LA Times Bicycle Article

[Neal]

Hello All,

 

Nice bike article LA Sunday Times.

 

And good timing with AmGen race today downtown LA.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/us/in-los-angeles-drivers-and-bicyclists-learn-to-co-exist.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120520

 

 

 

Excerpts:

 

“There was not a biking network when I was there,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, who attended Occidental College here in the late 1970s and today is New York City’s transportation commissioner, leading the way in expanding a network of bicycle lanes. “You are beginning to see the bones of one emerging now, and it’s very exciting.”

Bicyclists have long complained that the Police Department blamed them in any conflict involving a car and gave cyclists tickets for even the most minor infractions. So consider this message posted by the group Midnight Ridazz after its most recent ride: “The Midnight Ridazz would like to extend a sincere thanks to the L.A.P.D. and especially to the officer (whose name we did not get) who recently helped to escort our ride through the streets of Los Angeles.”

Mr. Villaraigosa said he wanted the city to establish 40 miles of bike lanes and paths a year, a policy inspired by his own “nasty spill” dodging a taxicab and a part of his effort to cut back on automobile use here. “No question about it: bike ridership is up dramatically in L.A.,” he said. “You see it all over the city.”

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Under the bike plan approved by the city in March 2011, Los Angeles pledged to build approximately 1,350 miles of pathways, dedicated lanes and streets that were deemed bicycle friendly over the course of the next 30 years. There were already 350 miles in place at the time the plan was approved.

Nathan Baird, the bicycle coordinator for the city’s Department of Transportation, said the city installed 19 new miles of bikeways last year and 35 miles this year, and intended to build 40 miles of bikeways a year over the next five years. It will not be easy: competition for road space is particularly intense here.

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Cheers,

 

Neal

 

+1 mph Faster

[Bob Sutterfield]

In http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/us/in-los-angeles-drivers-and-bicyclists-learn-to-co-exist.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120520

“There was not a biking network when I was there,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, who attended Occidental College here in the late 1970s and today is New York City’s transportation commissioner, leading the way in expanding a network of bicycle lanes. “You are beginning to see the bones of one emerging now, and it’s very exciting.”

Nonsense.  There have been streets in Los Angeles for decades, for bikes and everybody else.