Comments on: Streetsblog Interview: David Pulsipher

By: Umberto Brayj

Umberto Brayj — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 07:04:58 +0000

Yeah, that was a pretty good troll up above. I was thinking the same thing after finishing the first paragraph.

TROLLED!

All that is left is for the first mob hit burial under a bike lane – and then you know we’re made!

By: David Pulsipher

David Pulsipher — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:39:39 +0000

erik/will,

i definitely don’t want to discredit the frustrating interactions you’ve had. i guess what i was trying to articulate that i think better results could come from an increased effort from each side – to work together instead of criticize each other.

walker o – thank you for your cogent analysis of my interview. i stand convinced of the error of my ways. i’m going to sell my bikes and buy a car.

focusing on recreational cyclists is a very convenient rhetorical tactic, but obviously myopic when compared to the type of bicycling i was advocating.

moving on – you know streetsblog is doing well when the trolls come out.

By: Will Campbell

Will Campbell — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:01:43 +0000

I’m always open to opposing points of view, such as Walker Zero’s, above. But when it’s delivered with such explicit sarcasm and disrespect it just all congeals into meaningless agit-babble.

And we all know unnecessary agit-babblers collectively respire CO2 and must eat more, which means more agribusiness C02 is put into the atmosphere. Our ability to have recreational time is based on cheap food provided by petro-fueled agriculture.

By: Walker O

Walker O — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:57:11 +0000

” I really believe that promoting bicycling makes sense for everyone regardless your mode choice. bicyclists are natural traffic calmers, pollution reducers, congestion alleviators, revenue generators… etc.”

Is this fantasy happy talk? If traffic calming is a codeword for slowing car traffic then you got that right. Most of my cyclist friends would be annoyed by a senior driving at bike speed, but for some reason bikes are ok to slow traffic, go figure.

Pollution reducers? Recreational cyclists are making unnecessary trips and collectively respire CO2 and must eat more, which means more agribusiness C02 is put into the atmosphere. Our ability to have recreational time is based on cheap food provided by petro-fueled agriculture.

Congestion alleviation? I thought they were traffic calmers? Recreational bikers make unnecessary trips and without them on the road traffic would flow more freely and thus make traffic more efficient. Bike commuters would reduce congestion more if they got on a bus or better yet moved a block from their place of work and walked.

Revenue generators. This is the one that made me stop and think. I did. Go get a fantasia Popsicle and suck it. Biking might shift revenue from one local to another but it doesn’t increase GDP. It might even reduce potential GDP. All that time spent riding instead of creating products that can sold represents a potential loss to the economy.

Be careful of group think and religious beliefs. Next we will hear that if we would only build bikeways in the Middle East we would have world peace.

By: Erik Knutzen

Erik Knutzen — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 16:50:22 +0000

I’m with Will. I was at the bike-themed LA City Council Transportation Committee meeting and, while I was very happy to see Council members express an interest in bikes, I was discouraged by LADOT and LAPD’s intransigence. There’s a culture problem with many city departments, especially LADOT. It’s time we raise our expectations as advocates, and let’s face it, we need some new and more visionary personnel in our city government to make LA the world class walking/biking metropolis it could be some day.

By: Ingrid Peterson

Ingrid Peterson — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:49:05 +0000

“I’d build more public parks, and would build the most intricate/far-reaching network of bicycle boulevards in the world. Bike and ped projects are minuscule compared to highway projects, and for once I’d like to see the city put people first instead of cars. There will be growing pains of course, but maybe with the right amount of money we’d finally get a politician who was willing to stick their neck out for some of this stuff. What a lovely day dream…”

Hey dude, Live the Dream.

Thanks for your work and pragmatic approach David….things can get frustrating in the relations between LADOT and bike advocates for sure and finding common ground is essential.

And I agree, we will definitely need to find ways to flex our VOTING power…

By: Will Campbell

Will Campbell — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:58:28 +0000

“I think that too often advocacy-folk misplace their frustration on Metro/LADOT staff…”

Conversely it seems that LADOT staffer Michelle Mowry is lately getting her kicks misplacing her frustrations on advocacy-folk. Derogatory statements she made about Stephen Box in the Los Angeles magazine bicycling article and her dismissive arrogance at having “more miles” on her former semi-professional racer legs than the collective cyclists in attendance at the bike-themed LA City Council Transportation Committee meeting shows me she could certainly use a steaming cup of Shut The Fuck Up.

Oops, my frustrations are showing.