Safe & Healthy Streets

Volunteers at Honolulu and Ocean in 2009

Volunteers are still needed for the second annual Glendale Bicyclist and Pedestrian Count on Wednesday September 22 and Saturday September 25, 2010. Each volunteer will be asked to report to a chosen intersection for two hours and record all the bicyclists and pedestrians who pass by. Detailed instructions and counting materials will be sent to each volunteer prior to the count dates. This year all volunteers will receive a t-shirt! We also have thank-you gifts courtesy of the Alex Theatre and Glendale Massage Envy.

The information gathered will help the City to track biking and walking trends in Glendale as well as to determine where there might be greater need for bike and pedestrian infrastructure. The count data will also be used for the City’s upcoming Bikeway Master Plan update.

This year we’re using VolunteerSpot.com to organize all the volunteers. If you can help with the count on September 22 or 25, please click on the button below. You’ll be asked to input your e-mail address, then you will receive an e-mail with instructions and a link to pick the date, time, and location you want.

Thank you!

T-shirt design

BIKING WITH BIXI IN MONTREAL

Ardy with a Bixi bike

Glendale City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian recently traveled to Montreal where he used the Bixi bicycle sharing system and offered us the following article upon his return. We thank Ardy for his contribution! Next time we’ll be posting a piece about Denver’s B-Cycle program, but for now, here’s what Ardy has to say about Bixi.

Recently, National Geographic’s Traveler Magazine voted Montreal one of the most “Bike Friendly” cities in North America and with good reason. Part of the reason was that it was the first city on the continent to introduce a public bike sharing program. Bixi (as the program is called) was designed to take cars off the road and put bicycles back on the streets. During a recent visit to Montreal, I witnessed firsthand how it’s done just that and more.

Summer is a great time to visit Montreal. The weather hovers around the mid 70s and makes it ideal to explore the downtown area on foot or by bicycle. Montreal offers visitors a variety of outdoor activities during the summer months from concerts, endless choices for patio dining to a variety of outdoor festivals. Montrealers appreciate summer and with good reason. Winters can be pretty harsh here. So much that they’ve built a vast underground city of malls and shopping centers attached to their subway system with the purpose of staying out of the debilitating cold. But when the sun is shining, nothing can keep Montrealers indoors. And you see plenty of people out and about and many of them – sometimes entire families – on bikes.

Bixi stand with secure bike docks

Outside any of the city’s multiple metro stops you will find a Bixi stand. The stands consist of an automated kiosk for renting a bike. Next to the kiosk you’ll see about a dozen bicycles lined up and ready to rent out. They are conveniently placed within blocks of each other so you have a choice of any one of 400 solar-powered facilities sprinkled around the city. Renting one of their bikes costs just $5 a day. The individual bikes are locked into special docks which have a keypad where you input your unique code linked to your specific credit card. You can drop off your bike at any location during the day and when you’re ready to leave, grab another bike by inputting another code using your credit card. Each bike is uniquely designed with lights that flash in the front and rear; a basket with bungee cord to secure items; an adjustable seat; a small ringer; and three speeds. Their unique design makes them hard to steal and easy to spot. And for the small price (less than the cost of a day metro pass) you have limitless access to these bikes. Many people we saw used them to run errands, meet friends for a quick bite or just to get some exercise. I used them to work off the plates of poutine I ate. Poutine is Montreal’s ubiquitous national snack and consists of French fries covered in cheese curds and topped off with gravy. And it’s as delicious as it sounds. But I digress…

Bixi payment kiosk

Aside from the health benefits that shared biking provides, there are other considerations that make Montreal such a successful test area for this type of program. Montreal has truly embraced a culture of bicycling and it’s evident in its roadway and sidewalk designs. The city has sharrows and designated bike lanes throughout the downtown area and both riders and drivers observe good road etiquette. In other mixed-use neighborhoods, bikes have their own lanes separated by a smaller sidewalk area giving them unfettered pathways to ride on parallel to the streets used by cars. This separation helps everyone know where they belong and probably reduces the number of crashes. You can see a detailed picture of the different types of safety features Montreal has implemented on the Bixi “Code of Conduct” website.

But most important, what makes the Bixi system work so well is its proximity to metro stations. Although conveniently placed throughout the city, having them next to such a widely used public transit system makes them the ideal companion for people who commute into the downtown from the suburbs and want to use the bikes to get around the heart of the city. I kept thinking how great this system would be for Los Angeles where we have metro stations but the city is so spread out that it’s difficult to get off at a particular stop and then walk many blocks to your final destination. This system is a very convenient go-between alternative to waiting for the bus or walking.

From Montreal to Boston and even in LA where Mayor Villaraigosa has become an advocate, biking is becoming a more accepted form of getting around. In a place like Southern California where we pride ourselves on good health and environmentally conscious practices, it seems like a shared bike program would be a natural fit. And if rumors are true, a program may be around the corner. But if you can’t wait for your own community to adopt shared biking, then travel to Montreal and check out Bixi.

Ardy and his wife Courtney, enjoying the sites of Montreal by bike

Volunteers at Mountain & Verdugo during the 2009 count

Volunteers are needed for the second annual Glendale Bicyclist and Pedestrian Count on Wednesday September 22 and Saturday September 25, 2010. Volunteers will count at 26 locations city-wide during two-hour windows in the morning and evening. The information gathered will help the City to track biking and walking trends in Glendale as well as to determine where there might be greater need for bike and pedestrian infrastructure. The count data will also be used for the City’s upcoming Bikeway Master Plan update.

This year we’re using VolunteerSpot.com to organize all the volunteers. If you can help with the count on September 22 or 25, please click on the button below. You’ll be asked to input your e-mail address, then you will receive an e-mail with instructions and a link to pick the date, time, and location you want.

Thank you!

Let’s Collaborate for More Bike Racks

This could be outside wherever you shop, dine, etc.

Guest contributor and Cruise Night bike wrangler, “Cave” Jen, was inspired by Justin Klein’s efforts to get a bike rack installed by Chase Bank. Jen realized that she and Justin had a similar goal in mind – get a better rack installed at Whole Foods. What if other people are trying to do the same thing? What about other businesses in town? So, Jen sent the following idea and we encourage all of you Glendale cyclists to join in!

In the last Safe & Healthy Streets blog post, guest contributor Justin Klein wrote about his (eventually successful) effort to get a bike rack installed at his bank. He’s already initiated a similar effort to get Whole Foods to upgrade their rack to something more secure.

I appreciate hearing Justin has rekindled efforts for this particular location. Approaching Whole Foods now can serve to amplify his effort. BUT WHY STOP THERE? I’ve been asking Virgil’s for a bike rack, too. Maybe we can all help each other out here. Send your pet peeve locations to glendalesahs@gmail.com and we’ll post the list of places. Let’s help each other get it done! Kumbaya, peace out, and safe riding.

Jen,
The Cave

Bicycle Safety Awareness Event with L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa

Mayor Villaraigosa, in partnership with the LA County Bicycle Coalition and Midnight Ridazz.com, will be announcing the winner of the bike safety slogan contest and unveil the the much anticipated Bicycle Awareness & Safety Campaign poster designed by Geoff McFetridge at a press event on Tuesday, August 24th at 10 am.

Come and be part of the celebration as the Mayor, just after the Bike Summit, continues his efforts in creating safer streets for cyclists.

Wanna Be in a PSA? You are invited to stay after the press event and take part in the filming of the Bicycle Awareness and Safety PSA, educating motorists that cyclists do have the right to the lane. The filming will take place immediately following the press conference at the same location.

Where: 1st/Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90012
across from new LAPD building map
When: Tuesday, August 24th, 10 am

Please RSVP and bring a helmet!

Chevy Chase sharrow looking north

Sharrows have been installed on Chevy Chase Drive from the intersection at Adams to the intersection at Wilson. Chevy Chase is in the Glendale Bikeway Master Plan as a class III bike route and installing the sharrows establishes the class III status. Wilson is listed in the plan to be striped with bike lanes at Chevy Chase, so the possibility of a future connection is high. The sharrow installation on Chevy Chase is part of a pre-existing, shovel-ready resurfacing project that was funded by Federal Stimulus money. The new sharrows on Chevy Chase brings the number of Glendale streets with sharrows up to six. It’s also the first four-lane street to be painted with sharrows. As with all new bike infrastructure in Glendale, if you like the sharrows on Chevy Chase, please be sure to tell the City and also the Glendale News-Press!

Bike Rack Added in Glendale 

Location of the new bike rack

Not all infrastructure for cyclists is installed by the City. Guest writer Justin Klein explains his effort to get a bike rack installed at his bank. Take it away Justin…

After many months of requesting a bike rack at Chase Bank on the corner of Glendale and Doran, a double U-Line bike rack has been successfully put in.

My move from San Francisco to Glendale has given me a ‘car’ culture-shock and this was my motivation to make the LA area more bike/pedestrian friendly. My weekly routine requires me to bike errands to places that usually have no place to lock up my ride, which I resort to using sign posts and, even less convenient for pedestrians, hand rails.

This is how it went down.

Every time my errand put me inside the building, I would always ask for the manager, who was a different person every time, and ask, “Do you have bike rack?” Of course their reply was always, “No.” And my prepared follow-up was always, “Can you get one?” Eventually the message got through, and the managers said they had placed a request to corporate.

Voila! There it was in all it’s glory.

Justin and the rack!

I went back to interview the manager. They mentioned that the bike rack was put in because of a “customer request” and they implied I was that customer. They’re proud to be the only bank branch with a bike rack in Glendale. I offered to take a picture with them standing near the rack but they were a little camera shy. Still working on Whole Foods (across the street) to replace their ‘rim benders’ — Join the lobby and request a new bike rack that can accomodate several bikes the next time you need to buy expensive produce. Better yet, request bike racks at your favorite businesses, too!

Justin makes a great point. If you frequently visit a business by bicycle and there’s no bike rack, ask them for one. You’re a valuable customer and the cost to install a bike rack is minimal. With a little time and persistence, the business may install a rack, just like Chase Bank did. Keep in mind, the business can’t install a rack in the public right of way (the sidewalk). They can only do it on private property. By the way, if you are a Chase Bank customer, be sure to thank them for the new rack!

Justin Klein is a resident of Glendale and a graphic designer. In addition to getting one more bike rack for Glendale, Justin has donated his time and talent to Safe & Healthy Streets on numerous occasions. You can see his work at www.JustinKleinCMI.com

Last Chance for the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Survey

We will be shutting down the online survey for bicyclists and pedestrians in Glendale on Monday, August 16. This is your last chance to take the survey and help us to make Glendale better and safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Don’t delay, take the survey today!!

Glendale Bicyclist and Pedestrian Count #2 – September 2010

The Safe & Healthy Streets team and the City of Glendale are going to conduct our second Glendale bicyclist and pedestrian count on September 22 and 25, 2010. We’re going to count at the same locations and same times as last year and we need your help! Mark your calendars and keep your eyes open for a notice to sign up (coming soon). This second count will give us a chance to compare data from last year and further develop a baseline of information about walking and biking in Glendale. Four of the count locations are on streets that have seen bike lanes or sharrows installed since last year. We’re interested to see if there will be an increase in bicycling at those locations, among others city-wide.

Park(ing) Day is Friday September 17, 2010

Park(ing) Day was launched in 2005 by a group in San Francisco called Rebar. They transformed a metered parking space into a temporary park to illustrate the lack of open space in our cities. Since then Park(ing) Day has spread to other cities where it’s also become part of a growing effort to reclaim streets for people, not just for cars. Here in Glendale, Osborn Architects have installed their own Park(ing) Day space for several years. Who else might install a Park(ing) Day space in Glendale this year? For more information about Park(ing) Day, you can go to the Park(ing) Day LA site here or Rebar’s Park(ing) Day site here.

Other important links

Mayor Villaraigosa’s Bike Summit, Monday August 16, 2010

Glendale’s “Cruise Night” will be on Saturday, July 17th and we want to display some super cool, custom or vintage bikes to show that bicycles are also historical, collectible, and beautiful. If you or someone you know has a two-wheeled beauty that will wow the crowds, we need your bike! Please contact Jen at glendalesahs@gmail.com for details. Thanks!

Deukmejian Park Re-Opens, Art from the Ashes Opens

On Saturday June 19, 2010, the Glendale Community Services and Parks Department will celebrate the Grand Re-Opening of Deukmejian Wilderness Park. For more information about the day’s activities, go to the online flyer here. The evening of June 19th will also be the opening reception for “Art from the Ashes.” The Glendale Parks & Open Space Foundation and ART from the Ashes present an art exhibition for the benefit of Deukmejian Wilderness Park. Over 60 artists have created more than 100 works of art out of natural and man-made materials burned during the Station Fire. For details, go to the Glendale Parks & Open Space Foundation website.

Please Take the Glendale Pedestrian & Bicyclist Survey

The Glendale Pedestrian & Bicyclist Survey has been online for several months and we’re going to shut it down by the end of July. We still need more surveys from anyone who lives, works, goes to school or just visits Glendale. The information gathered by the survey will give us a clearer picture of bicyclists and pedestrians in Glendale and will supplement the information gathered at the community meetings in the fall of 2009. All information gathered will be used to help draft the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan and its stated goals for improving biking and walking conditions in Glendale. Even if you don’t ride a bike, we’re all pedestrians some of the time and the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan is about pedestrians as well as bicyclists. If you haven’t taken the survey yet, please complete it today by going to the online survey here. Please encourage your friends, neighbors, co-workers, or classmates to take the survey too. Thank you.

Safe Routes to School Threatened

Republican House Whip Eric Cantor recently attempted to eliminate Federal funding for Safe Routes to School as part of his “YouCut” program. Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funds projects that encourage and support children walking or biking to school. The benefits include our children growing up with healthier, more active lifestyles, reduced pollution and congestion, and safer conditions around schools thanks to better infrastructure and a reduction in car traffic. While Cantor’s attempt was not successful this time, his office has vowed to put Safe Routes to School back on the YouCut list again in the future.

The threat to SRTS should be of concern to all Glendale residents with school-age children since the City of Glendale and GUSD is receiving SRTS funding from applications sent in last year and is in the process of completing new applications which are due in July of this year. Ultimately, all elementary and middle schools in the district are to receive funding for improvements such as better crosswalks, repairs to sidewalks if needed, installation of bike racks, etc. This will happen as long as the applications continue to be approved and Cantor is not successful in cutting the SRTS program. We encourage you to keep an eye out for continued attacks from Cantor and others in Congress who don’t seem to understand the importance of the Safe Routes to School program. You can sign up for e-mail alerts from the Safe Routes to School National Partnership here and we intend to keep an eye on this issue (and alert you when there’s another attack) as well.

In the meantime, take a look at a report that the Federal Highway Administration released this week. Here’s a key graph from that report.

Notice that bicycle and pedestrian projects make up only 2% of the total Federal Transportation Budget and keep in mind that Safe Routes to School is only a part of that 2%. While we’re not sure what percentage is SRTS, it seems clear that cutting the program doesn’t represent a significant savings. It’s also worth noting that although 2% is a 15-year high, we’re still spending very little of the overall transportation budget on bicycle and pedestrian projects, even though 11.9% of all trips are now made on foot or by bicycle. Wouldn’t it make sense to spend at least 11.9% of the budget on bicycle and pedestrian projects? Imagine what a difference the increase would make!

Pedestrian Safety Around the World – a FREE webinar

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center is offering a FREE webinar entitled “Pedestrian Safety from Around the World” on Wednesday, June 30 2010 from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. The webinar will be presented by Charlie Zegeer, director of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center

In this presentation, Zegeer will discuss pedestrian safety from an international perspective. From China to Dubai to New York City to India, Charlie will lead us on a quick tour of pedestrian safety design and treatments from around the globe. For more information and to register for the webinar, go to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center website.

Community Meeting November 2009

Many of you who attended our community meetings last fall, volunteered for us, or attended Safe & Healthy Streets events may be wondering what’s going on with the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan – the policy document we’ve been talking about for some time. Well, now that we’re done with Bike Month events, trips to Berkeley and Long Beach, the Safe & Healthy Streets team is hard at work crafting the policy document. Our plan is to present a draft of this document to you this fall, so please be on the lookout for announcements in September. In the meantime, there’s going to be another bike/pedestrian count in September and there are some other exciting developments we’d like you to know about. Read on….

R.D. White Elementary Pilots New “Park & Walk” Program

In keeping with efforts to align R.D. White Elementary School with the Safe Routes to School philosophy, R.D. White is piloting a new after-school pick-up process for their students – “Park & Walk” – a safer and healthier way for children to depart school! Effective June 1st to June 18 – all students will be dismissed out the front of the school to designated classroom assignments on the front lawn of the school (Doran Street), awaiting pick-up by their parent/caregiver.

Parents/caregivers will park away from the school, in the surrounding neighborhood, and walk to the front of the school to pick up their children. The school side gates on Everett and Geneva will be no longer be open—they will be locked—no dismissals via the side gates, no pick-up directly by car.

Parking and walking eliminates the unsafe car pick-up lane, road rage, and noise and air pollution that endanger our students. This pick-up and departure process is safer and healthier for all students and parents, and will help to ensure increased pedestrian and traffic safety around R. D. White.

The first day of this pilot program was a big success! You can read about it in the Glendale News Press by clicking here. A special thank you to the Glendale Police Department Traffic Division for their amazing support and presence! Thanks also to Vons Grocery Store (Glendale Avenue) as they graciously allow families to park in their lot.

For more information, contact Kara Sergile at 818-637-2872 or kysergile@sbcglobal.net

Glendale Bikeway Master Plan Update to Begin This Summer

During the Glendale Transportation and Parking Commission meeting on Monday, May 24 2010, Glendale’s Traffic and Transportation Administrator Jano Baghdanian announced that the process of updating the Glendale Bikeway Master Plan will begin this summer, possibly as soon as July, and should result in a draft document by January 2011. You can watch Mr. Baghdanian’s presentation as well as the presentation of Safe & Healthy Streets Coordinator Colin Bogart by going to the City’s online video archive. Stay tuned for more announcements about the Bikeway Master Plan update! Community input will be welcome and encouraged as part of the update process.

L.A. County Bike Plan Update Meeting July 12

Speaking of Bike Plan updates, Los Angeles County has been holding meetings for an update of its bike plan. For those of you following this process, you know that the meetings for the County Plan have been somewhat far from Glendale. Thanks to a request from the Altadena Town Council, there will be a special meeting to discuss the County Plan update on Monday, July 12, 2010 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at the Altadena Community Center, located at 730 E. Altadena Dr. Altadena, CA 91001. For those of you who live, work, or ride in North Glendale, this is the ideal chance to talk to County officials about bike improvements in the County sections of La Crescenta. For more information about the County Bike Plan update, you can go to their website.

Thanks to everyone who helped with the Maple Street tree planting on April 10! Thirty-two volunteers helped shovel dirt and give the new trees some love. The staff from Glendale Public Works Maintenance Services were great and did all the heavy lifting!

To read the Glendale News-Press article click here and to see their blog photos click here. For additional photos of the tree planting, click here.

Bike Month is Coming!

May is National Bike Month and the Safe & Healthy Streets Team is working on a full month of events including bike rides, Bike to Work Day (May 20), documentary screenings, guest speakers, and more. Stay tuned for details soon!

Bicyclist and Pedestrian Survey

The Glendale Bicyclist and Pedestrian Survey is still active online and we’re still looking for more people to complete it. If you haven’t completed the survey already, please do it today. If you’ve already taken the survey, please forward the survey link to your friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc. We want people who walk or ride a bike as well as those who don’t walk or bike to complete the survey. Anyone who lives, works, goes to school, or visits Glendale can complete the survey. Here’s the link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GlendaleBikePedSurvey

Thank you!

Included in the Safe & Healthy Streets project is an effort to improve a street corridor in South Glendale to make it better and safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. The Riverdale-Maple Bike-Pedestrian Corridor has been chosen for this effort. It will connect three parks, form the spine of potential walking loops in south Glendale, will be part of a larger proposed bicycle network in Glendale, and passes within walking/biking distance of multiple schools, libraries, and businesses.

After visiting the corridor on multiple occasions to document existing conditions, we noted that there were many tree wells that were missing trees. To make the Riverdale-Maple corridor a better pedestrian and bicycle route, we need your help planting trees that will provide beneficial shade for those who live, walk, or ride a bike along the corridor. Please join us for this community tree planting. We will plant the first 17 of nearly 100 new trees along Maple Street, Riverdale Drive, Rock Glen, and Lincoln Avenue. Please wear closed-toe shoes, a cap, gloves, and sunscreen. All are welcome!

We need your help on April 10! To volunteer for the tree planting, please e-mail Colin Bogart at colin@la-bike.org or call 818 334-9731.

For more information about the trees or planting details, please go to www.la-bike.org/tree or contact Dan Hardgrove at (818) 550-3401.

Glendale Unified High School Mountain Biking Team Update

 A few months ago we reported on the Glendale Unified High School Mountain Bike Team. Glendale has one of the founding SoCal high school MTB teams which is part of a league of schools with mountain biking teams throughout Southern California. Info on the league (or how to start up your own high school team) can be found at: http://www.socaldirt.org/index.html

The Glendale mountain biking team has been meeting for practice 3 times a week since the beginning of the year, and now that the days are longer, they will be out on the fire roads and trails more than ever. Usually they can be seen in the hills above Descanso Gardens. Some students who were part of the program last year are now coming back as experienced veterans. What a difference a year makes! And there are an equal number of students joining the team for the first time; about 16 in all. Not only is the Glendale team much bigger than last year, the whole league has almost twice as many students. It is really popular and growing like crazy. There is a new team in San Marino and Arcadia along with another founding team at St. Francis in La Canada. There are similar leagues starting up in other states now too, copying the model created in California.

The first SoCal race of the year was March 14th in Temecula and GUSD did well. Three  students made it onto the podium; two in Freshman/Sophomore Girls and one in Sophomore Boys. There were over 160 racers taking part and many students were racing for the first time ever on completely new terrain. It was valuable experience. The next race is March 28 at Warner Springs Ranch near Temecula. The Glendale Students are aiming to do even better next time!

Caltrans Complete Streets Implementation Action Plan

On March 9, 2010 the California Department of Transportation released the Complete Streets Implementation Plan. The full document is available here

Caltrans  defines a Complete Street as “A transportation facility that is planned, designed, operated, and maintained to provide safe mobility for all users, including bicyclists, pedestrians, transit vehicles, truckers, and motorists, appropriate to the function and context of the facility.”

In an effort to maximize safety and mobility, the Implementation Plan calls for greater attention to detail in each and every mobility-related improvement in the State regardless of the size or scope of the project.

The implementation of this plan should result in a reduction in congestion, an increase in system efficiency, and the viability of environmentally sustainable development. Quality of life, including public health and improved safety are also among the goals of the Action Plan. The economic impacts of the Complete Streets Plan include job growth, increase in property values, and the reduction of costs associated with habitual retrofitting of streets.

To assure successful implementation, the Action Plan has clearly defined responsibilities broken down by groups and interdependent entities. A Steering Committee will monitor and report the progress of all action plans, making the projects transparent and the project divisions accountable to the public.

Now that the Implementation Plan has been released by the Caltrans, Glendale and every other city in the state will eventually be required to consider Completes Streets mandates with every new street construction, renovated road, and mobility improvement. To view the full scope of the Complete Streets plan click here.

LaHood Announces New Policy for Walking and Biking

In a speech to the League of American Bicyclists at the National Bike Summit on March 12, 2010, the United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood showed his full support for promoting and implementing policy which puts walking and biking on equal footing with automobile use. The speech made its way across bike advocacy blogs and has elevated the level of excitement for what looks like a significant shift towards healthier and more sustainable transportation options such as walking and biking.

The goals of the policy are underscored in an excerpt from the Department of Transportation’s Policy Statement :

“The DOT (Department of Transportation) policy is to incorporate safe and convenient walking and bicycling facilities into transportation projects. Every transportation agency, including DOT, has the responsibility to improve conditions and opportunities for walking and bicycling and to integrate walking and bicycling into their transportation systems. Because of the numerous individual and community benefits that walking and bicycling provide — including health, safety, environmental, transportation, and quality of life — transportation agencies are encouraged to go beyond minimum standards to provide safe and convenient facilities for these modes.”

For a more detailed look at Secretary LaHood’s perspective on the new policy, visit his blog . In addition, you may read what the League of American Bicyclists blog had to say about the new policy proposal and Mr. LaHood’s speech.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) has introduced the Active Community Transportation Act, H.R.4722. If passed, this bill would create a new $2 Billion Dollar competitive grant program that would fund the creation of biking and walking networks in communities across America. You can view the full text of the bill at this link .

Thursday, March 11th, 2010 has been selected as the Virtual Lobby Day to coincide with the National Bike Summit . Please take a few minutes on Thursday to call or e-mail your Congressional Representatives and encourage them to co-sign H.R.4722 – “Active Community Transportation Act.” You can find the Congressperson for your district at the House of Representatives main page by simply typing in your zip code.

There is no doubt that increased bicycling and walking would do wonders for the environment and our communities. Half of all trips in the United States are three miles or less, yet the majority of these short trips are made by car. Shifting more of these short trips to biking and walking would not only reduce congestion, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and our dependence on oil, but will also improve physical activity, safety, and livability.

Considering there is already a substantial trend of increased bicycle usage in some areas, additional infrastructure improvements could make a huge difference. Commuting by bicycle in the U.S. has increased 43 percent since 2000,  and by 69 percent in designated Bicycle Friendly Communities  that have invested in infrastructure improvements.

For more information about the bill, visit the League of American Bicyclists  and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy  websites, both of which are excellent resources.

League of Women Voters Candidate Forum

The League of Women Voters of Glendale/Burbank  is hosting a candidate forum for the open seat in the 43rd District (Glendale/Burbank) which was recently left vacant when Paul Krekorian won a seat on the Los Angeles City Council. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the forum.

The Candidate Forum will take place on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 7p.m at the Burbank City Council Chambers located at Burbank City Hall, 275 E. Olive St., Burbank. Parking is located behind City Hall on 3rd st. Bicycle parking is available in front of City Hall, as well as multiple parking lots adjacent to the building. To get to the Burbank City Hall from Glendale by bus , take the 92 – Metro Local towards Burbank Station from Brand and Colorado then get off at Glenoaks and Olive. Walk one block south, and you have arrived!

If you can’t make it to the forum, you can watch it live on Burbank TV6 or online. The event will also be televised multiple times prior to the election.

Community members are encouraged to submit a question for the candidates via the League of Women Voter’s website or by calling (818) 247-2407.

Glendale Downtown Dash Family Fun Bike Ride

This is the last reminder for the Glendale Downtown Dash Family Fun Bike Ride on Sunday, March 14, 2010. The ride will take place immediately after the run/walk is finished. The streets will be closed and free of car traffic, making this the perfect chance for small children and their families to ride the streets of downtown Glendale. This is a fundraising event to support the Stroke Unit at Glendale Adventist Medical Center, the premiere stroke center in the area. Pre-registration is encouraged, but riders can register the day of the ride as well. For more details and to register, click here. See you on Sunday and don’t forget to change your clocks Saturday night!

Janette Sadik-Khan, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation will be giving a free lecture at Occidental College on Thursday, March 18, 2010. The lecture will start at 7:30 p.m. at the Keck Theater . To register for this free event, please visit the Registration Page here.

New York City’s Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan will be discussing her work in New York City, as well as addressing energy, sustainability, and mobility issues facing Los Angeles and ideas in promoting a bicycle-oriented and pedestrian-friendly environment. Click here to see a speech by Sadik-Khan on long-range sustainability goals.

Since being appointed to her current position in 2007, Sadik-Khan has been responsible for a significant increase in bicycle usage as a primary source of transportation in New York City and has implemented such programs as car-free Summer Streets, weekend pedestrian walks, and the NYC Plaza Program. Her agency’s goal is to create a safe and sustainable environment in New York City, while improving mobility and air quality. One aspect of Sadik-Khan’s project, PlaNYC, is to reduce the city’s carbon footprint 30 percent by 2030. Click this link to see an interview with Janette Sadik-Khan on the transformation of New York streets. In February 2010 New York City’s Department of Transportation conducted an experiment by closing off sections of Times Square to car traffic. It is this kind of imaginative efforts that could reinvent the bicycling and walking culture of any congested city. You can watch a video on the Times Square pedestrian experiment by clicking here.

For those who would like to ride to the lecture, bicycle racks are available on-site and by the Ramsen Bird Hillside Theater. Car Parking is also available. Click here to review the campus map for better orientation. You can also get to Occidental College from Glendale by taking Metro Bus 180 Eastbound, transfer to Metro Bus 84 southbound and get off at Eagle Rock and Avenue 45. You can double check this route or look for another at Metro’s trip planner .

Janette Sadik-Khan is one of the nation’s most celebrated experts in mobility and sustainability and Occidental College is only a short bike ride or bus ride away from Glendale! We hope to see you there. For additional information about the lecture, please call (323) 259-1494 (Message only – your call will be returned) or send an e-mail to info@lastreetsummit.org.

L.A. Street Summit, March 20, 2010

The second annual L.A. Street Summit  will take place on Saturday March 20th, 2010 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at L.A. Trade Tech College.  Attendance is free, but registration is encouraged. Please register by clicking here.

“L.A. Street Summit 2010: Biking, Walking, and Beyond” is once again hosted by the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Last year more than 300 community residents, activists, researchers, and others gathered at L.A. Trade Tech College for the 2009 L.A. Bike Summit. This year the organizers are expanding the scope of the event to include discussion of pedestrian and transit issues in an effort to make an even bigger impact on policy in Southern California. Since Los Angeles is already enjoying a growth in bicycle ridership thanks to advocacy groups, organized rides, and the rise in cost associated with automobile use, this event presents a place for the discussion of alternative transportation and sustainability issues for local communities.

The summit will include workshops proposed by numerous groups throughout the LA area and will include a workshop presentation by the Glendale Safe & Healthy Streets team of individuals from the LA County  Bicycle Coalition, the City of Glendale, and the LA County Department of Public Health PLACE Program. There will also be prominent speakers, including Janette Sadik-Khan (the keynote speaker) as well as Carl Anthony, and Charles Gandy.

Carl Anthony  is the former President of Urban Habitat  and former head of the Sustainable Metropolitan Communities program at the Ford Foundation. He is a nationally recognized leader in the African American community who has been in the forefront of linking sustainability, regional equity, healthy communities, and environmental justice for more than four decades.

Charles Gandy is the Mobility Coordinator for the City of Long Beach. He is an expert in community design and has played a key focal role in Long Beach’s emergence as one of the premier bike and pedestrian friendly cities in the country.

For additional information about the LA Street Summit, visit the website here or call (323) 259-1494 (Message only – your call will be returned) or send an e-mail to info@lastreetsummit.org.

Glendale Bicyclist and Pedestrian Survey

We still need people to complete the online bicyclist and pedestrian survey. We’re using the survey to collect information that we didn’t get from the community meetings in the fall of 2009. If you live, work, or go to school in Glendale (or if you sometimes walk or ride a bike in Glendale), we want you to complete this survey! The information we collect will be used to help draft the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan. Please take a few minutes and click the link below to take the survey. Thank you!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GlendaleBikePedSurvey

Quick Reminders

Glendale Downtown Dash Family Fun Bike Ride - Sunday March 14

10th Annual Los Angeles River Ride - Sunday June 6

Pacific Community Center Main Entrance

There will be a Community Stakeholder meeting for the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan on Thursday, February 25, 7:00 pm at Pacific Park Community Center in the Sycamore Room. Many of you attended our stakeholder meeting way back in the spring of 2009. We’d like to update you about what’s happening with the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan and how you can get involved. We need your help! Food will be provided, courtesy of El Morfi Grill. Pacific Park Community Center is located at 501. S. Pacific Ave. There is a bike rack in the plaza in front of the main entrance. Car parking is located on Riverdale Drive and Kenilworth Ave. There’s a bus stop at the intersection of Pacific and Riverdale, the southeast corner of the community center and park (Metro and Beeline buses stop there). Click here for the Community Center website. Please RSVP to colin@la-bike.org if you can attend.

Glendale News-Press Article and Editorial

Last week the Glendale News-Press published an article about Bicycle Master Plans and the need for Glendale to catch up with neighboring communities such as Burbank, Pasadena, and The City of Los Angeles. If you missed the article, you can click here to read it. The News-Press followed up the article over the weekend with an editorial that you can read by clicking here. We’ve been told that the City intends to begin work on updating the Bicycle Master Plan this summer. We’ll be helping to publicize this effort which should include some community input meetings. Stay tuned for that.

We encourage you to write to the Glendale City Council and the News-Press that you support updating the Bicycle Master Plan. A short note that states who you are and that you’d like the city to update the plan is all that’s needed. Bike lanes are coming to Foothill Blvd. in Glendale this summer, along with more sharrows and bike racks in various parts of the City. If you’d like to add comments in support of these projects, that would be great.

Glendale Bicyclist and Pedestrian Survey

We have launched an online survey to collect information that we didn’t get from the community meetings in the fall of 2009. If you live, work, or go to school in Glendale (or if you sometimes walk or ride a bike in Glendale), we want you to complete this survey! The information we collect will be used to help draft the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan. Please take a few minutes and click the link below to take the survey. Thank you!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GlendaleBikePedSurvey

Quick Reminders

Glendale Downtown Dash Family Fun Bike Ride - Sunday March 14

LA Street Summit - Saturday March 20

10th Annual Los Angeles River Ride - Sunday June 6