Tag Archive for Metro

Morning Links: 405 induced demand failure, it’s National Bike to School Day, and Beverly Hills Complete Streets plan

May 8, 2019 / / 2 comments

In news that shouldn’t surprise anyone, traffic congestion on the 405 Freeway over the Sepulveda Pass has only gotten worse since Metro spent over $1 billion to widen it.

Because apparently, their engineers have never heard of induced demand. Or like typical auto-centric traffic safety deniers, simply chose to ignore it, hoping it wouldn’t apply this time.

Right.

Never mind that billion bucks would have paid for the entire LA bike plan, which might actually have done something to reduce traffic.

Speaking of which, Metro wants your input on their budget for the 2020 fiscal year starting July 1st.

Tell them not to waste any more of it on highway projects.

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If you see more kids than usual on bicycles today — or any, in my neighborhood — it’s because it’s National Bike to School Day.

Let’s hope drivers are paying attention. And they all get back home safely.

Meanwhile, Northern California holds their Bike to Work Day on Thursday, while OCTA offers a limited slate of Orange County Bike Month events.

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Today’s common theme is road rage, from drivers and bike riders, both of whom should really know better.

The Minneapolis school bus basher strikes again, as the same road raging rider who broke windows on a bus with his U-lock for parking in a bike lane on Friday returned to the scene of the crime to whack a second bus for the same reason on Monday.

Also in Minneapolis, a bike rider was beaten up, had iced dumped on him and his bicycle stolen when he complained about a limo double-parked in the bike lane outside a strip club. And naturally, the cops didn’t do anything, even though it was caught on video.

Florida police busted a road raging motorcyclist who intentionally swerved into a group of bike riders last week, sending one to the hospital with severe injuries.

Police in New Zealand are looking for a road raging bike rider who broke the jaw of a 73-year old driver during a dispute that followed a collision.

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Folding bikemaker Tern is giving their popular GSD folding e-cargo bikes to deserving nonprofit organizations.

Which raises the obvious question of whether my lack of income qualifies me.

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Beverly Hills has released its draft Complete Streets Plan, which, if adopted, would represent a dramatic turnaround for one of the area’s most incomplete cities.

There will be a public meeting to discuss it at 6 pm this evening at Beverly Hills City Hall.

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Joni Yung, aka @ayogist, offers a firsthand report on DTLA’s new two-way protected bike lanes.

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Local

The LACBC will team with Metro and Councilmember Bob Blumenfield’s office to host a BEST Class: Bicycling 101 bike safety training in Reseda tomorrow.

Thursday also marks the annual Streetsblog awards dinner and fundraiser, at El Paseo Inn on Olvera Street in DTLA.

This week’s SGV Connects podcast talks protected bike lanes in Pasadena.

The Santa Monica Mirror considers the city’s embrace of e-scooters in the wake of the LA area’s first motorized scooter death — even though that was a man riding a private electric mobility device, which has nothing to do with dockless scooters, except what they’re called and what powers them.

Meanwhile, a new Texas study has reaffirmed the results of a UCLA study of Santa Monica scooter users, with one third of injured riders suffering broken bones, and up to half suffering head injuries.

 

State

Encinitas will open the new Cardiff Coastal Rail Trail this Friday, part of a planned 44-mile bike path from Oceanside to Downtown San Diego. 

A San Diego writer visits a downtown bike chop shop in search of stolen bikes and parts.

A bighearted Santa Ynez teenager is hosting her own bike ride to raise funds to buy bicycles, air pumps, locks and tools for girls in Cambodia to help them get to school safely, and avoid child marriage and sex slavery.

San Jose traffic fatalities have jumped 37% over the past decade, promoting bike and pedestrian advocates to demand a Vision Zero program. But as LA advocates have learned the hard way, if it doesn’t have real teeth, Vision Zero is meaningless.

A San Francisco girls soccer team is calling for safer streets after one of their teammates was killed by a 91-year old woman while walking in a marked crosswalk; the driver said she couldn’t see because the sun was in her eyes. Yet another example of why older drivers need to be tested on a regular basis to ensure they can drive safely. Never mind that the correct response to being blinded by the sun is to slow down or stop until you can see there’s nothing in your way. Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up.

One more reason to be jealous of the Bay Area. An Oakland developer paid for a protected bike lane with enough bollards to actually keep drivers out of it, as mitigation to get approval for a building.

Talk about off-off-off-off-off-Broadway. A Davis theater company is performing a bike-themed musical to teach bike safety to school kids.

 

National

Sad news, as Frank Peter Brilando, the designer and engineer who helped develop the classic Sting Ray, Varsity and Continental bikes for Schwinn has passed away; he was 93.

Consumer Reports recommends the best bike helmets to reduce your risk of a concussion.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss calls for banning right turns on red lights.

Don’t piss off a Washington mom by stealing her son’s bike.

Washington sheriff’s deputies discovered the body of a man who disappeared nine months ago while riding with his son after the two got separated; he apparently lost control and hit a sign, then fell into the field where his body was found.

Caught on video: A Las Vegas boy was lucky to escape with minor injuries when a sleeping driver jumped the curb in his car, and smashed into the boy at 35 mph as he rode his bike on the sidewalk.

The University of Texas responds to a lawsuit over the death of a bike-riding woman by trying to get all riders not affiliated with the university banned from its campus and declared trespassers on university streets.

Something is seriously wrong when an 83-year old Iowa man can’t ride his bike without getting run down from behind. Apparently, Midwestern minivans don’t have brakes, since the woman behind the wheel was forced to hit him because there were cars in the other lane. No, really.

Great idea. Dallas will build a bike hostel with up to 40 beds to attract bike tourists to the city.

Over one hundred Oklahoma City bike riders rallied for safer streets, thanking people for giving a damn and calling BS on the notion that streets are for cars.

A seven-year old Michigan girl is holding a bike-a-thon to fight MS for the third consecutive year, which means she started when she was just five years old; this is the first time she’ll ride it without training wheels.

Evidently, a Boston protected bike lane is just another shortcut to drive your car to a parking lot.

As if they didn’t have enough to worry about, New York delivery riders are being targeted by a pair of ebike thieves — which means turning for help to the same NYPD officers who ticket them just for doing their jobs.

New York advocates demand action to improve the city’s Vision Zero program as traffic fatalities rise for the first four months of the year, following several years of steady declines.

Police in an upstate New York city are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who smacked into a pedestrian while illegally riding on the sidewalk.

Now that’s more like it. The mayor of New Orleans calls for creating a low-stress bike network by building new protected bike lanes and adding barriers to 125 miles of existing bike lanes, doubling the city’s bikeshare network, and requiring bike parking in private buildings.

Louisiana 8th graders are learning how to repair bikes by reconditioning donated bicycles to give to people who need, but can’t afford, one.

Calling herself the Crazy Bike Lady, a 44-year old Tampa FL women is saving money and getting in the best shape of her life by biking everywhere instead of driving.

 

International

More proof bikes are good for you. Welsh doctors will now be able to prescribe bikeshare for their patients.

Edinburgh, Scotland hosted its first open streets event, which will repeat every Sunday through the summer.

Scottish police will conduct plainclothes sting operations to enforce the country’s equivalent of a three-foot passing distance, including the use of a special mat to show drivers just what that looks like. Something we’ve been told is somehow impossible to do on this side of the Atlantic; thanks to Megan Lynch and John McBrearty for the links. 

Caught on video, too: An English bike rider learns the hard way to always stop for emergency vehicles.

A British man is surprised to learn that the American made, 1800s mini Penny Farthing he bought for £200 is worth £2,000 — the equivalent of $2,670.

New regulations will require improved visibility for drivers in all large trucks beginning next year. Meanwhile, here in the US… <crickets>.

A jump in Aussie bike riders over 45 has led to a soaring number of hospitalizations and deaths for older riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling says this year’s Giro d’Italia will be “ferocious;” the first of the three Grand Tours rolls on Saturday. Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, the Amgen Tour of California kicks off a day later.

A European website looks back at the great Italian cyclist Gino Bartali, who helped save the lives of hundreds of Jews during WWII, in addition to back-to-back wins in the Giro and winning the Tour de France the following year.

 

Finally…

Even e-cars are going dockless now. If you pass an unlocked mail van while riding your bike, don’t steal a package — steal the whole damn truck.

And when you’re riding your bike while drunk off your ass, with a half bottle of booze and a pellet gun tucked in your waistband, and weed and more booze in your pocket, just…don’t.

Period.

 

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

Morning Links: DC bike advocate Dave Salovesh killed, DTLA cycle tracks starts work, and Metro Bikes free today

April 22, 2019 / / 5 comments

I lost a follower on Twitter last weekend. 

Which is nothing new.

Except this time it happened the worst possible way. 

Like a number of other people, I’ve followed Dave Salovesh, aka @darsal, for some time. And vice versa, for reasons only he knew.

The extremely popular DC bike advocate has been an outspoken supporter of protected bike lanes and safer streets, as well as taking action now to fight climate change. I’ve enjoyed his humor and insights, and learned a lot from him over the years.

Sadly, we won’t be following each other anymore.

Salovesh was killed Friday morning when the speeding driver of a stolen van ran a red light, crashed into a car and slammed into his bicycle before crashing into a tree.

It could be argued that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, collateral damage to someone else’s crime.

Except he was riding on one of the city’s most dangerous streets, where Salovesh had been fighting to get a protected bike lane.

Whether that would have been enough to save him, we’ll never know.  

Meanwhile, a bicycle columnist for a DC weekly remembers Salovesh as his good friend, confessing to raw emotions while adding that bike advocacy will go on, but it will be far less meaningful without him.

Over two hundred bike riders held a vigil and ghost bike ceremony in his honor on Sunday, starting and ending at the spot where the speeding car thief took his life. 

A DC TV station calls his death a cruel irony, while bike riders attending the vigil demand for safer streets for all bicyclists. 

And the city announced, just a little too late, that it would increase enforcement against drivers who stop or park in bike lanes.  

Which is another of the issues Salovesh had long fought for.

Meanwhile, I’ve lost an ally and a friend, albeit one Ive never met. 

And now, never will.

Photo of Dave Salovesh’s ghost bike and the spot where the driver’s car came to rest by Ryan Keefe. 

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LADOT is beginning work next weekend to convert the bike lanes on Spring and Main Streets in DTLA to two-way protected cycle tracks. 

Now let’s just hope they also do something to keep drivers the hell out of them. 

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Metro, Metrolink and other SoCal transit systems are offering free rides today in honor of Earth Day.

They’re also providing free rides on the Metro Bike bikeshare system. 

Or you can just ride your own bike, which is always free, with or without a code. 

Meanwhile, Metro celebrates Earth Day by beginning a three-year detour of the Expo Line bike path next to Jefferson Blvd today. 

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LA’s hit-and-run epidemic struck close to home last week, when a man was murdered by a hit-and-run driver on Sunset Blvd just walking distance from our apartment.

Even with the cane I’m currently confined to.

Compounding the tragedy, the victim was an Australian man who had been released from prison 12 years after he was wrongly convicted of murder.

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Pinkbike celebrated the weekend with videos of epic mountain bike fails. 

On the other hand, at least these people were out there riding, so there’s that.

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Local

Westwood Village applies for grants to improve the appearance and walkability of Westwood Blvd, as well as install bike racks. But apparently forgets to improve the actual streets and add bike lanes so people might actually use them. 

A writer for the USC paper says the future of LA sustainability begins with students, urging them to get involved at every level of planning and policy, including supporting more bike lanes. 

The LACBC’s next Sunday Funday Ride rolls May 5th, offering a preview of June’s popular LA River Ride. 

Claremont police ticketed bike riders and drivers in a crosswalk crackdown for rolling through the crosswalk instead of stopping for pedestrians, as the law requires. 

Food delivery drivers will get their own dedicated parking spaces in front of two restaurants in downtown Santa Monica for a three-month trial to keep them from double-parking in the bike lane. Now maybe they can do something about the FedEx and UPS drivers who park in the bike lanes on Ocean and San Vicente on a daily basis. 

 

State

Turns out the thief who stole a $5,000 bike from the Cyclist bike shop in Santa Ana just wanted to ride it, and cut off the ends of the handlebars because he’s a Phil Gaimon fan.

A San Diego community planning board voted to approve plans for a new cycle track in Point Loma. 

A bike rider was lucky to escape with minor injuries following a crash with a hit-and-run driver near the University of San Diego. 

A “gypsy family” of pedicab drivers stops in Coachella to provide rides at the music festival, one of several they serve as they make their way around the country. 

A San Jose newspaper says the popular road up Mt. Diablo needs more bike turnouts allowing drivers to pass bike riders without crossing the center line, and hopefully avoid the next crash. 

In a horrifying story, the CHP is looking for a hit-and-run driver who left a Merced woman to die on the side of the road after crashing into her bicycle; her body was found at 1 pm, hours after she was struck the previous evening. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know if she would have survived if she had been found sooner. Or if the coward who hit her had stopped to get help. 

 

National

Seattle bicyclists rode to all 27 public library branches in the city in an 11-hour, 70-mile ride to support investing in the city’s library system.

Speaking of Seattle, the city is bucking the trend by maintaining a fleet of dockless bikeshare bikes, even as providers pull dockless bicycles in favor of e-scooters. 

Talk about not getting it. A Texas man will spend the next ten years behind bars after repeatedly violating the terms of his probation for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider; he had originally gotten out after serving just 17 days of a two-year sentence thanks to a loophole in the law. You’d think someone would have enough sense to keep their nose clean after a gift like that. But apparently  you’d be wrong. 

She gets it. A Chicago letter writer says make safer bike lanes the norm. 

A Michigan outdoor campaign is putting a face on distracted driving by plastering photos of the victims of distracted drivers on billboards.

A Rhode Island man has spent the past nine years looking for a pair of nurses to thank them for saving his life after his front wheel locked up on a bike path.

A 74-year old New York man says he was attacked by a lawless gang of teenage bicyclists swarming down a riverfront path. 

The head of New York’s TransAlt advocacy group says the NYPD has to stop going out of its way to blame the victims. 

DC bike cops bust a prodigious bike thief, but aren’t able to find any of the bicycles he allegedly stole. 

Kindhearted Virginia deputies pitched in to buy a physically and emotionally impaired man a new bicycle when his was stolen, after they learned he had overcome the odds by learning to walk again following a crash left him in a coma.  

A South Carolina newspaper says not every street in the state has to be a Complete Street, but there are some where it’s necessary.   

 

International

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that traffic collisions are the leading cause of death for children and young adults. 

London’s formerly bike-friendly Sunday Times now says a reported drop in bicycling levels in the UK is a victory for motorists “in their long-running battle with cyclists.”

A writer for The Guardian says cars are ruining our lives and triggering environmental disasters, and must be phased out within ten years. 

Dutch bike maker VanMoof has sold 11,000 ebikes worth a cool $33 million and change. 

Afghan women are demanding that their rights be preserved in any peace talks, including the hard-won ability to ride a bicycle. 

South African police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who fled the scene on foot after plowing into a 10 bicyclists, killing one and injuring seven others.

In a case of keeping an elderly driver on the road until it’s too late, an 86-year Australian man faces charges for dragging a food delivery rider under his car the length of a football field before fleeing the scene; the 23-year old woman he hit suffered extensive injuries, including severe burns. 

In yet another case of an elderly driver who shouldn’t be, a Japanese man crashed his car into a group of people waiting at an intersection, killing a mother and daughter who were sharing a bicycle and injuring eight others. Police suspect the 87-year old driver hit the gas pedal instead of the brake. 

Taiwan’s Penghu archipelago, made up of more than 90 islands and islets, is promoting bicycling tourism, saying it’s the best way for tourists to explore the area. 

Beijing is opening a four-mile, bicycle-only roadway with one lane in each direction, along with a reversible lane in the middle. 

 

Competitive Cycling

USA Cycling will field a national team at the Amgen Tour of California, naming ten young riders the team will be chosen from, including one who competes for an LA team. 

Belgium is mourning the death of track cycling great Patrick Sercu, considered one of the greatest of all time.

 

Finally…

Banned from riding your bike in a not-so-public public park. When you decide anyone who doesn’t ride like you do and go out of their way to ride in a bike lane is a selfish, entitled jerk.  

And if you’re carrying a number of controlled substances on your bike, don’t break any bylaws.

Whatever that means. 

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

Morning Links: Metro talks congestion pricing, induced demand goes both ways, and FilmedByBike this Sat

January 25, 2019 / / One comment

Metro’s board of supervisors considered congestion pricing to discourage driving and fund the 28 by 28 initiative at their monthly meeting on Thursday, but decided not to decide until next month.

The plan would provide funding to complete 28 transit projects in time for the 2028 LA Olympics. Metro’s CEO has also discussed using congestion pricing funds to provide free bus and train rides throughout the LA area.

LA’s ever-worsening traffic congestion means we have a choice between encouraging people to leave their cars behind by making it more convenient to ride a bike or use transit, or taking painful steps to force them to.

But the city’s ever-present NIMBYs, entitled drivers and traffic safety deniers have fought to block bike lanes, and too many spineless city officials have caved in to them.

So now congestion pricing is on the table. Whether they like it or not.

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More evidence that induced demand goes both ways.

The Seattle Times looks into where the 90,000 drivers who formerly used the city’s shorefront Alaskan Way Viaduct every day went once it was closed down, and before the new tunnel meant to replace it opens.

The paper concludes that some drivers moved to another highway, some switched to transit, and some took to their bicycles.

But most, they say, either changed their commutes, or simply stayed home.

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Looks like LAist and LA Magazine know a good thing when they see them.

LAist recommends The Frogtown Show comedy night at the Spoke Bicycle Cafe along the LA River Bike Path in Elysian Valley Saturday Night.

And both recommend FilmedByBike — Los Angeles at the Boomtown Brewery in Aliso Village on Sunday. Admission includes two movie screenings, a panel discussion, raffle and 25 exhibitors with bike demos. Correction: Earlier I wrote it was on Saturday; it’s actually Sunday. Thanks to Joe Linton for the correction.

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An impatient driver forced his way through an Oakland protest, running over a bicycle — after the rider jumped off — then ran over the leg of a blind homeless man, while driving on the sidewalk.

Remarkably, no arrest was made, as police appeared to make excuses for the driver.

You can see some of the event below, despite the shaky camera work.

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You can’t keep a good man down.

Or off an arena with his camera crew, evidently.

A British court ruled that YouTube star Ryan Taylor can legally post video of his scofflaw BMX ride on top of London’s massive O2 Arena.

Even if it encourages others to copy his dangerous stunt.

And eve if his ride was interrupted by a police helicopter.

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Local

This is who we share the roads with. A woman was arrested for killing a MacArther Park pedestrian Wednesday night; the victim was walking in a crosswalk when he was run down by the driver, who was viewing messages using WhatsApp.

LADOT is hosting a mixer for community-based organizations and community leaders on February 19, from 3 to 6 pm.

More on the selection of homegrown Long Beach bike service provider Pedal Movement to operate and expand the city’s bikeshare program.

State

Santa Cruz, which already has the state’s second-highest bike commuting rate, will raise downtown parking fees to finance efforts to further increase bike and transit use.

Bay Area bike riders say not so fast to plans to steal back a long-promised bike and pedestrian lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and give it to the same drivers who claim the other five lanes.

A San Francisco TV station honors Richmond’s Rich City Rides for its work building community around bicycle rides and projects.

National

Entrepreneur talks with William Shatner, the new captain of the starship Pedego.

No bias here. A Seattle website accuses “anti-car ideologues” at area DOTs of forcing bicycles on an unwilling populace.

Oh, well that’s okay, then. A hit-and-run driver who killed a bike rider in Salt Lake City told police he fled the scene because he was scared. Even if that was the case, he should have turned himself in the next day — after he sobered up, most likely.

A 19-year old Wyoming man’s self-funded film captures the spirit of freeride mountain biking.

Dallas isn’t afraid of road diets, unlike a certain SoCal city I could name. The Texas city approved plans to reduce a major streets from six lanes to four to make room for bike lanes and wider sidewalks. The same sort of six-to-four lane reduction was what made some Mar Vista drivers apoplectic, demanding its removal.

E-scooters could finally get the green light in Gotham, as scooter companies descend on the city to lobby for their approval. However, Gothamist warns there could be roadblocks ahead.

A 62-year old Brooklyn bike rider was awarded $2.25 million after suing the city accusing a police detective of shoving him into a parked car, suffering permanent injuries; needless to say, the officer denied touching him, bur security video — hidden from the defense for four years — showed otherwise.

US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will be confined to a wheelchair and walker for the next several months as she recovers from a painful broken pelvis and hip socket suffered in a bicycling crash; still no word on whether if was a solo fall or if she was hit by a driver.

A proposed DC ordinance would give scooter and ebike riders involved in crashes the same rights as regular bicyclists and pedestrians.

Bighearted North Carolina police pitch in to replace a bike that was stolen from a young girl, whose father is suffering from stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Life remains cheap in Louisiana, where the driver who got just 90 days for killing a bike-riding city councilman gets another 90 days for injuring his riding companion. But he’ll serve just 17 days of that.

Georgia thieves steal a page from the Middle Ages and the Old West, laying a tree branch across a bridge to force a bike rider to stop; when he tried to move it, they popped out with guns and stole his cellphone. Although victims in the Middle Ages and Old West hardly ever carried cellphones with them.

He gets it. A Gainesville FL writer considers his transportation options, and concludes that cars are expensive and cumbersome, and nothing beats a bike.

The Tampa Bay Times says it’s time to make the dangerous city — and the entire state of Florida — safer for people walking and on bicycles.

International

Bike Portland looks at the bikeways of Baja.

Singer, rapper and producer Ray J plans to stay involved in the business, after selling his e-scooter company to a Canadian concern for a price tag in the high seven figures. The money will help rollout the scooters throughout North America.

A Vancouver newspaper asks if a proposal to put bike lanes and a walkway down the center of an existing bridge is smart planning or the first step towards Carmaggedon.

A British Columbia bike rider asks if the impatient driver who nearly ran her down was as frightened by it as she was. Probably not.

A Saskatoon, Canada teenager just became the youngest person to ride a bike around the world, covering nearly 20,000 miles through 16 countries.

A new report says building community bike hubs could encourage more bicycling in the Toronto suburbs; the hubs provide access to bicycles, repairs, tools and other items and services to promote bicycling in areas with no bike lanes and very few bicyclists.

The younger brother of royal spouse Kate Middleton is one of us, as he takes his two dogs for a cargo bike ride.

An “anti-social” bike mob is accused of frightening shoppers at a local mall, riding directly at them while hurling abuse.

It’s not every day that a bike thief asks to be put in prison to break his spiral of addiction; a Belfast judge was happy to oblige. Because everyone knows there are no drugs behind bars. Right?

Retired pro cycling favorite Jens Voigt tells an Indian newspaper that the problem with Millennials is they want to be millionaires in two weeks, and life doesn’t work that way. Don’t blame me, take it up with Jensie.

An Indian environmental website says bicycling would have huge benefits for the country, but the high cost of bicycles and a lack of a bicycling ecosystem are holding it back.

NIMBYs are everywhere. Even in South Africa, where white homeowners are fighting to have a new separated bike lane removed from their street.

A Singapore paper says don’t give up on dockless bike sharing yet.

Competitive Cycling

CiclaValley offers scenes from the SoCal Cross season finale.

Finally…

Turning bike parts into art. Even cartoon pigs have to wear bike helmets, ven if they originally didn’t.

And seriously, when you’re carrying meth on your bike after dark, put a damn light on it.

It might even help see the soft dirt when you flee from the police.

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

Morning Links: Metro approves open streets funds, and Coronado gives the boot to dockless bikeshare

March 26, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Metro approves open streets funds, and Coronado gives the boot to dockless bikeshare

It’s a light news day today, so let’s get right to it.

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Local

Metro approves funding for the next two-year cycle of open streets events.

 

State

Encinitas approves plans for bike and pedestrian-friendly makeover of the coast highway through Leucadia.

Coronado says no to dockless bikeshare, but the bikes show up there anyway. And will get impounded by the police.

Good news from Madera County, where bicyclists will now be allowed to cross the San Joaquin River on Highway 41.

 

National

No surprise here. Honolulu police are using a grant intended to improve bicycle safety to crack down on bike riders.

The Portland police department gave away 100 new kids bikes in memory of a bike rider who died nine months after he was paralyzed by an 84-year old red light-running driver.

A Seattle group opposing safety improvements on a local street gets an earful when they tweet that single moms don’t bike. I’m afraid I lost my record of who sent this one to me, but thank you, anyway.

A Boulder CO Op-Ed says it’s time for the city to lower speed limits and implement Vision Zero, as well as eliminating right turn on red.

A long-planned Wisconsin bikeway connecting Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River is at risk after estimates for a bridge over a highway come in higher than expected.

The head of a Wisconsin bike advocacy group thanks the DA’s office for prosecuting a distracted driver who killed a woman riding her bike while he was searching for some papers on his passenger seat, even if the jury disagreed.

Springfield IL is preparing for its first open streets event, patterned after LA’s own CicLAvia.

Ann Arbor MI considers a seven-point plan to improve safety, including lowering speed limits and adopting a Vision Zero task force; Ontario, Canada considers a very similar four-point plan.

The Wall Street Journal asks if ebikes are actually worth it.

The war on bikes continues, as a Virginia SUV passenger is caught on video throwing a full water bottle at a trio of bike riders, hitting one; the occupants of the SUV could be charged with assault and battery.

 

International

A friend of Britain’s Prince Harry rode the length of South America in just over 48 days, shaving ten days off the existing record.

Toronto bike riders will stage a die-in on the steps of city hall to call for safer streets. It’s long past time we did the same thing right here in Los Angeles, if anyone would actually show up.

A London paper complains that driving across the city will soon be slower than riding a bike. Like that’s a bad thing.

As usual, an English town decides to fix a dangerous intersection to make it safer for bicyclists, but only after it’s already too late.

A British writer says shared pathways allowing bikes on one side and pedestrians on the other are just an accident waiting to happen.

A Dublin, Ireland university news site says the city lacks the bicycling infrastructure to keep the growing number of bike riders safe. And that bicyclists shouldn’t have to slide under a bus to stop being swept under the rug.

An Australian writer says bicycling is good for you, so give bikeshare a chance. Meanwhile, an Aussie site says ditching the country’s mandatory helmet law could lead to better overall health.

Singapore went carfree on Sunday, as part of a monthly program to close the streets of the Civic District to motor vehicles on the last Sunday of each month.

 

Competitive Cycling

World champ Peter Sagan has now won nearly four percent of the 80 editions of the Belgian classic Gent-Wevelgem; Italian cyclist Ilia Viviani broke down in tears after being boxed out at the finish, calling it the most disappointing loss of his career.

An Indian bike race ends in chaos after one of the lead riders crashes just before the finish, as riders are forced to share the busy road with cars.

A New Zealand website considers how to fairly accommodate transgender athletes, as a Kiwi woman dominates the women’s elite mountain biking field after formerly competing as an average men’s racer.

Nice to see that at least one of Lance’s friends has stuck by him.

 

Finally…

Sometimes, biking is for the birds. Bicycling helps keep you young, but your bone marrow is getting old.

And gift wrap for — or from — the bike rider in your life.

………

A special thanks to Pedego 101 and J Fylling for their generous donations to help replace my late, lamented laptop, which, after two full months in the repair shop, appears destined for that great recycling facility in the sky.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: LA Times says stop killing pedestrians, and Metro plans LA River bike path through DTLA

November 28, 2017 / / 2 comments

A writer for the LA Times says it’s time to stop killing pedestrians, and calls on the city to invest in smart infrastructure — including road diets — to “protect motorists, cyclists and pedestrians from each other and from themselves.”

Which is exactly what Vision Zero is supposed to be about.

But so far, isn’t.

At least not in Los Angeles.

Thanks to Stanley E. Goldich for the heads-up.

………

Metro unveils plans to extend the LA River bike path eight miles through DTLA between Elysian Valley and Vernon.

………

LA County will host a community meeting on December 5th to discuss the proposed Complete Streets project for Rosemead Blvd.

The County of Los Angeles is hosting a community meeting for the Rosemead Boulevard Complete Streets Improvement (CSI) Project – Phase I. Stop by any time during the community meeting on December 5 to learn about the proposed complete street enhancements, share your ideas on a vision for Rosemead Bl and talk to Project team members. Spanish interpreters will be available.

  • Tuesday, December 5, 2017 – 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., Pico Rivera Municipal Golf Course, 3260 Fairway Dr., Pico Rivera, CA 90660

For more information, contact Martin Reyes, Principal Civil Engineering Assistant, at 844-588-8877. Please visit the webpage for more information at www.dpw.lacounty.gov/go/rosemeadCS.

………

As we’ve noted before, the war on cars is a myth. But the war on bikes is all too real.

A San Bernardino driver allegedly used his car to murder a bike-riding acquaintance.

A British driver is charged with slapping a bike rider, then driving up on the sidewalk and confronting him again.

French pro cyclist Yoann Offredo was fined the equivalent of $833 for an altercation with a road raging driver and her passenger, even though he claimed he was just defending himself; they were fined, as well.

A road raging New Zealand driver jumped a curb and drove onto a sidewalk to run down a bike rider, then got out of his car and told the victim his broken leg serves him right; police arrested the driver thanks to the victim’s photo of his license plate.

………

Then again, sometimes bike riders are the bad guys.

A Fresno bike rider was caught on video stealing from a donation box.

A road raging San Francisco bicyclist was arrested for allegedly boarding a bus to attack the driver.

And a Wisconsin man is facing charges for a sexual assault spree while riding his bike.

………

Don’t make the Corgi beg. Your donation will help keep this site online, and keep her in kibble.

This is day five of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. Your support helps keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

You can donate with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

As always, any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

And thanks to Wesley R, Harvey W, Fred D, Patrick M, Guillermo A, Todd R, Bernard B, Elizabeth T, Anne M and Andrew F for their generous donations to help support this site.

………

Local

An allegedly drunk driver in North Hills was arrested after plowing into six parked cars and killing a mother as she carried her infant son. Once again, authorities managed to keep a dangerous driver with a previous DUI conviction on the roads until he killed someone.

A Mar Vista tattoo artist says the Venice Blvd Great Streets project has caused a drop-off in business, and forced him to ride his bike to work because there’s never any parking. Or as the great Yogi Berra once said, “Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.”

A former South Pasadena public works commissioner says it doesn’t matter if a road diet and bike lanes are feasible on Monterey Road, because the public won’t stand for it. Sadly, given the toxic atmosphere in the LA area these days, he’s probably right.

Pasadena plans to install new bike racks in Brookside Park.

Pasadena considers alternatives to the most likely cancelled 710 Freeway extension, including building bike lanes to help mitigate traffic.

 

State

California regulators finally released updated CEQA rules, which will no longer require developers and planners to consider a proposed project’s effects on traffic congestion. Which should make it much easier to build bike lanes by removing a frequent tool used by opponents. That was the basis for one of the lawsuits filed against the Vista del Mar lane reduction, which helped force the removal of the project; hopefully there will be a different result next time.

A San Diego talk radio host has started a petition to repeal California’s recent gas tax hike intended to repair the state’s broken roads. Anyone who signs it should be permanently prohibited from complaining about traffic or bad streets.

 

National

Fast Company considers what it will take to get more women on bicycles.

Bicycling looks at the best bags for bike commuters.

Chicago is working to separate bicyclists and pedestrians along the entire 18-mile length of the popular Lakefront Trail.

People playing Pokémon Go while driving caused two deaths and up to $25 million in damages in one Indiana county alone last year.

New York could be the next city to hop on the dockless bikeshare bandwagon. Unless Houston beats them to it.

A witness says a New York driver ran a red light at a high rate of speed before fatally plowing into a 14-year bike delivery boy. So naturally, the NYPD will give the driver a pass.

Life is cheap in the Big Apple, where an allegedly stoned driver walks without a single day behind bars after pleading guilty to vehicular manslaughter in the death of a bike rider.

 

International

Thieves stole 27 test bikes, as well as high-end wheels, worth the equivalent of nearly $200,000 from British bike magazine Cycling Weekly; the gear was on hand to be photographed for the magazine’s Editor’s Choice awards. Speaking of the magazine, it was included in the $2.8 billion sale of Time Magazine and other publications to a company partially financed by the conservative Koch brothers.

An English university paper offers seven bike safety tips for students, only three of which actually have anything to do with safety. And apparently they couldn’t come up with a picture of a bike helmet.

A British bicyclist describes a crash last week where a driver plowed into him and three other cyclists, including his wife, as they rode single file; fortunately, none were seriously injured.

An English woman is riding around New Zealand on a DIY bamboo bike to spread an anti-plastic message.

The Guardian writes about the challenges of riding in the winter and how to overcome them. Although Britain’s Cyclist Magazine offers more practical advice for riding in wet weather, much of which even applies here in usually sunny SoCal.

Iran faces the challenge of getting women off bikes, not on them, as the country’s supreme leader issues a fatwa prohibiting women from riding bicycles in public, or in the presence of strangers or non-family members.

Aussie researchers are shocked! shocked! to discover people on bicycles actually ride in the traffic lanes on regular streets.

 

Competitive Cycling

Everything you always wanted to know about the Tour de France, but were afraid to ask.

The board of the Polish cycling federation has been asked to resign over charges that cyclists and staff members had been drugged, raped and molested by a high-ranking official.

 

Finally…

Yes, cycling has benefits for fitness, even if they can’t seem to decide which kind they’re talking about. Evidently, you can have satisfying sex with your bike.

And maybe it’s not the best idea to jump from a moving bicycle onto an ATV to make a bust.

Or try to, anyway.

 

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

Morning Links: It’s Bike Week in LA County, Election Day tomorrow, and the Amgen ToC women’s tour wraps up

May 15, 2017 / / One comment

It’s Bike Week.

The one week of the year devoted to getting more people out on bicycles, when elected officials, which some notable exceptions — both good and bad — act like we actually matter.

As opposed to the other 51, when they generally forget we exist.

And there’s a long list of events to celebrate this week.

While we’re on the subject, a few more events are coming up on three of the next four Sundays.

……….

Speaking of Bike to Work Day, The Source offers three reasons you’ll want to Bike to Work on Thursday. And Bicycling busts nine myths that could keep you from riding that day.

………

One more bike-related event this week, as election day finally rolls around tomorrow in CD1 and CD7.

The Daily News says bike lanes in Pacoima and Sunland are off to a bumpy start, and have become an issue in the CD7 election.

In one last interview, KCRW talks with CD1 challenger Joe Bray-Ali about his online comments, unpaid back taxes and why LA voters should trust him.

Despite the controversy over the last few weeks, my personal feeling is that Bray-Ali is still a better choice than the incumbent Gil Cedillo, who has proven himself to be unresponsive and out of touch with his district, and inexplicably committed to keeping the streets of CD1 dangerous.

But only you can make that choice for yourself.

So vote your conscience.

………

Before we move on, let’s pause for a quick sponsored post from my friends Jon Riddle and Sarah Amelar, authors of Where to Bike Los Angeles.

Don’t let National Bike Month slip by without adding Where to Bike Los Angeles to your cycling library. It’s the best riding guide for LA by far, and you can pick it up during the ongoing one-month sale — this May only — for less than twenty bucks a copy directly from the authors’ Amazon store.

………

This is what life looks like from inside the peloton at the women’s Amgen Tour of California.

 

Saturday’s third stage was won by Tustin’s Coryn Rivera in a group sprint. Rivera did well in Sunday’s time trial, which ended in a one second victory in the overall standings.

Meanwhile, women from Pakistan and Afghanistan are competing in Pakistan’s second annual Women’s Cycling Championship, in a far more challenging environment where women are actively discouraged from riding, let alone racing, bicycles.

………

The LA Times looks forward to the Amgen Tour of California, suggesting defending national time trial champ Taylor Phinney should feel right at home since he trains in Southern California half the year. Sunday’s opening stage was a good day for Germany’s Marcel Kittel.

American Tejay van Garderen is relaxing into a different way of riding in his first Giro. Sunday’s stage was marred by yet another crash with a race vehicle; VeloNews calls it chaos and questions the sportsmanship of not stopping the peloton when race favorites go down.

No need for pros to give a racing fan a souvenir from the Giro when they can just take it themselves.

Great news from Australia, as South African cyclist Keagan Girdlestone is competing in his first race after nearly dying when he crashed through the rear window of a team support vehicle while racing in Italy.

On a sadly related subject, several British riders were injured in a local race when they smashed into the side of an ambulance on a fast descent, with one rider going through the van’s window.

………

Local

The long-discussed bike, pedestrian and equestrian bridge across the LA River in Atwater is finally nearing approval this month, despite a $16.1 million price tag. Hopefully, separate spans for horses and humans will keep the horse riders from trying to get bicyclists banned, unlike another bridge in the area.

Pasadena police plan to celebrate Bike Week by ticketing anyone who breaks traffic laws that can put pedestrians or bicyclists at risk today — including bike riders who fail to observe the laws that apply to motorists. Because the best way to discourage bike commuting is to ticket people just trying it out.

No, that wasn’t a bomb on the campus of Biola University in La Mirada. Just a bike tire exploding in a recycling bin.

 

State

The CHP celebrates Bike Month by telling drivers to obey the three-foot passing law, and telling bicyclists that drivers don’t run stop signs.

The San Diego Union-Tribune says it’s ludicrous for city projections to call for eighteen percent of people who live within half a mile of transit station to commute by bike by 2035. Even though that’s a very limited subset of the population, and just calls for an increase of roughly one percent a year, which should be doable if the city follows through on its ambitious plans to improve infrastructure.

Coronado considers a proposal to cut bicycle fines in half, from $100 to $50. But doesn’t say what the fines are for.

The Press-Enterprise recalls when the legendary Annie Londenderry rode through Riverside on her 1894 bicycle journey around the world.

Horrible news from Santa Paula, where a man was seen riding off on his bicycle after beating a man who was sleeping on a park bench and setting him on fire.

A former traffic safety engineer says Paso Robles needs to stop painting bike lanes in residential neighborhoods, because he thinks they’re too wide and will make property values go down. Never mind that narrowing traffic lanes slows drivers — which he should know — and bike lanes usually make property values go the other way.

Sad news from the Bay Area, where a Hayward man was killed riding his bike in nearby Sunol when a pickup driver rear-ended him on a road with no shoulder; the driver played the universal Get Out of Jail Free Card by claiming the sun was in her eyes and she just didn’t see him.

A Napa paper says you probably need a gravel bike.

 

National

Auto Week explains how self-driving cars will hopefully avoid bicyclists and pedestrians.

Taking quinine might help your muscle cramps — if it doesn’t kill you.

Bicycling talks with 24-year old Amanda Corker, who set a new year record with more than 86,000 miles in a single year, averaging 236.8 miles a day.

An injured Oregon bike rider was the victim of apparent street-racing hit-and-run pickup drivers.

New York will install bike lanes on a Brooklyn street after 5,600 people signed a petition calling for it.

Sixty-six years old, riding a bicycle, and slinging heroin laced with fentanyl on New York streets. Which is pretty much my entire retirement plan. Thanks to Tim Rutt for the heads-up.

About time. A New York man is teaming with an Israeli company to develop a device that would allow police officers to tell if a driver has been texting.

A writer for the Wall Street Journal demonstrates that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, celebrating the walkability of the city, while lamenting the safety improvements that help keep that possible, because it makes her cab rides take longer.

A DC columnist mostly gets it, saying it’s illegal for anyone to run a red light, whether walking, riding a bicycle or driving, but that only drivers pose a significant risk to others. However, he fails to consider that Idaho bicyclists are allowed to go through a light after stopping and observing the right of way, and that riders in several other states can legally go through a light that fails to change, including here California. But good luck telling a cop that.

A Virginia writer considers what causes road raging drivers to threaten cyclists.

The war on cars may be mythical, but the war on bikes is all too real, as a New Orleans man was shot with a pellet gun while participating in a weekly group ride.

 

International

A Kiwi couple has made it deep into Mexico on a bikepacking journey from Alaska to Argentina that started in June of last year.

Patrolling Guatemala City by bicycle.

A Canadian woman goes for her first bike ride at 97 years old.

A British cop rides her way back to mental and physical health after surviving stage three breast cancer.

When an Indian woman jumped in front of a train after fighting with her parents over replacing the stolen bicycle she used to commute to college, her mother jumped in front of it to try to save her; sadly, both women were killed.

What the hell is wrong with people? An Aussie man intentionally ran a bicyclist off the road with his motorcycle, then bragged about it in a nearby café as his victim lay dying; he faces up to 25 well-deserved years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

In what may be the most ridiculous survey of the year, 70 percent of drivers in Australia’s Victoria state think streets are too dangerous for cyclists, and two out of five reported a near miss with someone on a bicycle. Never mind that they’re the ones who make it dangerous for people on bikes.

 

Finally…

No, Lance is not dead. Make sure your bike is strapped on tight before you drive.

And if you’re going to steal motorcycles and ebikes, it’s probably not the best idea to post photos of yourselves standing on a police car.

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Come play dead in PVE next Tuesday, and talk Rail to River with Metro in Bell tonight

December 8, 2016 / / 3 comments

Keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way every day. Give to the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today!

December 13th is a good day to die on Palos Verdes Estates.

Just not literally.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson calls for bike riders to participate in a die-in next Tuesday to protest the wealthy enclave’s inexplicable reluctance to post signs saying Bikes May Use Full Lane.

That shouldn’t be the least bit controversial. Because that’s the law in California, which allows bicyclists to use the full lane on any traffic lane that’s too narrow for a bicycle and motor vehicle to safely share, while still allowing a three-foot passing distance.

Which is most, if not all, of the traffic lanes in PVE.

So what exactly is the problem?

………

Glenn Bailey, chair of the LA Bicycle Advisory Committee, forwards news from Metro about tonight’s meetings in the City of Bell to discuss the planned Rail to Rail/River Active Transportation Corridor Project, which is in desperate need of a catchier name.

Community meetings for Rail to Rail/River Active Transportation Corridor Project to be held today

Metro is hosting two community meetings in the City of Bell as part of the Rail to Rail/River Active Transportation Corridor Project. Both meetings will be held at the Bell Community Center, 6250 Pine Avenue, Bell, on Thursday, Dec. 8. The first meeting will take place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and the second will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Bell Community Center. The evening meeting will also be streamed live online here.

For more information contact the project helpline at 213.922.9228. Para información en español, llame al 213.922.9228.

Metro is conducting the Alternatives Analysis (AA) for segment B of the Rail to Rail/River ATC Project. As part of the AA process, the community is invited to attend to get an update on the project and also to provide input on the evaluation process for a set of alternatives to connect the Metro Blue Line Slauson Station to the Los Angeles River.

The Rail to Rail/River ATC Project consists of one corridor that will be built in two phases. Segment A is the Rail to Rail component and Segment B is the Rail to River component. Together they form one route, stretching from South Los Angeles to the Los Angeles River.

Segment A

  • The “Rail to Rail” segment extends 6.4 miles between the future Crenshaw/LAX Line’s Fairview Heights Station to Santa Fe Avenue.

Segment B

  • The “Rail to River” segment extends 2.8 to 4.3 miles between Santa Fe Avenue to a future connection with the Los Angeles River.

It is anticipated that the environmental clearance work on segment A will be completed in June 2017 while the AA work on segment B will be completed in March 2017.

Once constructed, the project will increase transit options, provide access for bicyclists and pedestrians to surrounding neighborhoods and improve regional bicycle connections. The active transportation facilities will connect residents and workers to transit, jobs, schools, shopping districts and parks.

………

Local

It’s been three years since music executive Milt Olin was killed by a distracted sheriff’s deputy while riding on Mulholland Highway. His wife channeled her grief into creating the Milt Olin Foundation, which is dedicated to confronting the dangers distracted driving through its #HandsOff campaign; a Go Fund Me page to support the campaign has raised over $31,600 of the $35,000 goal. Lets see if we can help that go over the top.

You’re invited to help former pro Phil Gaimon and the LACBC clean up Mulholland once again this Saturday.

Pure Cycles invites you to join them for a fast-paced hour discussing bicycling issues and advocacy on January 19th. And yes, there will be beer. Although it can’t be that fast paced if the hour discussion is scheduled for two hours.

 

State

Sunday’s annual Palm Springs Tinsel Triathlon will honor a police officer killed in an October shooting; the course skirts the school where she had been a student.

An Oceano driver has pled not guilty to a single misdemeanor count of vehicular homicide in the death of a world class triathlete as she rode her bike earlier this year.

San Francisco Streetsblog asks why bicyclists’ injuries aren’t enough to get safer streets.

A nearly incoherent Chico letter writer complains about the costs of bike paths he — or she — says are just trashed drug shooting galleries for the homeless, while scofflaw cyclists run rampant on the city’s streets.

 

National

Bust out the EPO. Strava says American men are just the fourth fastest country on our bikes; American women do slightly better, checking in at number three.

Bicycling Magazine discusses how to ride your bike to a badass life of leisure. I’ve got the leisure part down, willingly or otherwise; just need to figure out the badass part.

Bike lawyer Bob Mionske talks bike lights.

Cyclelicious looks at the role of bike messengers in delivering news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago — including a Japanese-American messenger who rode through falling bombs to deliver news of the impending attack to the general in charge of the base, just a tad too late.

UPS is now making deliveries in Portland via e-cargo bike.

Despite the common complaint that bike riders ignore stop signs, a new video shows 64% of drivers rolled a four-way Chicago stop. Which raises the question of who really poses the greatest risk when they treat stop signs as yields?

Milwaukee hosts a massive pre-holiday bike bazaar featuring 60 vendors and 600 buyers. LA used to have something like that until declining interest and rising costs for convention center space put an end to it. Thanks to Opus the Unkillable Poet for the heads-up.

Charges have been dropped against the original suspect in the fatal shooting of a Detroit university police officer. Even though police say he is no longer a suspect, they still believe the shooter was riding a bicycle when the officer attempted to stop him.

A Pittsburgh area man has lost 106 pounds, in part by riding a bicycle each weekday as he trains to tackle a 12 summit hill climb on his leisure bike.

Nice story from Florida, as two homeless families now have new clothes and bicycles, a job, and a roof over their heads, thanks to a kindhearted deputy; it all began with a broken bike chain.

 

International

A new study from the University of Duh suggests older cyclists may have more balance issues than younger riders.

No bias here, as Edmonton, Canada police call scofflaw sidewalk cyclists “undesirables.” Never mind that few people, desirable or not, would ride on the sidewalk if they felt safe on the street.

A Russian émigré discusses life in London, as well as her blog devoted to stylish cycling in the British capital.

Three London teenagers have been convicted of manslaughter for fatally stabbing a 17-year rapper in a fight over a stolen bicycle.

A five-year old English boy tells bike thieves “please don’t steal things that aren’t yours” after they make off with his father’s bike and the bike trailer he rode in.

A British expert calls on private companies to help with the costs of improving cycling infrastructure to boost employee health.

Police in the UK are complaining about a dangerous new trend in which teenagers ride their bicycles in and out of vehicular traffic. Although apparently, it’s not just a British problem.

A German website says making bicyclists wear helmets could do more harm than good, and calls for better infrastructure instead.

Reuters looks at the women of Afghanistan’s first freestyle cycling club.

An Aussie magazine determines that cyclists using ear buds can hear traffic noise better than drivers with their windows rolled up.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can pretend you’re a Top Gun pilot while you ride. Yes, it’s possible to cross the Donner Pass by bicycle without having to eat anyone.

And don’t let anyone say cyclists don’t make good mannequins.

………

Sadly, we don’t have anyone to thank for contributing to BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today. Please donate today to help keep this site coming to you every morning, so we can put your name here tomorrow.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: LACBC endorses Measure M, cars used as weapons, and Bill Nye teaches bike riding

September 14, 2016 / / One comment

The LACBC officially endorsed Metro’s Measure M in the November election

The half-cent sales tax extension is projected to raise $120 billion over its 40-year lifespan, with $4 billion set aside for bike and pedestrian projects

The remainder will be invested in transit projects and wasted on highways.

……….

The only good thing about these next few stories is there were no bicycles involved.

A horrifying story from Oregon, as a white supremacist couple is charged with using their car as a weapon to intentionally run down and kill a young black man following an argument.

Meanwhile, a Phoenix driver apparently used his car to deliberately run down three cops; fortunately, none appear to be seriously injured.

Funny that we screen gun purchases in the US, but we’ll let any homicidal maniac drive a car.

………

Local

A Dutch intern reminds CiclaValley learns not to take riding the Angeles Crest Highway for granted.

Hawthorne is the latest city to announce their police department will be stepping up enforcement of violations that can cause bike and pedestrian crashes tomorrow. So ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits; thanks to Margaret for the heads-up.

The New York Times talks with LA author Edward Humes about his new book Door to Door: The Magnificent, Maddening, Mysterious World of Transportation, which discusses the inefficiency and wastefulness of the automobile, as well as its potential to kill.

BikeSafe USC is hosting a free bike ride and workshop one week from today.

 

State

The Army Corps of Engineers will shut down the San Luis Rey Bike Trail in Oceanside for six months to remove sediment in the river.

The next phase of the project to widen Highway 101 through Carpinteria began Monday; plans include sidewalks and bike lanes — hopefully separated from the highway.

Santa Barbara County will clear out supposedly abandoned bicycles in student-friendly Isla Vista, despite giving only two days notice; if your bike disappears, check with the sheriff’s department.

Napa police return two stolen bikes to their owners and bust the transients riding them.

 

National

Seattle is thinking about getting serious about Vision Zero by lowing speed limits by 5 mph all over town.

A Fairbanks AK newspaper says the city needs changes in attitudes as well as infrastructure if it’s going to meet its goal of becoming a more bike-friendly community.

Caught on video: A Utah bike rider walks away after being run down from behind by a distracted driver; remarkably, the 16-year old driver wasn’t even cited, despite saying she never even saw the cyclist. Which should be taken as an admission of guilt, not an excuse.

Pueblo CO votes to rip out a protected bike lane, calling the design dangerous from the beginning. So if it was such a bad design, why did they install it in the first place? And why not fix it instead of removing it?

The New York Times calls North Dakota’s Maah Daah Hey Trail the longest, and arguably most grueling, single track route in the US. And stunning, too.

Life is cheap in Iowa, where a distracted driver faces a whopping $750 fine for leaving a cross-country bike rider in a wheelchair.

A Houston paper asks if the city’s comprehensive new bike plan, which calls for 1,700 miles of “safely designed bike lanes and trails,” will end the battle between bicyclists and drivers. Only if they actually build it, unlike most bike plans in most cities. And it’s not much of a battle when ones on two wheels are the only ones getting hurt.

The Illinois Project Mobility works to put disabled vet on specially adapted bicycles to help them re-engage with the world. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

Streetsblog says New York Mayor De Blasio should get serious about Vision Zero instead of getting defensive about his bike policies.

Cyclists call Pennsylvania’s Reading 120 Classic of the Americas the toughest one-day bike race in the US. Thanks to Mike Bike for the tip.

A new study from Virginia’s James Madison University says consuming protein supplements while you ride may help build muscle, but won’t improve your performance.

 

International

You’d have to ride nine hours and 50 minutes a day in peak London pollution before the risks of bad air would outweigh the benefits of bicycling; in Delhi, it would take just five hours a week.

A driver in the UK will face private prosecution for killing a cyclist after a crowdfunding campaign raises $60,000 to fund the trial; government prosecutors twice refused to file charges. Too bad we can’t do that here.

A new UK app will power a first-of-its-kind peer-to-peer bikesharing system.

Caught on video: A British motorcyclist gets off his bike to threaten a bicycle rider after he and a second rider nearly take him out passing on both sides on a roundabout, even though he’s hugging the side of the roadway.

A new poll says that one in four Brits are worried about having a wreck while they bike, while “only” 9% of British workers ride to work. There aren’t many places in the US that wouldn’t be overjoyed to have half that many bike commuters.

An Aussie city council considers requiring all bicyclists to wear hi-viz any time of the day or night, evidently because the councilors can’t be bothered to pay attention to where they’re going.

 

Finally…

Caught on video too: bike cleats and slick floors are not a good combination. Your next ebike could have a Ferrari pedigree.

And learn to ride a bicycle with Bill Nye the Science Guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFGl0tXRAjg

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links, Road Rage / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: New app for navigating LA, advice on running for your local NC, and pointing the finger in Westwood

January 28, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: New app for navigating LA, advice on running for your local NC, and pointing the finger in Westwood

Figuring out how to get around the City of Angels just got a little easier.

And could help improve the way you get around in the future.

The new Go LA app, created by Xerox for iOS and Android devices, calculates the shortest, cheapest, and most sustainable way to get to your destination — whether on foot, by bike, motorcycle, taxi, car or transit, as well as ride-sharing options — while providing map routing and real time traffic and parking information.

And not just in terms of distance, but also time, cost, carbon footprint, health benefits and calories burned. Which means walking and biking will usually win on the last four counts.

The app also sends anonymous trip data back to LADOT to provide feedback on how people actually get around the city to provide data for future planning.

You can read more about the app on the Go LA press release.

………

Maybe that app will make it easier to use Metro, as the LA Times says ridership on public transportation is in a decade-long decline.

The paper cites other transportation alternatives, such as bicycling and ridesharing, as just two in a long list of factors leading to the drop. Although a more likely culprit is increased fares combined with cuts in service.

Charging more for worse service is rarely a good business model.

………

The LACBC offers details on the upcoming Neighborhood Council elections, and urges you to not only vote, but consider running for election to your local council.

As they point out, local councils are usually the first stops for any discussion for or against bike projects in the local community, and their opinions often carry a lot of weight with the area councilmember.

So your involvement really does matter. But you need to hurry, because the deadline to register as a candidate is approaching quickly in some areas.

………

Speaking of neighborhood councils, a writer for UCLA’s Daily Bruin says the Westwood Neighborhood Council gets the blame for blocking improvements to Westwood Village, including putting up roadblocks to the Westwood Blvd Great Streets project. Homeowners in the area are among the city’s most notorious NIMBYs, and should be held accountable for the decline in the once vibrant Village, where even dancing is banned at their insistence.

Meanwhile, the same writer says Councilmember Paul Koretz has been making opposing promises to both sides about the planned Westwood Blvd bike lanes, promising the neighborhood council and homeowner groups he’d kill the bike lanes, while telling the Sierra Club he supported moving forward with engineering studies. Thanks to Michael Cahn for the heads up.

………

BikeSGV reports that a proposed bike park is included in plans for the coming Puente Hills Landfill Park, along with bike and pedestrian access.

………

Local

Richard Risemberg accuses the city of malign neglect in its approach to 6th Street in the Mid-City area, where a planned road diet and bike lanes have been blocked as injuries and deaths mount.

CiclaValley looks at the numbers behind the proposed Griffith Park shuttle service, and says they don’t add up. Or even come close.

A Santa Monica advocacy group says the city talks a good game when it comes to promoting alternative transportation, but is hardly discouraging its own employees from driving when they receive free parking.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a $5,300 three-wheeled adaptive bike from a Burbank teenager with cerebral palsy.

Duarte develops a new Citywide Bicycle Master Plan and Safe Routes to Transit Master Plan to encourage more riding and promote bike and pedestrian safety. Evidently, the smaller the city, the more grandiose the title for their bike plan.

 

State

The head of the California State Transportation Agency — no, not Caltrans — says au contraire, the state is actually leading the nation in investments for bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Of course, as the nation’s most populous state, we should lead by default; the question is how do we stack up for spending as a percentage of population.

Some Cardiff residents are up in arms over a proposed bike and pedestrian trail that would run along a railroad track, claiming it would somehow cause irreparable harm to their community and the environment. Because evidently, bikes are so much more harmful than trains.

Menlo Park considers a bicycle boulevard connecting the east and west sides of the city.

San Francisco’s bikeshare program is expanding across the bay to Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville.

The CHP is looking for the heartless coward who fled the scene after left-crossing a Sonoma Valley bike rider; the victim, who was on his honeymoon, is reportedly making a “miraculous” recovery, despite suffering a broken neck.

 

National

Seventy percent of American mayors support more bike lanes at the expense of traffic lanes or parking. The problem is getting their auto-centric constituents to agree.

A Portland cyclist wins a nearly half-million dollar judgment against a car wash after he slipped on the wet, soapy pavement, fracturing his hip, when a car wash customer pulled out and blocked the bike lane he was riding in.

An Idaho bike lawyer makes the case for the Idaho stop law that allows bicyclists to treat stop signs as yields and red lights like stop signs, arguing that it has helped the state maintain one of the nation’s lowest bicycling fatality rates as a percentage of population.

Not surprisingly, it’s going to be days before DC’s bikeways are cleared following last weekend’s blizzard. And things aren’t looking any better in New York.

 

International

Good news from Argentina, as Italian rider Adriano Malori has awakened from a medically induced coma after hitting a pothole at nearly 40 mph in the Tour de San Luis.

A Toronto paper rides along with bike-borne food delivery people through the city’s frozen streets.

It’s a daily double for the Guardian, as the paper test rides the sub-$700 dream bike of the British Labour Party leader, and looks at how bicycling unexpectedly became cool in Tel Aviv.

Caught on video: A British driver gets two and a half years for deliberately swerving head-on at a cyclist from the other side of the road in a successful attempt to frighten him. Thanks to Jeffrey for the link.

 

Finally…

Nothing like getting a punch in the face when you agree to buy a bike. Forget riding with your dog; try riding with a couple goats on your back.

And driving while very distracted: A pantsless Detroit man was killed in a car crash while watching porn on his smartphone.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, General, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Bikeshare success stories, turning the other cheek and Metro Active Transpo workshops

December 3, 2015 / / 3 comments

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Give a little to help support LA’s best bike news site this holiday season.

Today’s common theme is the bikeshare boom.

Just three weeks after its official launch, Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare already has over 2,100 members who’ve traveled a total of nearly 18,000 miles.

After two and a half years, there hasn’t been a single fatality while using New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare system. Although stolen bikes with bad paint jobs are another matter.

And a new study shows bikeshare really does help get people out of their cars, while taking pressure off over-crowded transit systems.

………

Great story from South Dakota.

A couple of 10 and 14-year old kids vandalized a South Dakota car dealership recently, causing $25,000 in damage.

But instead of prosecuting the boys, the owner talked to their parents. And once he learned how impoverished the families were, he dropped the charges, and dipped into his own pocket to find a better home for the older boy’s family, as well as buying him a bus pass and a bicycle to get to school.

The kid responded buy volunteering to help out at the dealership after school and on weekends on his own accord, without being asked.

If there’s a better example of how to make a difference in a child’s life, I don’t know what it is.

………

Metro is hosting a series of workshops to develop their Active Transportation Strategic Plan, starting tonight in West Hollywood. Thanks to LADOT Bike Program for the heads-up.

Metro workshops

………

Local

A writer for the Times says driverless cars have the potential reduce the need for curbside parking spaces, freeing up space for bike lanes and wider sidewalks. As it stands, 14% of LA County land is devoted to parking, although some drivers don’t seem to think that’s enough.

Richard Risemberg writes that civic leaders may or may not be out to get us through their not-so-benign neglect of already deficient bike lanes.

CiclaValley invites you to join pro cyclist Phil Gaimon, the LACBC and Councilmember David Ryu’s office in cleaning up a stretch of Mulholland between Cahuenga and Runyon Canyon on the 12th. Maybe you can talk to Ryu’s people about the need for safe bicycling routes in his K-Town/Hollywood district.

Somehow, West Hollywood sneaks in at number 10 on People for Bike’s list of America’s best city’s for everyday biking. No offense to one of my favorite cities, but to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time WeHo has been rated for anything related to bicycling, let alone on a national stage.

Pasadena’s updated transit system will have bike racks on the front of their new natural gas buses.

Temple City chose the most complete and safest makeover of Las Tunas Drive in a non-binding straw vote, although the real decision will come in January.

 

State

California scores a 14.5% boost in transportation funds under the new federal transportation bill, including funding for bike and pedestrians projects which some members of the GOP tried to kill.

Three San Diego-area cyclists were injured when an apparently drunk or stoned driver plowed into them from behind while they were riding in a Carlsbad bike lane Wednesday morning. Nothing like being wasted behind the wheel barely after breakfast.

While some call for building walls, a Tijuana businessman is pushing for a transnational bike lane between the US and Mexico.

Chico police are getting in the Grinchly spirit by handing out $78 tickets to anyone who rides a bike on the sidewalk. Before ticketing people for riding on the sidewalk, they should make sure the street is safe for cycling, first.

 

National

US bicycling fatalities declined 2.3% last year, outpacing a miniscule .1% drop in overall traffic fatalities.

Grist offers advice on how to be seen at night.

Grand Junction CO reverses field and votes to host the start of next year’s USA Pro Challenge after all.

A Texas soldier uses cycling to help her fellow soldiers recover from injuries suffered in battle.

Blame for a ban on protected bike lanes on state roads in Chicago rests with the deputy chief of staff for the former governor, apparently for political reasons. Isn’t it always, though?

An Indiana newspaper remembers native son Major Taylor, America’s first African-American cycling champ and the fastest rider of his time.

A Bloomington IN traffic study shows sidewalks are among the most dangerous places to ride a bike.

New York’s city council will consider a number of bike-related bills, including one to create a possibly needless bike safety committee, and another that would consider bikes abandoned and subject to removal after just 36 hours. Which means riders could risk seizure unless they move their bikes every day and a half.

A Staten Island website doesn’t get it, saying New York’s Vision Zero is just an excuse for ticketing motorists, while claiming that driving an extra five to ten miles over the speed limit won’t hurt anyone. Unless, of course, they happen to hit someone at that speed.

Heartbreaking story about a former North Carolina football player who slipped into mental illness, chemical dependency and homelessness before ending his life riding his bike the wrong way into oncoming traffic on a busy highway. Thanks to George Wolfberg for the heads-up.

 

International

While bicycling has boomed in Western countries in recent years, ridership has dropped 50% worldwide in the past three decades.

Here’s an update on those two Polish brothers pedaling their way down the full length of the Amazon. No, not next to the Amazon, on the Amazon.

Evidently, Canadian bike paths welcome riders of all types, human or otherwise.

Caught on video: A verbal dispute turns violent as a Brit van driver gets out of his cab to take on a bike rider in a two round non-title bout.

Caught on video 2: After a British cyclist is dangerously buzzed by a passing bus, the company says he had plenty of room. You might want to turn down the volume to avoid offending your kids or coworkers with the perfectly understandable, but nonetheless NSFW language.

Talk about trading up. A UK bike thief rides off on a $6,000 mountain bike after putting the equivalent of a $75 deposit on a children’s bike.

A Scottish letter writer opposes irrational calls to reign in cyclists, pointing out that drivers have killed over 45,000 people in the UK so far this century, while bike riders have been responsible for less than ten deaths. Although that’s still ten too many.

There once were some bike thieves in Limerick. No, really, Irish police busted a gang exporting hot bikes to Europe.

A South African writer says maybe the country’s president could improve his image if he rode a bike like the Dutch queen instead of riding in a motorized cavalcade.

A Kiwi writer calls on his fellow New Zealanders to get on their bikes after it’s named the most regressive country at the Paris climate talks.

Singapore police have given out over 50,000 free U-locks over the past four years to fight bike theft.

 

Finally…

If it doesn’t have pedals or wheels, it may fly, but it’s not a bicycle. If you’re going to plow into a group of pedestrians while riding under the influence, make sure one of them isn’t a cop.

And thanks to Los Angeles BAC member David Wolfberg for forwarding a steampunk ‘bent rider’s dream come true.

 

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