2009 was a great year for bicyclists. We are excited about 2010 and are looking forward to a year full of exciting campaigns, advocacy, and education efforts.
Here is a sampling of some of our goals for this year:
Launch Separated Bike Lane pilot on Huntington Blvd in Boyle Heights
Work to get a bike lane installed on 7th Street
Continue building relationship with LAPD by establishing an enforcement education workshop with LAPD
Increase bike parking city-wide starting with 30-40 locations in LA
Get Sharrows Pilot launched and on LA City streets
Get a Better Bike Plan approved that includes timelines and substantially more designated bike lanes
4th Street Bicycle Blvd. - Gain neighborhood buy-in to develop political support and have the city adopt a commitment to implement
Create more opportunities for partnership with business community, environmental groups, and social justice groups
Expand our reach to more cities across LA County, in addition to Glendale, Culver City, Long Beach and South Bay cities
Create a bike repair space at Downtown Job Center and develop a Bike Repair Job Certificate program with the Bicycle Kitchen
Improve policy for bikes on Metro transit
Finalize the Resource Guide both in Spanish and English
Ensure that 10th Annual River Ride is LACBC's best ride ever
LACBC recently applied to the County of Public Health's Renew Application. It's aim was to fund programs that reduce obesity and/or improve nutrition across LA County.
LACBC was the lead organization for a South Bay Bikeways Initiative, which aims to create a bike master plan for the South Bay Cities (including Lawndale, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Gardena, Torrance, among others). LACBC was the partner on two applications 1) Living Streets- a partnership with Green LA Coalition, which aims to create a Living Streets (Complete Streets with environmental considerations) pilot and prototype 2) Burbank Safe Routes to School Policy and Program.
The consultants working on the new bike plan have created draft policy recommendations. These are being reviewed internally, which is taking longer than expected. Consultants have also been reviewing the existing Bike Plan and making recommendations, including evaluation of previously proposed bikeways. A second round of public meetings will be scheduled soon. These meetings, expected to be held this fall, will present draft elements for comment. While there will only be four large public meetings held, there could be smaller presentations in conjunction with Neighborhood Councils, community groups, etc. Learn more and comment at: www.labikeplan.org.
Shared Lane Markings, commonly referred to as Sharrows, has been an ongoing campaign for LACBC. This pilot project was introduced to LADOT 5 years ago. It sat on their desks for 4 years, with one delaying excuse after another. Last year we brought the concept to the attention of LA City Councilmembers to gain political support for Sharrows in LA and to put more pressure on LADOT. Councilmember Eric Garcetti has championed the project and with much perseverance through letter writing and meetings we have gained Mayoral support. We have acquired the necessary funding and are now in the final throws before we see the launching of the pilot. We are now happy to see that Longbeach, Pasedena, Glendale and other cities around LA are installing sharrows.
Contact aurisha@la-bike.org for more info.
LACBC is working to make 4th Street a true Bike Boulevard. Parts of 4th Street have already been repaved and it is designated in the new city Bike Plan Map as a "Bike-Friendly Street."
We had several successful campaign meetings, where we have discussed outreach, design and other strategies. We are currently making presentations to several Neighborhood Councils and community groups in the area. We hope to present to Councilmember Tom LaBonge a proposal by March/April, with an implementation process and timeline.
Our next meeting is mid-February, at 4th and Vermont.
City of Lights provides these cyclists with bike lights and safety information, with the aim of cultivating future advocates in this community.
The objective of City of Lights is to increase working-class Latino immigrant bicyclists' safety and empower them to educate and spread bicycle safety information and advocacy to their communities.
History/Current Plans for City of Lights:
In October 2004, LACBC partnered Metro on the Enhanced Public Outreach Project for Metro's Bicycle Transportation Strategic Plan, which examined and made recommendations for improving safety conditions for this population. With this knowledge, the interest of an LACBC intern, and an initial donation of 100 lights from Planet Bike, the City of Lights program was founded in October 2008. The first lights were given out in January 2009.
In April 2009, City of Lights teamed up with CARECEN's day laborer center as a test hub in the greater network of day laborer centers to provide bicycle lights and safety information to Latino cyclists in Spanish. By establishing a regular presence, we hope to build a more inclusive bicycling community in Los Angeles while simultaneously creating more social equity. In this manner, City of Lights creates a bilingual and sustainable way to support bicycling in LA.
In June 2009, we started a bilingual bike safety training program, modeled on the League of American Bicyclists' educational certification. We have started bilingual bike safety workshops at the CARECEN day labor center. The workshops have been largely attended with over 50 participants.
We are starting the first of our planned bilingual bike maintenance workshops on July 24th, in partnership with the Bicycle Kitchen, a non-profit cooperative bike center that teaches people how to fix their own bicycles. In September, we are planning a community bike ride.
In August 2007, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced a new funding opportunity known as the PLACE Grant Program (Policies for Livable, Active Communities and Environments). In the spring of 2008, the LACBC was awarded one of five PLACE Grants and began solidifying a partnership with the City of Glendale for the three year period of the Grant. This collaboration between the LACBC and the City of Glendale aims to create Glendale's first "Safe and Healthy Streets Plan," a policy document intended to help make Glendale a safer and friendlier city for cyclists and pedestrians. In addition, the Grant is funding a small physical project designed to demonstrate traffic calming techniques, safety measures and streetscape enhancements consistent with the Safe and Healthy Streets Plan. For more information visit la-bike.org/glendale, read this (MS Word download) and/or contact colin@la-bike.org.
Car-Free Fridays, an exciting campaign had its kick off in January 2009. This is a highly successful campaign whose goal is to highlight the benefits of riding a bike and to encourage new riders to start commuting by bike at least one day a month. We initiated collaboration with some Councilmembers who sponsored rides, we elicited great media attention and have created valuable relationships with local businesses and organizations. We have developed a business partnership program to offer cyclists who ride on CAR-FREE FRIDAY discounts at local shops around LA County and can hear PSA announcements on a variety of Local radio stations.
See a list of participating businesses and organizations.
CicLAvia has been a group since mid-2008, incubated through the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, inspired by the famous street closures in Bogotá, Colombia. Various LACBC volunteers and other professionals came together for the purpose of promoting and planning liveable, car-free streets. It is now an independent collective that is in partnership with LACBC and other environmental organizations.
Creating opportunities to recreate within the urban environment of Los Angeles is becoming more important, in order to address health, environmental, and public space issues.The objective of CicLAvia is to encourage more Angelenos to become pedestrians and cyclists in Los Angeles by offering residents a temporary, safe place to walk and bicycle and to simply have fun.
The project will also increase the amount of open space in Los Angeles by making the streets temporarily, but consistently available for recreational uses. We have currently networked with neighborhood councils, the Mayor and City Council, and foundations to have our pilot route debut by Summer 2010.
Due to LACBC's and other bicycle advocates' efforts, LAPD police chief, William Bratton has issued a report recommending that the Bicycle License program be discontinued and an immediate moratorium be implemented on the enforcement of the program.
This is in response to a motion Ed Reyes initiated due to overwhelming demand from cyclists to revisit the effectiveness of the Bicycle License. The LA Transportation Committee, at the initial meeting requested more information from LAPD about the issue. LACBC and many bicycle advocates worked hard to bring this issue to the forefront of LA City Council.
The LA Transportation Committee met again on Wednesday, January 14th and came to the final decision to put a moratorium on the Bicycle License. They will continue to do some research on the implementation of a program that could aid in the safety of youth cyclists.
"LACBC was very pleased to see the correspondence from LAPD today and we thank all the agencies and individuals involved in conducting the research that lead to this decision," says Jennifer Klausner, Executive Director of LACBC.
As a result of lobbying by bicycle advocates and local elected officials, the Expo Construction Authority is now drafting alternatives for accommodating the bikeway that is planned to parallel Phase 2 of the light rail line (Culver City to Santa Monica). One stretch of the Cheviot Hills route (if this becomes the chosen alignment for the train) does not have room for the bikeway. LACBC initiated a first meeting with Expo-adjacent Cheviot Hills neighbors whose properties could provide a small corridor to get around this bottle-neck. The draft environmental document for Expo Phase 2 will be released shortly and will have alternatives that include this bikeway plan. Cyclists should express their support for this alternative. Contact Kent Strumpell, Planning Committee Chair for more info at kentstrum@aol.com
Due to concerns about crime from a few neighbors who live next to the Ballona Trail, LAPD and local Councilman Bill Rosendahl had planned to permanently close the Purdue access gate (just east of the 405). Months of opposition to this strategy by cyclists and trail groups has gotten them to back off of the gate closure for now. Instead, police are working with the Council Office to explore other safety measures, including improved lighting, security cameras and fencing that eliminates uncontrolled access points. A recent incident in which a Loyola Marymount University professor was ambushed, pepper-sprayed, and robbed in this area seems to have focused attention on finding ways to improve safety for trail users and not just nearby homes. Contact Kent Strumpell, Planning Committee Chair for more info at kentstrum@aol.com
On July 4th, 2008, two cyclists were injured when they collided with the back of a car, driven by a Dr. Christopher T. Thompson. The cyclists claim that Dr. Thompson purposefully slammed on the brakes of his car, thus causing the accident. He has been charged with two felony counts of reckless driving causing injury, and two felony counts of battery with serious bodily injury. Shortly after this incident, Councilman Bill Rosendahl convened a task force of local cyclists, Mandeville homeowners, and city staff. Members of the task force later made a site tour to identify problem areas of the road and explore other solutions to resolve issues between neighbors, motorists and cyclists. Councilman Rosendahl is also planning a town hall-type meeting to address the broader issue of cyclist/motorist relations some time this fall. No details are available as of yet. Contact Jennifer@la-bike.org for more info.
LACBC has written the final report for the Transit Hub Project, to increase pedestrian and bicycle access to transit hubs across LA County: Compton, Rosa Parks, Florence, and Vernon Metro Blue Line Stations, Van Nuys Metro Orange Line Station, and Newhall Metrolink Station. Read each the six individual reports for each station. Read the history and download other documents following the final reports.
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