $15,000 to join a European development team, saying he’s gone as far as he can in his home country. Which is a pretty good indictment of what’s wrong with the sport these days. 

 

Finally…

Nothing goes together like bespoke bikes and craft beer. Your next e-cargo bike could be solar powered.

And nothing like making ICE an internet laughing stock when they can’t catch a single taunting guy on a bike.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Woman injured jumping from DTLA ebike fire, WeHo cuts Fountain speeds, and SF bike rider collateral damage for YouTuber

Day 272 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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A 68-year old woman was injured jumping from a third-floor apartment in Downtown Los Angeles, after an ebike battery caught on fire.

Spontaneous fires have been an ongoing problem with lithium-ion batteries, leading some cities to ban them, while some buildings prohibit ebikes as a result.

Photo by Adonyi Gábor from Pexels.

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West Hollywood is taking additional steps to improve safety on Fountain, including lowering the speed limit by 5 mph and adding leading pedestrian intervals to crossing lights.

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A San Francisco bike rider became collateral damage when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver, who accelerated suddenly after stopping in the middle of the road to record an appearance by YouTube gamer iShowSpeed.

Except a news helicopter just happened to be watching from above, and followed the driver until police arrived.

Oops.

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

A pair of Denver bike riders were hurt when they crashed into a wire gate blocking a bridge, which had been installed by the city with no advance warning, and no notice other than a white Bridge Closed sign, even though it was located on the far side of a blind curve.

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Local 

Urbanize looks forward to CicLAvia’s return to the Heart of LA October 12th.

 

State

Police in Orange County took down a pair of bike thieves, including a Costa Mesa thief who stole a pair of ebikes from a garage and a high-end bike thief caught on surveillance video in Orange.

Kids in Chula Vista form the latest chapter of the two-wheeled United Lowrider Coalition.

Berkeley residents can enter a monthly lottery for up to $1,500 on a new ebike, along with another $250 for locks and accessories.

 

National

Road Bike Rider has advice on how to take part in a group ride when you’re on an ebike and they’re not.

An editor for Outside says he’s now the slow weirdo on the group ride who gets dropped off the back, and he’s good with that.

For the seventh year in a row, Louisiana bike riders rolled on Saturday on a fundraising ride to remember a Baton Rouge Parish councilmember killed by a driver, along with a friend, as they rode their bikes.

Bike riders in New Orleans were invited to join a two-wheeled second line to the polls on the first day of early voting Saturday.

 

International

How to store your bike when you don’t have room to store your bike.

A 35-year old tree surgeon from Liverpool, England quit his job, and set out on a 25,000-mile bike ride around the world.

Twenty-eight percent of London residents say they are now more likely to ride a bike in the future after riding one during the city’s recent Tube strike.

A trio of Scottish friends are reuniting after 40 years to finish their 17,000 mile ride from Chile to Alaska, with the man and two women completing the 800 miles Chile crossing that wasn’t possible when Augusto Pinochet was dictator back in the 80s.

A British man finished a 55-mile ride on his grandmother’s singlespeed step-through bike, complete with basket on the handlebars, riding from London to Brighton to honor the hospice that cared for her in her final days.

The UK’s RLS bike helmet could be the new MIPS.

Bike riders in Copenhagen can catch the green wave, catching nothing but green lights when riding a bike at a relatively sedate 12 mph. Even if it sounds like taking a few puffs before surfing.

Auto Evolution examines why the “ultimate off-road” e-bike dreamed up by a German design firm never made it off the drawing board.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 80-year old retired physician rode 335 miles across the South Indian subcontinent on a 20-year old bike with two friends, before boarding a ferry to finish in Sri Lanka.

A South African travel site recommends some of the country’s best bicycling getaways.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tadej Pogačar will wear the rainbow jersey for another year, after winning a repeat victory in the men’s elite Road World Championships with a 41-mile three man breakaway, followed by Remco Evenepoel in second and Ireland’s Ben Healy in third after they caught the other two.

World time trial champ Remco Evenepoel couldn’t hide his anger over a slow bike change due to a broken saddle that killed his shot at winning the road title, too.

Twenty-four-year old Canadian Magdeleine Vallieres won the women’s elite road race in an upset at the Worlds on Saturday, becoming the first of her countrymen to wear the rainbow jersey; New Zealand’s Niamh Fisher-Black was 23 seconds back second, with Spain’s Mavi Garcia third.

UCI retired Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer’s race number 84 for all future junior women’s road races, a year after she died crashing during last year’s Worlds, and no one noticed she failed to finish her race until hours later.

An AP slide show captures the pride and excitement of Rwandan spectators at Africa’s first Road World Championships.

The Israel–Premier Tech cycling team was banned from Italy’s Giro dell’Emilia due to threats of further pro-Palestinian protests, like the ones that disrupted the Vuelta.

 

Finally…

A Kiwi woman scouts locations for the ’28 Olympics, proving once again there’s nothing like a dame. Hanging at the Car Wash when you don’t have a car.

And why settle for riding your bike a mere 15 or 20 mph, when you could top out over 200?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Man riding bicycle killed Thursday in Koreatown hit-and-run; drivers fled in one third of all SoCal bike deaths this year

For once, police in Los Angeles didn’t wait to ask for our help.

According to a tweet/X post from the LAPD, the department is asking for the public’s help in finding a hit-and-run driver who killed a man riding a bicycle Koreatown Thursday afternoon.

The victim, identified only as a man in his late 60s, was riding south on Harvard Boulevard when he was run down from behind as he approached 11th Street around 12:30 pm.

He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

My News LA describes him a man in his late 60s.

The driver kept going without stopping, and was last seen driving south on Harvard. Police described the suspect vehicle as a dark green Chevy Silverado pickup truck, no model year given.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD West Traffic Division detectives at 213/473-0234. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the driver in any fatal hit-and-run in Los Angeles.

This is at least the 45th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 15th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; this was also the eighth we’ve learned about in the City of LA.

Drivers have fled the scene in 15 of those fatal bicycling crashes in Southern California since the first of the year, a pace of one out of every three fleeing the scene.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones. 

 

DMV: non-drivers can drop dead, Caltrans wants to rip out Amestoy bridge, and celebrate walk/bike life in Glendale

Day 269 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Please forgive yesterday’s unexcused absence.

I had the birthday from hell on Wednesday, highlighted by a broken refrigerator, and losing my wallet on a Metro bus.

And learning that for some inexplicable reason, while drivers can request a replacement license online and get it a few days later, anyone who doesn’t drive has make an appointment to go to the DMV in person to request a new ID, then wait weeks for it to arrive in the mail.

Just one more way non-drivers are treated like second class citizens in the state, however you get around.

Which is exactly the opposite of how it should be, since it’s the people in the big dangerous machines who pose a risk to everyone around them.

Not the ones who walk, bike or ride the bus.

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Caltrans still wants your feedback on a proposal to remove the Amestoy Ave pedestrian bridge over the 101 Freeway. Thanks to BikeLanesLA for the heads-up. 

https://twitter.com/CaltransDist7/status/1970926002848301201

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Walk Bike Glendale is hosting a day of activities at Verdugo Park this Sunday.

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

A Calgary, Alberta man in his 80s was killed when he struck a barrier a woman had dragged into a bike lane.

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Local 

Metro is looking for feedback on closing the eight-mile gap in the LA River bike path from Elysian Valley through Downtown Los Angeles to the City of Maywood. My apologies to whoever sent this, after I lost track of it.

Beverly Press & Park La Brea news catches up with the vandalism to Blake Ackerman’s ghost bike in West Hollywood at Fountain and Gardner.

Police in South Pasadena will join a bike bus for students from two elementary schools on October 7th for National Walk and Roll to School Day.

 

State

Streets For All urges you to email Governor Newsom to urge him to sign the bills they backed.

A mountain biker was rescued by US Border Patrol agents after slipping off a trail in Chula Vista’s Otay Lakes County Park, and falling 50 feet into canyon adjacent to the Sweetwater Dam; he was rescued when agents heard his faint cries for help, finding him seriously injured and bleeding from both legs.

Oakland is launching an ebike lending library with 50 ebikes, and discounts for low-income residents.

 

National

NPR offers eight biking and walking safety tips they say might save your life. Most of which seem reasonable, although they think you need to turn off your earbuds at every intersection. Even though no one ever tells drivers to turn off their eight speaker surround sound systems in their soundproof, hermetically sealed motor vehicles, at intersections or anywhere else. 

A grieving family filed a lawsuit against the city of Everett, Washington, four months after a 13-year old boy was killed when he rode his ebike into a dangerous cable that should have been removed; it was only taken down after the Mexican Consulate intervened, warning that other kids could get hurt.

A Tucson father was murdered when he was attacked in a confrontation with an unknown person during group ride on a 138-mile bike path that loops around the city; members of the group sponsoring the ride had complained about open drug use on the trail.

School police in Las Vegas are using a laser sensor to instruct drivers on a safe passing distance for kids biking to school.

A Kansas City couple in their 60s worry that new restrictions on ebikes will drive them back onto the couch, even though the laws are targeted at speeding kids on electric motorbikes, not older people with bad knees riding ped-assist bikes.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A pediatric cardiologist remains in an intensive care unit after he was the victim of a hit-and-run while riding his bike home from a shift at Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital.

Tragic news from Oklahoma, where a woman had to have both arms and legs amputated after she was attacked by a pair of dogs while riding her bike.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever removed or stole a ghost bike honoring a fallen Michigan bicyclist.

The Department of DIY struck in Minneapolis, Minnesota when a father got tired of waiting for the city to fix the lights on a bike path, a couple years after thieves stripped the wiring, and bought some lights and installed them on the path himself.

Authorities have ordered the removal of a downhill mountain bike course from a mountain in the Adirondacks, saying it violates a “forever wild” provision.

A group of Atlanta residents came together to build their own $10,000 DIY bike lane — but instead of ordering its removal, city officials encouraged it as part of the city’s tactical urbanism program. Something Los Angeles officials have clearly never heard of, since they immediately remove any DIY safety improvements. 

 

International

An Edmonton, Alberta TV station shares a moving tribute to a local physician who “gained thousands of followers on Twitter by sharing his real-time insights on ICU struggles, physician burnout, and public health policy” after he was killed in a mountain biking crash. Thanks to Megan for the link.

Michal Collins was one of us. A photo posted on Mastodon shares a statue showing the Irish revolutionary/freedom fighter walking his bicycle. Thanks again to Megan. 

You can now download an interactive man of Kyiv, Ukraine’s bicycling infrastructure, in case you feel a sudden urge to dodge some Russian missiles and drones.

A Chinese press release says expats are embracing Shanghai’s bike-friendly vibe. Because, why not.

If you ordered a bicycle from Giant, Liv, Stages or Cadex, you might be in for a long wait, because all of the above Giant products are being held up at the US border over accusations of slave labor, although Giant says US inspectors never visited their factory.

 

Competitive Cycling

There’s exciting news from UCI today, as…okay, no there isn’t, unless you live in Trentino, Asuncion or Durango.

France’s Célia Gery beat Slovakian cyclist Viktória Chladaňová in the first-ever standalone U-23 women’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships, with Spain’s Paula Blas third.

Australia beat France to capture the team time trial at the Worlds.

American Chloé Dygert appeared to break the rules against political messaging at the Road World Championships, with a message on her bike saying she stands with assassinated right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

 

Finally…

There’s good news for weight weenies this morning (is that still a thing?). Even editorial cartoonists are getting swept up in the anti-ebike panic.

And if you want to scare people into putting radar on their bikes, just put a Mustang in your ad.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Trump cuts make America more car-centric again, new book on changing urban landscape, and bike Eastside toxic sites

Day 267 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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More on the president’s move to make American more car-centric again.

The Trump administration has cut grants for biking and walking safety programs all over the country, after they were somehow deemed “hostile” to motor vehicles and the people in them.

According to Governing,

A San Diego County road improvement project including bike lanes “appears to reduce lane capacity and a road diet that is hostile to motor vehicles,” a US Department of Transportation official wrote, rescinding a $1.2 million grant it awarded nearly a year ago.

In Fairfield, Ala., converting street lanes to trail space on Vinesville Road was also deemed “hostile” to cars, and “counter to DOT’s priority of preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles.”

Officials in Boston got a similar explanation, as the Trump administration pulled back a previously awarded grant to improve walking, biking and transit in the city’s Mattapan Square neighborhood in a way that would change the “current auto-centric configuration.” Another grant to improve safety at intersections in the city was terminated, the DOT said, because it could “impede vehicle capacity and speed.”

In other words, anything that might slightly inconvenience anyone in the big, dangerous machines, or somehow inhibit their ability to go “zoom, zoom” to their heart’s content is now on the chopping block, regardless of how much it might reduce congestion or how many lives it could save.

Never mind that some of Trump’s own supporters ride bicycle, and demand for better bike and pedestrian safety and active transportation networks is rising in both red and blue states.

And despite the desire of government officials to return to a more petroleum-driven past, canceling projects like this will do nothing to reduce congestion or improve safety, while likely having the opposite effects.

Photo by Aayush Srivastava from Pexels.

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The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s new book City Tech: 20 Apps, Ideas, and Innovators Changing the Urban Landscape is now available in both paperback and e-reader formats.

According to the publisher,

The world is rapidly urbanizing, and experts predict that up to 80 percent of the population will live in cities by 2050. To accommodate that growth while ensuring quality of life for all residents, cities are increasingly turning to technology. From apps that make it easier for citizens to pitch in on civic improvement projects to comprehensive plans for smarter streets and neighborhoods, new tools and approaches are taking root across the United States and around the world. In this thoughtful, inquisitive collection of City Tech columns—originally published in Land Lines magazine and updated with new reflections and resources for the book—Rob Walker investigates the technologies that have emerged over the past few years and their implications for planners, policy makers, residents, and the virtual and literal landscapes of the cities we call home.

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People For Mobility Justice is co-hosting a bike tour of Eastside toxic sites next weekend.

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

No bias here. A British reporter confronted London bike riders about whether they were going to stop and/or for red lights — including at least one who stopped and waited through the full red light cycle — while ignoring whatever the hell the people in the big dangerous machines were doing, and admitting that he jumps red lights when he rides a bike, too.

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Local 

Long Beach is starting construction on a five-mile, $65 million Complete Streets makeover of Studebaker Road, which cuts through several of the city’s easternmost neighborhoods.

 

State

Chula Vista Mayor John McCann sat down with a San Diego TV station to discuss the city’s new ebike restrictions. Although what’s still missing is a clear distinction between electric dirt bikes and electric motorbikes, and ped-assist ebikes.

The local newspaper goes behind the scenes of the Santa Rosa Cycling Club’s warehouse, complete with everything needed to stage a large bike fundraiser or bicycling event.

Fresno cops apparently took their recent bicycle and pedestrian safety operation seriously, citing 132 drivers for violations such as failing to yield, speeding, distracted driving and running red lights, along with 54 tickets for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Berkeley residents can now apply for a monthly lottery for an ebike voucher to get up to $1,500 off the price of a new ebike.

 

National

Colorado’s fiscal problems will result in reducing the state’s ebike tax rebate in half next year, cutting the popular program from $450 to $225.

This is who we share the road with. A 20-year old Ohio man faces a trio of charges for the drunken hit-and-run crash that killed a 51-year old woman riding a bicycle, while driving a mere 55 mph over the speed limit.

The less than bike-friendly New York Post insists that the recent makeover of a “notoriously dangerous Central Park thoroughfare” has made it even more treacherous for pedestrians and joggers, while clearly suggesting the people on two wheels are to blame for the increased risk.

 

International

Canada’s new Vancouver Crossing Loop offers a 314-mile gravel route that begins and ends in Victoria, British Columbia; the trail is designed for ebikes and beginners, as well as seasoned bicyclists. However, what they’re seasoned with remains to be determined, although they are known to be somewhat salty. 

A Scottish van driver was sentenced to six years behind bars for killing a 32-year old father who was riding his bike to work, while he was busy reading paperwork instead of watching the road — and he was somehow still working as a commercial driver, despite nine previous traffic violations and a history of illegal drug use.

English police are investigating after thieves broke into four houses on the same street in a single night to steal high-end bicycles.

Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City will start construction next month on its first dedicated bikeway, a nearly four-mile fully separated corridor along a major roadway.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly says the fans turning out to watch the World Road Cycling Championships in Rwanda don’t look like the typical cycling fans, and that’s a good thing.

Cycling Weekly also introduces the world to 17-year old American Ashlin Barry, who took silver in the junior world time trial championships this week, missing out on the rainbow jersey by a mere seven seconds.

The Israeli national cycling team will compete in next month’s European Championships, despite recent race disruptions by pro-Palestinian protesters.

 

Finally…

Why wait for bikes to hit the streets to run them down, when you can just hit the bike shop with a rock? And if you want a careless driving ticket dismissed, just give your bike riding victim a lift to the hospital.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Florida man who fled with hit-and-run victim lodged in windshield is repeat offender, and Willowbrook taco ride tonight

Day 266 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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No surprise here.

It turns out that Xavier Omar Rigby, the 22-year old Florida man accused of killing a 38-year old woman riding an ebike — then driving eight blocks with her body lodged in his windshield before falling off — is a repeat offender.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, he admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking weed after he was arrested for driving on the wrong side of the road two years ago. Although the Daily Mail reports prosecutors plea bargained the charged down to just reckless driving last year.

The Daily Mail also says this wasn’t even Rigby’s first hit-and-run, since he was involved in another hit-and-run in 2022 — three years before killing the bike-riding Florida mother last week.

Oh, and when police arrested Rigby this time, they found him at a liquor store about a mile from the crash scene.

He’s currently being held on $750,000 bond. Which seems a tad low under the circumstances.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

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People For Mobility Justice is hosting a taco bike ride in Willowbrook and East Rancho Dominguez this evening.

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

That’s more like it. A pair of British men have been sentenced to life behind bars on murder charges for deliberately driving their pickup into a couple of young men riding ebikes, after chasing them on the wrong side of the road when they mistook them for burglars; the driver will have to spend at least 34 years in prison before he can be considered for parole, while his passenger was sentenced a minimum of 29 years.

Authorities in the UK have arrested six men and one woman for attempted murder after intentionally crashing into an 18-year old bike rider; five of the suspects have already been released on bail. Must have been a very crowded clown car.  

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

She gets it. A Tahoe writer says “We can’t stop reckless e-bike riders from taking risks, but we can make sure we’re driving safely in order to prevent tragedy.” If everyone thought like that, our roads would be a lot safer. 

………

Local 

Streetsblog says Culver City’s new Robertson Blvd curb-protected bike lane is shaping up nicely, as part of a safe first/last mile connection to the Metro E Line Station

 

State

Seriously? A 57-year old man suffered multiple broken ribs when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike in Pacific Beach on Sunday, then run over when the driver got out of his car without putting it in park. But at least the guy stopped, right?

An op-ed from a staffer with the Marin County Bicycle Coalition calls on Governor Newsom to sign the recently passed law making it easier to install red light cams, to improve safety for everyone, including people on bicycles.

 

National

Bike Magazine says the “Ivy League of bicycle framebuilding schools” will open next year in Portland, Oregon. Never mind that the Ivy League isn’t a school.

Trump is rescinding hundred of grants for trails and bike lanes that are somehow deemed “hostile” to cars. Which appears to translate to anything that might possibly inconvenience someone in a car even a tiny bit.

A Colorado magazine recommends eight fall bike rides in and around Denver. Which was always my favorite time to ride when I lived in the city, after the tourists were gone and the students in class, the air was crisp and cool, and the leaves turned vibrant colors. 

Life is cheap in Colorado, where a 46-year old man walked without a day behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a bike rider; he received just one year of probation and a lousy 20 hours of community service as part of a very lenient plea bargain.

An Illinois professor and futurist is nearing the end of a 1,000-mile solo bike ride around Lake Michigan, raising $25,000 for Michigan communities.

DC’s new strategic bike plan could balance the distribution of bicycle infrastructure in the city, which currently skips low-income areas.

Great idea. A Hattiesburg, Mississippi bike shop is giving away Naloxone, the opioid overdose drug, to anyone who walks in during a four-hour window on Thursday.

 

International

Cycling Weekly questions whether modern training methods are really doing the job of helping bicyclists pedal harder to go faster.

A Montreal PhD candidate crunches the numbers, and finds that despite the bikelash, bike lanes only take up 2.3% of the city’s roadways, with infrastructure for the big, dangerous machines claiming the other 97.7%.

French ultra-distance bicyclist Sofiane Sehili is appealing his detention for illegally crossing into Russia, after he had been denied entrance while nearing a record for the fastest crossing of Eurasia by bicycle. Yeah, good luck with that. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The Israel – Premier Tech cycling team is at serious risk of going under, as bikemaker Factor threatens to pull its sponsorship unless the team changes its name and the country it represents, following repeated protests against the team this year by pro-Palestinian groups.

A 24-year-old Rwandan cyclist is redefining what it means to be an African woman in the sport by competing in road, gravel, mountain biking, and ultra-distance races.

Human Rights Watch says UCI’s comments about Rwanda’s “remarkable journey of transformation” and “warm hospitality” hosting the Road Cycling Worlds can’t cover up the country’s abusive human rights record.

 

Finally…

Riding a half century-plus on granny’s three-speed bike for fun and nonprofit.

No, seriously. That’s all I’ve got this time.

………

L’shana tovah to everyone celebrating tonight. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Ghost bike vandalized after WeHo vote, bicycling man attacked ebiking 14-year old Santa Clarita kid, and bikes beat dementia

Day 265 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with some people?

The debate at West Hollywood City Hall that resulted in approval of the Complete Streets makeover of Fountain Ave last Monday was acrimonious.

To say the least.

And in any such debate, some people will inevitably be upset by the result. But why take that anger out on a memorial for a victim of traffic violence?

It was two months ago, nearly to the day, when Blake Ackerman’s ghost bike was installed, as his friends and loved ones, many of whom had flown in for his funeral, carefully attached photos and inscribed messages on the bike.

In the two months since, it has been carefully maintained, as someone — whether family members or friends — kept it clean and replaced the flowers before they could whither.

Then sometime after that contentious vote, some vindictive vandal destroyed all that.

According to the WeHo Times, the heartless destruction occurred sometime overnight, with the vandal ripping up photos and signs, dumping flowers and shattering vases. But at least they left the bike itself alone.

A photo taken the next morning showed shards from broken vase next to the sparse white bike.

It broke my heart to pass by in the days since, knowing the love and grief that had been poured into it.

So I resolved to buy a bunch of flowers to put on his bike, just to show that someone cared, and that hate and rage can’t be allowed to win.

But before I got there on Sunday, someone had beaten me to it, placing a small bunch of flowers in the basket, and adorning it with artificial white roses.

Maybe others in the community will be inspired to add to it, showing that we care, and sending a message that love is stronger than hate.

We can hope.

Or better yet, we can do it.

Thanks to Andrew for the heads-up. 

………

It takes a major schmuck to assault a 14-year old kid.

And an even bigger one to attack the kid in an apparent case of bike rage, just because he didn’t like the way he got passed on a bike path.

I mean seriously, get over it already.

According to KTLA-5, the boy was riding ebikes with a friend on the San Francisquito Creek Trail in Santa Clarita around dusk last Wednesday, when they were startled to see a man riding his bike without lights just ahead of them.

They swerved around him, with one boy letting out a scream as them continued down the path.

But instead of leaving him behind, the man chased the kids, and knocked the victim off his bike when he caught up to him. Within seconds, the man was on top of him, repeatedly punching the kid with one hand while holding a knife in the other, shouting that he was going to kill him.

The boys then recorded the man stomping of the victim’s ebike, cutting the cables and slashing the tires as they cried out for help.

The attack only ended when a Good Samaritan stopped his car and got out to help, and the attacker slunk away into the night.

The boy, whose name has been withheld, was lucky to escape without serious injuries.

Sheriff’s deputies are looking for a muscular white man with a mustache in his 30s or 40s, who was riding an orange bicycle.

If you think you know this jerk, call the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at 661/260-4000

………

If you want to keep a sharp mind as you age, ride a bike. That’s the conclusion of a new study showing bicycling dramatically reduces your risk of dementia.

According to CNN,

Riding a bike is associated with a 19% lower risk of all-cause dementia and a 22% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, compared with taking nonactive travel modes such as a car, bus or train, found the study that assessed nearly 480,000 participants from Great Britain and published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Physical activity has long been associated with lower dementia risk in multiple studies, so much so that the 2024 Lancet Commissionidentified it as one of 14 factors responsible for preventing or delaying approximately 45% of dementia cases. More than 55 million people worldwide have dementia, a number expected to nearly triple by 2050.

So get pedaling.

………

Local 

A 30-year old man was killed in a collision with an LAPD cop while riding a skateboard in Highland Park Friday night; the victim was riding in the center divider when the officer passed other traffic on the left while responding to a call without lights and siren.

 

State

An enterprising — or maybe desperate — Santa Fe, New Mexico bike rider started a fire to signal police, after he was the victim of a hit-and-run driver fleeing the cops after allegedly choking a family member; police arrested the 24-year old man on DUI and hit-and-run charges, as well as domestic violence and false imprisonment. Yet he was somehow still on the road despite three previous DUI convictions.

Fallen ebike rider and surf legend scion Kolby Aipa was honored with a traditional paddle out in Huntington Beach, as well as induction into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame.

Sad news from Santa Rosa, where an elderly bike rider was killed after stopping on the side Old Redwood Highway north of the city when an SUV driver drifted off the roadway.

 

National

Great idea. A couple of Hawaiian bicycling organizations are teaming with a funder to provide ebikes to victims of the Maui wildfire.

A 19-year old college sophomore from Belen, New Mexico is still missing, 37 years after she disappeared while on her daily 36-mile bike ride — and two years after police said they had made substantial progress in the case.

A four-person team of Wichita, Kansas bicyclists rode across the entire state in 24 hours, from Colorado to Missouri, raising $4,000 for refugees.

An Austin, Texas ebike rider is suing an autonomous vehicle company, alleging one of their delivery robots rolled out in front of him in a bike lane when he had the right-of-way.

It’s happened again. An alleged drunk driver slammed into a 38-year old woman riding an ebike in Gulfport, Florida, then drove eight blocks with her body lodged in his windshield; police arrested a 22-year old man a few miles away.

 

International

London is considering increasing the fines for scofflaw bicyclists who commit “dangerous, antisocial and nuisance cycling behaviors,” like repeatedly running red lights.

Momentum says London deliveries are getting a two-wheeled makeover from a massive cargo bike boom.

The infrastructure minister for my ancestral home says there are no plans “at this time” to require bike riders to wear helmets on the Isle of Man, just months after a failed proposal to ban bikes from a crowded mountain road.

A bicycle website takes the Irish Times newspaper to task for “stoking hostility between road users” as bicycling deaths reached a ten-year high, by publishing a letter reading “Sir, – on a recent visit to Dublin I saw a cyclist stopped at a red light. Is this a record?”

Grenoble, Strasbourg and Rennes have topped the list of bike friendly French cities since 2021, for your next trip to the land of wine and cheese.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Road Cycling World Championships are under way in Rwanda, with Remco Evenepoel winning his third consecutive time trial; Jay Vine finished second and Ilan van Wilder third, while Tadej Pogačar just missed the podium in fourth.

Swiss cyclist Marlen Reusser won the women’s time trial, with Anna van der Breggen second and her Dutch teammate Demi Vollering third.

Everyone competing in this year’s worlds will be required to carry a GPS tracker following the death last year of 18-year-old Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer, who lay unnoticed on the side of the road for an hour-and-a-half after falling in the junior women’s road race.

A Rwandan website says the story of Jean-Marie Vianney Gahemba, father of the country’s most decorated cyclist, shows just how far they have come.

A writer for Bike Radar found the “mismatched, beat-up” bike Tadej Pogačar rode to his first Continental victory, bearing “all the hallmarks of a U23 racer on a budget,” while demonstrating his talent was forged the hard way.

 

Finally…

Who needs pedals for a world biking championship? That feeling when a Nobel Laureate tells you to drink pickle juice to avoid cramps (scroll down), when he could have just recommended rotted herring.

And if you’re riding your bike with nearly 26 grams of coke, 8 grams of meth, and 2 grams of fentanyl stashed in your wallet, hatband and underwear, just obey the damn traffic laws, already.

………

L’shana tovah to everyone celebrating tonight. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Apparent road rage driver kills Long Beach hazmat driver, and Pedal Ahead finally out as CA ebike incentive operator

Day 262 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

This is who we share the road with.

A San Diego driver is under investigation for a fatal Long Beach crash that appears have been the result of road rage.

The Times of San Diego reports that two drivers were weaving through traffic on eastbound Seventh Street at high speeds when one of the drivers, in a 2023 Tesla Model 3, crashed into the rear of a box truck carry hazardous materials, killing the driver and injuring two passengers. The driver of the Tesla was also taken to a local hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Fortunately, none of the hazardous material was released.

The other driver, in a dark-colored Subaru, apparently fled the scene.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Collision Investigation Detail Detective Ashley Van Holland of the Long Beach Police Department at 562/570-7355, or anonymously at 800/222-TIPS (8477).

………

San Diego’s scandal-plagued nonprofit Pedal Ahead may finally be out as the operator of California’s problem-plagued ebike incentive program.

Not that we weren’t told they had been 86’d long before now, while still managing to manage the latest round of incentives, where they finally got it right.

Although it certainly makes you wonder what the hell took them so long.

Thanks to Ellectrek for the heads-up.

………

Longtime British talk show host Graham Norton is one of us, showing up for the Dish podcast by bicycle.

Then again, so did hosts Steve Coogan and Chris Evans.

Thanks to Megan for the heads-up. 

………

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

Berkeley police say a man riding a bicycle was injured when he was intentionally run down by a driver traveling at an estimated 45-50 mph, after the driver had deliberately crashed into two other people; students and parents at a nearby elementary school were concerned when the man they know as Mr. Bob didn’t show up to help keep morning drop-offs moving.

………

Local 

Seriously? A law firm reports that a 13-year old girl was injured in a “horrific” collision in Newhall — even though a local radio station says she only suffered minor injuries. Which kinda makes you wonder what their definition of horrific is. And what they’d call it if someone really was badly hurt.

 

State

Sad news from Atwater, near Merced, where someone riding a bicycle was killed by a driver near the local high school. Although the story didn’t even mention that the car had a driver until the last sentence.

Alameda is joining “Week without Driving,” a national campaign sponsored by American Walks and Disability Rights Washington to get people to leave their cars at home for the week of Sept. 29 to Oct. 5. Or at it’s known here in Los Angeles, just another week to clog the roads and run over anyone in your way. 

An 11-year old Roseville boy says he’s thankful for his fellow middle school students, who tended to his injuries for 30 minutes, until his mom arrived, after he fell off the back of a friend’s ebike.

 

National

Momentum recommends eight of the leading bicycle advocacy groups they think you should check out right now; along with the usual suspects is Santa Barbara’s Bici Centro.

You could win a custom handmade mountain bike built by some of the most respected framebuilders in the bike industry by donating ten bucks to the Builders for Builders trailbuilding fundraiser.

YooxArmor is recalling about 1,780 of their Chinese-made multi-purpose kids’ helmets, which were sold on Amazon, because they violate US safety standards.

New York has distributed 400 new ebikes to delivery workers as part of the city’s trade-in campaign to eliminate unsafe ebikes and batteries.

 

International

Road.cc recommends the “real ultimate commuting checklist” for bicyclists, including a good bike cam and social media accounts to post video of misbehaving drivers, along with spidey senses, and a good belt.

The Guardian recommends ten safety essentials you shouldn’t leave home on your bike without. Not that they don’t have a small financial interest in you buying them or anything.

London borough Richmond upon Thames is criticized for prioritizing electric vehicle use as a “key strategic pillar,” while treating bicycling and walking as an afterthought.

A British man was awarded the equivalent of $2,700 after he was detained by police following a fatal crash involving a bike rider and a speeding driver, even though he was only a witness to the crash — not to mention the only nonwhite person at the scene.

If you’re still riding a bicycle in your 80s, you deserve better than to be killed by a heartless hit-and-run coward, like this 80-year old man in Ireland was.

The Washington Post digs into the story of French ultra-endurance bicyclist Sofiane Sehili, who was arrested for illegally crossing into Russia from China while trying to set a record for the fastest crossing of Eurasia by bicycle, despite having a valid visa to enter the country.

 

Competitive Cycling

Rwanda is set to host this year’s UCI Road World Championships starting on Sunday, in a first for any African country.

Cyclist talks with 2024 Tour de France Femmes Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. And yes, she’s married to exactly who you probably think.

There’s not a pit deep enough for whoever stole a $35,000 custom-made handcycle apparently belonging to a member of Canada’s paracycling team.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can own your very own lightly used retro pro bike. And when you’re dealing coke, MDMA, weed and ketamine, and out riding your bike while high on the latter, maybe try stopping for red lights.

Assuming you’re not too stoned to even see them, of course.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

WeHo councilmembers explain support for Fountain Ave, and Metro approves $85.5 million for LA County bike/ped projects

Day 261 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

They get it.

Well, some of them, anyway.

As we mentioned on Tuesday, the Complete Streets makeover of Fountain Ave in West Hollywood will go forward, after a seemingly endless multi-year process.

One that saw far too many avoidable deaths and injuries along the way, along with countless dollars in property damage.

Sam Mulick, a reporter for the Beverly Press & Park LaBrea News, reported on Monday’s West Hollywood City Council, where the first phase of the Fountain Ave redesign was approved on a 3-2 vote.

Councilmembers John Heilman and Lauren Meister cast the no votes, while Mayor Chelsea Byers, and Councilmen John Erickson and Danny Hang voted yes.

I’ll let you read Mulick’s story if you want Heilman’s and Meister’s reasoning for opposing the project.

But at least Meister asked the right questions, even if it seemed like she could benefit from sitting down with someone who could correct a few misperceptions on traffic safety.

Heilman, however, seemed to be a lost cause.

But let’s take a moment to examine why the other three supported the project, which could have a dramatic effect on traffic safety, while significantly improving livability on the corridor.

“It’s our responsibility to create options for a diverse community,” (Byers) said. “That is something that’s really important to me especially in this extremely dense area of our community. Kids, especially, have been locked inside of their homes … it is because cars and collisions and the violence they experience interacting with them is the No. 1 contributor to kids’ deaths. And that is a horrific reality that we can transform without having to send families to suburbs.”

Then there were these heartrending comments from Erickson and Hang, both of whom seemed to fully grasp the cost of keeping the street in its current deadly, car-choked form.

“This is my backyard and the sheer fact that I walk by Blake Ackerman’s ghost bike every single day to walk my dog is truly one of the most haunting experiences I have ever had to experience,” (Erickson) said. “This process that we have been going through for five years is killing people. It’s just that simple.”

Councilman Danny Hang said that the redesign will help lower income residents who travel without cars and help the city meet climate goals by reducing emissions. Hang added that the redesign is personal to him because his partner was the victim of a vehicle collision on Fountain Avenue and was hospitalized as a result.

“Fountain Avenue has long been one of the most dangerous corridors in our city,” he said. “Just over a decade we have seen dozens of severe crashes and five lives lost. Those aren’t just numbers. Those are our neighbors and friends and family members and for me, the most important measure of success is simple – fewer people getting hurt and more people getting home safely.”

However, the war isn’t over.

The project will come back before the council again next year, when they will have to approve a construction contract for the first phase. Any change in the makeup of the council could adversely affect that vote.

But for now, at least, we’re finally on our way to a safer Fountain Ave. Even if it comes too late for Ackerman, and too many others.

………

Local 

Metro approved $85.5 million in grants for 16 projects throughout Los Angeles County, primarily for first mile/last mile connections and improving mobility for the Olympics; among the projects are new protected bike lanes on Overland Ave in Culver City, and closing another gap in the LA River bike path through the San Fernando Valley.

 

State

Huntington Beach is considering extending restrictions on ebike-riding kids, requiring them to ride on city streets or bike lanes near places like schools and churches. Never mind that bike lanes are, by definition, on streets, or that once again, there appears to be no distinction between ped-assist ebikes and illegal dirt bikes and electric motorcycles.

Carlsbad continued its march to age restrictions for ebike riders, after the Traffic Safety & Mobility Commission voted Tuesday to recommend banning kids under 12 from riding ebikes, although the Coast News calls the restrictions “toothless.”

Cathedral City is installing new painted bike lanes on Whispering Palms Trail as part of the city’s Active Transportation Plan.

Ventura’s city council voted to keep six downtown blocks carfree, like they have been since the early days of the pandemic.

Parents in Menlo Park are complaining that new speed humps installed as part of a Complete Streets project are making it more dangerous for their kids to bike to school, because they extend all the way across the bike lane.

San Francisco voters recalled Supervisor Joel Engardio by a nearly two-thirds margin over his support for turning a two-mile stretch of the Great Highway into a linear park; now recall proponents will try to force its return to a smog- and traffic-choked coastal highway.

 

National

Electrek scrubbed Rivian’s behind-the-scene promo video, and pieced together leaked images of their upcoming ebike that the company had blurred, revealing what appears to be a ped-assist cargo bike.

Seattle opened new protected bike lanes on the least-steep section of the city’s Beacon Hill, creating a 6.5 mile protected corridor across the city. Thanks to fellow corgi dad Mike for the heads-up. 

Good idea. Spokane, Washington’s Bicycling Advisory Board took to their bikes to ride the city’s streets, looking for areas that need improvement. Although with 7,500 miles of streets in Los Angeles, that could take awhile here. 

I want to be like them when I grow up. Sequim, Washington’s Ancient and Honorable Cyclists held their annual meetup; 18 of the group’s 22 octogenarian members turned out, most of whom ride three times or more a week.

Utah just found the skeletal remains of a 47-year old homeless man who disappeared three years ago after setting out for a bike ride.

The editor of a Colorado newspaper says “the world feels like it’s going to h-e-double-toothpicks without the incentive of a handbasket right now,” but at least living in a small town where kids can ride their bikes makes life a little better.

New York is claiming progress on Vision Zero, as the city experienced its lowest level of traffic deaths in five years. Proof that reducing traffic deaths is possible if cities actually take it seriously, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name. 

 

International

Vancouver, British Columbia is reversing course once again on bike lanes in the city’s 1,000-acre Stanley Park, after the Park Board approved a new mobility plan containing separated bike lanes, just two years after ripping out previously installed bike lanes through the park.

A 62-year old Englishman rode his bike 105 miles from London’s Hyde Park to his home in Wiltshire to raise money for hospice care — despite two previous strokes and having a pacemaker, osteoarthritis and just one kidney.

The UK’s biggest bicycle retailer says things are finally starting to look up, following a modest 1.7% increase in sales this year.

French ultra cyclist Sofiane Sehili is being held in pre-trial detention in Russia until October 4th on unannounced, super-secret charges, after being arrested for an illegal border crossing while attempting to set a record for the fastest crossing of Eurasia by bike.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling Australia examines the process that brought Africa’s first UCI Road World Championships to Rwanda.

Sports Illustrated says the stampede to join the ever-expanding Team Visma-Lease a Bike cycling team continues, as 23-year old Italian “superstar” Davide Piganzoli signed a three-year “mega deal” with the team. Although that seems like a very generous use of the term “superstar” for someone who just graduated from the U23 ranks. 

 

Finally…

Now even the trees are out to get us. Being violent ebike thieves is bad enough, but kitty-napping is just going too damn far.

And if the Jolly Green Giant ever needs a new bike, he’ll now know where to find a few.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Conservative Karen plays victim at bike race, CA Sen. Weiner at virtual happy hour today, and ebike incentives change lives

Day 260 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

No bias here.

A “women’s sports activist” calls it the “most terrifying two minutes” of her life when volunteers at a women’s bike race objected to being harassed.

It all starts when the woman walked up to people working the race, asking if there are any men competing in the women’s race.

When one man says no, to the best of his knowledge, she asks if the competitors have been “sex tested” to ensure they’re really women.

As if.

One of the volunteers takes offense and holds her hand over the woman’s phone, telling her not to record her. She responds as if she’s somehow being violently assaulted, running away and calling out to another woman for help.

The video ends when a man gets in her face and telling her to “get the fuck out of here.” Which, in all honesty, is probably exactly how I would have responded.

In a second video, she accuses the same man of attacking her with an empty Costco pizza box. If by attacking, she means simply holding it up to block her camera, while she demands to know his name “for the police report.”

She also says that someone stole her signs. Although if that happened, it was after I stopped watching because I just didn’t have the stomach for it.

According to Fox News, though, the incident is being investigated by the local police. Because apparently, they don’t have any real crimes to deal with.

To me, she comes off as a Karen who intentionally instigates the entire incident by harassing people just trying to support a local bike race. And this country is divided enough without creating incidents to elicit your own faux outrage.

Let alone a national news network blowing it out of any rational proportion.

But you can watch it and decide for yourself.

Photo shows cyclists from women’s 2019 Amgen Tour of California — which, to the best of my knowledge, also had no men.

………

Streets For All’s virtual happy hour featuring San Francisco’s progressive California State Senator Scott Wiener will take place at 5 pm today.

………

In a video demonstrating the benefits of ebike incentive programs, a Boston area couple discuss how that city’s program allowed the husband to ride a recumbent ebike, after being housebound for the past 15 years.

………

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

No bias here, either. Cupertino is weighing a number of proposals to weaken the city’s Bicycle Pedestrian Commission, to “ensure equal representation on large infrastructure projects between drivers and pedestrians.” Because evidently, all those poor, put-upon drivers just don’t have enough of the roadway as it is, and have to risk their safety every day sharing the road with people walking or on bicycles.

An Illinois bike rider told police a road-raging driver threatened him with a gun, after first honking and yelling at him while following his bike, then crashing into him when the bicyclist stopped at a red light.

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

Police in Toledo, Ohio won’t cite a bike rider for blowing through a crosswalk and crashing into the side of a vehicle, even though he was at fault — because he’s only five years old.

………

Local 

A Los Angeles man recalls a “glorious” four-mile bike ride with his young son from his in-laws home in Germany to Basel, Switzerland for coffee, and to attend services in a thousand-year old Anglican Church. I’d call that pretty damned glorious, too. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department issued 34 citations during last week’s bicycle and pedestrian safety operation, along with another 19 tickets for distracted driving. And one arrest for riding a stolen motorcycle.

Rides on the Metro Bike bikeshare system will be free this weekend, from Friday through 3 am Monday, along with all rides on Metro buses, trains and Metro Micro.

 

State

Electrek says Irvine-based Rivian keeps dropping “strange, cryptic teasers” about their sort of super secret ebike program.

Sad news from Merced County, where a 60-year old man was killed while riding his bike in Merced County last week. But at least the 16-year old driver had enough sense to stop and call 911, unlike many much older drivers, although 60 mph seems way too fast for a dirt road.

A dog walker, a jogger and a bicyclist became collateral damage when a Berkeley driver rammed another vehicle and jumped the curb, striking them, then unsuccessfully attempted to carjack a woman with a child.

Palo Alto is weighing options for tunnels for pedestrians and bike riders under the local railroad tracks, or possibly a centerline bike lane on a bridge over the tracks. Even though tunnels tend to get filled with trash, and are significantly safety-challenged, especially for women and particularly at night. And just ask San Francisco bike riders whether center-running bike lanes are a good idea, after they were ripped out on Valencia Street because nearly everyone hated them. 

More sad news, this time from Roseville, where a man in his 60s was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike in a crosswalk near a freeway onramp.

 

National

A writer for Men’s Health sets out to settle once and for all whether mountain or gravel bikes are better for adventure bicycling.

An Evergreen, Colorado bike shop will move into a historic, 77-year old building — but only after they move the building, which was slated for destruction.

More proof that bikes are good for business. A new study shows that bicycling is now one of Iowa’s top 50 industries, generating $1.4 billion in economic impact affecting all 99 counties, with the biggest gains in the service and retail sectors, such as restaurants, bars and bike shops.

Kansas City is proposing a five-to-three lane reduction on a downtown thoroughfare, including angled parking and a buffered bike lane to slow traffic and improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians.

Police in Milwaukee may be close to solving the brutal murder of an 18-year old woman who disappeared after going for a bike ride 46 years ago, after DNA testing pointed a finger at a 22-year old man who committed suicide in 1980; investigators got a search warrant to exhume his grave for DNA samples.

A Massachusetts website recommends trails to ride your bike in the coastal Northshore region above Boston.

Philadelphia is getting a speed cam on a second dangerous street, after seeing significant safety improvement following the installation of speed cameras on another deadly street five years ago. To which Los Angeles responded <crickets>.

Nice guy. A suspected hit-and-run driver faces charges for resisting arrest, after police investigating the crash that killed a 19-year old Pennsylvania man riding a bicycle had to force their way into his home, then carry him out when he refused to cooperate.

Tampa, Florida is hosting a big bike ride on September 20th to mark World Car Free Day. Or as it’s called here in Los Angeles, Saturday.

 

International

At least one person was arrested following the hit-and-run crash that killed a bike-riding London woman when a group of mo-ped riders swarmed the bike lane she was riding in, then fled the scene on foot after crashing into her.

A 40-year old Scottish man was sentenced to six years behind bars for the reckless driving crash that killed a 32-year old man riding a bicycle.

Cycling Electric recommends a long list of the best ebikes available in the UK, most of which you can find here. Although you’ll have to convert the prices to dollars, instead of pounds.

French ultra-distance cyclist Sofiane Sehili remains behind bars in Vladivostok, Russia, and will likely be imprisoned for illegally crossing the border while trying to set a new record for the fastest bicycle crossing of Eurasia.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling News calls next year’s resumption of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic a “glimmer of hope for US cycling as top-level race returns to major city,” while four-time US national road champ Freddie Rodriguez says “For cyclists, only the Champs Élysées on the last day of the Tour matches the Philly ambiance.”

Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter helped bring the race back, arguing that it will be a “force for unity.”

 

Finally…

Forget the energy bars, you need to be doing broccoli shots, evidently. That feeling when a paper ranks the top 11 bicycling cities in Europe — from six years ago.

And when the new mayor of the bike path is into catnip.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.