She gets it.
Texas A&M assistant urban planning professor and California native Tara Goddard offers her thoughts on California’s move away from gas-powered vehicles.
But even if you could wave a technological magic wand and solve those problems with EVs today, a bigger concern is whether this focus on personal electric vehicles will monopolize public resources that would be much better spent in other ways: namely, on investments in frequent, reliable public transportation between and within cities and towns, better walking and bicycling infrastructure, and land uses that remove the need to depend on vehicles – however they are powered – for every trip.
The problem with a transportation system that depends heavily on private automobiles is that, even if those automobiles no longer emit the same level of greenhouse gasses, they will continue to contribute to unsustainable and sprawling land use patterns, as well as the longer distances and travel times that are bad for us as individuals and communities.
Meanwhile, readers of The Los Angeles Times say while banning gas cars is great, electric cars are still cars, and car dependency is awful.
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We could soon see bike lanes on one of the San Fernando Valley’s most iconic streets.
We're making Ventura Blvd in #WoodlandHills safer for cyclists and pedestrians with the #ReimagineVentura project! We've worked with Councilmember @BobBlumenfield to design a street project that creates a sense of place and serves one of LA's most iconic Boulevards! #TheValley pic.twitter.com/nzS9WmtC1t
— LADOT (@LADOTofficial) August 29, 2022
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LA bike riders have complained about the bike lanes on Venice Blvd for years, ever since they first went in.
And the city hasn’t shown any sign of fixing them yet.
The bike lane on Venice going towards DTLA narrows too much as you approach Fairfax. Cars have 3 lanes, they can sacrifice one for a bus only lane & wider bike lane. We don’t owe cars this much space! @streetsforall @LADOTofficial @EntitledCycling @bikinginla @StreetsblogLA pic.twitter.com/MKjPaLDWab
— How The West Was Saved (@HowTheWestWS) August 30, 2022
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The California Senate passed Burbank Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s AB 2097 to eliminate parking minimums near public transit.
Now the question is whether Governor Newsom will sign it.
Holy hell, it actually happened: California just eliminated minimum parking requirements for new housing projects within a half mile of public transit stops *statewide*!
A truly incredible day for housing and climate policy in the world's 5th largest economy! pic.twitter.com/rYVTV9yutC
— Jordan Grimes 🚰 (@cafedujord) August 30, 2022
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Streetsblog reports LADOT will host a meeting tomorrow to discuss a planned makeover of Venice Blvd on the Westside.
Wednesday 8/31 – From 6:30-8 p.m., LADOT will host a virtual Venice Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project Workshop. On L.A.’s westside, the city is planning new bus lanes (between Inglewood Boulevard and Culver Boulevard) and new protected bike lanes (coupled with existing protected bike lane stretches, the protection would extend from Lincoln Boulevard to La Cienega Boulevard.) Sign up for the virtual workshop at LADOT Zoom page. Also give feedback via LADOT’s online survey. Find Spanish language links also at LADOT’s project page.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Good question. A London woman asks why some people hate bike riders so much, saying she’s been spat at, abused and run off the road.
Anti-bike sabotage continues in the UK, as someone scattered thumbtacks in an already pretty minimal bike lane.
https://twitter.com/CyclingLawLDN/status/1564152130210086914
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Green Bay, Wisconsin police are on the lookout for a knife-wielding robber who fled by bicycle after robbing a Quick Mart.
A British Columbia man calls on a hit-and-run bike rider to turn himself in, after the fat tire bicyclist caught the leash of the man’s small dog, crushing it to death and leaving his wife with facial abrasions and a broken nose. Granted, the guy was a jerk and should have stuck around. But allowing your dog run loosely alongside your bike is a recipe for disaster.
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Local
Black Lives Matter supporters marched in South LA to demand justice for Dijon Kizzee, who was shot by sheriff’s deputies while running away and after dropping his gun, in what began as a traffic stop for riding salmon, and quickly escalated.
LAist offers an updated guide to biking in the City of Angels. And yes, it’s okay to shed a tear for the bikeshare systems that have bitten the dust.
South Bay bike riders lit up the night with the eighth annual Glow Ride for CF, a sub-seven mile fundraiser to battle cyclist fibrosis founded by a woman who died of the disease after a double lung transplant in 2018.
State
Sad news from Kern County, where a 67-year old man riding a bicycle was killed when he was struck by a truck driver in Wasco Sunday night.
San Francisco Streetsblog says cities need to make protected bike lanes and intersections the default, arguing that continuing to blow off physically protected bike lanes is tantamount to murder.
National
No surprise here, as not everyone is a fan of Reno, Nevada’s new popup bike lane network; motorists are driving in the bike lanes, while a business owner complains his sales are down 30% due to the loss of parking. And of course that’s the only possible reason for the decrease in sales, not inflation, higher interest rates or any of the other multitude of problem besetting consumers these days.
They get it. A Wisconsin community radio station talks with local advocates while concluding that streets are for everyone.
A Louisville, Kentucky TV station answers why bike riders don’t need a license to ride in traffic lanes. And with the help of the Bike League, gets it mostly right.
While California continues to delay plans for a fully funded and approved ebike rebate program, Vermont quietly unveiled the nation’s first ebike rebate plan, offering point-of-sale rebates up to $400 on ped-assist ebikes.
She gets it. A Cambridge, Massachusetts letter writer makes a lengthy case in support bike lanes and safe streets, arguing that they benefit everyone, including businesses.
A bicycle stolen in South Carolina was recovered over a thousand miles away in Vermont, thanks to Bike Index’s nationwide stolen bike database. One more reminder to register your bike for free today.
The father of the US diplomat killed riding her bike in Bethesda, Maryland calls for safety improvements, saying cities need to do more than paint lines and bike symbols on the road.
International
A Scottish brewing CEO took a bad fall and shattered his collarbone, after assuring shareholders there was nothing intense or challenging about the mountain bike run he was taking them on, in a forrest his firm bought to preserve for the planet.
Nearly 9,000 people on bicycles took over a German autobahn to call for safer streets on Sunday.
NPR reports many Sri Lankans have turned to their bikes in the face of massive fuel shortages; one man reported his employer bought him a bike to ensure he could get to work. Maybe we need to try that here, since high gas prices didn’t make a dent in driving.
Competitive Cycling
Former Irish champ Imogen Cotter returned to bike racing in Belgium Sunday, seven months after she was hit head-on by a driver passing another vehicle while she was training in Italy.
Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley concedes that the Vuelta podium may be out of reach, after a steady flow of gradual losses in the early stages.
Finally…
That feeling when you think ebikes are cheating, and you like it.
And how about a little unicycle dream to send you on your way?
Excerpt from Red's Dream (1987), an early offering from Pixar Animation
Written, directed, and animated by John Lasseter
Full video: https://t.co/I8rUF6TXU6
(🎶🔉) pic.twitter.com/31VmxbGVNs
— Cool Bike Art (@CoolBikeArt1) August 29, 2022
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
