Tag Archive for Metro Bike

NY shows what LA bike riders could have — but don’t, ride your bikeshare to the battleship, and ebike vouchers work

January 9, 2026 / / No comments

Curbed says the first week of new NY Mayor Zohran Mamdani was very good for bicyclists.

You know, just in case you need a reminder what a bike-friendly mayor could actually do, since it’s been so long since we’ve had one here in Los Angeles.

Then again, it’s been a few years since New York had one, too.

When Eric Adams took office, he too made a show of being a bike lover, riding a Citi Bike to meetings on his second day in office and promising to build 300 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of his term. But then he and top aide Ingrid Lewis-Martin spent four years ripping up protected bike lanes and sabotaging planned road diets — perhaps most infamously the McGuinness Boulevard bike lane, with Lewis-Martin charged for allegedly accepting a bribe (and a film cameo) to stop it. In the end, Adams fell 210 miles short of his promise.

Mamdani spent his first week in office undoing much of what Adams had wrought. On his third day, he and new DOT commissioner Mike Flynn announced they would be installing the original McGuinness road diet, reversing Adams’s reversal. The administration also announced it is working to finish Astoria’s 31st Street bike lane, a project that a judge halted in part because Adams hadn’t gotten the required certification from the FDNY and other agencies. “We are beginning the mandatory consultations and will issue the notices needed to restart the project, while also filing a notice of appeal of the court’s decision,” Flynn said in a statement. Over the weekend, Mamdani also said he would direct the DOT to “daylight” city streets, a commonsense safety measure that would keep intersections clear of visual obstructions like parked cars (a promise the Adams administration made but then backtracked on).

At least you can’t say that LA Mayor Bass has fallen short on her promises to the city’s bicycling community.

But only because she hasn’t made any.

You have to go back to the last years of former mayor and current gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa’s administration, after his famous road to Damascus moment, to recall anything like Mamdani’s first week in office.

And if it sounds like I’m envious of New Yorkers this week, it’s only because I am. Even if the NYPD doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo yet.

This is what we could have here. But only if we’re willing to fight for it.

………

New plans call for a 50,000-foot park next to the Battleship USS Iowa Museum at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, including a new bikeshare station.

Which assumes that Metro will finally get management of the Metro Bike program worked out, something is far from guaranteed at this point.

………

More proof that ebike voucher programs work, as over 2,700 people bought new ebikes in just six months using vouchers worth up to $1,500 from Ava Community Energy in partnership with the Alameda County Transportation Commission.

Meanwhile, California’s ebike voucher funds are still being spent to keep more cars on the road.

And LADWP’s ebike voucher program doesn’t exist.

………

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

Police in Denton, Texas arrested a hammer-wielding man who ran out of the woods and began chasing a bike rider, claiming the bicycle was his and demanding the rider give it to him, and continued to threaten the bicyclist even after police intervened.

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

A Gilroy man was busted by the CHP for riding his bike in the slow lane of the freeway while under the influence of…something.

………

Local 

You have a little more than three weeks left to get your comments in on plans to extend the LA River bike path through DTLA and points south to provide a continuous route from Long Beach through the San Fernando Valley. Which was supposed to be completed before the ’28 Olympics, but won’t be.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton continues his seemingly ubiquitous looks at new LA-area bike and/or walkways, this time visiting the first and last mile construction around Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station.

The South Bay’s Easy Reader takes a look back at the past year in Hermosa Beach, including how a violent assault made the city “part of a multilayered national conversation on the impact of reckless e-bike riding in neighborhoods.”

 

State

Residents of Laguna Beach are urged to attend a public meeting on Monday to discuss plans for a new bicycle pump track in the city.

No bias here. Voice of OC says Encinitas residents continue to blame former mayor and current state senator Catherine Blakespear for the city’s perceived problems, including controversy over the Coastal Rail Trail, which she was for, before she was against it, before she was for it again, even though it’s now widely used and popular among residents.

 

National

Escape Collective mostly drops their paywall for a tutorial on how to photograph bicycles and bike riding. But you might want to make a quick pdf for reference, because once you hit the paywall at the bottom, it’s gone.

Security video captures the moment a 73-year old New Jersey man was killed when he was riding salmon on an ebike, and crashed into the side of a police car as the driver was turning right onto the street the man was riding on. Yet another reminder to never ride against traffic, because drivers won’t be looking for you coming from the wrong direction, even though drivers should have looked both ways before turning. Even cops.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 75-year old North Carolina man was killed when he was rear-ended by a semi-truck driver while riding his bike, after spending a full third of his life accompanying music students at Wake Forest.

 

International

A writer for The Guardian describes how he went from being afraid to change a tire after taking up bicycling during the pandemic, to building his own bikes by learning bike mechanics from YouTube videos.

Canadian Cycling Magazine makes the case for why bicycling will make you a better driver, which has been born out by a number of studies.

Another writer for The Guardian questions whether people in the Netherlands have forgotten how to ride their bikes in the snow, as the city “descends into chaos” during an increasingly rare cold snap, with climate change reducing snow days in Utrecht to an average of just three a year.

A man in Zimbabwe uses his Buffalo Bike provided through international charity World Bicycle Relief to chase away lions and other wild beasts from crops and farm animals surrounding his village, saying lions have no idea what kind of animal he is when he rides up trumpeting on his vuvuzela. Then again, most SoCal drivers might not either, even without the plastic horn.  

Chinese authorities shut down two manufacturers and seized $2.4 million worth of counterfeit Specialized frames, handlebars and Roval wheels, as well as fake Pinarello, Cannondale, Cervélo and Trek products.

Taiwan-based Giant is recalling their Giant Animator and Liv Adore children’s bicycles due to faulty brakes.

A New Zealand paper celebrates Christchurch’s ranking as the most bike-friendly city in the Asia-Oceania region, though they’re only 38th internationally in the global Copenhagenize Index.

 

Competitive Cycling

Yet another pro cyclist is unexpectedly calling it a career, as 28-year old Belgian pro Eli Iserbyt announcing that doctors advised him to quit due to decreased blood flow in his femoral artery.

A new bike tour promises to give you VIP access to this year’s Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, while enabling you to ride the routes before the pros do.

Twenty-seven year old former Pan-American road champion Skylar Schneider is rejoining her sister on the LA-based L39ION of Los Angeles cycling team, saying she has some unfinished business on her mind as she returns to domestic racing.

 

Finally…

Okay, so maybe throttle-controlled ebikes do come in handy sometimes, like riding your bike across a frozen river. Maybe your bike wouldn’t handle so badly if it all faced the right way.

And that feeling when bike riders get blamed for wanting to lower drunk driving limits.

Which they should do.

But still.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Free Metro Bike rides today, Calbike knew ebike vouchers killed, 1st bikeshare mayor could be coming, and no Bass on a bike

November 4, 2025 / / One comment
Day 308 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Don’t forget to bike the vote on Prop. 50 today, if you haven’t already.

To make it easy, Metro Bike is offering free half-hour rides; buses and trains are free today, too.

So you’re officially out of excuses.

………

Calbike Executive Director Kendra Ramsey says she knew as early as the middle of last month that the state Ebike Incentive Program was going down the toilet.

According to San Francisco public broadcaster KQED,

But Kendra Ramsey, the executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike), said she was told in mid-October that CARB would shift the program’s remaining funds to Clean Cars 4 All, a similar incentive program for electric vehicles.

While she said she felt the conversation was meant to be private, she expected it would be followed by a more formal announcement from the agency.

“That direct communication from CARB never came,” Ramsey told KQED.

I hate to criticize Calbike, which does a lot of good working for safer streets and the rights of California bicyclists.

But shouldn’t that have been a hair-on-fire moment for Ramsey to get word out while we still had a chance to fight this deeply misguided decision?

We don’t know what conversations have taken place behind the scenes. However, throughout the long and twisted history of this program, it has seemed like Calbike wasn’t pushing CARB hard enough to fund and operate the voucher program.

Instead, at least publicly, they have offered a mild response to CARB’s many fuckups.

There comes a time when you have to set your hair on fire to call attention to a problem, and force a response to address it. It seems like that moment never came for Calbike.

The leader of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition wasn’t thrilled with CARB killing the ebike voucher program, either.

“Such a popular program shouldn’t be ended,” said Christopher White, the executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. “It should be operated well and fully funded because it promises to transform the mobility habits of tens of thousands of Californians to be more sustainable, far safer, [and it’s] far less expensive for the individuals to operate their new vehicles.

Like many transit advocate groups, he said he only found out about the shift in program funds from CalBike.

“It definitely gives the sense that CARB knows that this is the wrong direction to be moving in, to keep it so quiet,” he said.

Unfortunately, I haven’t heard a peep from any other state or local bicycle advocacy groups, other than the Sacramento Area Bike Advocates.

I’ll let you know when, and if, I do.

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New York could elect its first bikeshare-riding mayor today.

According to Time, which is more website than magazine these days,

In one of his TikTok videos/campaign ads, Zohran Mamdani (suit, tie, no helmet) unlocks a Citi Bike from an Upper East Side dock as someone off in the distance yells “Communist!”

Without missing a beat he replies, “It’s pronounced cyclist!”

In an electoral campaign defined by Mamdani—his youth, that he’s a Muslim, his views toward Israel, and his affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America—many have missed that Mamdani might become the first New York City Mayor to be a real cyclist, the first Citi Bike Mayor.

Whether or not you agree with his politics, it would be nice to have someone who actually rides a bike, let alone bikeshare, leading America’s largest city.

……….

Speaking of which, it looks like we won’t get to see LA’s mayor ride a bike after all, after the Dodgers pulled out a semi-miraculous win in the World Series.

Karen Bass had bet Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow that the loser would ride a bicycle wearing the jersey of the other team, with the distance determined by the winning team’s margin of victory.

Which means Chow will have to ride five miles wearing a Dodgers jersey.

It would have almost been worth it to see the Blue Jays successfully close out the final game just to see Bass on a bike for the first time since she was elected mayor.

Almost.

………

Local 

Metro Bike is hosting a “fun, safe, and social” 8.1-mile community bike ride November 29th beginning at the Compton & Slauson Metro Station, and returning to the same spot on the A train.

Pasadena is preparing an update to the city’s bicycle laws, defining what an ebike is to conform with California law, while removing an outdated bicycle licensing requirement that is now illegal under state law.

Speaking of the Rose City, the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition provides a guide to the city’s bicycle resources.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers photos from Sunday’s Active Streets Corazón del Valle in El Monte and South El Monte.

 

State

Circulate San Diego added bike and pedestrian wayfaring signs in Imperial Beach, along with surface decals reminding bike riders to wear helmets.

No surprise here. After a 35-year old driver was charged for the October 22nd hit-and-run that seriously injured a 12-year old El Cajon boy riding a bicycle, it turned out that he had two open charges for evading the police, as well as a failure to appear on one of the charges; family member had encouraged him to turn himself in after spotting blood on his car, but he refused until police caught up with him.

A 43-year old San Luis Obispo bike shop is asking for help from the public to repair damage caused by thieves over the weekend, who attempted to break-in by backing a pickup through the front of the building but were stopped by a security gate.

 

National

No justice in Fargo, North Dakota, where a killer driver walked without a day behind bars for running over a 61-year old university nanoscience engineer as he rode a bicycle earlier this year.

New York Streetsblog says street safety advocates should be displeased that mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani’s has asked NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on, as the city’s misguided crackdown on bike riders continues.

Horrible news from LaPlace, Louisiana, where a 19-year old driver faces charges for the hit-and-run death of a 66-year old great-grandfather, who body wasn’t discovered for three days after he was killed while walking his bicycle; there’s no word on whether he could have survived if the driver had just called 911.

Florida legislators consider a bill that would make it illegal to modify ebikes to exceed manufacturer specifications, while requiring licensing and registration for electric motorbikes, similar to motorcycles.

 

International

Momentum updates their list of the world’s “coolest and most unique” innovations in bicycling infrastructure. None of which are in Los Angeles. Or in the US, for that matter. 

She gets it. A London writer says forget driverless cars, because she won’t feel comfortable until there are fewer cars on the streets, with or without someone behind the wheel. Although I’m equally impressed she used “fewer cars” instead of the more common “less.”

UK bicycle retailers are selling overpowered electric motorbikes as ebikes, without bothering to tell their customers they can’t be legally used on the streets. It wouldn’t surprise me if that was true here, too. 

British cycling legend Sir Mark Cavendish says our shared ancestral homeland is the “best place to ride a bike in the world.”

In a tragic case reminiscent of Kaitlin Armstrong’s murder of gravel champ Moriah “Mo” Wilson, former French track cycling champ Cindy Morvan was shot and killed in a murder-suicide by the current partner of her former lover; Morvan was just 39, and the mother of two small children.

In more bad news from Europe, the 78-year old uncle of Italian pop star Laura Pausini was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike on the outskirts of Bologna.

 

Competitive Cycling

Spanish champ Oier Lazkano was canned by the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe cycling team after he was suspended by UCI over “unexplained abnormalities” in his biological passport. But we’re supposed to believe the era of doping is over, right?

 

Finally…

Don’t ride your bike in Sardinia. If you want to protect your bike from thieves, park it on an inaccessible pillar in the middle of a river.

And that feeling when you test ebikes, but have no idea how to build them.

Thought @ebiketips.bsky.social would enjoy this e-bike image. Not sure what's gone on there…touchreviews.net/we-tested-th…

— Mark Annand (@markannand.bsky.social) 2025-10-30T15:17:58.334Z

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Carfree Olympics threatened by lack of bikeshare near LAX, and CA failing those who need clean transportation most

July 23, 2025 / / 3 comments
Day 204 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It was only last month that Los Angeles celebrated the opening of the Metro Transit Center at LAX.

We were told about the station’s great walkable and bikeable design, and how that would help LA host a carfree 2028 Olympics.

Just one problem.

There’s nowhere to rent a bike anywhere near the airport if you arrive in the city without one. Which most LAX passengers could be reasonably expected to do.

I learned about that yesterday in an email from Sacramento-based League Cycling Instructor and Bike League member Anya McCann, who tried, and failed, to find a bikeshare dock or dockless bike after landing at the airport.

But I’ll let her tell you the story.

I grew up in Los Angeles and spent another 20 years there as an adult. My father was a lifelong City of LA employee and he worked hard to get bike facilities built over his 40 year career and post-retirement as a community advocate.

This weekend I flew down to LAX to attend an event and decided to make it an adventure to find ways to get to my Mom’s without asking someone to pick me up or getting a $50 Uber.

I brought a bike helmet, used a backpack as luggage, and, as I’ve done in many other cities, explored how to grab a rental bike (preferably e-bike) and bike to my Mom’s house…a ride distance I used to do when I was a child with Dad on weekends for fun.

Surprise: There are no rental bike stations within a 30 minute walk of the LAX. (Although I saw several brands of e-scooters laying around all over the place.) Even if I caught an uber into the Marina, there were no e-bikes available at that time. And, I note from the service map that I would have to return it 1.6 miles from Mom’s and walk the rest of the way.

I ended up walking 1.4 miles from Terminal 1 to Westchester to catch the Big Blue Bus #3, which got me to the same block that is the closest Metro e-bike docking station I would have used – and then did the 1.6 mile walk to Mom’s. While it is a pleasant walk along a path I do just for fun and exercise, with luggage it is more of a commitment. I exited the airport at 3:30 and arrived at my destination at 5:35…a longer trip than I hoped for to travel 14 miles.

Los Angeles needs some better multi-modal access that includes more bike rental stations, and I hope your plans for improvements before the Olympics includes stations at the airports (at LAX they could be out on Sepulveda Blvd.). There also needs to be clear and connective bike lane access to get around Westchester Parkway or Lincoln Blvd to Marina del Rey from LAX that people would understand if they have never been there before.

That should be where the story ends.

But this is Los Angeles.

So we shouldn’t really be surprised by the response McCann received when she reached out to Metro Bike about the problem.

Hey there, sorry for the inconvenience on finding a bike station to get a bike. Some bad news, Metro bike share is possible going away since they weren’t able to renew their contract with the city and has been taken over by another company. Not sure if said new company will continue using bikes or an alternative form of transportation. Once again, sorry for your troubles.

So not only is there no Metro Bike dock near LAX, there could soon be no Metro Bike, period.

And those dreams of holding a carfree Olympics could be disappearing before our eyes.

………

She gets it.

In an op-ed for Smart Cities Dive, the woman who led the launch of Upway in the US argues that California’s push for clean transportation is leaving behind the people who need it most.

Marta Anadón Rosinach writes that California’s e-car and ebike rebate programs may have been successful, but too often leave out low-income people who most need an alternative to private vehicles and public transit, but can least afford it.

It’s time we rethink the definition of “clean mobility” to include equitable access. A zero-emission car might qualify on paper, but it won’t help a shift worker in Stockton without a dollar to spare or a teenager in San Bernardino commuting to school. Public buses and trains don’t reach everyone, and when they do, they often don’t run frequently or reliably enough to replace a private vehicle. But a light electric vehicle, paired with safe, connected infrastructure, can.

LEVs — including e-bikes, e-scooters and other compact rides — are cheaper to own and operate than motor vehicles, require less space and fewer resources, and work well in urban areas. For low-income workers, students and families without reliable transit, they can be a lifeline. But so far, LEVs have been left to the private market — if you can afford one, great; If not, too bad.

She goes on to argue for increasing the funding for California’s ebike incentive program, and allowing the vouchers to be used to purchase more affordable used ebikes.

Along with investing in a statewide network of safe, physically separated routes for light electric vehicles connecting neighborhoods to schools, jobs and transit.

It’s worth taking a few short minutes to read the whole thing, because it’s pretty hard to argue with.

………

A new ranking of the country’s most dangerous cities for pedestrian and bicyclists says Albuquerque, New Mexico is worst for walkers, while Stockton, California sucks if you’re on two wheels.

For once, Los Angeles fares relatively well, ranking 31st worst for pedestrians, and all the way down at 64th worst for people on bicycles.

Surprisingly, bike-friendly Long Beach fared much worse for bike riders, ranking 38th worst in the US, but slightly better than LA for pedestrians at 41st.

………

Active Streets comes to the heart of the San Gabriel Valley in November, with five miles of open streets connecting El Monte and South El Monte.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1947458366537654327

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

No bias here. A writer for the conservative California Globe accuses San Francisco of having an anti-car agenda, arguing the city’s “relentless” “transit-first dogma prioritizes buses, bikes, bike lanes and pedestrians while slashing critical parking spaces and discouraging driving”, “strangling the mobility of our most vulnerable residents.” Um, sure. Whatever you say.

A city in Yorkshire, England is ripping out a protected bike lane that local businesses blamed for taking away parking spaces, while a secondary concern was the risk of injury from the armadillos used to separate the bike lane from motor vehicles. So instead of removing or replacing the armadillos, they’re just ripping out the whole damn thing.

………

Local 

The 29-year old San Clemente man accused of intentionally slamming his car into a group of people standing outside of an East Hollywood night club last weekend has been charged with 37 count of attempted murder; Fernando Ramirez was allegedly kicked out of the club for fighting prior to the attack. .

 

State

A coalition of advocacy groups is calling for secure bike parking to be included in the state’s Green Building Standards Code.

Twenty-four-year old Ventura surfing instructor Elieah Boyd is recovering after surgery to reattach her arm, which was ripped off when a train hit her 80-pound ebike as she was trying to push it across the tracks earlier this month.

A 77-year old San Francisco man was killed when he was struck by someone riding a privately owned electric scooter on the city’s Market Street; the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition reminded everyone about the hierarchy of road user safety, with pedestrians more vulnerable than people on bicycles or scooters, who are more vulnerable than people in cars.

 

National

Denver bike riders are justifiably angry after someone riding a bicycle was killed by a hit-and-run driver at an intersection where a protected bike lane was proposed, but never built; a 28-year old man was later arrested for the crime.

Colorado tries preaching to the choir, placed new bicycle safety signs along the roadway in the city’s Washington Park, insisting that hundreds of bicyclists, walkers and roller skaters will see them every day — but no drivers, since cars are banned from the park. And yes, most of those people probably drive, but thousands more people could see the same message if they put it on a billboard next to the freeway.

A legally blind teacher isn’t letting his lack of eyesight keep him from biking across the full breadth of Iowa on the back of a tandem in the annual RAGBRAI ride across the state.

That’s more like it. A 69-year old Philadelphia man was sentenced to 6 to 20 years behind bars for swerving into a bike lane and killing a Children’s Hospital physician riding her bike to work, while driving at over twice the legal alcohol limit.

After someone stole a Virginia pastor’s mountain bike off his car five years ago, he responded by posting about the theft online and offering to repair bicycles for free — leading to a weekly backyard bike wrenching service, as well as giving away over 2,000 refurbished bicycles.

A New Orleans bike rider was killed last week on a street where a local bicycle advocacy group has been calling for a protected bike lane for the past three years.

 

International

Bicyclists riding “a very dangerous road” into London’s Kensington and Chelsea boroughs say they’re forced to choose between risking a fine equivalent to $135 for riding on the sidewalk or their lives.

A group of neurodivergent teenagers completed a 1,000-mile bike ride down the full length of Great Britain to prove that they are capable of doing anything.

Britain’s ETA insurance company calls bike storage the missing link in the country’s bicycling revolution.

A new ranking of Europe’s best city’s for bicyclists ranks Paris first, with Amsterdam third, while Copenhagen is nowhere to be seen.

Ukrainian troops accused Russian solders of deliberately shooting a man riding a bicycle in the embattled Donetsk region for no apparent reason. And trust me, you don’t want to see the drone video.

Ebikes continue to shed pounds, as Dahon’s newest folding ebike weights just 26.5 pounds, reportedly without skimping on features and performance.

 

Competitive Cycling

France’s Valentin Paret-Peintre took first place on the legendary Mont Ventoux over former race leader Ben Healy, while Tadej Pogačar put another two seconds on second place Jonas Vingegaard, who crashed into a photographer after crossing the finish line.

Norway’s Tobias Halland Johannessen was hospitalized after he collapsed following the finish stage 16 at the top of Mont Ventoux, over a mile above sea level.

US cyclist Alexis Magner is reported to be “amazingly okay” after she had to be resuscitated and rushed to surgery when she crash into a lamppost near the finish line on the final day of Belgium’s Ladies Baloise Tour.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can be a pro mountain biker. No schadenfreude here, even though Lance’s defiant former manager got a well-deserved boot from the Tour.

And nothing like riding RAGBRAI after losing an entire person.

………

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 / / Comments Off on Is something rotten in the state of Metro, make Warner Center more bikeable, and help spend OC Measure M funds
Day 156 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cheating alleged in Lyft’s Metro Bike bid, questioning rescue of Georgia bikepacker, and PCH study comments extended

May 23, 2025 / / Comments Off on Cheating alleged in Lyft’s Metro Bike bid, questioning rescue of Georgia bikepacker, and PCH study comments extended
Day 143 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

My apologies to everyone who found an unfinished — or unstarted, for that matter — draft of today’s post in your inbox. 

And yes, spellcheck, unstarted is a real word.

But’s that’s what happens when have too many windows open on your screen, and inadvertently hit the “publish” button when you try to click on one.

Not for the first time, I might add. 

………

Now that we have that out of the way —

Today is the unofficial start of the three-day holiday weekend. Which means lots of people leaving work early, and not paying attention to anything but where they wish they already were right now.

Like bikes, for instance.

And long weekends mean parties and barbecues — and a lot of drinking and other forms of imbibing.

So ride defensively all weekend, and assume every driver you see is under the influence of something. Because more than a few probably will be.

I just want to see you back here safe and sound on Tuesday.

And try to take a few moments to remember what this holiday is all about, anyway.

………

Raise your hand if you’d be shocked to learn there may have been cheating in awarding the new Metro Bike contract.

Hello? Anyone?

Is this thing on?

Streetsblog reports Metro directors delayed what was expected to be a pro forma vote to award Lyft the contract to operate the city’s docked bikeshare program yesterday — despite a unanimous vote by the Metro Operations Committee to advance the contract.

And after two previous botched attempts at awarding the contract.

But according to LA Public Press, the vote was pulled after allegations were raised that Lyft had inside information giving them an unfair advantage, in violation of Los Angeles ethics rules.

And yes, we have ethics rules, as hard as it is to believe at times.

Anne Marie Drolet, a bike mechanic and shop steward with the bike share union Transportation Workers Union Local 320, told LA Public Press that the allegations, if proven, should disqualify Lyft from the bidding process.

“Lyft’s bid once again seems very unfair, like they’re getting a leg up,” Drolet said. “One of their subcontractors helped write the [request for proposals]. I think it’s ridiculous [Lyft is] still in the running.”

Alta Planning + Design, a transportation design company founded in 1996 with offices in the U.S. and Canada, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. Metro has previously hired the company to do things like design transportation plans that capture the highest number of riders at transit stations.

LA Public Press also reports that Metro was on the cusp of making the change despite limited cost savings that amount to a rounding error in the massive Metro budget.

Lyft’s proposal claims it can cut costs, build new docking stations, add more e-bikes to the fleet, and develop a new bike share app.

But Metro documents show Lyft’s current proposal offers minimal cost savings. The company said it can operate bike share for $198 million, while BTS says it can operate the program for $202 million.

Opponents of the company’s bid have also pointed out current CEO David Risher’s comments that the company’s takeover of bike share programs is part of a push to get more people using Lyft for ride-hailing.

It’s possible — likely, in fact — that the allegations are an effort by current program operator BTS and unionized Metro Bike mechanics to derail the shift in management.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not true.

And even if it’s not, is it worth risking the bikeshare program as the city prepares to host the World Cup and ’28 Olympics by shifting to a company which has had a spotty record in other cities?

……….

It’s been a little more than a week since the “miraculous” rescue of Georgia bikepacker Tiffany Slaton after she got lost in the mountains above Fresno, surviving three weeks on wild leeks and melted snow.

But apparently, not everyone believe her story.

According to the Los Angeles Times,

(Fresno County Sheriff spokesperson Tony) Botti defended Slaton, saying that the woman didn’t report herself missing and “there is no evidence to show she knew we were searching for her.”

Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni called Slaton’s journey “an incredible story of perseverance, determination and survival” saying it is “something that you may see on TV that they would make movies about.”

On the other hand, a Redditor had this to say.

“I’m glad to see that other people don’t believe this story. So many things don’t add up, I hope this office investigates fully since resources were used,” a person wrote on the sheriff’s office’s Facebook. “It’s embarrassing to think people believe someone fell off a cliff, survived 2 hours unconscious (guess she was timing it), popped her knee back into place, and traveled 20 miles after splinting her leg.”

Even the experts had questions. Experienced Sierra mountain guide Howie Schwartz didn’t doubt Slaton was lost.

But,

“It doesn’t seem like a story you can really wrap your head around,” Schwartz told The Times. “Falling off a cliff, having to splint her leg. You don’t splint your leg unless your leg is broken and if your leg is broken, you’re not walking miles on it.”

Never mind the Redditors who said she was probably crazy, embellished her story, or looking for a book deal or crowdfunding cash.

Which probably explains why her parents shut their crowdfunding page down. But not until it had raised over $23,000.

Then again, those same doubts also popped up in my own Twitter/X feed.

So what’s the answer? Don’t ask me.

Her story does seem kind of incredible. But the best stories usually are.

………

Caltrans uses a lot more words than necessary to say they’re giving you more time to comment on the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study.

Maybe they had to use them all before the weekend.

ADDENDUM ADDED TO THE PCH MASTER PLAN FEASIBILITY STUDY AND EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is pleased to announce that an addendum has been added to the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study. The addendum, described in Section 7, Project Prioritization/Phasing of the Draft Study, consists of a qualitative evaluation matrix assessing the Study’s recommendations for alignment with the Study’s goals as well as statutory mandates and guidelines related to long-range corridor planning. By demonstrating alignment with mandates and guidelines related to corridor management, the Study is better positioned for additional funding opportunities to support the implementation of its recommendations. The results of the evaluation matrix can be found in Appendix E: Evaluation Matrix.

To ensure the public and stakeholders have time to review the update, the comment period has been extended from June 9, 2025, to June 16, 2025. The updated Draft Study can be viewed here.

Caltrans invites members of the public, stakeholders, and any interested individuals to review the Draft Study and leave your thoughts in the comment box provided here or via email to 07-pchmpfs@publicinput.com. When providing comments via email, please include the relevant section title, page number, figure, or table number when applicable to help us accurately locate the part of the document you’re commenting on.

………

Streets For All shares video of their virtual happy hour with LA City Attorney candidate Marissa Roy.

I never know how much to tip my virtual bartender. Or a Waymo driver, for that matter.

………

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, posts video of the recent die-in on the steps of City Hall.

………

Active SGV hosts free two-hour ebike rentals this weekend.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1925644608425410632

Here’s the link if Elon is still screwing up proper embedding of Twitter/X posts.

………

Of course a bicyclist who used to be a driver would have no idea what a traffic light is. Especially when it comes to right turns.

Or left.

………

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

Tres shock! New York’s police commissioner says her cops are only targeting reckless ebike riders for six offenses along 14 key corridors; Streetsblog says it ain’t necessarily so.

………

Local 

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman reports on the celebratory grand opening of the “transformative” Rail-to-Rail bike/walk path in South LA.

Long Beach is launching a 12-month pilot program allowing both private and shared e-scooters along the shoreline bike and pedestrian path.

 

State

Palm Springs bike riders demanded action on safety improvements while honoring fallen bicyclists at Wednesday’s Ride of Silence.

The Santa Barbara Independent says the city’s bicycling rates are inching up while bicycling injuries climb, making both bike and Vision Zero goals “distant.”

 

National

A magazine for lawyers examines the legal challenges facing bike riders injured by distracted and/or reckless drivers. Best advice, document everything and find a good lawyer to walk through your options. Like one of those guys over there on the right. 

The Independent lists eight American cities that are surprising great for bicycling. Seven of which actually are. And yes, I’m looking at you, Houston.

The Today Show highlights a dad going viral for his daily bike rides with his seven-year old daughter.

Nice. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed the nation’s first law permitting shared streets, with a 10 mph speed limit and strict rules requiring people on bicycles to yield to pedestrians, and drivers to yield to bike riders. Which is how it should be, anyway. 

Salt Lake City is pulling the plug on its ebike incentive program after funding nearly 300 vouchers last year, citing a flat budget for the coming year. But wouldn’t a flat budget mean they could fund everything they did the previous year?

An Idaho dancer says ballet is just like riding a bike. And he should know, since he rides a bike to stay in shape for ballet, mentally and physically.

Damn. A Texas jury gave the parents of an eight-year old bike-riding boy killed by a young man driving a family business truck just at tad more than the $1.1 million they were asking for, awarding them a whopping $80 million. Let’s hope that’s a very valuable family business they’ve got there.  

Your next bike parts could come from a Topeka vending machine. Which wouldn’t be the first thing I’ve bought from a vending machine in Topeka.

 

International

Seriously? London emergency rooms are supposedly buckling because of a surge in demand due to “Lime bike leg,” caused by people trapped by the weight of collapsing ebikes that are “around four times heavier than regular cycles,” while a surgeon warns of “life-threatening injuries.” Call it the modern equivalent of bicycle face.

We know a guy on a bike can beat a someone in a car, but can a London bike rider beat another guy riding the Tube across one of the world’s busiest cities? Would I be writing this if he couldn’t?

A 2,000-mile circular relay ride will connect all 42 Anglican cathedrals in the UK. Or as they call them over there, cathedrals.

A British bike club is proving that age is no barrier to learning how to ride a bike.

 

Competitive Cycling

Your new US national time trial champs are Emily Ehrlich and Artem Schmidt.

Mexico’s Isaac del Torro continues to lead the Giro, as Olav Kooij of the Netherlands won a mass sprint Thursday with a leadout from Wout van Aert. Meanwhile, a reader named Steven points out that del Torro’s name translates to “laughter of the bull,” which seems oddly appropriate.

A Utah newspaper profiles 23-year old Utah native Natalie Quinn as she fights to rise in women’s cycling — without getting paid, after joining American team Cynisca Cycling midseason when the British team she was on folded. Which pretty much sums up the problems with the current state of women’s cycling.

Kenyan cycling coach Evan Wangai discusses his journey from boda boda driver to pro cyclist.

 

Finally…

Why line the bike lane with ugly yellow posts when you can have recycled red plastic tulips? Always use a bicycle as a getaway vehicle for your baby gator heists.

And who needs lube when you’ve got…sand.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Metro Bike union beats back Lyft contract, $2.45 million in San Diego pothole case, and helmet law targets indigenous riders

March 28, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 278 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We’re slowly gaining signatures, up to 1,027 now, so keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

………

It was a light bike news day yesterday. So if no news is good news, this may be one of my best pieces ever. 

The better news is, that means you can get out on your bike that much sooner today. 

………

It’s now 99 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

Drivers in Manchester, England are accused of making a mockery of a controversial green bike lane by parking their vehicles in the bikeway.

………

Local 

Public radio station KCRW’s Press Play discusses long overdue plans to reduce traffic lanes, widen sidewalks, and add bike and bus lanes along the Hollywood Blvd Walk of Fame.

Santa Clarita approved an extension of the Bouquet Canyon Trail, providing a connection between Bouquet Canyon Road and the city’s Central Park.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. is one of us, going ebiking in the ‘Bu with his son, while demonstrating that TMZ doesn’t know what the hell a BMX is.

 

State

A San Diego bike commuter and long-distance runner says that complaints over the curb-protected bike lane where an Encinitas father apparently fell to his death suggest that critics just don’t want to share the road with slower bicyclists.

A San Francisco website says it’s not Vision Zero that has failed in the city, but San Francisco’s piecemeal, reactive approach to fixing the problem.

Sad news from Napa, where a 45-year old man was killed in an apparent hit-and-run, after he was found lying in the street near his bicycle, suffering from serious injuries.

 

National

There’s a special place in hell for the hit-and-run semi driver who left a bike-riding 81-year old Queens, New York man to die in the street.

New York has authorized the use of e-cargo bikes to replace delivery vans in the city, many in the form of cute little pedal-powered mini box trucks.

 

International

Life is cheap in Scotland, where a man convicted of careless driving in a crash that left a bike rider with life-changing injuries walked without a day behind bars, after getting a lousy $1,900 fine and a 15-month driving ban; meanwhile, his victim may never be able to ride a bike again.

Irish pro cyclist Imogen Cotter is urging drivers not to make like a bunny, and slow the hell down over the Easter weekend.

The Netherlands is proposing banning performance modification kits designed to boost ebike speeds beyond the strict limits set by the European Union.

 

Competitive Cycling

American Matteo Jorgenson became the first American to win the one-day Dwars door Vlaanderen classic on Wednesday by attacking with a little over four miles to go, after favorites Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven and Biniam Girmay crashed out in a spill that took out more than a half-dozen riders; Jorgenson also won the prestigious Paris-Nice earlier this month.

The crash could jeopardize Olympic favorite and defending silver medalist van Aert chances of competing in the Paris Games after breaking his collarbone and several ribs, as well as knocking him out of the upcoming Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Belgian cyclist Tiesj Benoot blames himself for the crash that injured van Aert.

On the women’s side, Dutch great Marianne Vos took her first Dwars door Vlaanderen win, outsprinting Shirin van Anrooij at the finish.

Twenty-eight cyclists competing in the Isle of Man road race won lifetime bragging rights, after Manx-native Mark Cavendish finished 29th.

 

Finally…

It’s time for the annual donning of the tweed. Your next e-cargo bike could take its tech from F1.

And that feeling when an illegal bike jump could be a real blast.

No, literally.

……... 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

More corruption at LA City Hall, more Metro money for induced demand, and SaMo suffers premature evaluation

June 14, 2023 / / Comments Off on More corruption at LA City Hall, more Metro money for induced demand, and SaMo suffers premature evaluation

Is anyone really surprised to find still more corruption on the Los Angeles city council?

The LA Times is reporting that CD9 Councilmember Curren Price, a ten year veteran of the council, was charged with ten counts of embezzlement, perjury and conflict of interest yesterday.

Price, a 10-year veteran of the City Council, is accused of having a financial interest in development projects that he voted on, and receiving tens of thousands of dollars in medical benefits from the city for his now wife while he was still married to another woman, according to a statement issued by the L.A. County district attorney’s office.

He was charged with five counts of grand theft by embezzlement, three counts of perjury and two counts of conflict of interest, according to a criminal complaint made public Tuesday.

The Times says Price, who resigned his position in the state legislature to run for the council seat, should do the right thing and resign.

Yeah, that’ll happen.

City Council President Paul Krekorian says he’ll move to suspend Price, just the latest in a long line of councilmembers to face criminal charges or resign under a cloud.

Maybe we’d have better luck getting safer streets if we slipped bag of cash to a few councilmembers under the table.

………

Metro’s board will vote today on a proposal to seek grant funds and shift yet more money to a $100 million plus project to widen the 405 Freeway between Artesia Boulevard and the 105 Freeway.

Demonstrating that they have learned absolutely nothing from the failed $1 billion project to widen the highway through the Sepulveda Pass, which actually resulted in more congestion and longer rush hour commute times.

Metro, meet induced demand.

Meanwhile, Streets For All wants you to tell Metro’s Planning and Programming Committee at this morning’s meeting not to flush another $26 million down the toilet on freeway projects.

They accuse Metro of greenwashing highway expansion by putting “multimodal” in the name of highway projects including a “widening project right in front of a middle school in Whittier, and laying the groundwork for the i-605 Hot Spots program which may destroy homes.”

………

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton reports that Santa Monica councilmembers RE asking for a premature report on the still-unfinished 17th Street protected bike lane and pedestrian improvements, which could shade results showing the eventual usage and effectiveness of the project.

Streets For All urges you to contact the council to object to the slightly disguised effort to rollback progress in the city.

………

Boy George is one of us.

So was the original voice of Jiminy Cricket. Although playing his uke while riding with no hands might be more impressive if there wasn’t a rack holding the bike in place.

………

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

A proposal to rip out a bike lane in Kingston, Ontario is rattling local bicyclists, who fear a change in the ostensibly bike-friendly city.

………

Local 

The Metro Bike bikeshare system will be free all weekend, along with all Metro buses, trains and Metro Micro, to celebrate the opening of the Regional Connector line in DTLA.

 

State

In case you missed it, a bike-riding mom was apparently collateral damage when an out-of-control driver ricocheted across the roadway in a Lake Forest crash on Sunday.

Four Santa Barbara women have set off on a 930-mile ride from California to Colorado to raise funds to encourage more young girls to ride a bike.

A Fresno County man faces a murder charge for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a Clovis bike rider last month; he was driving at nearly three times the legal alcohol limit at the time of the crash, and had signed a Watson advisement after a previous DUI conviction, informing him he could be charged with murder if he killed someone while driving drunk again.

You’ve got to be kidding. Business owners in Burlingame are stressing over plans to install a bike lane, fearing the loss of a whole 12 parking spaces — yes, twelve — will somehow negatively affect their business. Never mind that studies show bike lanes usually improve sales at local businesses.

A child was hospitalized with leg injuries after they were right hooked by a commercial truck driver while riding a bike in a Concord crosswalk.

 

National

Streetsblog discusses more effective ways to conduct driver education beyond “pedestrian-shaming PSAs, flimsy driver’s ed courses and lame signs on the side of the road.”

Alpecin Cycling advises how to boost your balance on your bike.

BikeRumor discusses the year’s best bike helmets, and how to get the best bike upgrade bang for the least amount of money.

A health website considers four weird things bicycling does to your body, like causing saddle sores and numbness “down there.”

An Alaska bicyclist complains about a proposed Anchorage vulnerable road user law, calling it “an exercise in virtue signaling” that wouldn’t do anything to protect bike riders.

No bias here. An Oregon driver got 19 years behind bars for intentionally running down a bike-riding man after getting into a physical fight with the victim, copping a plea to a reduced charge of manslaughter. Yet the local TV station somehow insists on describing him merely as a hit-and-run driver, as if the violent attack was just an “oopsie’ he drove away from.

The Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, aka RAGBRAI, has cancelled plans to attempt a world record for the longest parade of bicyclists during the ride’s Ames to Des Moines stage, saying rule changes from Guinness have made it impossible too do. Meanwhile, the paper has sent a cease and desist order to a former ride official who posted an alternate route for the stage, fearing RAGBRAI could compromise safety by having too many riders on the route.

A bike rider was apparently collateral damage in a Houston police chase when she was run down by a driver who may have been distracted by the car chase zooming by on surface streets at speeds up to 100 mph.

New York has established a nearly $18 an hour minimum wage for food delivery workers, most of whom use bikes and ebikes for their work. Yet Tech Crunch says no one seems to be happy about it.

 

International

A pair of university researchers explain how bike helmets and safety vests make bike riders look less human to other road users. Then again, even riding naked doesn’t seem to get a better result. 

This is who we share the road with. A pair of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan cops chasing a suspected bike thief somehow managed to crash their patrol cars together, as well as hitting a parked car, allowing the suspect to slip away.

An angry London pub owner demands an explanation after his outdoor seating was replaced with bike racks with no advance warning.

Two Welsh cops were served with gross misconduct notices for closely following, if not chasing, two boys riding an ebike just before they both were killed falling off the bike — which means the cops are under investigation, but it apparently has the legal impact of a slap with a wet noodle.

A Scottish newspaper recommends the “splendid isolation” of riding your bike through the secluded Borders region.

He gets it. Britain’s top road safety cop urges the media to stop wasting time talking about putting license plates on bicycles, and focus on the real causes of traffic deaths. Which ain’t bikes.

The subject of mandatory bike helmets once again raises its ugly head, as an Irish children’s hospital consultant called for helmets to be required for all bike riders, children and adults. Never mind that helmet laws have been shown to reduce bicycling rates, at a time when the climate crisis demands putting more people on bikes. 

The Financial Times talks with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who is rapidly remaking the city with much less emphasis on motor vehicles. We could have that here in Los Angeles, if our elected leaders actually had the vision and political courage they profess. 

A Streetsblog op-ed examines how Copenhagen constantly measures the true costs of driving and crafts policies to reduce them.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling reports that if you want to watch the nine stage Giro Donne — aka the women’s Giro d’Italia — which starts on June 30th, you’ll need a subscription to GCN+. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

The Guardian profiles endurance cyclist Leah Goldstein, as she sets out to win a second consecutive RAAM — aka Race Across America — after dropping her male competitors like freshman English in last year’s race.

Belgian veteran pro Thomas De Gendt has pulled himself out of the Tour de France, but invites you to join him on his own 12-day tour from Flanders to the Costa Blanca, with the mountains of Andorra thrown in along the way.

A Milwaukee website offers tips on how to ride your bike to, but not in, all 11 stages of the Tour of America’s Dairyland.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your local bike lane only works part-time. Probably not the best idea to try to steal a bicycle from the police parking lot.

And try not to ride your ebike when you’re falling down drunk.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Fighting bike dismount law at Redondo Pier, active transportation lost in LA budget, and free Earth Day Metro Bikes

April 19, 2023 / / 5 comments

Happy Bicycle Day!

Which may not be exactly what you think. Or maybe it is.

Photo shows a bike dismount sign in Manhattan Beach, because I don’t have one from Redondo.

………

I’ll let someone else start things off today.

Daryll Strauss writes that the Redondo Beach City Council was hearing a recommendation from city staffers last night about the long-standing requirement to walk your bike on the beachfront bike path as it passes the city pier.

Not to mention the ridiculous 5 mph speed limit as the bike path snakes through the pier parking garage, which makes it a challenge to keep your bike upright while getting anywhere close to it.

Redondo Beach Pier has a bike path that travels through the pier parking garage. The RBPD has begun a maximum enforcement ($300 ticket) policy requiring bicyclists to walk their bike through the garage through the south end of the pier. A distance of about 300 yards.

The laws in the city allow police to enforce a walk your bike requirement anywhere signs are posted, and signs can be posted anywhere city staff wants. There are signs and flashing lights that say walk your bike when flashing, but they flash all the time.

The South Bay Bicycle Coalition and the Redondo Beach Harbor Commission have recommended loosening the restrictions, but the recommendations from city staff is to keep the status quo.

This topic is on the agenda for the Redondo Beach City Council meeting tonight.

The staff recommendations are ludicrous. They don’t provide any data to justify their recommendations and make specious arguments. It basically comes down to the fact the police can’t legally enforce a speed limit so they’ll make it “walk your bike”. Their safety concerns for bicycles riding through turns, at an arbitrary 5mpg, are outright ludicrous and can be mitigated with textured pavement. It’s also ironic that they just installed a skate park on the pier which would have much larger safety issues.

I ride this route regularly. I completely understand walking my bike where the bike path crosses the main entrance of the pier when there is significant pedestrian traffic, but the majority of the restrictions are ridiculous.

This is the beginning of the process, so there may be an opportunity to change these rules if the city council doesn’t rubber stamp the staff recommendation tonight.

I always thought the requirement was absurd when I used to ride through there on a semi-regular basis.

Unfortunately, I received this too late to get the word out for last night’s meeting. But hopefully we’ll let you know if they reconsider it at a future meeting.

………

As expected, Los Angeles Mayor Bass released her first budget yesterday.

It will take someone with more financial acuity than I possess to dig into it and see what she’s budgeted for alternative transportation, bikes and Vision Zero, and how it compares to previous years.

But a cursory examination didn’t reveal any mention of it in the budget, or in LAist’s detailed look at the budget. Which doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.

But maybe I’m not looking in the right place.

This is what she had to say on the subject when she was campaigning for mayor. We’ll see how much actually made it into the budget.

8. Prevent Traffic Fatalities and Champion Walking and Biking

Los Angeles has one of the highest rates of traffic fatalities in the nation 11 – and those deaths disproportionately impact communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. 1213 That is unacceptable. Traffic safety is a public health issue.

Meanwhile, survey after survey shows that Angelenos don’t feel safe getting around their neighborhood on foot and by bike – even though they want to. 1415 Angelenos shouldn’t have to worry about being struck by a car when they’re trying to bike to work or walk their children to school. Bass will stand up for safe streets, and prioritize accessibility for the most vulnerable members of our community.

As Mayor, Bass will:

  • Treat street safety as the public health crisis it is, and leverage all available city resources to address unsafe speeds and save lives.
  • Prioritize first and last-mile access to transit so that all Angelenos can use the region’s growing rail and bus network.
  • Invest in street safety infrastructure that saves lives.
  • Create family-friendly bicycle and pedestrian routes to connect neighborhood destinations and transit stops.
  • Support and expand monthly open streets events across L.A. like CicLAvia that bring communities together.

………

Metro Bike is offering free rides for Earth Day this Saturday.

………

BikeLA, the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, supports a more equitable distribution of street space on Eagle Rock Blvd.

………

The fight to preserve the MOVE Culver City streetscape — and keep it from reverting to the car sewer it used to be — comes to a head on Monday.

https://twitter.com/BikeCulverCity/status/1648361017196548100

………

ActiveSGV is hosting a bike ride through Covina on May 6th.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1648453853682061312

………

Berkeley bike riders demonstrate the right way to do a die-in, starting with having enough bodies to actually get some attention.

https://twitter.com/WarrenJWells/status/1648519850753671170

………

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

No bias here. San Jose’s Mr. Roadshow agrees with motorists who demand that bike riders should pay their fair share for the roads we ride on, neglecting to consider that we already pay more than our share for the negligible damage we do to the streets — unlike the massive SUVs that threaten our safety while destroying our streets, and our world. Unfortunately, you’ll have to sacrifice your email address if you want to read it, however.

A New York man faces charges after intentionally driving his car up onto a sidewalk in an effort to run down a kid riding a bicycle, claiming the boy had attempted to steal his property. Which is not an excuse for attempting to use deadly force, as he’s about to learn the hard way.

Police in Surrey, England are looking for a man who stepped out of the darkness to attack a man riding a bicycle with some sort of weapon; the attack was captured on security cam, but the attacker’s face was hidden by a balaclava.

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

An Illinois man faces up to 30 years behind bars for riding his bicycle over a homeless man sleeping in a parking garage, then attacking the victim with both ends of an axe; the horrific assault only ended when the victim was able to reach an emergency phone.

A Singapore man was hospitalized with a brain bleed after he was struck by a “peloton of crazy cyclists” while riding his bike, none of whom stopped after the crash.

………

Local 

Metro is hosting a virtual community meeting this afternoon to discuss the Rail to Rail Active Transportation Corridor Project, which will create a walking and biking pathway through Inglewood and South LA.

Santa Monica is planning safety improvements to deadly Wilshire Blvd, including “special markings at four intersections (to) create dedicated space for cyclists to safely cross Wilshire Boulevard.”

 

State

Bills to authorize speed cams and camera enforcement of bike lanes passed their first committee hearings in the state legislature; unfortunately, a bill that would rip out the bike lanes on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and replace them with another lane for motor vehicles did, too.

San Francisco bike advocates rallied to demand protected bike lanes on Arguello Blvd, where masters cycling champ and world record holder Ethan Boyes was killed earlier this month.

 

National

Distracted driving kills ten people a day in the US.

Fast Company says it’s time to undo bikeshare’s original sin, and subsidize it like the public asset it is.

In a surprising move, outdoor co-op REI is pulling out of ostensibly bike-friendly Portland.

A North Carolina paracyclist made a remarkable recovery to complete Monday’s Boston Marathon riding a recumbent handcycle, after he was severely injured in a collision with a pickup driver last July while training for the Para-Cycling Road World Championship.

Heartbreaking news from Florida, where an 83-year old man was murdered by a heartless hit-and-run driver, after he was struck by a motorcyclist while trying to ride his bike across the street; the motorcycle rider was critically injured, as well. Seriously, anyone who can still ride a bike at that age deserves a hell of a lot better. Then again, so does anyone else.

More bad Florida news, as Dartmouth College football coach Buddy Teevens had his leg amputated, as well as suffering spinal injuries, as a result of last month’s collision while he was riding his bike home from a restaurant; police naturally blamed him for the crash, and never bothered to test the uninsured driver for drug or alcohol use.

 

International

GCN demonstrates how to wrap handlebar tape on drop bars.

Winnipeg, Manitoba is holding an online auction of unclaimed bikes. The only problem is you’ll have to go there to pick it up if you win. 

England and Wales are on the verge of banning bicycle tires and inner tubes from being dumped in landfills, requiring them to be recycled, instead.

The parents of a young Scottish woman complain that “society has accepted death as a cost of getting from A to B,” after she was killed while riding her bike earlier this year.

Britain’s self-governing island of Jersey is the latest jurisdiction offering ebike rebates, with the equivalent of $372 for a standard ebike, or twice that for a cargo-ebike.

Remarkable news from France, where the 50-year old man who received the first double arm and shoulder transplant two years ago was able to ride a bicycle for the first time after losing both arms when he was electrocuted by power lines 25 years earlier.

The world’s longest purpose-built bike and pedestrian tunnel has opened in Norway, running 1.8 miles under a mountain.

Traffic deaths are up in the Netherlands, as the country suffers the highest bicycling death toll in nearly three decades — especially for riders over 75.

Switzerland is encouraging its citizens to bike to work this spring.

A Spanish man rode his bike 378 miles in just 20 hours to raise awareness and respect for people on bicycles. He certainly earned my respect.

An Indian man has developed a DIY ultrasonic dog repellent to stay safe riding his bike. Although maybe he could make it just a tad smaller before it hits the market.

Your next Taiwanese smart ebike could have a frame made of interlocking carbon triangles crammed with all the latest tech.

In yet another example of keeping a dangerous driver on the streets until it’s too late, Australian officials gave the visually-impaired driver who killed a 66-year old man riding a bike an unconditional driver’s license, despite failing the minimum vision test requirements and almost hitting parked cars during his driving test.

 

Competitive Cycling

The governing body for time trials in England, Scotland and Wales is introducing a standard road bike category to encourage more people to take part; no word on why Northern Ireland bike riders weren’t invited to play.

Indiana University’s student newspaper looks forward to the school’s iconic Little 500 bike race this weekend; the race was made famous by the equally iconic Breaking Away. Which is the movie that inspired me to buy a bike and start riding as an adult.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a loose plastic bag makes its home in your spokes while you ride. Now you can carry your bike across your back like a backpack; just be careful walking through crowds or going through doors.

And forget the diamond, and buy your beloved an engagement bike, instead.

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

De León: hell no, he won’t go; advocacy groups call for ebike libraries; and what happens when officials give a damn

October 20, 2022 / / Comments Off on De León: hell no, he won’t go; advocacy groups call for ebike libraries; and what happens when officials give a damn
Talk about misreading the room.

In an announcement that was almost universally condemned, CD14 City Councilmember Kevin de León says hell no, he won’t go.

De León is refusing to resign in the wake of a racist and otherwise offensive recording in which he was heard actively participating, along with outgoing CD1 Councilmember “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo, former Council President Nury Martinez and ex-LA County Federation of Labor Ron Herrera, the latter two of whom at least had the decency to resign.

His announcement was immediately condemned by newly elected Council President Paul Krekorian.

Yes, the same Krekorian who singlehandedly killed the fully funded and shovel ready lane reductions and protected bike lanes planned for Lankershim Blvd in one of his first official acts on the council.

Apparently thinking he can somehow survive this, de León said “I’m not going to mince words. I’m not going to deflect blame. I’m not going to defend the defenseless,” before attempting to do exactly that, adding he’ll be “spending the coming weeks and months personally asking for your forgiveness.”

Forgiveness that is not likely to be given, after failing to condemn Martinez’ open racism, while himself comparing fellow Councilmember Mike Bonin’s toddler son to the Luis Vuitton purse favored by Martinez.

Bonin is clearly in no mood for de León’s weakass mea culpa.

As we’ve noted before, this whole city hall soap opera matters, because we’re never going to get action on safer streets with dysfunctional city leadership, particularly with the council’s draft of the Healthy Streets LA initiative due back at the council in a few weeks.

Speaking of which, the LA Times has opened a web portal to help you find how to contact the right city agencies and officials to address various issues.

You know, in case you want to advocate for safer streets. Or complain about corrupt city officials.

Photo from Wikipedia. 

………

And speaking of Bonin, Streets For All has posted video of Wednesday’s virtual Happy Hour with the outgoing councilmember.

………

Yesterday we mentioned Metro’s confusing proposal to reform management of the Metro Bike bikeshare system.

The leaders of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, ActiveSGV and People for Mobility Justice teamed to release an open letter to the Metro board, suggesting that opening ebike libraries and investing in safer infrastructure might be a better approach.

………

It looks like LADOT is finally getting serious about counting bikes, at least on 7th Street.

https://twitter.com/subwayray/status/1582956512519286785

………

This is what happens when city officials actually give a damn.

………

CNN recognizes the Dutch city of Utrecht for the world bicycling capital it is.

………

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

An Ottawa, Canada mayoral candidate is politely taken to task after declaring he won’t declare a war on cars by investing bike lanes, preferring a “balanced approach” that’s balanced heavily in favor of motor vehicles.

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

A 70-year old Fresno man insists he’s the real victim after he lay in wait and repeatedly shot and stabbed a man he accused of stealing his bicycle; Edmundo Martinez faces 50 to life if he’s convicted of killing Jose Palafox, Jr. Once again, no bike is worth a human life.

A Phoenix man faces charges after he was captured on video circling a convenience store parking lot on his bike while aiming a gun at bystanders; the man bizarrely claimed there was someone hiding in a cooler at the store to justify his actions.

………

Local

The next driver who tries to run you off the road may not be one, after Google’s Waymo announced plans to bring driverless taxis to the City of Angels.

Streets For All is calling for canvassing volunteers to help elect transit advocate — and corgi dad — Kenneth Mejia as Los Angeles City Controller.

Cycling Tips reviews the second-gen Cero One cycle truck-style e-cargo bike from Los Angeles-based Cero. And likes it. I’d get one myself, with the perfect upfront corgi carrier, if I had an extra three grand laying around.

 

State 

California is offering $50,000 rewards for each of four unsolved murders, including a 16-year old boy who was shot and killed while riding his bike in Alameda County.

Great idea. The League of Women Voters is hosting a Bike Out the Vote bike caravan in Albany this weekend. Although someone should tell them that Bike the Vote is a lot less confusing.

 

National

Momentum examines bike storage solutions to help keep your bikes safe and out of the way.

Bicycling wants to know what’s the weirdest animal you’ve ever had to dodge on a bike, after a video of two angry moose charging down an Alaska bike path goes viral. In my case, it was an alligator sunning itself on a Louisiana roadway. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Bike Portland profiles an adventurous leather goods peddler, who pedals a bike trailer with his merchandise to a local outdoor market every weekend.

Life is cheap in Houston, where an eight-year old boy riding a bike is dead because a driver insisted on distractedly making a left turn while she was “messing with her sandwich;” a month later, charges still have not been filed.

Kindhearted Michigan sheriff’s deputies dipped into their own funds to buy a 13-year old boy a new bike after he was struck by a driver, trashing his bike and leaving him with 100 stitches in his leg.

Travel site Condé Nast recommends the best bike routes to explore New York’s five boroughs.

A Virginia woman tells drivers that rushing is never worth the risk, after her daughter was killed and another woman seriously injured by an 18-year old drunk driver as they rode their bikes.

 

International

A British Columbia letter writer offers a brief tutorial on the differences between pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists, stressing that the latter might kill the first two, but the first two never kill the latter, and that separate infrastructure is the only solution to keep everyone safe.

An Indian college student faces charges for the high speed crash that killed one bike rider, before swerving onto the other side of the road and killing another.

A handmade Namibian bike brand made its international debut at the recent Bespoke bike show in London; the steel-frame Onguza bikes made by Dan Craven, a two-time Olympic road cyclist and Namibia’s only professional cyclist to ride a Grand Tour, retail for four grand for a frame, and double that for a complete bike.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former Vuelta and world champ Alejandro Valverde called it a career after rolling across the Il Lombardia finish line one last time.

 

Finally…

No, no seat tube doesn’t mean you have to ride standing up. Introducing an ebike roadie for weight weenies.

And can you really say you ride a bike if you don’t know how to pop a proper wheelie?

https://twitter.com/BicyclingMag/status/1582793704775077895

 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Flawed Metro bike map & bikeshare changes, parking reform house party, and odd non-endorsement of Newsom foe

October 19, 2022 / / One comment

We should be so past this crap by now.

A couple stories popped up this week that expose the sort of needless problems that shouldn’t even exist after decades of advocacy.

Not to mention Metro’s repeated lip service to supporting active transportation.

First up, Streets For All sent out a notice about proposed changes to the Metro Bike bikeshare program. Changes that have virtually everyone scratching their heads, trying to figure out what the hell it all means.

Here’s what Streets For All had to say on the subject.

THIS THURSDAY, Metro’s Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience Committee has an item on its agenda to consider a staff recommendation to mostly privatize Metro Bike Share.

While we’re not against this in principle, the fact is that Metro has treated its own bike share program as the odd man out, and not like a real transportation mode.

Regardless of which model the bike share program ultimately becomes, the next phase must include:

  1. A major expansion, based on equity, starting in our most underinvested neighborhoods
  2. The ability to put bike share stations at Metro train and bus stations (right now, Metro’s employee union blocks this)
  3. Treating bike share like a real transportation mode part of Metro’s bus/rail system, not an afterthought. This means real funding and integration into the rest of the system.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

CALL INTO METRO’S COMMITTEE MEETING THURDAY AT 12:30PM

EMAIL THE COMMITTEE IN ADVANCE

The second issue came up when Metro released the interactive map we linked to yesterday showing the agency’s Draft Prioritized Active Transportation Network, which purports to show bikeways, pedestrian districts and first-last-mile station improvements prioritized by the agency.

The problem is, they can’t even get the existing infrastructure right.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton was the first to call out the problem, noting a number of errors in the following Twitter thread.

It raises obvious questions of how we can count on Metro to plan future bikeway and pedestrian improvements when they don’t even know what the hell we already have.

And combined with the Metro Bike changes, makes it clear active transportation continues to be an afterthought at the county transportation agency, and the lack of seriousness with which they consider it.

Let alone address it.

And by extension, the local governments that make up the Metro board, who certainly should know better by now.

Then again, why bother with a million dollar bikeway when they can keep flushing billions down the toilet with more induced demand-inducing highway projects in the midst of a climate emergency?

………

Another notice that popped up in my email yesterday was a reminder from Bike Talk’s Nick Richert about tomorrow’s parking reform house party, with special guest UCLA parking meister and The High Cost of Free Parking author Donald Shoup.

I’m reaching out to invite you to a fundraising house party for an organization that I believe is doing important work on an issue that doesn’t get enough attention … parking reform!

We’ll be gathering at the home of Lindsay Sturman, in Larchmont Village, LA on Thursday, October 20th. Drinks and Socializing at 7:00PM, with a short program at 7:30 PM

Car parking can be enormously  expensive – often costing upwards of $40K per stall to construct – and takes up so much space – an average parking space, including aisles, is 300 square feet. Because of outdated rules that ensure we’ll continue to over-build parking whether we need it or not, these costs are baked into our cities … and we are just beginning to pay the full tab.

The Parking Reform Network is a 501(c)3 non profit organization with a mission to accelerate the adoption of critical parking reforms through research, coalition-building, and direct advocacy.

Over the last two years, PRN has released a widely cited map of US cities that eliminated parking mandates, produced a how-to guide for advocates working to create new  parking benefit districts, worked with Congressman Blumenauer’s office to introduce federal legislation introducing a parking cash-out benefit (HR 8555), and built a membership of nearly 300 practitioners, activists, and academics worldwide.

This fundraiser will support:

  • Grants and organizational support to local reform campaigns
  • Developing presentations and training speakers to educate policymakers and stakeholders about parking reforms.
  • Creating materials to advise government agencies who are in the thick of parking reforms, and need technical and/or communication support to get their plans across the finish line.

Please RSVP via this web page, or email la-party@parkingreform.org, and also let us know if you’re planning to bring a +1.

On behalf of all our party co-hosts: Lindsay Sturman, Tony Gittelson, Terence Heuston, Jennifer Levin, Eduardo Mendoza, Gerhard Mayer, Thomas Small, Abundant Housing LA, Livable Communities Initiative, Hang Out Do Good, Culver City Forward, Bike Talk, Sunset4All, and Culver City Forward …

We hope to see you there!

………

Um, okay.

An editorial from the Southern California News Group says nothing will change as long as Gavin Newsom is governor, citing among his many perceived flaws “diverting” funds collected for road maintenance to “perceived climate-friendlier projects such as bike lanes.”

Yet oddly, they don’t endorse the other guy running against him.

Never mind that anyone who doesn’t recognize that bike lanes are better for the climate than highway projects probably shouldn’t be writing editorials in the first place.

………

Enough said.

………

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

A Denver bike rider was intentionally run down by a road raging driver, for the crime of accidentally brushing the maniac’s mirror.

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

An apparent homeless man riding a baby blue beach cruiser was arrested for attacking a Catholic priest in La Jolla with a box cutter and half a pair of scissors when the pastor asked him to leave the Catholic school parking lot.

………

Local

Northridge-Chatsworth Patch reminds us that Cal State Northridge is hosting its first BikeFest this Sunday.

An op-ed in the Loyola Marymount University student newspaper says forget more parking, and build safe infrastructure to encourage more students to bike to campus, instead.

A Long Beach man pled not guilty in the September murder of a man outside a gay bar in the city, and the stabbing of his partner; 56-year old Michael Smalls allegedly rode up on a bicycle as the couple was trying to disarm a man with a Taser, and stabbed them both. He’s being held on $3 million bond.

 

State 

An op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune says closing the successful Diamond Street Slow Street in Pacific Beach would be a mistake, despite the calls from some residents.

San Diego and Caltrans are preparing to flush $39 million down the toilet by widening State Route 56 from four to six lanes, promising it will reduce congestion, even though both science and experience show it will just result in more induced demand. But at least the project includes a new bike bridge and extending an existing bike path.

A kindhearted Mountain View cop bought a new bicycle for a toddler who was struck by a driver, along with his father, outside the local library; fortunately, both father and son escaped with minor injuries.

A Streetsblog op-ed calls for a dedicated political action committee, aka PAC, for safe streets in San Francisco. They’ve got a point. Los Angeles street safety PAC Streets For All has made a huge difference in just a few short years.

 

National

Apparently, it’s not just the flesh and blood drivers you have to worry about.

Consumer Reports recommends their picks for the best foldies. But you’ll have to be a member if you want to see it.

A San Francisco site argues that while the city dithers on street design, Seattle is demonstrating that bikes drive local business. Meanwhile, Seattle is committing just $8.3 million to fund its Vision Zero program, despite the deadliest year for traffic deaths since 2006.

Nice move from my platinum level Bicycle Friendly Community hometown, which is raising funds to provide a free bicycle for every 2nd grade student in the local school system.

Speaking of Colorado, the state has renamed a classic bikeway as the Mestaa’Ėhehe Pass ride, replacing a racial slur for indigenous women.

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, after a man on a ebike led a moose away from a Wyoming soccer pitch after it crashed a kids match.

The 67-year old person of interest in the gruesome murder and dismemberment of four Oklahoma friends who disappeared on a bike ride was arrested 1,200 miles away in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida; Joseph Kennedy is being held without bail on an unrelated charge pending extradition.

More on the white Milwaukee man seen on video grabbing a Black man by the neck while accusing the victim’s friends of stealing a bicycle from the white man’s friend; despite initial reports that the victim was a boy, he’s actually a 24-year old man.

In another tragic reminder to always carry ID when you ride, a missing Tennessee man’s family finally learned of his death two weeks after he was killed in a collision while riding his bike.

A compact-framed 1890’s direct-drive safety bicycle sold at auction in New York for $52,800, vastly exceeding initial estimates of $4,000 to $6,000.

A travel site highlights three “amazing” bike rides along the Great Allegheny Passage.

A Georgia teenager will spend the rest of his life behind bars for fatally shooting a 60-year old man at a bus stop, just to steal his bicycle. As we’ve said before, no bike is worth a human life.

 

International

Road.cc review’s Knog’s new bike alarm and tracker, designed to fit beneath your water bottle holder.

Cycling Weekly considers the difference between gravel and road bikes. Maybe I should start my own magazine for people who ride like I do these days; we could call it Cycling Weakly.

So much for that. A campaign by London’s mayor to keep drivers out of bike lanes has resulted in just 12 citations in three months.

A giant hedgehog on a bicycle, built with the help of local children, was crowned the winner of the national Tour of Britain’s land art competition.

Introducing a new French-made ebike apparently designed for people who really want to pretend they’re riding a motorcycle, instead. No word on whether it makes vroom! vroom! noises, or if you have to provide those yourself. 

Globalization in action, as Ukrainian ebike brand Delfast introduces their new U-frame Delfast California model; the bikemaker has managed to remain active despite the Russian invasion.

 

Competitive Cycling

A 78-year old former Santa Monica resident describes setting a record as the oldest person to complete the Kona Ironman competition.

A Welsh triathlete is being remembered as a “warrior princess” after she was killed in a crash while riding her bike last weekend.

 

Finally…

Maybe he should stick to driving spaceships. No one has ever had to draw from the strategic oil reserve to support bicycling.

And seriously, who doesn’t need pumpkin spiced, uh…chain lube?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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