Results tagged “bikes”

In its hey-day, RIDE-Arc's monthly rides would take cyclists around the city, exploring architecture, environmental efforts and Hollywood history. Compared to other group bicycle rides like Midnight Ridazz and CRANK Mob, RIDE-Arc is the smart, mature and law-abiding sibling. Over the past couple years, its leadership has gone on hiatus, only offering a ride here and there. Good news, however, came today as they announced via e-mail a Santa Monica-focused ride for Friday evening:

Remember last year when Dr. Christopher Thompson slammed on his breaks on Mandeville Canyon Road so bicyclists he apparently was annoyed with would crash into him? He was found guilty by a jury on all seven counts this afternoon. "Thompson was accused of assault with a deadly weapon, reckless driving causing specified bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury and mayhem," among other charges relating to two incidents, one of them being the July 4th, 2008 incident, according to VeloNews. Last week, the LA Times looked into the case, saying "bike riders see the case as a test of the system's support for their rights." Looks like the system was on their side this time. Congrats!

As city staff gears up for a series of public meetings seeking input on the draft master bicycle plan for Los Angeles, cyclists are coming together, advocating for the process to be extended into 2010. "The plan is 6 months late, and we only have six weeks to submit comments?" noted Dr. Alex Thompson on his bicycle blog the day it was released.

Although Santa Monica's outdated bicycle license appears to directly contradict state law, officials recently have been promoting the city's bicycle licenses because of a rise in thefts in the Southbay. "We do try to get people to get licensed because it makes the return of stolen bikes easier," explained Don Patterson, the manager who oversees the division that issues bicycle licenses.

The long-awaited final draft bicycle plan, all 212 pages, was released by the Department of Transportation today. This comes after last May when bikeway maps from the plan were released, causing an array of emotions from cyclists across the city. Now that the complete plan is available, we're sure that more criticisms and praises will be heard.

After a controversy over bicycle lanes that were going to be striped, then not, then were, the Bureau of Street Services has confirmed the new lanes will be striped in October, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition reports in a newsletter today.

Just in case you were wondering where your local bicycle patrol officer was... Some LAPD bicycle units were sent down to Mexico City to train local officers in bicycle crowd control and patrolling techniques, according to the Associated Press. It's part of a four-day course with the California Department of Justice. Let's hope they are leaving out this technique seen in the video below (scroll to 35 seconds):

Either way, it's feeling like the Los Angeles Department of Transportation is heading back to the days of General Manager Gloria Jeff when employee morale was low and the traffic engineers with real skills were caught up in a bureaucracy that dictated they serve cars, not people. Current General Manager Rita Robinson ran a tight and responsible ship at the Bureau of Sanitation before being appointed to LADOT, so why can't she control her own bikeways and district offices?

As the city of Pasadena explores options to help fix the mess that is the popular three-mile loop around the Rose Bowl used by walkers, joggers and cyclists, three options have from planners with two exceptionally progressive. "What a difference two years make," said LA Streetsblog writer Damien Newton noting that an older proposal sought to eliminate bicycles from loop altogether. The three proposals include leaving the path as it is (unpopular), marking a yellow pedestrian lane with two lanes of car/bicycle traffic in opposite direction (improved) and what's seen in the image posted here: a pedestrian path, a bicycle lane and a one-way car lane (the most popular for many).

For a few years now, there has been a movement to turn the 3.6-mile 4th Street from Koreatown to near MacArthur Park into a Bicycle Boulevard. Next week, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition will hold a meeting about the idea.

This year, it seems like there has been more reported pedestrian and bicycle incident than usual. Back in the Spring, three pedestrians were killed in incidents involving a Metro bus or train. Two bicyclists were shot this past weekend and one was killed by a drunk driver. The list could go on. In today's LA County Bicycle Coalition e-mail blast, it announced the beginnings of a campaign to bring California a law to help protect the people who use the modes of transportation:

Newport Beach held a demonstration this weekend for their future bicycle sharing program, something that many desire here in Los Angeles after seeing similar programs in Europe and Canada. The Brandenburger Foundation is bringing the program to the city and has chosen the Bixi Bike System, which can be seen on the streets of Montreal. Here's how it will works, as explained by the Orange County Reigistrar's green blog:

As a group of cyclists were riding through Highland Park last night, they encountered a group of alleged gangster's who approached the cyclists and started throwing glass bottles and vases, some following the riders with shovels.

At yesterday’s Metro meeting, officials said they may do with the current rush-hour bike-on-rail ban to accommodate the system’s growing cyclist ridership, but they’re also considering implementing a two-bike-per-car rule. During their 6 p.m. meeting, which was considerably quieter than their earlier one at noon, officials said they also want to improve signage that directs cyclists and clearly state the rules (no blocking doors or walkways).

Although the ban of bicycles on a handful of rush hour Metro trains is not strictly enforced, the rule is still on the books. After threatening to enforce the rule, officials changed their tune and most recently, the transit agency "piloted a program of taking out seats to make more space for bikes on trains," reported Damien Newton at Streetsblog. "The first step in the public process to end the ban will be a pair of meetings this Thursday in Metro Headquarters at noon and 6 P.M. The meetings will be held at the Board Overflow Room on the Third Floor across from the cafeteria." For more details on the public meetings, head over to this flyer (.pdf).

                     

On Sunday May 31st, 5am would become the new rush hour for the 2,150 riders and 500 volunteer-roadies as they filtered into San Francisco's Cow Palace, waiting with anticipation and excitement for the kickoff of the 2009 AIDS/LifeCycle.

Some resourcefulness and a little money has gone a long way this past week with the city's Bikeways Department. With parking meters being replaced by the new Park & Pay system kiosks, those meters, which often doubled as handy bicycle parking, were threatened to be taken off the street. Not so fast. In key areas around the city, crews spent four nights last week reconfiguring the meters into the new bicycle meter hitches.

     

Last week Long Beach did something that, by all appearances, no other city has ever done: they painted sharrows--a common practice to educate motorists that bicyclists get to legally share the road--with a five-foot green lane--a new and inventive way to grab everyone's attention and help cyclists stay out of the door zone.

On Monday, crews will begin construction on the LA River bike path, extending it further south towards downtown. The 2.5 mile stretch will go from Fletcher Drive to Barclay Street over an asphalt easement previously owned by the Army Corps of Engineers. The current path, running from the northern end of Griffith Park to Fletcher Drive is about 4.25 miles. The project is expected to take 6 to 7 months based on preliminary reports.

After being no-shows at last week’s Transportation Committee meeting, LAPD appeared before councilmembers and cyclists yesterday, only to be met by harsh criticism for their “distinct bias towards bicyclists” and their response to a hit-and-run accident in late April in which a Hummer sideswiped a rider in downtown L.A. At the meeting, cyclists were “deeply disappointed” and scoffed at the conflicting details police gave regarding the incident.

Out with the old meters, in with hand-me-down bicycle racks called meter hitches. When the city last year began replacing parking meters with the new pay station ones, that either left headless meters or no meters at all along stress, which meant less options for bicycle parking. Then last night, as part of a pilot project between the Department of Transportation and Council President Eric Garcetti's office, came 52 new bicycle meter hitches on Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea and Vine.

For the fourth time in recent months, the City Council's Transportation Committee tomorrow will take on a handful of bicycle issues continued on from last week's meeting. Consultants from Alta Planning are slated to speak about the bicycle plan, which has recently become an unpopular subject with many cyclists. The LAPD will also be present to talk about their relationship with the bicycling community. Also on the dock is the continuing look at reviving a version of the defunct bicycle licensing program, which many believe should be left to the private sector.

Bicyclists quickly shot down the city’s idea of possibly making it illegal to ride on sidewalks. During the Transportation Committee meeting last Wednesday, advocates said changing the vehicular code won’t ensure that all cyclists will be aware of the law. Instead, the city should develop safety education programs to inform casual or less experienced riders of the dangers posed by cycling on sidewalks.

The Department of Street Services doesn’t have the authority to remove abandoned bikes on the 3,000 city-owned bike racks in L.A., officials say. Many business owners complain about the eyesore of bicycle skeletons left on racks in front of their stores, but current laws don’t allow the city to touch them. During this week’s Transportation Committee meeting, cyclists suggested creating a system for bikes similar to car parking meters and time limit enforcements, and doing away with the ban on parking bikes on meters.

On April 4th, two LA residents, Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins, set off an a 2,000-mile bike ride, the JUNKride, from Vancouver to Tijuana, to raise awareness and educate children and adults about the damage plastic is causing to our oceans.

Although City Council repealed the bicycle license law earlier this month, the issue continued to be a point of discussion between officials and bike advocates. At the Transportation Committee meeting earlier this week, some cyclists said they don’t completely oppose a licensing program, but they would like to see a more efficient and easier process that would be “voluntary.”

At the Transportation Committee yesterday, the city presented its Bicycle Plan proposal, which maps potential fixes to L.A.’s streets to make riding easier and safer for cyclists. The verdict? “Flawed,” pretty embarrassing” and an “egregious waste of money” were among some of the comments from bike and community advocates, Sierra Club members and neighborhood councilmembers. “No matter what people tell you, we are not involved in the process,” said bike activist Stephen Box, who also commented on several other items discussed at the meeting. “I’m calling on you to…call it dead,” he told Transportation Committee Councilmembers Wendy Greuel and Bill Rosendahl.

Two years ago, two pedicab companies tried to set up shop in downtown to carry commuters from subway station to work, from bar to bar, or any kind of short range trip. Lacking permits, they were shut down and the pedicab issue went to study. Now a proposal is back and headed to the city's Transportation Committee, however with some odd rules, notes Eric Richardson at blogdowntown.

LA's Department of Transportation is not known for its willingness to communicate with the public at large. It was only after a couple City Councilmember got aggressive this week with bikeways staff that yesterday, draft maps of the LA Bicycle Plan were released. You can download them here and then submit comments via an online form. They are not exactly thrilling maps to ogle over, but it's worth a look to check our your neighborhood and commuting routes. For example, in Sherman Oaks we noticed that a bike lane was deleted from Woodman Ave between Ventura and the 101 Freeway, even though maps published within the past few years show that one exists currently (it never did). A proposed bike lane for Fulton Ave. to Valley College has also disappeared. What's going on in your neighborhood?

On Monday night, the well-known cyclist and activist, who goes by Roadblock, was thrown from his bike after a driver rear-ended him going 45 miles per hour. The accident occurred on N. Glendale just before Park and the driver was said be in a dark gray sedan, plate number 6GYC11.