Tag Archive for Streets For All

Let’s end hit-and-runs once and for all, Mid-City Neighborhood Greenways break ground, and tell LADOT we can do better

July 16, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 197 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Let’s call this a trial balloon.

For years now, I’ve been calling for an end to hit-and-runs, in a region where nearly half of all collisions end with a fleeing driver, according to a report from LA Weekly that is no longer online.

Although to be fair, the LAPD has consistently said that roughly 33% percent of all collisions are hit-and-runs, based on COMPSTAT data, less than 10% of which ever get solved. In fact, most are never investigated if someone isn’t dead or seriously injured

But either way, it’s too damn high.

While the legislature has worked around the edges to address the problem, those efforts haven’t gone nearly far enough to put the slightest dent into the problem.

So I’m proposing a simplified version of the reforms I’ve been calling for, to see what you think, before I try starting a petition and taking it to legislators and advocacy groups.

You can leave your thoughts in the comments below.

  1. Make the penalty for hit-and-run equal to the penalty for DUI, including fines, jail time and license suspensions, to remove one of the primary incentives to flee.
  2. Anyone who leaves the scene of a KSI crash — Killed or Serious Injury — will automatically have their license revoked by the DMV, regardless of any criminal conviction or plea,
  3.  Anyone who leaves the scene of a KSI crash will have their car impounded as evidence once it’s found; upon conviction, the car will be sold and the proceeds donated to a victim’s fund, after any loans or liens are payed off.
  4. Prosecutors should have the option of charging drivers with 2nd degree murder, or attempted murder, for making the conscious decision to flee and leave the victim to suffer the consequences.

That’s it.

It is, admittedly, a tough approach.

But it’s the only approach I’m aware of that will remove the incentive to flee, while making the penalty harsh enough to make drivers think twice. Or three times, even.

And let’s be honest. Anyone who flees a serious crash has already demonstrated that they can’t be trusted to be obey the law, and shouldn’t be allowed on the streets.

So now it’s your turn. What do you think?

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Streetsblog is reporting that Los Angeles finally broke ground on the long-gestating Mid-City Neighborhood Greenways, a project originally put together by the Mid-City Neighborhood Council to connect Mid-City with Hollywood.

And I promise that’s the last time I’m going to use the phrase Mid-City here. Unless it isn’t.

As I recall, the project was originally proposed in those heady days before the pandemic, so it’s been in a works for quite awhile.

The neighborhood greenway will be one of the city’s few examples of a bicycle boulevard, or a series of bicycle priority streets, similar to Santa Monica’s successful Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway, aka MANGo.

It will run on on Rosewood Ave, Formosa Ave and Orange Drive to connect La Cienega and Hollywood boulevards, through a series of diverters, traffic circles and protected bike lanes to provide a low-stress, relatively carfree route through the Mid-City area.

Oops.

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Streets For All says we can do better than an unprotected bike lane on Alameda and Spring streets, and want you to tell LADOT so.

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Here are the full details for today’s ghost bike installation for Blake Ackerman, as well as Friday’s vigil and rally.

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

A Portland, Oregon certified League Cycling Instructor was back on his bike just ten days after he was intentionally run down by a road-raging driver.

The pendulum is continuing to swing on New York Mayor Eric Adams’ efforts to rip out a protected bike lane in Brooklyn, after an appellate judge issued a temporary restraining order to halt the demolition, just days after a judge said it could go forward.

No bias here. A bike rider in Lancashire, England was falsely told a ban on bicycling was caused because a bicyclist hit a pedestrian — then it turned out they posted the “No Bicycling” sign in the wrong part of town.

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

Or maybe not. According to a British paper, a motorcyclist was critically injured in a crash with a bikeshare bike, which apparently didn’t have a rider, unless maybe it was the other guy who wasn’t seriously injured.

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Local 

Santa Monica expanded the list of items prohibited from public demonstrations, but the city council could re-examine a ban on bike helmets, which could lead to a $500 fine unless someone is actively riding a bicycle.

 

State

Sad news from Chula Vista, where a memorial is growing for an eight-year old boy who was killed by a motorist while riding a scooter Sunday afternoon.

More on the complaints from business owners on Black Mountain Road in San Diego’s Rancho Peñasquitos neighborhood, who somehow don’t think their businesses can survive the loss of just 30 to 40 parking spaces. As if their customers won’t walk a few more feet to visit them, and a safer road for bike riders doesn’t offer the potential to bring them far more customers.

National City received a $2 million grant from the Port of San Diego to help complete a segment of the 24-mile Bayshore Bikeway. Thanks to Megan for the heads-up. 

I want to be like him when I grow up. A press release says 85-year old Bonita resident Jacobo Melcer is “inspiring a regional health movement” through his training to break the age-group hour record in the fall.

Caltrans awarded $14 million to the Silicon Valley’s Valley Transportation Authority to fund initial planning work for a bicycle superhighway between Santa Clara and San Jose.

Great idea. School teachers and administrators in Davis can get a free bicycle when they agree to become Roll Models with The Bike Campaign.

 

National

Bicycling lifted their paywall to offer “expert tips from a veteran bike messenger” to help you master bike commuting without stress.

New Mexico’s Picuris Pueblo, one of 21 Native American nations that have survived for centuries in the region, is investing in its own community with the newest bike park in the US, which will open with a competition offering more than $8,000 in total prize money.

Wyoming’s 80-mile Tour de Wyoming is called one of the best bike tours in the US — and one of the most exclusive, with just 250 participants selected in an annual lottery.

A 66-year old woman was killed when she fell after hitting a speed bump while descending a hill in Watertown NY, weeks after the bike community warned that they could pose a danger to people on bicycles.

New Jersey broke ground on the nation’s newest rail-to-trail conversion to convert “zombie tracks” into an 8.6-mile bike and walk greenway.

 

International

Road.cc offers everything you always wanted to know about bike cams but were afraid to ask.

The organizers of British Columbia’s Okanagan Granfondo are under fire following a crash killed one man and injured two others when a driver slammed into a group of riders, and organizers allowed the fondo to continue as if nothing happened.

A new report from Toronto demonstrates the need to rethink urban bicycling for older adults, who need safer places to ride and better mobility options for healthy aging.

Three men confessed to rioting in Cardiff, Wales after two teenage boys were killed when they crashed their ebike while being followed by police.

Bloomberg examines how Dutch-style protected intersections are coming to save American bike riders and pedestrians.

Advocacy groups in the Netherlands argue that separate bike lanes for faster riders and better enforcement of illegal ebikes would be more effective than a planned speed limit for bike riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo examines why Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard both rode their aero bikes on the first mountain stage of the Tour de France.

If cycling events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics remain on the current dates, it could conflict with the Tour de France, forcing the ’28 Tour to start weeks earlier and throwing off the year’s entire cycling calendar.

 

Finally…

Don’t try riding with no hands or popping a wheelie in this town. You haven’t partied until a Black carnival on bikes comes to town.

And you haven’t lived until you’ve ridden a gelato-themed rapping bike saddle. No, really.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Ghost bike and rally for fallen WeHo bike rider, the worst states for bike commuters, and LA pays dearly for Deadly del Mar

July 15, 2025 / / No comments
Day 196 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Let’s start with an update on 26-year old Blake Ackerman, the lawyer and bike commuter killed by a hit-and-run driver in West Hollywood last Thursday.

A ghost bike will be installed tomorrow at 9 am in a small ceremony at Fountain Ave and Gardner Street. The public is welcome to attend.

A larger vigil will be held on Friday, July 18th, starting at 6 pm at Fountain and Gardner, followed by a short march to West Hollywood City Hall for a rally and press conference. Everyone is urged to attend and participate.

And I do mean everyone.

And yes, that includes me this time.

Meanwhile, a crowdfunding page to raise funds to support Blake’s mother and sister has raised nearly $160,000 of the newly increased $200,000 goal.

There’s still no word on the identity of the heartless coward in a white, older-model BMW sedan who left Blake Ackerman in the street.

It’s also worth taking some time to look over WeHo’s two-year old Vision Zero Plan. Because Fountain isn’t the only street that needs to be fixed before it’s too late.

Again.

Photo of Blake Ackerman in better days from GoFundMe page.

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A new study from a bike insurer ranks Texas as the nation’s second-worst state of bike commuters, behind only South Carolina.

California comes in at a relatively safe 18th best. Which really makes you wonder just how bad the other 32 states behind us must be.

Vermont was rated the best state for bike commuters, followed by Oregon, Minnesota, Alaska and West Virginia.

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They get it.

Streets For All says Los Angeles is caught in a money-draining spiral of spending millions to pay for deaths and injuries caused by our dangerous streets, rather than spending to fix the streets and avoid the damn injuries in the first place.

As a prime example, they call out Playa Vista’s Deadly del Mar, aka Vista del Mar, where 20 people have been killed in the past 20 years.

That includes five deaths since 2017, when the city briefly installed safety improvements following a nearly $10 million settlement for the death of a 16-year old girl, which were promptly ripped out at the order of former “World Climate” Mayor Eric Garcetti to appease entitled commuters from Manhattan Beach.

(Click this link if Elon Musk’s “improvements” keep the video from embedding.)

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An anonymous source forwards a Reddit post highlighting a problem too many people fail to consider, myself included, as a Deaf Scottish woman posts a plea for a little more consideration from bike riders on shared trails.

(Click on the post if it doesn’t embed in full)

Cyclists of Edinburgh, I ask a favour please
byu/VoiceDouble217 inEdinburgh

I have always relied on a shouted “passing on your left” to warn others of my approach. But neither that nor a bike bell will do any good if the other person can’t hear you.

She then followed up on the over 100 replies her post received with this.

“Thanks all for the comments and insights, really helpful!” she said. “Not intending to diss cyclists or anything; I know people have opinions of them.

“My post genuinely was just asking for a bit of respect/shared responsibility although some people don’t seem to get that my being deaf, they seem to think it’s somehow my fault for nearly getting spooked by someone coming behind me.”

As the person who emailed me points out,

It is an important issue to raise because hearing people don’t often think about the fact that sometimes yelling or a horn is not going to be effective. Deaf people are more likely to respond to lights, but even that might not work if you’re coming up behind someone on a path in the open so slow down and avoid close passes of people moving more slowly than you are.

My emailer also pointed out something else I was familiar with, but maybe don’t consider as often as I should, referring to a story based on the Reddit post from Scotland’s Daily Record, which seemed more biased against bicyclists.

They also lower cased “Deaf” when the OP clearly identifies as upper case “Deaf” (which is not just a medical condition, but a culture and thus capitalized when someone identifies as part of that culture).

It’s very easy to go through life — and yes, riding a bicycle — seeing it only from the lens of someone who is hearing and sighted. But it’s important that we also consider the needs, safety and dignity of those who aren’t.

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Bike Talk talks tactical urbanism in two cities, with diametrically different results.

In our last episode, we talked to bike activists in two cities who made their own bike lanes with opposite results. soundcloud.com/biketalk/252… @pattybikes.com @cascadebicycleclub.bsky.social @merlinrain.bsky.social @seattlebikeblog.com #bikesky

— Bike Talk (@biketalk.bsky.social) 2025-07-15T02:22:45.709Z

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Okay, that is a little close.

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

Despite the Ontario provincial governments efforts to rip them out, most Toronto residents support bike lanes and mixed-use roads.

Huh? A rightwing commentator says the solution to Britain’s immigration crisis is to make all aspiring British citizens pass the country’s cycling proficiency test.

A Dublin, Ireland journalist says that as a new bike rider, she’s “astonished” by the amount of aggression she saw from drivers on her daily commute.

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Local 

Next City says Denver solved it’s sidewalk problem by reclaiming responsibility for fixing broken sidewalks from property owners, suggesting it could be a solution for Los Angeles, aka “the city of broken sidewalks” in the words of the late, great Donald Shoup.

Streetsblog calls attention to a series of Metro meetings continuing this week and next to discuss the NoHo to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit project, and the Sepulveda Transit rail project to connect the Valley with West Los Angeles, where rich Bel Air residents are demanding an inefficient monorail so no one will have to dig a subway tunnel under their very expensive homes.

Santa Monica hosts yet another in a continuing series of bicycle and pedestrian safety operations in SoCal cities, this time on Friday, July 18, 2025 from 5 am to 8 pm. Even though they say it’s targeted at dangerous driver behaviors, police are legally required to enforce the law equally against all violators, regardless of mode of travel. So ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line so you’re not the one who gets ticketed. 

West Hollywood sheriff’s deputies issued just 46 tickets during their recent bicycle and pedestrian safety operation, but it doesn’t break down who got the tickets or why.

 

State

Laguna Beach is looking for public input on a proposal to build a mountain bike pump track.

San Francisco wants to expand the Embarcadero protected bike lane, which would require removing up to 30 parking spaces and 15 palms trees. Which is okay because palms are just giant grasses that suck up water and don’t shade anything. 

She gets it. A San Francisco letter writer says “If you oppose bike lanes, pedestrian improvements or expanding public transit, you’re voting for more congestion.”

Residents of the Bay Area’s Alameda County can enter a lottery to receive up to $1,500 towards the purchase of an ebike from the local energy company. To which LA’s DWP responds <crickets>.

Sacramento city officials are upset that the city received a failing grade in People For Bikes new City Ratings, arguing they should have been rated higher. Never mind that Sacramento was rated a full ten points higher than lowly Los Angeles, and not one city official here even gave a damn. 

 

National

Authorities in Oregon are using drones to search for a 52-year old man described as an experienced mountain biker, who disappeared after leaving on a ride Friday morning; searchers found his cellphone in his car, which could have helped pinpoint his location. Which is a reminder to never, ever leave yours behind when you ride. 

Thousands of bike riders took part in the annual 200-mile Seattle to Portland bike ride.

It’s now illegal for Utah drivers to block a bike lane. And yes, Deseret News, that does make it safer for everyone. 

A New Mexico letter writer says most drivers are really polite and considerate, and have your best interests at heart — but if you want to stay safe, you need to dress like a DayGlo clown. Sadly, he may have a point. About that last part, anyway. 

That’s more like it. An Indiana festival combines bicycles, whiskey and bluegrass. So who’s going with me?

An MIT transportation researcher and self-identified car enthusiast says you can love cars, and still support public transportation and decarbonization.

Six hundred people from 37 states descended on New York to bike the full 400 miles of the Erie Canal to mark the canal’s 250th anniversary.

A Manhattan community board called out New York’s mayor for cutting bike and bike lanes out of his auto-centric redesign of the city’s iconic 5th Avenue.

Seriously? A study from a Florida law firm shows that Bay County is the state’s most dangerous county for bicyclists — but instead of demanding safer streets or better drivers, a Florida political site says “wear a helmet.”

 

International

For once, police in the UK are asking for someone riding a bicycle to come forward when they’re not in trouble, as police in Yorkshire look for a bike rider who may have witnessed a driver kill a pedestrian.

An Irish food delivery rider settled a lawsuit over a dooring for the equivalent of $70,000, which required surgery to fix a broken little finger.

Dutch advocacy groups says forget helmets and bicycle speed limits, and upgrade the infrastructure, instead.

A pair of New Zealand Olympians are riding 2,500 miles through Africa to train for the ’28 Games while raising funds to buy bicycles for people in the towns they’re riding through.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Tour de France peloton stormed into Tuesday’s rest day with a major upset, as Irishman Ben Healy took the yellow jersey off Tadej Pogačar’s back, moving from nearly four minutes back to become the first Irish cyclist in yellow since Stephen Roche in 1987.

Britain’s Simon Yates celebrated Bastille Day by winning the Tour’s stage 10 yesterday, coming out on the right end of a long-range breakaway that was slowly whittled down from 28 cyclists to just six at the end.

Bike Radar visits France’s volcanic Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, which hosted the finish of Monday’s Tour de France stage for the first time in the race’s 122-year history.

A Mexican news site celebrates the country’s newest cycling star, after 21-year old Isaac del Toro won last week’s Tour of Austria, to go with his second place finish in the Giro.

 

Finally…

You know things have gone too far when even Jesus objects to ebikes. If you see a pedestrian in a bike lane ahead of you, should you blame the government or deploy torpedos?

And when you’re riding a bike on the 4th of July while smoking crack, and with an outstanding warrant on a meth charge, put a damn light on it, already.

And don’t be a famous musician, for Pete’s sake.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Density boosts bike & walking rates, Metro protects parking over bike riders, and buy bike stuff to pay off Bezos’ wedding

July 9, 2025 / / 4 comments
Day 190 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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If you build it, they will walk.

And bike.

A new report on transportation mode share from Streetlight Data shows a direct correlation between increased urban density, and bicycling and walking rates.

In other words, the closer things are together, the more likely people will walk or bike to them, as well as being more likely to use transit.

According to Government Technology,

“Both [walking and biking] are impacted by the availability of transit, because transit makes it possible to get to your destination on a trip that could involve both walking and transit,” (Martin) Morzynski (of Streetlight Data) said. “The availability of transit will impact this data. The availability of access to transit.”

What is clear is that 9 out of 10 U.S. counties with the highest levels of active transportation — walking and biking — have a population density of at least 4,000 people per square mile. For example, New York County, N.Y., which includes Manhattan, has the highest level of active transportation, where 48 percent of trips are taken via walking, 11 percent are taken by bicycle and 41 percent in an auto.

But while biking and walking as seen as key transportation elements that can benefit from density, those aren’t the only benefits.

Increasingly, walking and biking are seen as key pieces of the overall transportation ecosystem in a region spurring the development of infrastructure like bike lanes, mobility hubs and the advancement of micromobility programs for sharable bikes and scooters. And indeed, public transit is viewed as an enabler of active transportation, since if it were not an option, a number of biking and walking trips would simply become car trips, Morzynski said…

Increasing density can accomplish more than converting car trips to walking or biking. It can also help to solve housing shortages, urbanists have said. Researchers with the Urban Institute have cited studies showing increased density, coupled with reduced parking requirements, help to bring down the cost of housing, while also making smarter use of transit investments.

Your move, Los Angeles.

Photo by Josh Hild from Pexels. 

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No surprise here.

Streets For All says Metro is once again protecting the convenience of drivers over the lives of bike riders, this time on the NoHo to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit project.

Metro is choosing parking spaces over a protected bike lane!

Metro is seeking feedback about the North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project. The BRT will add 19 miles of faster and more reliable transit and 22 bus stations between NoHo and Pasadena, connecting Burbank, Glendale, and Eagle Rock.

But…the latest design completely removed the protected bike lane on Glenoaks through Glendale because it would have required removal of 30% of the on-street parking spaces.

Tell Metro that it’s unacceptable to choose parking over safety, and demand they restore the protected bike lane through Glendale!

There are six Metro community feedback meetings, attend as many as you can, and make your voice heard! 

Meeting Details:

Virtual
Thursday, July 10, 2025
6:00pm – 7:30pm
Call-in: 213.338.8477
Webinar ID: 849 6832 2391
Link to Join

Pasadena
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
6:00pm – 7:30pm
Pasadena City College, Circadian Room
1570 E Colorado Bl, Pasadena, CA 91106

Glendale
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
6:00pm – 7:30pm
Adult Recreation Center
201 E Colorado St, Glendale, CA 91205

North Hollywood
Saturday, July 19, 2025
10:00am – 11:30am
East Valley High School
5525 Vineland Av, North Hollywood, CA 91601

Eagle Rock
Monday, July 21, 2025
6:00pm – 7:30pm
Yosemite Recreation Center
1840 Yosemite Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90041

Burbank
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
6:00pm – 7:30pm
Buena Vista Branch Library
300 N Buena Vista St, Burbank, CA 91505

Thank you for fighting for a safe, sustainable, and equitable future for Glendale and beyond!

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In case you’ve been hiding under a rock lately, it’s Amazon Prime Days, giving you the opportunity to help pay off Jeff Bezos’ recent Venice wedding.

Oh, and get some bike stuff, too.

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This is who we share the road with.

A 24-year old road-raging driver is charged with 1st degree murder after allegedly ramming his Tesla into a San Diego motorcyclist, killing the victim instantly.

He then tried to walk away from the crash in his bare feet, offering cash to other drivers to give him a ride before flipping them off when they refused.

He was finally taken into custody at gunpoint by CHP officers, reportedly incriminating himself with his own statements afterwards.

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This is who we share the road with, part two.

The CHP reports 1,311 California drivers were busted for DUI over the holiday weekend. Although the only real surprise is that the number is that low.

Officers wrote a total of 34,548 during the enforcement period that began Wednesday evening and ran through Sunday night, 21,328 of those for issues related to speeding.

And no, I have no idea what “issues related to speeding” means, as opposed to just violating the damn speed limit.

Especially since all you have to do to catch a speeding driver in California is pick one and point a speed gun at them.

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

Over 100 bike riders turned out on Saturday to protest plans to either reduce the width of Manilla bike lanes to make room for motorcycle lanes, or convert them to shared lanes with motorcycles. And on a related note, Philippine residents say it’s fear, not laziness, that keeps them from riding bike — a situation that’s not likely to be helped reducing or eliminating bike lanes.

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

A Singaporean man filed a pair of formal complaints, alleging that reckless bicyclists and e-mobility users are endangering his pregnant wife by the way they ride on walkways, and leave their bikes blocking the way. Although when I look at the photos he submitted, all I see are hundreds of bicycles safely and considerately parked along the sidewalk, while leaving space for people to pass.

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Local 

Metro approved $2.9 billion in transit fund allocations for the 2026 fiscal year to help fund municipal and local transit operations throughout LA County, including bike and pedestrian projects.

 

State

Calbike says don’t believe the misinformation coming from Big Highway — aka companies who profit from highway expansion — about mitigating Vehicle Miles Traveled, or VMT, offering a detailed explainer of why the highway builders are wrong.

The new San Diego State University Mission Valley is the nation’s first college campus purpose-built as a bicycle-friendly, transit oriented development, or TOD.

San Diego’s stormwater department has belatedly come to the realization that bike paths shouldn’t be underwater, and committed to fixing a frequently flooded section of the SR-56 bike path. Even if a bike path deserves better than to be named after the freeway that blights it.

Vista will remove berms and bollards from protected bike lanes, just months after they were installed, due to complaints from bicyclists who said they made them feel less safe. Although they don’t seem to have bothered to gather safety stats to determine whether they actually increased or reduced injuries. 

Mountain View is considering a road diet on El Monte Ave after a series of pedestrian deaths, removing one lane to create a single lane in each direction with a center turn lane, and converting the existing bike lanes to buffered lanes.

 

National

You can now legally ride an ebike on Oregon bike trails and park roads.

The youngest of the four kids who killed an Albuquerque nuclear scientist as he biking to work by — allegedly — intentionally driving into him with a stolen car has been charged with murder, despite being just 12 years old; he was 11 at the time of the crime, and suspected of being involved in a string of burglaries dating back to when he was just ten.

New York will hire up to 45 unarmed “peace officers” to enforce rules against illegal moped, ebike and e-scooter use. Because apparently, the city’s existing 36,000 sworn peace officers aren’t up to the task. Or maybe just don’t want it. 

Hundreds of Asheville NC bike riders took to the streets and gathered in bike shops to honor two men who were killed when the driver of a dump truck crossed onto the wrong side of the road, and hit them head-on as they rode their bikes; a friend said one victim’s greatest fear was dying alone, which he tragically avoided by getting killed along with the other victim.

He gets it. The father of one of those Asheville victims says unsafe roads are a national problem.

 

International

One of the most prominent British politicians of the Thatcher era of the 1980s has died at age 94; Norman Tebbit, aka Lord Tebbit of Chingford, was responsible for popularizing the now common English phrase, “On yer bike,” for which he may never be forgiven.

Former pro cyclist Molly Weaver says she was relieved and disoriented after shaving a whopping 17 hours off the record for riding around the coast of Britain, while becoming the first woman to hold the record.

New research shows demand for ebikes is growing in the UK, even as bicycling rates are dropping — although bicycling rates appear to be rising in the Scottish Highlands.

TNT Magazine says bicycling is the best way to connect with “authentic” Spanish life.

A local writer says yes, bicyclists have a right to ride on Malaysian roads, but have to ride single file under every circumstance.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tadej Pogačar surged at the finish to take stage four of the Tour de France, marking his 100th career victory, while pulling even in overall time with race leader Mathieu van der Poel, who retained the yellow jersey for one last day. Meanwhile, a 22-year old Scotsman was stunned to find himself just off the podium.

Bike Radar offers 11 surprising things you need to know about Pogačar. Some of which actually are, but none of which you actually do. 

A UK site examines how the Tour is mitigating its environmental impacts.

All 11 bikes stolen from the Cofidis cycling team before the Tour’s second stage have now been recovered by police across the border in Belgium, though no arrests appear to have been made.

USA Today looks back to the deep, dark days of the 1980’s, when America’s only remaining Tour de France winner was dominating the race, despite a shotgun blast to the gut.

Meanwhile, women are still racing, even if they’re overshadowed by the Tour, as Dutch pro Lorena Wiebes took a crash-filled stage three of the Giro D’Italia Donne, while Britain’s Anna Henderson retained the pink leader’s jersey after a late crash that involved all but 10 riders, resulting in almost the entire peloton receiving the same time.

 

Finally…

That feeling when even husbands of Bachelorette stars aren’t safe from hit-and-run drivers. Or when you try nearly every bike bag known to man before finding one you can live with.

And a new study shows that saddle height and setback, pedaling intensity, rider height, and sex can affect comfort in the lower limbs.

Although it should be obvious that sex on a bike saddle would affect the lower limbs — especially this one.

Or so I’m (ahem) told.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Stop Metro’s induced demand inducing 71 Freeway project, and reinventing upper body bicycle workouts for the first time

June 25, 2025 / / No comments
Day 176 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Streets For All wants your help to stop Metro’s proposal to flush even more millions down the induced-demand toilet by widening the 71 freeway through Pomona.

Even though freeway projects go against California’s ostensible commitment to Complete Streets, as well as the state’s pollution and climate goals.

But if it gives drivers a faster commute for a few months until the corresponding crushing increase in traffic makes it worse for the rest of eternity, it’s worth it.

Right?

Tell the CTC: No More Freeway Widening!

The California Transportation Commission (CTC) on Thursday is considering funding (tab 21) widening the 71 freeway in Pomona (State Route 71 Gap Closure Project – Phase 2), a project being proposed by Metro Los Angeles.

This is Destruction For Nada! The expensive trend of disastrous highway widening projects must stop.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Tell the CTC that you DO NOT support freeway widenings! Let’s use that funding on sustainable projects instead.

EMAIL THE CTC (CUSTOMIZE THE BOTTOM!)

Photo by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels. 

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Once again, someone has invented the “first” bicycle with moving handlebars to give you an upper body workout while you ride.

Something that seems to get “invented” for the first time every few years.

Never mind that they keep running into the recurring problem that handlebars already serve a purpose, which isn’t helped if the damn things keep moving on you.

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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 Eugene, Oregon TV station reports on a “vehicle versus bicycle crash,” which apparently had no humans involved in or on either vehicle. Although their primary concern is just warning drivers about the traffic inconvenience, rather than any potential risk to human life or anything.

Apparently, a new bike lane will destroy Gloucestershire, England’s historic city center, but all those “historic” streets and cars are just fine, even though bikes were there first.

No bias here, either. A radio station on the Isle of Man released a petition calling for banning bike riders from a 13-mile roadway, claiming it’s too dangerous for bikes and cars to share — which garnered a whopping 200 signatures, representing less than 0.25% of the island’s population. Something tells me they’d get more signatures if they called for banning cars, instead.

………

Local 

Santa Clarita was set to consider approving a construction contract for the long-awaited Haskell Canyon Bike Park at last night city council meeting.

 

State

The good news, Apple Valley approved a new Complete Streets Action Plan, including a number of new bike paths throughout the city; the bad news, it’s funded by a federal grant, so the funds could be on the chopping block.

A Menifee teenager suffered severe, but non-life-threatening, injuries when he was t-boned by a driver while riding his ebike across the street.

 

National

Streetsblog digs into the recent City Ratings from People For Bikes to uncover the country’s fastest improving bike-friendly cities, led by a small town in Idaho — something else that could be threatened by cuts to federal funding.

Bicycling offers tips on how to survive riding in the heat now enveloping more than half the country. But it doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you may have to bake of the magazine blocks you; my best advise is to ride early or late, drink plenty of water, and stick to shaded routes if you ride midday. 

To mark the upcoming 4th of July, a freedom loving Bend, Oregon man says his bicycle set him free.

Good says Seattle’s body-painted naked bike ride offers a lesson in colorful living.

Santa Fe, New Mexico will consider adopting a Vision Zero program this week. But it comes too late to save a 42-year old competitive cyclist, staple of the city’s pickleball scene, and veteran of the famed Little 500, who was killed by a driver while riding his bike last week.

Colorado will celebrate the summer Bike to Work Day today, offering the second part of their twice-yearly Bike Day schedule. Never mind that Los Angeles, with its ideal weather and mostly flat terrain, barely observes one Bike to Work Day anymore, let alone two. 

A Boulder, Colorado weekly suggests riding your bike to work, then enjoying a variety of local mountain bike and road bicycle tours later in the day.

Cheyenne, Wyoming is hosting a Bike to Work Day of their own today. Which is only surprising if you ever tried riding the extremely bike-unfriendly, cowboy-centric home of the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo back in the day, which I was only brave enough to attempt once. 

A 54-year old Missouri man has ridden his bike every day since December 29, 2015, averaging 33 miles a day, while surviving two traffic collisions, a dog attack and crashing when he swerved to miss a squirrel. That works out to “just” 11,566 miles, assuming he went out again today. 

A New York grand jury indicted a 54-year old man for murder, manslaughter, unlawful fleeing a police officer, leaving the scene of an incident, and assorted other related crimes, for allegedly killing a 36-year-old woman riding a bicycle while he was fleeing from the cops.

He gets it. A New York man writes that NY Mayor Adams is playing a dangerous game by pitting community members against bicyclists in attempting to rip out a bike lane in predominately Jewish neighborhood, apparently forgetting bike riders are part of the community, too. And they vote.

A North Carolina bike columnist recommends riding a 22-mile rail-to-trail conversion from downtown Durham to the next county.

 

International

If you build it, they will come. Bicyclists now outnumber cars on a major Toronto street — with one of the bike lanes the provincial government wants to rip out.

It takes a real schmuck to steal an ebike from a Liverpool, England crash victim after he was struck by a stoned driver, and whisked away to the hospital.

While everyone else will be stuck in traffic trying to get to the UK’s famed Glastonbury Festival, a Spanish man will only have to lock up his bike after rocking the 1,000 miles from his Madrid home to the music fest.

A British driver complains about an “incredibly dangerous” bike rider, arguing that “you shouldn’t be cycling if you don’t know the rules of the road” — then admits without irony to driving 30 mph in a 20 mph zone.

Ireland’s Cycle to Work Scheme — “scheme” meaning program in this case — allows you to buy a new bike and safety gear tax-free, with the payments deducted from your salary over the next year.

Travel site Lonely Planet recommends some of France’s best bicycling routes that start in Paris. Or end there, depending on your perspective.

The last 12 months have been the deadliest on Australian roads in 15 years, largely because of a 15.7% increase in pedestrian deaths and a 36.7% jump in bicycling fatalities.

 

Competitive Cycling

Italian cyclist Diego Ulissi won the Giro dell’Appennino with a solo breakaway on the next-to-last climb, marking 16 straight years with at least one win for the 35-year old pro.

Proving it’s never too late, 35-year old former Moto Grand Prix racer Aleix Espargaró will swap his leathers for Lycra, and make his professional cycling debut for the Lidl-Trek developmental squad at the Tour of Austria. Okay, so it’s way too late for me. But still. 

USA Cycling is merging with US Paralympic Cycling, bringing all Olympic and Paralympic bike racing under a single roof to create a “more unified, inclusiv, and efficient support system” for American cyclists.

Apparently, bikewear takes on a whole new meaning at the tongue-in-cheek Brompton World Championships held in the UK.

 

Finally…

LA drivers may be hard to bear, but at least we don’t have to deal with actual bears most days. Apparently, sexy baggage handlers make better bike stewards.

And if you’re going to jump a roadway, at least try to stick the landing.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

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

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

………

No surprise here.

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

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

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

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

Two. percent.

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

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

At least until induced demand catches up with them.

Photo by Vitaly Kushnir from Pexels. 

………

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

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

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

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

Yep. Just this side of zero.

………

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

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

………

Here’s one that’s also worth supporting.

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

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

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

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

Thanks to Joe for the heads-up. 

………

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

………

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

………

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

Los Angeles, 2025📸 afpphoto

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

………

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

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

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

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

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

………

Local 

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

 

State

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

 

National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

International

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

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

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

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

 

Competitive Cycling

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

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

 

Finally…

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07gAa_ZyWO0&t=10s

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Missing bikepacker found safe, guilty verdict in meth-fueled death of 12-year old OC boy, and letter demands action on HLA

May 20, 2025 / / Comments Off on Missing bikepacker found safe, guilty verdict in meth-fueled death of 12-year old OC boy, and letter demands action on HLA
Day 140 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

My apologies for the extended absence. 

The problems I was having with low blood pressure last week cascaded into a crisis over the weekend I was lucky to weather without ending up in the ER.

Although I probably should have, according to my wife, anyway. 

I have no problem accepting my mortality, given that, as a diabetic in my late 60s, I have a life expectancy somewhere between a fruit fly and a green banana. 

And I accept that I may never ride my road bike again. Or maybe any bike, for that matter. 

But I worry about what happens to this site when the day finally comes that I can’t do it anymore. 

In the meantime, I’ll do my best to keep things going on a regular basis. Or often as my aging body lets me, anyway.

So let’s get back to it. 

………

Let’s start with some good news.

The Georgia woman who had been missing in the rugged California mountains for three weeks was found safe.

Twenty-two-year old Tiffany Slaton disappeared while on an bikepacking trip above Fresno, after she was last seen stopping at a general store.

She was found when the owner of a mountain resort that had been closed for the winter went to get it ready to open, and found her hunkered down inside surviving on wild leeks and boiled snow.

She had lost most of her belongings, abandoning her ebike at a trailhead, and surviving 13 snowstorms in the process.

She had also lost ten pounds.

But she was safe and alive, and soon reunited with her parents, who were stunned and overjoyed by the news.

Photo by Gantas Vaičiulėnas from Pexels.

………

Guilty.

An Orange County jury found 64-year old Richard David Lavalle guilty of 2nd degree murder for the meth-fueled death of a 12-year old bike rider.

The Long Beach man was convicted of killing Noel Bascomb as he was riding a bicycle with his father in a Costa Mesa crosswalk in December, 2020.

The boy’s father was forced to watch the crash that killed his son, screaming for Lavalle to stop his pickup before crushing Noel’s bicycle, and catapulting the boy roughly 120 feet through the air.

Police founds drugs in Lavalle’s truck, and he was unable to stand on one foot for a field sobriety test following the crash; a blood test found meth in his blood hours after the crash.

Although his wife, who was riding in the passenger seat, tried to claim the drugs were hers.

Lavalle had previously been convicted driving under the influence in San Diego County, which allowed prosecutors to upgrade the charge from manslaughter to murder.

………

No surprise here.

Streets For All, the original sponsor of Measure HLA, took a look at the the status of HLA projects that the city reports on the official HLA website, and find it, well, lacking.

Tres shock!

They responded with a letter calling the city out for its failure, and urging it to work with them going forward.

Speaking of HLA, Streets For All urges you to support a version of the law in LA County tomorrow at the virtual meeting of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Community Services Cluster.

……….

Nice to see Los Angeles recognized for something good for a change, as CNN makes the case for why Griffith Park may be the country’s greatest city park.

At 4,210 acres, Griffith outshines other extraordinary city parks of the US, such as San Francisco’s Golden Gate, which barely tops 1,000 acres, and New York’s Central Park, a mere 843 acres. Griffith’s peaks tower above those flat competitors too, with nearly 1,500 feet in elevation gain, making it practically vertical in orientation. And LA’s crown jewel of a park is still largely uncut, much of it remaining a wilderness area preserved more than 100 years ago, and barely developed, unlike the pre-planned “wild” designs of Golden Gate and Central Park.

Add its history, views, recreation opportunities, unique and hidden spaces, a free Art Deco observatory and museum, the most famous sign in America and the park’s overall star-power, and you have a compelling case that Griffith is not just epic in scope but the greatest city park in the nation.

There’s something for everyone there: a zoo, playgrounds and an old-timey trainyard for the kids; challenging and steep trails for hikers; dirt paths for equestrians; paved roads for bikers; diverse flora and fauna for nature enthusiasts; and museums for the science and history learners.

Take that, New York.

……….

Gravel Bike California makes a run for the border by riding the Taco Bell Century with Grizzly Cycles.

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Cate Blanchett is one of us.

Seriously. What could beat Blanchett on a bike?

Cate Blanchett having the time of her life, as captured by photographer Annie Leibovitz.#BicycleBirthday Cate BlanchettBorn May 14, 1969

— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 2025-05-14T20:01:24.143Z

………

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

No bias here. A British paper says the only surprising thing about a London pedestrian being killed by an ebike rider earlier this year is that there aren’t more cases like it. Which is a pretty good indication that it’s not as big a problem as they’re trying to make it out to be. 

An 18-year old New Zealand man was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after throwing a bottle at from the SUV he was riding in, striking participants in a local bike race — including an 11-year old cyclist.

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

The notoriously anti-bike New York Post writes that the city must stop treating bicyclists like a special class, for everyone’s safety. Because it’s not treating bike riders like a special class at all when the cops give scofflaw bicyclists criminal summonses that drivers aren’t subject to, apparently (see National news below).

………

Local 

Speed cams are finally coming to Los Angeles, with operations scheduled to begin by the middle of next year — if they can survive the usual public comment period.

LA officials officially unveiled the first 5.5-mile segment of the Rail-to-Rail Active Transportation Corridor multiuse path linking three Metro train lines through South LA.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers photos and an open thread from Sunday’s Pico-Union CicLAmini.

Metro is holding a series of meetings to gather feedback on the Sepulveda Transit Corridor project, starting with a virtual meeting this Wednesday.

The West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition will host their annual WeHo Pride Ride on Sunday, June 1st.

The Pasadena Ride of Silence will roll at the Rose Bowl Wednesday evening to remember fallen bike riders; Palm Springs will hold one on Wednesday, too.

Caltrans unveiled their draft feasibility study for safety changes on the 21 miles of PCH through the ‘Bu; needless to say, commenters immediately complained about plans for protected bike lanes.

A Venice man relates his attack by a ranting man who shouted that “all bikes must be destroyed” while he was walking his bicycle on the Santa Monica Pomenade recently.

 

State

Streetsblog says “here we go again,” as the California Ebike Incentive Program gears-up for their next attempt at a second round of ebike incentives, after failing so badly at two previous attempts.

No surprise here, either. Calbike says the state has got its transportation spending priorities wrong, as Newsom’s revised budget calls for continued highway spending, but fails to restore funding for active transportation that was cut last year.

Streets Are For Everyone says red light cams work and calls for support for SB 720, which would update California’s red light camera programs and allow cities and counties to opt in. 

Encinitas held an open streets event this weekend, too.

No bias here, either. After the La Mesa council voted to build eight bike lane and sidewalk projects near the city’s schools, a San Diego TV station can only manage frame the story through the lens of the single councilmember who voted against it — then somehow says the city is divided.

Sad news from Santa Barbara, where a 36-year old woman faces multiple charges for killing an ebike rider — including gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI and driving without a license — yet somehow, police still managed to blame the victim for causing the crash.

 

National

A reporter for NPR says bike riding helps with long-term knee and health problems, even if like life, it doesn’t always make sense. True enough. Riding a bike helped keep my failing knee going for a couple decades after a surgeon told me it needed to be replaced. And hid my diabetes for at least that long.

Nevada’s attempt at a Stop As Yield bill died in the state legislature, victim of an arbitrary cutoff date.

Colorado authorities are asking for the public’s help finding a hit-and-run driver who killed a 41-year old man riding a bicycle in Boulder County on Sunday. Note that they asked for help right away, rather than waiting until the trail has run cold and people have forgotten key details, like the LAPD does.

In a story that hits a little too close to home, police still haven’t solved the fatal shooting of a 47-year old man riding a bicycle just 17 miles from my bike-friendly Colorado hometown.

A Manhattan Criminal Court judge gave scofflaw bike riders a good darn talking to on the first day of court for bicyclists given a criminal complaint by the NYPD, rather than a standard ticket for traffic violations; however, not everyone thinks that’s a good idea.

 

International

Bike Radar asks if the latest crop of ebikes have become too powerful, and could be harming the reputation of mountain biking.

You’ve got to be kidding. A British coroner ruled that the crash that killed a bicyclist was “unavoidable,” following testimony from the driver that the dark-clad victim “suddenly” appeared in front of her car after she “momentarily” looked down at her gear shift. Because a) bike riders don’t “suddenly” appear out of nowhere, and b) no crash is “unavoidable.”

An Irish writer says most of the complaints about Dublin bicyclists are actually people on bicycle-shaped objects, aka illegally modified mo-peds and electric motorbikes. Which is probably the case in California’s beach cities, too. 

How Paris became Europe’s best city for young bike riders.

Horrible news from Japan, where a 70-year old Osaka man jumped or fell from a high-rise condo, and landed on a man riding a bicycle in the street below; the victim was believed to be a 59-year old man from a city over 300 miles away.

Sad news from Australia, where 63-year old former pro wrestler Mike Raybeck, aka Maxx Justin and Mike Diamond, was killed in a collision while riding his bike home from work.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly looks at 21-year old Mexican cyclist Isaac del Toro, after the Baja California native became the first Mexican cyclist to wear the pink leader’s jersey in the Giro.

Nineteen-year old British cyclist Matthew Brennan is making waves on the WorldTour with seven wins in just 23 days.

Good question. A Colorado public radio station asks why bike racing has struggled to succeed in the state when it has such a strong bicycling culture. Although it’s not just Colorado; pro cycling has struggled everywhere in the US, as former fans of the Tour of California can attest.

Cycling Weekly looks at this week’s 2025 USA Cycling Road Nationals — starting with 15 paracycling titles awarded on day one.

 

Finally…

You know your locked bike was stripped when thieves even take your handlebar grips. How do you celebrate a Spanish soccer championship? With a bike ride, of course.

And are you at risk for kyphosis bicyclistarum, or bicyclist’s stoop?

Thanks to Steven Hallet for that last one.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Streets For All’s Schneider confronts mayor’s draconian budget cuts, and DTLA tree-chopper Groft faces 11 felony counts

May 9, 2025 / / Comments Off on Streets For All’s Schneider confronts mayor’s draconian budget cuts, and DTLA tree-chopper Groft faces 11 felony counts
Day 129 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

In my rush to put up yesterday’s post before I fell asleep at my keyboard, I somehow lost the link to an important Los Angeles Times op-ed from Streets For All founder Michael Schneider.

In it, Schneider took to task the proposed city budget from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, whose draconian cuts would make our already deteriorating and dangerous streets even worse.

By law, the city of Los Angeles must balance its budget every year. But Mayor Karen Bass’ current proposal to do so represents a dystopian nightmare for our streets, sidewalks and public transportation system. The city should correct this mistake as it evaluates the proposed budget in the coming weeks.

Angelenos already live with streets deteriorating faster than we can fix them, sidewalks breaking faster than we can repair them and streetlights going dark faster than we can replace them. A recent audit exposed the city’s utter failure to achieve Vision Zero, after promising 10 years ago to bring down traffic deaths. These things are happening under the existing fiscal year’s budget, which already made draconian cuts across the city. With further cuts, expect even worse service for everyday essentials.

Bass describes this budget as just a worst case scenario, hoping against hope for a deus ex machina bailout from the state from her own budget failures, as legal settlements and unfounded pay raises have put the city a whopping $1 billion in the red.

Without a momentary lifeboat from the cash-strapped state, Bass proposes cutting 1,600 jobs — slashing staffing at LADOT and street services, as well as putting off desperately needed repairs and capital improvements.

And if you think “desperately needed” is an overstatement, you haven’t been on Fairfax Ave lately, where frame-busting bumps make mountain biking seem boring, and ever-growing potholes threaten to swallow entire motor vehicles.

Never mind that the eyes of the world will be on the City of Angels starting next year.

Keep in mind that Los Angeles is also about to be under a spotlight on the world stage. We are hosting eight matches of the World Cup next year and the Olympics in 2028. We shouldn’t be hosting world-class events on streets full of potholes, broken sidewalks and dark streetlights. It’s a terrible image for Los Angeles, and the coming fiscal year’s budget is our last chance to make progress before the events begin.

It’s more than worth the few minutes it takes to read the whole thing. Because this is the battle we have to fight now, if we want to win any of the other street safety fights to come.

Although not everyone seems to agree.

………

Bike-riding tree-chopper Samuel Patrick Groft was ordered to stand trial on 11 felony vandalism counts for chopping down 13 trees with his trusty electric chainsaw.

Police describe the 33-year old Groft as homeless with a criminal record, and someone who was known to them before last month’s DTLA chainsaw massacre.

LA’s street tree superintendent estimated the values of felled trees on city-owned property at $175,000, while the value of all 13 trees was set at nearly $350,000.

And bonus points if you knew LA even had a street tree superintendent.

Groft faces up to six-and-a-half years behind bars if convicted on all count. He remains behind bars on $350,000 bond, for which trees in Downtown Los Angeles are undoubtedly grateful.

………

Speaking of Streets For All, the street safety PAC’s next virtual happy hour will feature Marissa Roy, candidate for Los Angeles City Attorney.

Although considering what we’ve seen of the incumbent, she already has my vote.

………

That feeling when satire is just this side of reality.

NYPD Tickets Dead Cyclist For Obstructing Bike Lane

— The Onion (@theonion.com) 2025-05-02T18:30:00.000Z

………

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

Convenience won out over safety once again, as residents of a wealthy Christchurch, New Zealand suburb successfully defeated a planned bike lane, preferring saving parking spaces to saving lives.

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

A San Francisco website says yes, the city has an ebike problem, but it’s the “glorified e-mopeds,” not the people on bicycles, who are the problem.

Police in Singapore are looking for the schmuck who slapped a 13-year old boy after they crashed their bikes together.

………

Local 

Clean Technica says Los Angeles will have to rely on the private sector to have any hope of holding a carfree Olympics.

Metrolink will wave ticket fees for anyone with a bicycle on Thursday’s Bike to Work Day — although you’ll still have to pay to ride Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains.

 

State

When I was a kid, “Your mother rides a bicycle!” was a schoolyard taunt, but Calbike’s Kendra Ramsey recalls it as a badge of honor.

Encinitas is closing a portion of South Coast Highway 101 in the downtown area to cars on May 18th for the Cyclovia Encinitas open streets event.

The CEO of San Diego Youth Services is taking one last great adventure as he rides into retirement, pedaling over 600 miles from San Francisco to San Diego in hopes of raising $250,000 for homeless youths.

Authorities continue to search for any sign of a 27-year old Black woman who disappeared without a trace two weeks ago while e-bikepacking in the Sierra National Forest.

Sad news from Antioch, where a 33-year old man died in the hospital after he reportedly got off his bicycle, and somehow fell into the roadway and into the path of an oncoming car.

 

National

Momentum ranks the top ten cities in the US to enjoy a carfree lifestyle. None of which is Los Angeles.

A team from the University of Washington has developed a small, handlebar-mounted sensor that maps when and where drivers pass closer than four feet to someone on a bicycle, which they found correspond to other indications of poor safety, such as collisions. Although I’d say that a collision is the literal definition of poor safety. 

A Las Vegas bike shop, twice named one of the nation’s top ten bike shops, offers a blast from the past by hosting a virtual museum of vintage, rare and unusual bicycles.

Bicycling examines the strange case of University of Wyoming art professor Nash Quinn, who disappeared last year after riding his singlespeed bike into the wilderness outside of Laramie. But you’ll need a subscription if you want to read it. 

Streetsblog Chicago considers the eternal question of how to convince residents and city officials to support safer street designs.

Donald Trump deflected from tough questions about the failure of the US air traffic control system by mocking former Transportation Secretary Pet Buttigieg for riding his bicycle to work “with his husband on the back.”

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole the Atlanta Magnet Man’s bicycle; Alex Benigno began riding an ebike with a trailer mounted with magnets during the pandemic, pedaling through the city collecting an average of five pounds of metal debris swept from the streets.

 

International

A Canadian woman is attempting to set a new record for riding up and down the full length of the United Kingdom, despite contracting a rare disease when she was 15 that left her unable to walk.

Cyclist introduces Russel Stout, owner of British bespoke aluminum bikemaker Stout Cycles.

That’s more like it. A commercial van driver in the UK was sentenced to 11 years behind bars for killing a bike rider while drinking vodka behind the wheel, and using not one, but two mobile phones; he continued to use his phone for over half a minute as he drove away after the crash, later telling police he thought he’d hit a bird. Must have been a pretty damn big bird, though.

A 51-year old “super fit road cyclist” who had just moved from the UK to France blames the Moderna Covid vaccine for sending her to intensive cardiac care for two weeks, and needing a pacemaker after suffering a complete heart block.

An estimated 10,000 people are expected to ride their bikes tomorrow for Korea’s 2025 Seoul Bike Festival, with riders divided by skill levels, and different speeds set for each.

 

Competitive Cycling

Road.cc asks whether the women’s Vuelta is already over, as Dutch pro Demi Vollering builds a commanding lead while winning her fifth stage.

Speaking of the Olympics, the Olympics website shines a spotlight on Bike for Future, a Rwandan program using bicycles to help young women build transferable skills, while gaining access to education, employment and entrepreneurship.

The small African nation of Benin is making its move to become a cycling power; the country has already produced elite riders like Biniam Girmay, Louis Meintjes, Kim Le Court and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your “beloved” gravel event is demoted to just the fifth-hardest bovine-themed ride held in a lesser wine region. Or when you post a bike ad on Instagram, and get told to focus on your football/soccer team — and wear a hemet.

And of course Bing was one of us.

Singer/actor Bing Crosby shows off the superhero-like riding technique that must have been behind his recording more than 1,600 songs & making over 70 feature films.Happy #BicycleBirthday, Bing! May 3 (1903-1977)

— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 2025-05-03T04:00:41.134Z

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Bass slash-and-burn budget threatens street safety & CicLAvia, and how to apply for CA ebike vouchers Tuesday

April 25, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 115 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Evidently, I’ve not the only one concerned about the effect of the draconian budget cuts and layoffs proposed by Mayor Karen Bass.

Streets For All sent out the following email yesterday making many of the same points.

This week, Mayor Bass released her proposed budget for 2025-2026. This budget plans to slash most departments’ funding, as well as eliminate 1,650 city positions and 1,074 vacancies. It also proposes deferring capital projects, like planned road and infrastructure improvements.

This budget is a disaster for road safety and even basic services.You can read our detailed analysis here. This budget will result significantly more broken streets and sidewalks. New pedestrian and bike projects, including many Olympics projects, will be delayed. All streetlight repairs will be paused until 2027. Billions in grant funded street safety and mobility projects may be lost. And there may be no staffing to support open streets events like CicLAvia.

There are only TWO opportunities to comment on the Mayor’s proposed budget, and they are both in person:

APRIL 25, 2025 at 1pm
Van Nuys City Hall
14410 Sylvian Street
Van Nuys, CA 91401

APRIL 28, 2025 at 4pm
City Hall Council Chamber, Room 340
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Budget Chair Katy Yaroslavsky will be hosting a session in person:
APRIL 26, 2025 at 11am
Westwood
RSVP for address

Tell the Mayor that cutting funding for our streets will lead to more crashes, costing the City even more in liability payouts – part of why the city is in such financial distress to begin with. This budget would also lead to a near pause of any new projects, and delay existing ones – freezing our infrastructure during a time period when we are about to host the World Cup and Olympics.

While showing up in person is most effective, if you cannot attend you may comment on the council file.

Thank you for fighting for a safe, sustainable, and equitable future for Los Angeles and beyond!

………

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton takes an in-depth look at the second round of the California ebike voucher program, including how to apply.

The Air Resources Board’s long–delayed and controversial e-bike voucher program will be opening its application portal for a second time at 6:00 p.m. on April 29th. This time instead of a first-come, first-serve approach that left out tens of thousands of hopeful applicants, the system will randomly choose 1,000 people who join their virtual waiting room between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.

To join the waiting room, go to ebikeincentives.org and select the ‘APPLY’ button in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

He also notes that you are encouraged to arrive early to the portal to file your application.

But don’t bother if you don’t meet the financial qualifications, and aren’t willing to jump through their hoops to document your income — and watch a couple of pretty meaningless videos.

The program is only offering 1,000 vouchers this time, which represents less than 1% of the people who tried to apply for the first round of vouchers.

The 1,000 lucky people will be selected through a form of lottery. You’re encourage to stick around through the full process, until you receive a notification that you either were or weren’t selected to apply.

Surprisingly, it looks like I may actually qualify this time.

But whether I’ll actually bother, given the massive shitshow mess they made of the first round, remains to be determined.

………

Evidently, life is cheap in the UK.

Mansfield Town striker Lucas Akins was sentenced to 14 months behind bars for carelessly killing a 33-year old man riding a bicycle, in a crash caught on the victim’s bike cam.

Yet Akins seemed to demonstrate just how little it bothered him by playing in a League One soccer match the same day he entered his not guilty plea in court.

The team issued a statement expressing their condolences to the family, and said they’re “considering its position with regards to” Akins.

Especially since he won’t be on the pitch for the better part of the next few seasons.

………

PinkBike takes a look at the creation of Bradley Bike Park in San Marcos, calling it “a rideable masterpiece built against all odds on near-flat ground,” and “artistry etched in dirt.”

………

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

A British couple were threatened and spat on by a pair of men who were riding their bikes next to the couple’s car, after they brought the car to a stop, for no apparent reason. Although I would guess thee may be another side to the story, and that maybe the driver did something to tick ’em off. But regardless of what it may have been, nothing justifies violence.

………

Local 

Metro still hasn’t done anything with the long-delayed second phase of the Metro Mobility Wallet, which is supposed to provide participants with $1,800 to spend on any form of transportation, from bus passes and rideshare to bikeshare, or even buying a bicycle. But the program is worthless if the agency doesn’t follow through by actually funding their debit cards.

Speaking of Metro, CEO Stephanie Wiggins will continue to lead the agency for another four — or maybe five — years, after the Metro board voted unanimously to extend her contract, at whopping half a million dollars a year, a 20% increase over her previous contract. Which means they’ll give everyone else who works for Metro a similar pay bump, right?

Redondo Beach says ebike riders are behaving better now.

SoCal’s killer highway claimed another victim, as Torrance residents called for improved safety after a 38-year old man was hit and killed by multiple drivers as he crossed the street Saturday night — including the heartless coward who hit him first, and fled the scene without stopping. Although I wonder whether Killer PCH or deadly Vista del Mar, aka Deadly del Mar, actually kills more people on a per-mile basis. Thanks to How The West Was Saved for the heads-up. 

 

State

Rancho Mirage does Bike Month, or Bike Safety Month, the right way by introducing plan for three bike safety projects, including widened bike lanes, improved signage, and designated bike paths, to be completed by the end of summer.

Los Gatos opened a long-anticipated bike and pedestrian bridge linking Highway 9 to the Los Gatos Creek Trailhead.

 

National

The Seattle Times visits the forested Washington State segment of the 5,000-mile mountain bike trail along West Coast.

A 32-year old man from the US faces charges for crossing into the country from Mexico on a bicycle stuffed with fentanyl and meth.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell kicked off the NFL Draft in Green Bay with a wobbly bike ride onto the stage, in a nod to the Packers tradition of riding borrowed bicycles to the first day of camp. But it wasn’t enough to silence the boos from fans.

Surprisingly, the New York Times picks the Dahon Mariner D8 as the best foldie over Tern’s Link D8, with the famed Brompton taking third.

New York Streetsblog says beyond treating bicyclists like an afterthought, the New York Parks Department has been downright unfriendly to people on bicycles, even though it controls some of the city’s most important carfree infrastructure.

Finishing our New York trifecta, the city announced a whopping 127 Open Streets events to take place this spring and summer, including a belated Earth Day celebration featuring 54 carfree streets and plazas throughout the five boroughs.

Passaic New Jersey opened a small bikeshare system that will be free to local residents.

People in Louisiana just seem to have more fun than the rest of us, even on a five-day fundraising ride through Cajun country.

 

International

Even in the Cayman Islands, bicyclists are demanding safer streets, in the wake of a hit-and-run that killed a bike rider on Easter Monday.

Here’s a few more for your bike bucket list, as Momentum recommends Europe’s best rail trails for a unique bicycling vacation. I’ll take the one that follows the Danube, thank you. Or maybe the one that runs through Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. 

Evidently, congestion pricing and better bikeways work, since London’s Square Mile, aka the sparely populated financial district that employs a half-million people each day — now averages nearly twice as many bicycles as cars, following a 57% jump in bicycling rates in just two years.

London bicyclists are now expected to adhere to a code of conduct in the city’s parks, as a new survey shows 86% Londoners think the parks’ 20 mph speed limit should apply to bicycles, too.

A new survey shows that most British drivers still don’t understand how to share the road with bicyclists, three years after the rules of the road were changed to improve bike safety. The same survey in the US would probably show similar results, even though most of our rules haven’t changed in decades. 

In an unusual move, Irish police, aka Gardaí, reached out to bike clubs to see if any were riding in the area where a 56-year old farmer went missing last month, in hopes that maybe someone saw him. Something they should do more often, since we have a lot more eyes on the streets than they do.

Now you, too, can fix your own light when your ebike maker goes belly-up, like the Netherlands’ VanMoof.

Mind your biking behavior in Japan next April, when police will start fining bicyclists for “minor” violations like using a cellphone while riding, and running red lights.

 

Finally…

Why buy a custom-made bicycle when you can just make your own damn bike? Your next tire pump could look like a tiny little robot.

And why just go for a bike ride, when you could earn crypto with every ride.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Support protected bike lanes on PCH, bikemakers spinning from Trump’s tariffs, and two men murdered over stolen bikes

April 15, 2025 / / Comments Off on Support protected bike lanes on PCH, bikemakers spinning from Trump’s tariffs, and two men murdered over stolen bikes
Day 105 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Streets For All is urging you to voice your support for protected bike lanes on Pacific Coast Highway at tonight’s virtual community workshop. Or at least email your support.

Tell Caltrans:
We Need Protected Bike Lanes On PCH!

Caltrans is releasing a draft of the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Studyfor a 60-day public review period. They are hosting two virtual community workshops and will be taking comment via email.

While the current plan includes some protected bike lanes, there will be a gap between Rambla Pacifico Street and Carbon Canyon Road. Tell Caltrans that ALL bike lanes on PCH need to be protected, for the safety of drivers, bikers, and pedestrians.

Virtual Community Work Shops

Wednesday, April 16, from 6 – 8 PM Join here

Monday, May 12, from 1 – 3 PM Join here

Can’t make it to either meeting? Use the button below to send an email comment to Caltrans!

EMAIL PUBLIC COMMENT HERE [BE SURE TO EDIT THE BOTTOM!]

Photo from Caltrans press release.

………

Once again, Trump’s tariffs on bicycles, and the industry’s response to them, are the common theme in today’s news.

The Liberty Justice Center, described as a libertarian public-interest firm, has filed the first suit over Trump’s tariffs, arguing he overstepped his authority as president in imposing them.

Indiana’s Guardian Bikes is responding to the new tariffs with $39 million in new financing to re-shore their manufacturing by building the country’s first large-scale framebuilding operation. Although they could be in trouble if our mercurial president cancels them.

Britain’s Starling Cycles is offering a worldwide 5% discount on their handmade steel mountain bikes to partially offset Trump’s 10% tariff on British imports.

Taiwanese bikemaking giant Giant Manufacturing suffered a decline in sales last month after a massive 31% boost in February, as the market appeared to be responding to the threat of tariffs.

………

It’s happened again. And again.

Disputes over stolen bikes sadly turned deadly, taking the lives of two men on opposite sides of the country.

Two Portland men are in custody on murder and theft charges, and police are looking for another person of interest, after a man was killed confronting the suspects as they allegedly tried to steal a bicycle from his car; the victim was described as one of the town’s “sweetest souls.”

And a New York man was fatally stabbed in the stomach, the allegedly stolen bike left lying in the street as he died; a suspect was taken into custody afterwards, however, there’s no word on whether he was the thief or the victim of the theft.

As we’ve said too many times before, no bicycle is worth your life. We all love our bikes, but seriously, just let it go and live to ride another day.

………

This one bears repeating if you missed it yesterday.

Air quality in Paris, France improved dramatically as the city shifted from car-choked streets to a bicycle and pedestrian friendly 15-minute city, with nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter dropping by 50% and 55%, respectively, over just the last 20 years.

Which is exactly what can and should happen in Los Angeles, if our elected leaders would stop fighting efforts to improve safety and shift to greener streets.

Unfortunately, that seems to be a very big if.

………

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

No surprise here. Bicyclists taking part in Sunday’s 18th annual Tour de Houston soundly booed the city’s mayor, after he ordered protected bike lanes ripped out and replaced by sharrows.

No bias here. Cornwall, England city leaders reversed course and decided bike riders are welcome at the city’s recycling centers, after one man was told he couldn’t ride his bike up to one, and needed to arrive in a car or truck if he wanted to recycle his trash instead of sending it to the dump.

A Dublin, Ireland city counselor elevated the “I’m a cyclist, but…” cliche to a whole new level, continuing his efforts to block a planned new bike lane after an appeals court overturned a previous ruling blocking it — despite claiming that he rides his bike to work every day, and supports bike lanes “where appropriate in the right areas.” Here’s a clue for him: Bike lanes are appropriate anywhere and everywhere cars are allowed on the streets, if only because they’re not needed anywhere else. 

………

Local 

Speaking of PCH, you may be able to resume riding on the highway this summer, as Governor Newsom promises it will reopen by the end of May, after closing in January due to the Palisades Fire.

 

State

About damn time. A bill in the California legislature would create a new class of electric bikes, reclassifying throttle-controlled bikes without pedals as “eMotos,” while clarifying they are intended as offroad vehicles, rather than bicycles.

Gear Junkie offers highlights from last week’s Sea Otter Classic, including a new 3D-printed honeycomb bike helmet.

 

National

Authorities are looking for a missing 16-year old Kansas girl with mental health issues who disappeared after going out for a bike ride.

Massachusetts is ready to launch their ebike rebate program, offering 3,000 vouchers for up to $1,200 off the purchase of an ebike. That’s three times as many vouchers as California will release at the end of this month, in a state with less than one-fifth the population. 

 

International

Momentum recommend’s 30 of the world’s most beautiful bicycle routes, including a handful right here in the good ol’ USA.

An American woman who grew up in the Netherlands is working on her Ph.D by riding her bike 1,200 miles across England to talk to female farmers about the future of food production.

Germany’s Avnson is introducing a folding stretch e-cargo bike, which seems to fold into a very awkward shape reminiscent of Picasso’s cubist period.

Bike tourism is booming on the island of Mallorca off the coast of Spain, up 30% compared to this time last year.

The three young Black men known as the Gauta BMX completed their thousand-mile bike ride from Limpopo to Cape Town, South Africa, on a mission to inspire young people across the country while raising awareness about gender-based violence

The family of late Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins complained that her husband, former Olympic and world champ Rohan Dennis, has shown no remorse for her death, and sees himself as the victim despite accidentally killing her when she fell off his SUV, although Hoskins’ mother said she didn’t think Dennis would intentionally harm her.

 

Competitive Cycling

The great Alberto Contador says he was forced to ride a prettier, but slower bicycle in the Tour de France one year, despite complaining it wasn’t as fast as the previous year’s model.

The Cycling Federation of Belize is attempting to recruit more women cyclists, with only ten female bike racers currently registered in the entire country.

 

Finally…

Your dog — living or stuffed, apparently — can now ride your bike like ET. And forget the bike cam, just get a new drone to follow everywhere you ride.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

PCH public workshops back on the table, support bike lanes on Vermont Ave, and pedestrian safety expo next month

March 25, 2025 / / One comment
Day 84 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

SoCal’s killer highway is back on the table.

Caltrans has rescheduled the public workshops to consider the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study to improve safety on the deadly roadway, which remains one of the state’s most popular riding routes, despite a glaring lack of safe infrastructure.

The previously scheduled meetings were postponed due to the Palisades Fire.

Here’s what their press release says.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FOR THE PCH MASTER PLAN FEASIBILITY STUDY

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the City of Malibu invite the public to the Round Three workshops for the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study on April 9 (in-person), April 16 (virtual) and May 12 (virtual). The first three public workshops in July 2024 (Round One) gathered input from residents, businesses and other stakeholders to identify safety priorities for the highway. Based on that input, Caltrans held three more workshops on Aug. 28, Sept. 12 and Oct. 23, 2024 (Round Two), focused on presenting and soliciting feedback on design alternatives and other recommendations to improve safety on PCH. Following Round Two, Caltrans developed a draft of the Study that it will present during the upcoming workshops (Round Three). At the Wednesday, April 9, meeting, Caltrans will formally release the Study to the public and begin the 60-day public review period.

The upcoming workshops will also cover two PCH pavement rehabilitation projects in the cities of Santa Monica, Los Angeles and Malibu, which aim to extend the pavement service life and improve ride quality for motorists on PCH from Santa Monica to the Los Angeles/Ventura County line. Community members are invited to participate in these workshops to learn about the latest updates and provide input.

For more information, please visit the project website or e-mail: 07-pchmpfs@publicinput.com.

Click here to register for the April meeting, or here for the May workshop.

Photo from the Caltrans press release.

………

Streets For All is calling for support for bike lanes on Vermont Ave at Thursday’s Metro board meeting.

Something that’s required under Measure HLA as part of the city’s mobility plan when the street is re-striped to install bus lanes, even if Metro’s lawyers don’t seem to agree.

On Thursday the Metro board has an item on its agenda (Item 9) to approve the LPA (locally preferred alternative) for the Vermont Bus Rapid Transit Project.

Vermont Ave has more bus riders than any other street in LA County, and we think BRT on this street is one of the highest impact transit projects in the region. We are incredibly supportive of the project.

However, Vermont is also one of the most dangerous streets in LA with nearly 50 people killed in the last decade. Despite this, Metro has aggressively pushed back on implementing Measure HLA‘s required bike lanes as part of the Vermont BRT project.

If the bike lanes don’t go in during this project, when Metro is doing the expensive work (curb ramps, repaving, etc.), then the City of Los Angeles will be fully responsible for implementing them at a later time, entirely on its own dime.

At a time when both road deaths and the City’s budget deficit are at a record high, we cannot afford to not implement the bike lanes as part of this project.

Click the link for tips on how to help.

………

LA Public Health is hosting a pedestrian safety expo in Roosevelt Park on Friday, April 11th.

And yes, it matters, because we’re all pedestrians at some point (click here if the tweet/xeet doesn’t embed).

https://twitter.com/heybikela/status/1904350768951673220

………

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

No bias here. A right-wing group called for a DOGE-style crackdown on “unethical” British bicycling and walking advocacy group Sustrans, and its “taxpayer-funded, deeply unpopular, and undemocratic restrictions on motorists.” Um, sure. Because nothing is more unethical than taking an inch of road space from overly entitled drivers. 

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

A 49-year old man was killed as he exited his double-parked car and was struck by New York food delivery rider on an ebike who reportedly blew through a stop sign.

………

Local  

No news is good news, right?

 

State

San Diego public TV and radio station KBPS examines the city’s new draft Street Design Manual, which calls for narrower lanes and more options for protected bike lanes, but still allows slip lanes and right turns on red.

Downtown Temecula will get a trio of new green bike lanes, replacing the current white-striped lanes to make them more visible.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a 59-year old man was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding his bicycle. And no, ABC10, he did not “collide with” the car, someone driving a car crashed into him — as the story itself says in the second paragraph, contradicting the headline and lede. 

 

National

Around 70 Portlanders rode in support of a Palestinian paracycling team 7,000 miles away.

Denver is releasing the year’s first round of ebike vouchers, offering $450 off a standard ebike or $1,400 for an adaptive ebike. Meanwhile, California has only managed to release a single extremely throttled round of vouchers, limiting it to just a tiny fraction of the demand. 

About “100 real-life human beings” turned out for a Chicago bike ride to call for replacing parking spaces with a protected bike lane on an Uptown street.

Untapped New York introduces the bicycling advocates who are keeping up the good fight for better bike infrastructure, despite Trump’s freeze on federal funding.

Philadelphia bike riders are happy to see plans call for a protected bike lane on a bridge over the Schuylkill River, but don’t like the two-way design that doesn’t line up with existing bike lanes on either side.

Speaking of Philly, a bike lane placed in the middle of a neighborhood sidewalk is drawing mixed reactions. So let me simplify this: Sidewalk level bike lanes good, bike lanes in the middle of the sidewalk bad.

 

International

Momentum offers a beginners guide to getting started with bike commuting.

A new British study shows the safety in numbers hypothesis even applies to e-scooters, finding the presence of e-scooters appears to result in a 20 percent reduction in the risk of bicycling collisions.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a 20-year old man will spend just 13 years behind bars for murdering a 34-year old father-to-be, in what began as an effort to retrieve a stolen ebike, and escalated to a series of threatening emails and roadside arguments before the killer stabbed the victim to death; two other men who were with the killer at the time of the stabbing were arrested, but not charged.

You still have time to make it to Liège, Belgium for Bike Week.

 

Competitive Cycling

UCI’s Track Cycling League bit the dust, killed by an apparent lack of interest after just five events in four years; it will be replaced by a new Track World Cup.

Double Tour de France champ Jonas Vingegaard is back to gentle training after suffering a concussion earlier this month when he crashed during Paris-Nice.

Thirty-nine-year old Los Angeles-based former pro and current author Phil Gaimon will be honored with the Legends Award at next month’s Redlands Bicycle Classic, a race he won in 2012 and 2015.

 

Finally….

Start bike commuting, and say goodbye to road rage. Your next ebike could be a boat, or a camper. Or both.

And that feeling when you think you could do a better job of restructuring the government than Elon Musk, and offer your services as a bike-making outsider.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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