Photo: Barleye

The LAPD officers responsible for the blocked Bike Lane pictured above are going to have a hard time explaining why they were out shopping on Sunset Blvd. instead of protecting and serving, but as for the illegal parking job, it’s not their fault. They merely need to plead ignorance and then point to the DMV.

After all, the DMV’s “Wilco Tango Foxtrot” interpretation of the California Vehicle Code specifies “You may park in a bicycle lane if your vehicle does not block a bicyclist and/or there is not a “No Parking” sign posted.”

From the top down, the State of California and the City of Los Angeles need to get together and embark on an education program directed at those in charge, those responsible for operating this state and this city.

Between the DMV’s car-centric creative interpretation of the law and the CHP’s complete ignorance of the rules of the road as they apply to pedestrians and cyclists, it is apparent that the real opportunity to make our streets safer for everybody is to start with those in power.

Last year, the LAPD developed a Bicycle Awareness training program for its officers that firmly established the rights of cyclists on the streets and replaced “ride to the right” with “ride where it’s right” as the principle for lane positioning.

Bike Activists were given the opportunity to participate in the development of the program and the Cyclist/LAPD Task Force was optimistic that the Bicycle Awareness training would have a significant impact on the streets, turning LAPD officers into partners, not adversaries.

Unfortunately, the mandate to participate in the training program was not as significant as the promises made to the cycling community and it is now easier to find officers who have never heard of the program than it is to find officers who have participated and who understand the concepts.

Just last week, a LAPD Supervisor responsible for special events went into a tirade over “cyclists who impede traffic by taking up the whole lane” and “cyclists who ride side by side.” The street that he was referring to, San Fernando Road, has two lanes in both directions with a left turn pocket in the center. This LAPD Supervisor needs to engage in some Bike Awareness training before he spreads any more mis-information about cyclists and “impeded traffic.”

Photo: Stephen Box

photo by victim of Metro Bus Operator

LA County’s Metro is the largest operator of buses in the region and it still has a training manual that instructs its operators to sound the horn for “cyclists and other road hazards.”The Metro’s Chairman of the Board is LA’s Mayor Villaraigosa and LA controls three other seats which are filled by City Councilman José Huizar, Richard Katz, and Mel Wilson. In other words, the City of LA has a tremendous impact on the operation of the Metro and a tremendous responsibility for its performance.

Perhaps its time to share the LAPD’s Bicycle Awareness program with the Metro!

Photo: Daily News

LA’s Department of Water & Power moves a lot of equipment through the streets of Los Angeles, relying on a combination of staff and contractors to operate its fleet of trucks.The incident pictured above is still being debated by LA’s policy makers and City Attorney, resulting in a clear demonstration of the need for greater education and an understanding of the rules of the road. Are crosswalks an extension of the sidewalk? If so, can cyclists ride in the crosswalk? If not, how do we explain the Orange Line Bike Path?

Through it all, once the debate is put aside, the important thing to remember is that the City of LA operates huge pieces of equipment on local neighborhood streets that are surrounded with homes, populated with families, and filled with pedestrians and cyclists who have as much right to the streets as the professional vehicle operators moving the City of LA’s equipment.

Photo: Stephen Box

LA is a company town and our neighborhoods are Hollywood’s backlot. That’s one of the things that makes LA such a magical city.But the people who issue film permits don’t seem to realize that a Bike Lane is a traffic lane, that it is not simply an extension of the parking lane. Most importantly, Trucks that are 8’6” wide don’t fit into a parking lane that is 7’ wide.

The City of LA issues film permits and retired LAPD officers in uniform provide traffic control for the film shoots begging the question, “Who is responsible for their training and education?”

The film shoot pictured above should have lane closure and traffic control so that cyclists riding downhill on Sunset get the same respect that motorists would get if the lane ahead were closed.

Photo: Stephen Box

Some of the greatest threats to a cyclist have nothing to do with the operators of large vehicles and everything to do with those responsible for repairs and maintenance.Detours that appear with no warning, manhole covers that aren’t flush with the surface of the street, cracks between asphalt and cement bus pads, gutter pans that aren’t flush, poorly positioned water mains, divets from special event equipment, and drain grates that run parallel to the curb are all deadly road hazards for cyclists.

For all the promise of Eurotopian Bikeway engineering, the real opportunity to engineer our streets for cyclists is to start by educating those responsible for maintenance and repair of our streets on the needs of cyclists and on the difference between a Hummer and a Huffy.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has embraced cycling as a viable mode of transportation and has committed to supporting cyclists with the full force of his Mayoral authority, directing City of LA department heads to partner with him in making LA a Bike Friendly city.

If he is serious about his commitment, he’ll make Bike Education a priority and he’ll start by educating the City Family on Bicycle Awareness, from the LAPD to the DWP to the LADOT.

Imagine 40,000 City of LA employees going about their business with a new sensitivity to how streets work, to the rights of cyclists, to the repair, and maintenance of streets so that they are safe for everybody.

For all the talk of “40 miles a year” of Bikeways improvement and millions of dollars in Measure R money, the real opportunity to move LA forward immediately is to embrace Bike Education, for cyclists, for motorists, for the LAPD, for the engineers, for the policy makers and the pothole fillers, so that the people who use the streets understand how to integrate cyclists into the traffic mix.

Some folks see that empty real estate and, in spite of the fact that they lack a bicycle, they figure “Why not? I’ll just use if for a few minutes, nobody will mind!”

All pictures by Stephen Box unless noted otherwise. This Picture by Barleye

Sunset Blvd. is home to a 5’ Bike Lane that is next to a 7’ parking stall, just enough room for these two LAPD officers who needed to go shopping at the Surplus Store in Silver Lake.

They might be forgiven the CVC 22502 violation (park within 18 inches of the right-hand curb) and the CVC 22514 violation (don’t block fire hydrants) and even the poorly written CVC 21211 which forbids Bikeway parking that impedes cyclists, but only if they can convince their supervisors that investigating a sale on Dickies qualifies as official business.

Hello, is this the Governor's Office? Photo: Jeff Jacobberger

The American Automobile Association has been around since 1902 and they are highly regarded for their roadside service and their courteous drivers.

The AAA driver parked in the Bike Lane above is probably making a quick call to Sacramento, thanking Governor Brown for vetoing SB 910, the legislation which would mandate a minimum three foot distance for motorists passing cyclists when the speed is greater than 15 MPH.

At least it's well lit...

L.A.’s Department of Water & Power has a bit of a reputation for operating according to their own “We are the Roman Army!” interpretation of the law but in this case, the law is on their side. The CVC 21211 prohibition on blocking bikeways facilities “does not apply to drivers or owners of utility or public utility vehicles, as provided in Section 22512.”

Well, almost. These DWP employees failed to put out the required warning devices so that late night cyclists heading west on Sunset wouldn’t come around the curve to find this truck blocking the Bike Lane. They also weren’t parked at a work site, as required by CVC 22512, instead simply impeding traffic while contributing to the local economy by consuming donuts at the adjacent 7-Eleven store.

Big trucks have a hard time fitting into the traditional 8’ parking stalls that are common in Los Angeles and they have an even tougher time on Sunset Blvd where the parking stalls are only 7’ wide.

The operators of these trucks have parked their trucks in violation of CVC 21211 which prohibits impeding cyclists in a bikeway but they are also demonstrating a violation of the rarely invoked LAMC 88.03 which specifies that vehicles must fit “completely within the confines or limits” of the parking space.

Even if the operator of a commercial vehicle were to find a street with parking wide enough to accommodate it, LAMC 80.69.1 prohibits trailer or semitrailer from parking in public place otherwise ordinarily used for vehicular parking. That 8’6” wide trailer simply does not belong!

The proper way to park these large trucks while they are “working” is to engage in “lane closure” and to use warning devices and traffic control to ensure that cyclists, motorists and pedestrians are all accommodated safely.

In some cases, a truck driver’s business will only take a minute or two, but that’s all it takes on a busy street such as Sunset to cause a conflict that can result in a collision. Yet the work needs to get done.

One would think that a city that has been around for more than a couple of centuries would have figured out how to accommodate the delivery of packages and the collection of trash without putting cyclists at risk.

But that would be a mistake.

Even on a big wide street such as Venice Blvd., the City of Los Angeles can’t figure out how to accommodate trash cans and cyclists at the same time, so it resorts to the strategy that has worked for so many decades, it ignores the cyclists.

Over the years, the LADOT has rejected requests to address the situation, arguing that the LADOT can’t cite the owners of the trash cans, after all they have no Vehicle Identification Number! Street Services could respond but they take 24 hours to respond and if they confiscate the trash can, the resident simply requests a new one from Sanitation and they are rewarded with a new can to replace the old can.

The bureaucratic pontificating by the LADOT, Street Services, Sanitation, the LAPD and anyone else with a piece of the street has failed to improve the situation in the least. Their collective incompetence has failed to even result in reflective markings on the dark cans so that cyclists are less likely to hit them in the dark.

Through it all, the Mayor promises 40 miles of Bikeway improvements each year for the next 5 years, a promise that means nothing if it isn’t complemented by a Mayoral Directive to the LAPD, the DWP, the LADOT, Street Services, Sanitation, and anyone else from the City Family that operates vehicles on the streets, instructing them to stay out of the Bike Lanes unless they’re on a bike.

Getting to ride in Metrolink's new bike cars was a surprise bonus for the Box's weekend adventures on the rails. Photo: Stephen M. Box

(This is the first in a three-part series from Stephen Box.  In the coming weeks he’ll be discussing the bike (and passenger) friendliness of Metro Rail and Amtrak. – DN)

When I embark on a #BikeTrain adventure, I typically put my train-boarding theory to work by heading for the front car. I believe that this car is underutilized by train passengers, most of whom gather in the middle of the platform resulting in the middle cars filling first. I pick the front car over the back car because it’s easier to anticipate the position of the front of the train while the variable length makes the rear car an unpredictable target.

This past weekend, Enci and I took our bikes to LA’s Union Station to ride the Metrolink, not so much because of the new Bike Cars, but because of the $10 Weekend Passes. These passes allow passengers to ride from Friday evening to Sunday evening, anywhere on the system, for $10.

We rolled through the station, an experience that is always a bit awe-inspiring, and headed to the platform to wait for our train. We took position on the platform so that we were lined up to board the first car but somehow we seemed to attract a herd of passengers with all sorts of luggage and prams.  It was such a crowd that we knew boarding would be a nightmare and finding space for our bikes would be a competition.

We gave up our usual spot and headed to the other end of the platform and took up position at the end of the empty and locked Metrolink Train when we realized that we were standing outside one of Metrolink’s Bike Cars.

In the course of the weekend, we rode the Metrolink all three days, on the old cars that have room for two bikes per car, on the new cars that have room for three bikes per car, and on the Bike Car which has room for 18 bikes.

The Bike Car is a retrofitted “old car” that consists of stripping the car of all seats (save the jump seats and the rear three) and finstalling two portable frames that create three spaces on each side allowing bikes to lean parallel to the wall. There are three bungies (short, medium, and long) for attaching the bike’s top tube to the rail along the wall. The emergency escape area (~4’x 3’) is roped off and once the bikes are secured, there is seating for about 8-10 people.

When we first realized that we were standing outside one of the new Bike Cars, I used my iPhone to take some pictures but the light was bad so I used another camera with a flash. There is a sign on the side of the Bike Car, about 7’ off the ground, but it has little impact because of its location. We only noticed the Bike Car because we were standing next to it and looking in the window. From farther down the platform, there is little hope of noticing the sign and passengers standing on the platform awaiting an arriving train have little hope of jockeying to chase the Bike Car based on recognizing the sign as it goes by.

As for the photographs, I was snapping away at the Bike Car, the sign, the interior through the windows, etc. when I realized there were two LA Sheriffs coming from the utility end of the platform, the off-limits area. I braced myself and, sure enough, they approached me.

“Here, let me open the Bike Car for you!” one of them said. I was so stoked as they opened one of the two doors for me that I didn’t complain when I had to squeeze through the single side with a loaded bike. I wanted to ask them to open both doors so we could board easily but I was still stunned by their hospitality, especially because I had been prepared for a challenge of my late night photography in a train station.

As it turns out, opening both doors wouldn’t haven’t made the boarding any easier.  The open doorway has a pole in the middle, from top to bottom, and loaded bikes have to be “fed” through the opening, making it impossible to simply lift it up and climb the steps onto the train. The Sheriffs were kind enough to assist me and they “fed” our loaded bikes to me as I stood on the Bike Car.

Overall, the Metrolink’s Bike Car is a great ride, the only downside being the pole in the doorway, an obstacle now just as it was an obstacle on the old cars.

There are ramps that can be used to facilitate faster loading and unloading but with only one conductor per train, the demands on his/her time may not allow for the use of the portable ramps that fold in half lengthway and are stored against the inside wall by the doorway.

Overall, the Bike Car is great, not just for its practical application, but for the loud message it sends, “Cyclists are valued guests on the Metrolink!” My only suggestion: get rid of the doorway pole.
The Bike Car rates #1 in bike accommodations, ties for #3 in doorway access, and #3 in seating. Since the rating is weighted, the Metrolink’s Bike Car wins for this cyclist!

The older Metrolink cars have plenty of leg space, but the lack of bike space and luggage racks create competition for space. Photo: Stephen Box

The old Metrolink Cars have room for two bikes per car, just inside the doorway (with the pole) and against the side wall. The space is also set up with a jumpseat and the competition for the space can get tough. As the bikes lean against the wall, the front wheels are strapped against the forward facing divider.

I like the seating configuration on the old cars, there are areas set up with seating for four with seats facing each other, there are areas with booth seating and tables, and the traditional forward facing rows of seating have plenty of legroom.

The only challenge with the old cars for cyclists is having to run from car to car while on the platform, looking for unoccupied bike space.

That being said, the old cars rate #3 in bike accommodations, tie for #3 in doorway access, and are #1 in seating. Given my choice, I will sit in the old cars but lock the bikes in the Bike Car.

Metrolink's new cars have spaces for three bikes per car, but have run into other criticisms from regular riders. Photo: Stephen Box

The new Metrolink Cars have room for three bikes per car, just inside the doorway (without a pole!) and against the back of the car. They also have straps to attach the wheels to the wall and, in addition, have a ratcheting seat belt that can be used to secure the bike frames to the wall. Both the old and new cars have small 6” square blue signs along the doors to indicate which end of the car has the bike space and it’s fairly easy to spot them as the train pulls into the station. This isn’t as important at Union Station where the train is waiting on the passengers but when the passengers are waiting on an arriving train, there’s pressure to find the empty car and then to board quickly.

The new cars (Guardian Fleet) are visually distinctive from the old cars, stunning from a distance with the new branded color scheme and up close because of their rivet-free surface. As for the insides, the new cars are getting panned because of the seating arrangement. A guest wrote Metrolink to say:

“The new cars have less leg room and narrower seats as well as less room to put rolling briefcases and backpacks…Overall, new cars are “unfriendly” and claustrophobic.”

Metrolink responded to this criticism by explaining that the Guardian Fleet cars have a seating configuration that enhances the collision energy management (CEM) technology that the manufacturer, Hyandai Rotem, incorporated into the car structure.

Overall, the new Metrolink passenger cars rate #2 in bike accommodations, they’re #1 in doorway access, and #2 in seating. Given my choice, I’ll always take the Bike Car but if it’s between the old and new passenger cars, I’ll park the bikes in the new car and sit in the old car.

Over the last several #BikeTrain adventures, the Metrolink’s service has been consistently positive and the conductors have been very professional with only one exception. On one of the Union Station boardings, we arrived close to departure only to find that there were two bikes in each car, making it tough for the two of us and our loaded bikes. We continued down the train and at the end, found an empty Guardian Fleet car. We tried to board but the doors were closed and the conductor directed us to the front of the train. I explained that the cars all had bikes and that we didn’t fit. With great reluctance on his part and a bit of an insist on my part, he allowed us to board the empty car, one where he had already set up his camp.

Other than that, the Conductors have always been efficient, professional, and courteous. They are easily identifiable in their uniforms and they communicate clearly and on their own initiative, a rare sign of customer service commitment.

If I were to make a recommendation, it would be to also put the Train Engineers in uniform, raising them to the same level of professionalism that we expect from the other Metrolink employees. At the end of our most recent #BikeTrain adventure, we were among the last to disembark and as we stood on the platform, we saw a guy dressed in very casual street clothes exit the engine and walk through the empty train, apparently the Metrolink Engineer. I wonder if such a casually attired person would be able to communicate authority in an emergency. A minor point but worthy of note.

The Metrolink’s new CEO, John E. Fenton, is not really new any more but he is certainly following through on his commitment to serve as a change agent focused on enhancing the Metrolink’s guest experience. This has resulted in the Metrolink positioning itself as more than a simple commuter train, branding itself as a great adventure for cyclists, racetrack fans, urban explorers, and people who love to travel in hassle-free comfort.

The Metrolink’s $10 Weekend Pass has prompted us to take lots of weekend #BikeTrain adventures that start at Union Station. For so long LA’s Union Station was a monument to contrasts, on the one hand an architectural legacy loaded with history, on the other hand a sad shadow of its former self, most notable for the stench of urine that wafted from the restrooms.

I’m pleased to report that under the Metro’s leadership, Union Station has been now been revitalized. Arriving guests are still greeted by a strong aroma, but now it’s the smell of baking bread!

The Metro deserves credit for the work it is doing inside Union Station. One can only hope that some of the Metrolink’s “Bike Love” will rub off and Metro will tackle the abysmal bike parking at Union Station, including the toaster rack out front and the “Marquis de Sade” racks in the courtyard.

After all, the difference between “Ordinary” and “Extraordinary” is that little “Extra!”

On Monday, at Vine and Selma, a woman attempting to cross Vine on foot was killed after being hit by a delivery truck. The streets were immediately filled with LAPD vehicles and an investigation ensued. Although it was evident that statements were taken and that measurements and photos were taken, missing from the investigation was any evidence that the traffic signals were tested or surveyed. This is unfortunate because the signal at Vine and Selma is malfunctioning.

On the SW corner of Vine and Selma is the large Vine Village" id="xpwj" href="http://www.ansoniaproperties.com/sunsetandvine.htm">Sunset & Vine Village, a 300 unit residential/retail complex, filled with people who walk across the street to shop at Trader Joe's. At the NE corner of Selma and Ivar is Triangle Square, a 108 unit housing facility for elders. The people who cross the Vine at Selma use traffic control devices that are out of order. Malfunctioning equipment communicates to pedestrians that they are on their own and trains them to engage as opportunity presents itself.

It's been three months since Julia Siegler was killed as she attempted to cross Sunset Boulevard on foot. That incident prompted community challenges to the LADOT's signalization logic and to the LADOT's varied traffic signal strategies. At Vine and Selma, the demand actuated buttons work independently so that a ped call for a crossing on the north side will not yield a walk phase on the south side. Again, does it take a degree from MIT to cross the street? The LADOT has not responded.

Also, as a result of the tragedy on Sunset Boulevard, a request was made to the LAPD to include a survey of signal equipment as a routine element of a traffic collision investigation. Especially one resulting in a death. Apparently that request fell on deaf ears. The LAPD has not responded.

Through it all, the people of Hollywood are told to forget about the details, the uncrossable streets, the brutal traffic, the honking horns, the delivery trucks during peak hours, the taxis jockeying for position, the small streets being used as trucking cut-throughs, the lack of facilities for humans and the absolute contempt for safety. After all, look what the Metro's Hollywood & Vine TOD is doing to the economy! Remember, "It's better than it used to be!"

When did we become surrounded by apologists for mediocrity?

The Hollywood & Vine Transit Oriented Development sits on 4.6 acres of Metro property, bordered by Hollywood Boulevard to the north, Vine Avenue to the west, Selma to the south and Argyle to the east. Encompassing almost the entire block, it took ten years to get to the ribbon cutting and the result is one of LA County's largest Type 1 mixed use, transit-oriented developments (TOD) with not only 2 million sq/ft of gross building area but 29,000 sq/ft of billboard space and 1,322 motor vehicle parking spaces. It's big!

From 1999 through 2008, there were 226 traffic collisions at the four intersections surrounding what is now the Hollywood & Vine TOD. Of those collisions, 14.2% involved pedestrians or cyclists. In 2009 the streets around the TOD were somewhat restricted because of the construction and now that the streets are open, they are fast. They are also deadly as yesterday's tragedy demonstrated when a pedestrian attempting to cross the street was hit and killed by a delivery truck.

One would think that building a TOD in the middle of a busy urban environment would prompt the Metro and the CRA and the City of LA to insist on traffic mitigation from Gatehouse Capital and Legacy Partners, the developers of the Hollywood & Vine TOD. But apparently this was not the case.

As long ago as 2005, local community members at a neighborhood council meeting asked the City of LA to improve the intersections surrounding the TOD to make them more walkable, to make them safer for pedestrians. Hollywood and Argyle has long been a shortcut for motorists exiting the 101 Freeway into Hollywood and the impending arrival of the TOD prompted requests for ped scrambles, for bulb-outs, for traffic calming.

Instead of improvements that would benefit the community, the developers gave the Metro a Bus Layover Station at the expense of pedestrian safety.

The developers of TOD promise density that reduces congestion by supporting a lifestyle that is possible without a motor vehicle, providing opportunities for pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit passengers to live and work and shop and socialize and otherwise enjoy life without having to drive a car. That promise hardly panned out at Hollywood & Vine where the large fortress development is surrounded by valet parking on Hollywood Blvd, a bus stop in a right-turn-only lane that is frequently overtaken by cabbies, a motor court entrance on Argyle followed by trucking driveways and a large bus layover bay, seven driveways on Selma, and then Vine Avenue, a street that does not have an enforceable speed limit.

The Metro's Hollywood & Vine TOD is a Fortress surrounded by a moat of traffic, hardly an environment for pedestrians who may wish to cross the street.

Typically, when developers such as Gatehouse Capital and Legacy Partners present plans to build a project in Los Angeles, City Planning and the LADOT review the plans and evaluate the impact of the project on traffic, on the community on the quality of life in the surrounding area. Granted, this project promised so much, a W Hotel, condominiums, townhouses, apartments, retail and restaurant space, billboards, jobs, energy!

But what about the negative impact of the Hollywood & Vine TOD? Who asks the hard questions such as "What are the planned improvements to the surrounding intersections?" and "How will the surrounding streets be improved so that they are safer for all road users?" and "How will the increase in traffic be mitigated so that the quality of life in the surrounding community is increased, not just for the residents of Hollywood & Vine, but for the community as a whole?"

The Metro, one of the largest developers in LA County, owns great swaths of land and it intends to develop that land as a transportation system strategy and as a revenue enhancement strategy. The Metro has approximately 50 TOD projects on paper with 32 of them in play. It is essential that the community hold the Metro accountable for the impact of its TOD development on the surrounding community and that the Metro immediately prioritize the development of TOD standards that position the individual human experience as a priority. TOD projects work when people enjoy their surroundings, not just tolerate them. TOD projects work when people feel safer walking and riding, not just grateful for surviving the experience. The Metro must take responsibility for the safety and aesthetic experience of the people who use their TOD projects.

The CRA, also one of the largest developers in LA County, engages in development deals that escalate projects, all in the name of public benefit. The Development Agreements that the CRA "imposes" address everything from curtains to awnings but contain nothing of substance when it comes to standards for accommodating pedestrians, cyclists, families with children, transit passengers, tourists, locals, shoppers. Why is there no standard for a delivery service (requested several years ago as a community benefit) or a standard for public space (requested several years ago as a community benefit) or parking variances based on bike-share and car-share (requested several years ago as  community benefit) or intersection improvements that actually contribute to the walkability of Hollywood and Vine (requested several years ago as a community benefit). The CRA must take responsibility for developing and implementing real TOD standards that put the people of the community first.

The LADOT, a partner to every developer in Los Angeles and the department responsible for reviewing and approving projects after ensuring that the traffic caused by the project is appropriately mitigated, was in on the Hollywood & Vine TOD from the beginning. Their real job seems to be to exhaust the community with meeting after meeting, none of which result in any improvements to the surrounding community, but all of which simply get chalked up as "community outreach" and filed under "Whew! I'm glad that's over!" The LADOT must take responsibility for ensuring that every development come with a commitment to improve the surrounding streets and intersections so that the community is left better than before, not simply an increase in traffic resulting in a neighborhood "under siege."

For too long "It's better than it used to be!" has been Hollywood's battle cry of mediocrity. No longer. The standards we set at Hollywood & Vine are the standards that will position LA as a Great City. It's time to reach for greatness!

Hollywood deserves to be so much more than simply LA's Truck Stop!

But "Hollywood & Vine - Transit Oriented Development" isn't a movie, it's simply real life. That means that there were no Teamsters on set, there were no SAG or DGA rules in place, there was no 1st AD on the streets watching out for the safety of the pedestrians crossing Vine on Monday afternoon when a truck driver traveling west on Selma passed an 18 Wheeler being unloaded and then turned north onto Vine Ave., striking and killing a woman as she attempted to cross the street.

The intersection of Vine & Selma is at the southwest corner of the Metro's Hollywood & Vine TOD, home to the W Hollywood Hotel & Residences and the 1600 Vine Apartment Community. The new Trader Joes sits right on the corner with huge plate glass windows that look out onto the Walk of Fame.

The south side of the building has more of an industrial aesthetic, featuring seven driveways including an exit for Metro & DASH buses on layover, an exit for Trucking, entrances and exits for customers, for residents and for visitors. Selma, between Argyle and Vine, is a monument to engineered conflictAs for the corner of Vine and Selma, the cement is new as a result of the construction of the Hollywood & Vine Fortress but the cosmetic repair of the sidewalk failed to include any of the improvements that would demonstrate a TOD commitment to enhancing the safety of pedestrians. There are no bulb-outs, no refuge islands, no ped scrambles, no perpendicular curbcuts, no preferential signalization, nothing that would support the anticipated pedestrian activity to be found at a Transit Oriented Development.

The notion that the development of the Metro's Hollywood & Vine TOD should have resulted in traffic mitigation improvements that support pedestrian comfort and safety with enhanced sidewalk and intersection features is an old topic. It has been several years since representatives from the LADOT, the CRA, the Developers and the City Council staff attended neighborhood council meetings and heard requests for community benefit improvements that included everything from car-share and bike-share to delivery services to streetscape improvements that facilitated pedestrians and cyclists.

Vine is a shortcut to the freeway but it has an unenforceable speed limit. Argyle is a shortcut to the freeway and it doesn't have demand actuated crosswalk buttons. Selma is an inhospitable industrial zone that has just demonstrated that the movement of this many trucks in the afternoon may be good for the employee schedule but deathly for the humans who live in the community and walk the streets.

In the movie industry, it took a tragedy to get the attention of the public. It took the risk of financial ruin to get the attention of the film studios. It took a personal safety threat to unions to mobilize and demand protection.

On the streets of Hollywood, this woman's tragic death is a call to action. The specifics behind this incident may be complicated but the fact remains, a pedestrian lost her life, a truck operator's life will never be the same, their families will suffer and the witnesses to this tragedy will be forever traumatized. This completely unnecessary death demands the attention of the Metro, the CRA, the City of LA, the LADOT, the City Council, Gatehouse Capital and Legacy Partners, all of whom share in the responsibility for the impact of the Hollywood & Vine TOD on the streets of Hollywood.

Senator Barbara Boxer, in her ULI TOD Summit appearance, invoked the “Rule of 60″ when she made the claim that 60% of our economy is made up of small businesses and that 60% of the small businesses in our community are struggling with credit and regulatory issues. Bearing witness to the validity of her claim is Bechir Blagui of Hollywood Rent A Car, a local merchant on Hollywood Boulevard, who has a dream, a vision, a commitment to offering local, sustainable transportation solutions to the locals who live here and the to tourists who visit. But…

When Bechir attempted to bring electric community car share to Hollywood Boulevard, he hit a roadblock, an obstacle that could not be moved, the City of LA’s bureaucracy. From City Council President Eric Garcetti to Councilman Tom LaBonge to Assemblyman Mike Feuer to the Department of Water and Power to the Department of Transportation to Street Services to Building and Safety, Bechir took LA’s famous “Small Business Pachinko” ride that typically results in migration to Burbank, Glendale, Santa Clarita, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood or anywhere else but here. Bechir did not leave.

Bechir stayed and maintained his commitment to a local, sustainable transportation solution and as he continues to work on getting electric charging stations installed on Hollywood Boulevard, he simply invested in electric bikes and now supplements his car rental business with bikes-for-rent. If only he had some bike racks!

Again comes the magic and charm of LA’s Bureaucracy as Bechir discovers that the City of LA has suspended their bike rack program, purportedly because of the city’s budget crisis. (The racks are in a warehouse, the installation is done by a contractor who is funded through a “special” fund, there is no impact to LA’s General Budget) Bechir now has bikes-for-rent but is unable to get permanent curbside bike parking on Hollywood Boulevard.

Bechir maintained his commitment to a local, sustainable transportation solution, this time by hiring a local welder to fabricate some bike racks and then by installing then in front of his store on Hollywood Boulevard. Again, he learned to survive by going DIY.

Senator Barbara Boxer was effective when she invoked the “Rule of 60″ claim (when making a point, use the 60% statistic, it’s reasonable, it’s convincing, it’s acceptable, even to skeptics, 60% of whom accept the Rule of 60 as sensible) but it seems that she would be even more effective if she begins to invoke the “Rule of DIY” in her next LA
speech, after all, DIY products are LA’s only local export these days!

Photo: Stephen Box

The ULI-TOD Summit also, inadvertantly, served as a metaphor for what's wrong with the TOD landscape in our community, in our city, and in this country; a focus on the big picture at the expense of the individual or personal experience. In other words, high-altitude, big-picture solutions that lack attention to details.

This Summit came complete with Senator Barbara Boxer's lunchtime announcement of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's endorsement of LA's 30/10 plan to leverage anticipated transit revenue in order to fast-track a dozen significant regional transit projects. Definitely huge! Along the way, the feds were represented, the state was represented, the county was represented and the City of LA's City Council President Eric Garcetti joined the feeding frenzy to add his blessings to the TOD lovefest. Attendees rubbed elbows with financiers, developers, consultants, innovators, real estate brokers, contractors and all of the many partners who work together to bring the magic of TOD to life, or at least to the ribbon cutting ceremony.

Missing from the Summit was an acknowledgment that the most important element in TOD projects is the individual's experience. Granted, everything is important and everybody contributes in their own special way, but the unique and personal perspective of the individual must never be lost in the awesomeness and hugeness of TOD. Unfortunately, losing that human touch is the norm, not the exception.

The simple process for registering for the TOD Summit demonstrated the Transit Oriented Disconnect that is all too common, offering driving instructions and parking instructions in first position. No mention is made of accommodating those who might arrive on a bike. For those who might attempt to ride the Metro, there are incorrect instructions and no wayfinding tips once out of the station. One would think that TOD Summit attendees, of all people, would be most likely to use mass transit but apparently not. It must be an acquired taste.

The Summit itself was loaded with breakout sessions that ranged from "The Money Train" to "Planning Objectives" to "Financing Tools" to "Green House Gas" to "Public Private Partnerships," demonstrating a huge bias in favor of the "deal" and a lack of sensitivity to the personal experience of the individual. There was a gesture in the right direction with the "Placemaking" session, led by architects who use words such as "thoughtful" and "enhance" and "vibrant" to describe their work.

There were three TOD tours offered to attendees, featuring the Hollywood & Highland facility, the Wilshire & Vermont project and the new Hollywood & Vine Fortress. Unfortunately, the TOD tours were unable to uncover any of the thoughtful and vibrant enhancements that might be used as evidence of a sensitivity to the needs of the individual. 

Missing from the tour was an example of the intersection improvements that would encourage pedestrians to cross the busy streets that surround all three TOD projects. No ped scrambles, no bulb-outs, no refuge islands, no enhanced signalization, nothing.

Missing from the tour was an example of any improvements that would accommodate cyclists and allow passengers to close transit gaps, as well as residents who might use a bike for local trips, and also cyclists who shop at the TOD businesses. Unfortunately, no bike racks, no bike storage facility, no bike signage, nothing at all.

Missing from the tour was an example of any innovations in wayfinding, not just to help lost tourists find their way around the neighborhood, but to support the local economy by encouraging people to experience more of the surrounding community. Granted, there is signage, albeit outdated, confusing, and oriented in the wrong direction. Worse than nothing!

Missing from the tour was an example of any innovations in public space, pleasing and comfortable at the personal level. The brochures for the featured TOD tours offered aerial pictures of the projects, something the individual on the ground doesn't experience. Missing was a tour of shaded benches, tranquil resting spots for weary travelers, safe space for a parent with restless children, a meeting place for friends, or any of the other Great Space elements that bring that purported commitment to the personal experience to life. Again, nothing.

Missing from the tour was an example of how public facilities (rest rooms) can be incorporated into the design and operation of a large TOD. "Customers Only" is the traditional greeting on Hollywood Boulevard, in contrast to the TOD experience of tourists, families with small children, commuters, and customers in other parts of the world. The Hollywood & Vine experiment with restrooms has already failed, resulting in the closure of the ill-positioned and poorly maintained facilities and allowing the Metro to shrug and offer "I told you restrooms were a bad idea!" as the latest innovation in TOD comforts. Less than nothing.

Missing from the tour was an example of how a TOD can connect with the surrounding community, drawing people in and creating a destination, not simply a transit hub. All three TOD tours took place in facilities that have fortress-like qualities that create great space with fantastic amenities for those on the inside, but at the expense of that infamous "conversation" with the street. "Womb-like" is the experience once one is inside the W Hollywood compound, allowing the guest to experience a spectator's vantage point of Hollywood Boulevard and the surrounding city. As for connectivity, nothing.

Missing from the tour was a demonstration of how TOD projects can be more than simply an innovation in real estate development, structural engineering, and housing funding, but in the creation and support of Great Communities. No mention was made of the standards that must be established to ensure that TOD projects are not simply development tools, but that they are significant commitments to making LA a Great City. As for standards, nothing.

The Urban Land Institute is made up of 40,000+ members around the world, including developers, builders, engineers, attorneys, planners, investors, financial advisors, academics, architects and public officials. Their commitment to providing leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide is significant. Last week's ULI TOD Summit bears witness. But...

Beware the Developocrat! The Metro has 32 TOD projects in play with a total of 50 on paper. Once funded, there is no turning back. There is an impending battle looming on the horizon and when DIMBY (Developer in My Back Yard) meets NIMBY, the community will suffer. Now is the time to find the middle ground, to celebrate the impending arrival of the Money Train by doubling down on the development and implementation of TOD standards that put the personal experience of the individual back where it belongs, in the center of the TOD Vision.

The County of Los Angeles is working on a Bike Plan and, under the guidance of Alta Planning, has embarked on the journey by convening a  Bicycle Advisory Committee, complete with instructions that the public is not invited. In light of the fact that the majority of the BAC members are appointed by elected officials, in this case County Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky, Gloria Molina, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Don Knabe, Michael D. Antonovich, it would seem that an open and transparent process would be the minimum and that a robust public process would be the goal. Such is not the case.

Abu Yusef, the LA County Bikeways Coordinator, explained in a letter to the BAC members "Due to the parking restrictions and the security measures in place at the Hall of Administration, we will only able to accommodate the BAC members at this meeting." Perhaps Alta Planning's experience during the outreach phase of City of LA's Draft Bike Plan was less than ideal, resulting in the proposed "off the grid" meeting of the County Bicycle Advisory Committee.

Of course, the larger issue is simply "Who are these people on the County Bicycle Advisory Committee and how do they purport to represent us?" Apparently, the office of each County Supervisor was "allowed" to nominate a BAC representative and an alternative, along with Caltrans and the Metro, resulting in 14 total members.

As for the purpose of the LA County BAC, it appears that the upcoming Alta Planning LA County Bike Plan has created the "need" for an advisory body, hence the creation of the BAC. The Alta Planning developed LA County Bike Plan will direct the development of bikeways facilities on unincorporated County land which means that in some districts, such as Zev's where less that 5% of the district is unincorporated, there is little if any bikeways planning taking place. Of course, the greatest opportunity is to make sure that the County Bike Plan integrates with the 88 municipalities within LA County which begs the question, "Why are none of the 88 municipalities represented?"

Two areas of great controversy that may or may not be addressed in the LA County Bike Plan are:

1) The land around the NBCUni development that sits next the LA River in Universal City. The river section has many parents including County Public Works, Flood Control, Army Corps of Engineers, City of LA, and anyone else with an interest in the river. Current plans for the LA River Bike Path include a detour because of the NBCUni development, taking cyclists off the river and up a hill. Will the LA County Bike Plan address this area? Since the meeting is closed, we won't find out on Thursday!

2) The land around the County section of the Gold Line extension is a heavily congested multi-modal area and it would seem like a great place for innovations such as shared-lane markings and road diets, resulting in traffic of moderate speed that complements the development and success of the Gold Line. These are not new suggestions, but the public's ability to advocate for them is limited if the County's Bicycle Advisory Committee meets in private.

As for the members of the LA County Bicycle Advisory Committee, the privilege of representing the community comes with an obligation to the community, in this case to advocate for an open and participatory process. The simplest thing the members of the LA County BAC can do if they truly want to be effective, is to stand up and reject an exclusive and private BAC process. As for Thursday's meeting, it should not take place until it is open to the public and until the public has been given sufficient notification. At the least, a little respect.

Gloria Molina                                     molina@bos.lacounty.gov                              213.974.4111

Mark Ridley-Thomas                           markridley-thomas@bos.lacounty.gov            213.974.2222

Zev Yaroslavsky                                 zev@bos.lacounty.gov                                  213.974.3333

Don Knabe                                        don@lacbos.org                                           213.974.4444

Michael D. Antonovich                        fifthdistrict@lacbos.org                                  213.974.5555

Denny Zane is calling on the Measure R Champions and challenging them to engage in a second round of battle, this time mobilizing to embrace the 30/10 campaign which will leverage the anticipated $40 Billion in funding and then expedite the process so that 30 years of transit construction can be completed in the next 10 years.

This "all or nothing" campaign has several anticipated benefits, including significant discounts on American product, significant environmental impact, significant employment opportunities, and, most of all, the completion of the 12 mega-transit projects that are currently in line, all within 10 years.

The MoveLA Camp Meeting was held Monday evening at LACMA’s Brown Auditorium and the invitation came complete with Metro instructions, a touch I appreciate. Of course, the sign-in table offered parking validation, an amenity I will continue to consider as a sign of disconnect until the day it is complemented with free air for my bicycle and Metro tokens for those prefer mass transit.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Metro Boardmember Richard Katz and Deputy Mayor Jaime de la Vega all addressed the eager audience which included officials and staff from Beverly Hills to San Gabriel alongside consultants and reps from transit non-profits and advocacy groups. The audience nodded eagerly as the "pie-in-the-sky" Long Range Transportation Plan was brought to the "now" and a timeline for the upcoming decade was laid out. Katz and de la Vega both moved quickly over the details of the 30/10 plan, dropping enough data and showing enough graphs to elicit a few "ooh’s" without having to slow down the momentum of the pep rally.

Art Leahy, CEO of the Metro, called on the MoveLA congregation saying "We ought to work together, we’ve got to build a countywide coalition of folks from the westside and San Fernando and San Gabriel and the harbor area and the South Bay Valley and then to go to Washington DC to compete for funds. This place, Los Angeles, is an economic engine and we ought to get our politics in line with that objective to help create the recovery that the Supervisor (Zev Yaroslavsky) was referencing."

Denny Zane closed with a battle cry for support from the Champions who did the heavy lifting on Measure R and who now simply need to work together to accelerate and implement, putting the $40 Billion revenue stream to work changing the world as we know it. This is the beginning of some very interesting times!

In the last year and a half, there have been several drunk driving and road rage incidents that have shaken the cycling community, leaving a trail of dead and broken bodies behind along with a general feeling of frustration and despair for the friends and families of the victims.

Dr. Christopher T. Thompson is charged with 2 counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon (245a) 2 counts of Battery with Serious Bodily Injury (243d) reckless driving (23103a) and reckless driving causing specified injury (23105a) and Mayhem (203) all stemming from the Mandeville Canyon Road Rage incident that left two cyclists broken, bleeding and lying on the road. Thompson's case is slowly working itself through the system at the LAX Courthouse. Today, they will pick a judge to replace Judge Cynthia Reyvis and will then hear pre-trial motions. Tomorow, they start jury selection.

Alejandro Hidalgo is charged with vehicular manslaughter (191.5a) and DUI (23153a) (23153b) in the death of Jesus Castillo on Glendale Boulevard and his case is coming up in the Downtown Criminal Courthouse. The next hearing is on October 30 at 8:30 and no trial date has been set for this case.

Robert Sam Sanchez is charged with Vehicular Manslaughter (191.5a) and DUI (23153a) and Hit-and-Run with serious bodily injury (20001a) in the death of Rodrigo "Rod" Armas and the injury to his son, Christian Armas on PCH and that case is coming up in the Malibu Courthouse. The next hearing is on October 20 at 8:30 am and no trial date has been set.

Marco Antonio Valencia is charged with Vehicular Manslaughter (191.5a) and DUI (23153a) and Hit-and-Run with serious bodily injury (20001a) and in the death of Joe Novotny on Bouquet Canyon Road in Santa Clarita and that case is coming up in San Fernando Courthouse. The next hearing is on October 28 at 8:30 am and no trial date has been set.

Jim Azpilicueta is charged with two counts of Assault with a Deadly Weapon (245a) and Hit-and-Run with serious bodily injury (20001a) in an incident that caused a cyclist to sustain significant injuries including severe damage to her face. The arraignment is set for October 14 at 8:30 am.

There is another case pending in the Hit-and-Run with Serious Bodily Injury (20001a) incident that left Roadblock lying on Glendale Boulevard after being hit from behind and flipped into the air, landing with just enough consciousness and awareness to catch a partial license plate of the car as it sped off into the distance. The arraignment is set for Nov. 2 at 8:30 am in Dept. 60 Metro Court.

Missing from the dockets of the Southland Courthouses is the infamous Hummer vs. Cyclists case. The LAPD response to the Hummer vs. Cyclists incident received much attention and resulted in a City Council motion directing an LAPD report on police activity and the resulting investigation. It also stirred a Storm the Bastille ride to City Hall, three visits to the Police Commission, and claims filed with the LAPD Inspector General. But it did not result in a court case.

This is why cyclists need the Cyclists' Bill of Rights. The CBR has picked up endorsements from the City Council, from the City's Bicycle Advisory Committee and from neighborhood councils around LA. The CBR claims as right #4 "Cyclists have the right to the full support of our judicial system and the right to expect that those who endanger, injure or kill cyclists be dealt with to the full extent of the law."

Now is the time for the cycling community to embrace the Cyclists' Bill of Rights
and to insist that it be included, as written, in LA's Draft Bike Plan, just released and already under attack for having a 42 day window for public participation and not using imperative language that will support the rights of cyclists on the streets of Los Angeles.

Pay close attention to what's happening in City Council, in the Courts and, most of all, on the Streets!

The largest and most expensive police building in the United States is about to be dedicated and as the world watches, the LAPD's ignorance of basic Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) standards will be revealed. The new headquarters are located across the street from LA's City Hall and the 10-story, 500,000-square-foot building has a beautiful open plaza featuring drought resistant plants and a zen garden theme that creates a sense of calm in the middle of the busy and congested city center. It also features a bike parking area that violates basic CPTED standards as well as simple bike parking standards.

CPTED is the simple philosophy that crime can be prevented by designing an environment so that criminal behavior is not supported by hiding places, blocked vision and isolation. The LAPD headquarters have installed bike racks that are as far from the front door as possible, to the left and out of sight, around the corner and blocked by nine large planters and surrounded by a wall that would hide a bike thief who was working on the bikes. Topping off the poor design is the existence of a 8' by 8' setback in the wall, creating an ideal hiding place. As for the racks themselves, they are positioned so tightly that anybody parking a bike there has a ready alibi for handling other bikes because they simply don't fit, falling far short of the basic standards established by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals.

The ultimate irony in this is that the LADOT is also across the street and they, along with City Planning,  are in the process of developing the Draft Bike Plan for 2009 which would replace the 2002 Bike Plan. Both Bike Plans have bike parking standards and even go so far as to give the LADOT responsibility for communicating these standards to other city departments.

A simple visit to a park, to a library, to a fire station, to a regional City Hall, to Parker Center is enough to demonstrate that there is no citywide standard for something as simple as bike parking, all while the City has a person in charge of Bike Parking.

One might forgive some of the old wheel bender "toast" racks or the useless "wave" racks or the simple inverted U racks that get installed incorrectly, rendering them useless and serving only to remind cyclists that they simply don't belong. But as the City of Los Angeles prepares to hit the spotlight and to dedicate the most enormous and expensive monument to modern crime prevention, it seems sad that they forgot to consider CPTED.

The area just to the west of the plaza is the wrong location for the bike racks. They belong no more than 50' from the main entrance, they must be visible to those in the lobby, to those passing by and to the guests who visit the LAPD headquarters. They must be safe, convenient and secure. It's not just about bikes any more, it's about the LAPD's reputtion.

(update: The LA Bike Working Group event to review the Bike Plan has had to change time and venue.  The new location and time is Saturday, 2pm, at the Hollywood Adventist Church, 1711 N. Van Ness Ave., Hollywood, CA 90028.  We’ll be in the Fellowship Hall on the NW side of the parking lot.)

The Bike Writers Collective is calling up the LA Bike Working Group to take on LA's Draft Bike Plan, reviewing it, discussing it, and then working together to make it a powerful visionary document that supports the rights of cyclists on the streets of Los Angeles. All LA cyclists are invited to join in as the spirit of Government 2.0 takes over the Los Angeles City College Faculty Lounge at 1pm this Saturday, October 17, 2009.

The Draft Bike Plan was released on September 24th and the comment period is scheduled to close on November 6th, a window of 42 days for public participation. This is the first of many objectionable elements to the Draft Bike Plan and the City's idea of civic engagement. The LA Bicycle Advisory Committee voted unanimously to "demand" that the comment period be extended until Jan 8, 2010. The Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils also voted unanimously to support the fight for an extension of the comment period. Now it's up to the cycling community to prepare those comments.

Riding a bike in Los Angeles has always been a demonstration of self-sufficiency and independence. At first it simply meant carrying a spare tube, some tools and a pump. Somewhere along the way it grew to include carrying a pocket guide to the law, some key phone numbers and some bail money. Then the Department of DIY took things into their own hands and now the cycling community finds themselves confronted with the fact that if they want a decent Bike Plan, they're going to have to make it themselves.

Cyclists can take a look at the complaints and the criticism of the Draft Bike Plan, from LAStreetsBlog and again on LAStreetsblog to CityWatchLA to WestsideBikeSide to BikeGirl. But the most important thing they can do is to take a look at the Draft Bike Plan, (editor's note: If you want to compare the "original" maps from earlier this summer with the current ones that were quietly downgraded, you can find the original maps here.) download it to their laptop and then to ride over to the LA Bike Working Group and to dig in. We'll start as a group then we'll break into smaller groups and we'll work through the plan and create a vision for Los Angeles, by cyclists for cyclists.

Portland is currently going through the same Bike Plan update process as Los Angeles and they have 11 Working Groups, 1 Steering Committee and 1 Technical Advisory Committee, all working together to ensure that the Bike Plan is a robust document that represents the desires of the cycling community. Somehow the City of LA got consultants from Portland but not the spirit of community nor the commitment to an open and engaging process. Now is LA's chance to change that and to create a Bike Plan that truly supports cyclists and their rights on the streets of Los Angeles.

LA Bike Working Group, 1 pm on Saturday the 17th of October, 2009. LACC Faculty Lounge, right in the center of the campus which is right in the center of LA. To plan your visit via public transportation, go to metro.net. The Red Line drops you off right by the College at Santa Monica & Vermont.

On Wednesday evening, Zócalo will host an evening entitled "The Curse of Oil" at the Skirball Center
and featuring a discussion with Peter Maass, New York Times Magazine
writer and author of Crude World, all in a demonstration of sublime
irony or in a ridiculous display of complete disconnect.

Zócalo
has a tremendous track record for bringing brilliant guests and
invigorating topics to the community, hosting films, discussions,
panels and presentations in a wide variety of venues.

In honor
of Wednesday’s subject matter which will take a look at the unhappiness
that oil-producing nations experience as a result of the oil
production, from Nigeria to Venezuela to Angola, Zócalo has selected a
venue that is inhospitable to those who elect to travel free of the
"Curse of Oil!"

The Skirball Center is a wonderful facility but
it is located in a location that is difficult to walk to, challenging
to ride to, fairly inconvenient to those who travel by mass transit and
is promoted with the promise of free parking. In other words, bring a
motor vehicle. Burn some fuel, park for free, embrace the irony, gnash
your teeth as we examine the injustice of oil production and then burn
some more fuel to get home. Your awareness is all that is needed to
change the world, not a shift in your behavior, just a wee bit of guilt
as you tool down Sepulveda Boulevard in your fossil fuel burning motor
vehicle.

Zócalo is a Spanish word that means Public Square. We know that LA is lacking in
public space that would qualify as a "public square" but surely Zócalo
could have done better, especially for a program that promises to
"explore the consequences of gas-guzzling, the paradox of plenty, and
how to cure our addiction to oil."

I love the Zócalo
programming and have enjoyed a screening of The Garden at the Laemmle
Music Hall, an evening with Tom Vanderbilt at the Actor’s Gang, and
panel discussions at the Central Library and at the Endowment Center,
all easily accessible to those on foot, to those who ride bikes, to
those who travel by mass transit and even to those who arrive in motor
vehicles. The Zócalo Public Square is a wonderful organization and it
hurts to criticize them, almost as much as it hurts to watch them
commit the gaffe of the oil-addicted.

I expect this from City
Hall, from our elected officials, from the Department of Neighborhood
Empowerment, even from the Metro but to have Zócalo host an event on
oil-addiction and then host it in an environment that favors the
oil-addicted and is inhospitable to the point of absurdity to those who
dare to put down the oil is simply unacceptable.

Zócalo, meet us
at One Gateway, the Endowment Center, Union Station. Offer transit
passes instead of free parking, host this event at a venue with a well
lit sidewalk that encourages pedestrians. Make it a standard to host
your events at locations with bike parking. Stop with the free auto
parking and walk toward the light!

Santa Monica's AltCar Expo made it crystal clear, from a distance and in the parking lot, "The Car is King" and all else receives a token gesture and comes in a distant second.

I attended the 4th Annual AltCar Expo misunderstanding the concept and expected to find "Alternatives-to-the-Car" at the Expo, thinking that the promise of "Alternative Fuel and Transportation" would entail some shift in the auto-centric focus but I was wrong.

Attendees to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium event were promised cheap parking and upon arrival were greeted with abundant opportunities to test drive "alternative-cars" including automobiles that ran on electricity, hydrogen, cooking oil, good intentions and high-hopes. People lined up as beautiful men and women plied them with data and promises and assurances that by driving these beautiful "AltCars" they would seriously change the world. Immediately.

Hidden behind a bus and a large truck and at the very back of the parking lot was an area reserved for the "Alternatives-to-the-Car" such as the Segway, the electric bicycles and other options that were obviously secondary and obligatory and not even close to worthy of headliner status. Such was the priority of the Expo.

The LA Greensters, Hollywood's first all pedal powered transpo team, had a "double-wide" booth which Ron "the Sherpa" Durgin and Jeremy Grant turned into Park[ing] Booth, recreating the park that the LOAD[ing] Zone team hauled across LA as part of the Park[ing] Day LA celebration. Park[ing] Booth screened videos including Reel Sustainable, a documentary about sustainable film production, Park[ing] Day LA and the Crenshaw Crush, a Greenster organized discovery bike ride in the Crenshaw District.

We had a great time in "the Annex" and the folks that stopped by Park[ing] Booth were tickled to hear of the LA Greensters, the see the Xtracycles on display and to hang out in the Park[ing] Booth and to watch videos that demonstrated that the bike was a serious option for moving gear, for shopping, and for all of the basic transportation needs that come up in a community.

Bravo! All the congestion but without the pollution.

I took a lap to get the lay of the land and then I took a much slower lap and once I had dispensed with the automobiles, I found several non-vehicle booths tucked into the main room. The Clif Bar booth is always a favorite and although I was a wee bit jealous that they were in the main room while the LA Greensters were in "the Annex", I was happy to take advantage of their wares.

I came across a booth that featured a motor vehicle and I almost slipped right by until I realized they weren't promoting the vehicle but were instead washing it without using water. The Lucky Earth company sells a non-toxic, dye free, cleaning solution that is sprayed on your dirty vehicle and with a "spritz, spritz" and a "wipe, wipe" leaves behind a sparkling clean car with no wasted water. When my mild interest was met with an offer of a bottle, I declined and explained that I had no car to wash. They immediately switched bottles and gave me "Bike Wash" demonstrating very clearly that if these people were hosting the Metro's booth, there would be more people riding mass transit.

Lemonade, the catering company, got in the swing of things and enticed the "green" crowd to pay more for less by positioning a large poster at the beginning of the lounge that dramatized the impact of methane vs. the impact of auto emissions, positioning guilt as the appetizer for the vegan-fare that served as penance for the supplicants.

Lest there be any confusion, let me clarify, Ed Begley Jr. is still the reigning Rock Star of the Green Revolution and there were two booths proudly displaying a life-sized cutout of Ed, demonstrating that there are two kinds of green products on the market. Those that enrich Ed and those that don't. Ed was selling a system that reduced "phantom-power" waste and promised to reduce utility bills by 25% and Ed was selling a water system that promised to provide clean water. It was good to see Ed and I thoroughly enjoyed his water, especially since it was delivered in a cup that appeared to be plastic but was actually made from corn starch and was bio-degradable. I was thirsty so I drank a few glasses of water but I drank quickly, worried that the cup would start to fade on me as I drank. It all worked out and I was again in Ed's debt!

It was quickly apparent that there were three "castes" at the AltCar Expo with the "Alternative Car" in first position, the "Green Products and Services" in second position and the "Alternatives to the Car" in third position. Once I was clear on the lay of the land and on the structure, I settled in and simply invited folks to visit the "Annex" which I rebranded as the "VIP" room and things picked up accordingly at the Park[ing] Booth.

Sometime during the afternoon on Friday, I noticed an increase in the number of "men in suits" making repetitious laps around the facility and it dawned on me that it was time to go into "Guv mode." We tidied up our booth and repositioned our selves, spreading out and putting DJ Chickenleather in a lead position, now very grateful for the Lucky Earth bike wash!

Sure enough, just as the Expo closed to the public and just as the staff for the Metro, the Big Blue Bus and all of the other "clock in an go to work in a booth" folks had left the Expo Hall, a dozen large black vehicles pulled up and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped into the Main Room of the AltCar Expo and the show began. Booth by booth, car by car, the Guv strolled through the Expo, surrounded by an entourage that started off as a group of individuals but within minutes had taken on amorphous qualities and began to move an a singular entity featuring the head of the Guv and then two dozen feet, two dozen hands and a half-dozen cameras flashing at regular intervals.

Governor Schwarzenegger visited every booth featuring a car, a generator, a battery, a cable, and anything else related to moving motor vehicles, demonstrating the traditional commitment to the personal motor vehicle and the complete disconnect from the larger challenge of getting people out of cars and of providing transportation alternatives. The Governor spent close to an hour visiting the booths in the main room and he was methodical, almost Austrian, in his up-down, back and forth, survey of the AltCar Expo. Then the pace quickened and it was apparent that the Governor's visit was ending and the entourage headed toward the exit.

In a demonstration of the disproportionate energy and attention that is dedicated to traditional auto-centric transportation vs. alternative transportation, Governor Swarzenegger spent 55 minutes looking under the hoods of electric and hydrogen vehicles and two minutes talking alternative transportation. Of course, I'm grateful for those two minutes, especially because he spent them talking to the LA Greensters!

As the Yukons outside idled and Santa Monica's air quality dipped, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was introduced to the LA Greensters, Hollywood's first all pedal-powered transportation team, featured in Reel Sustainable, the documentary that asks the hard question, "Can Hollywood produce films sustainably?" The LA Greensters demonstrated that the answer is yes by hauling all grip and electric, camera and audio gear on Xtracycles and with trailers, supporting the full shoot from shopping at farmers markets to all production runs, using only bicycles.

The Governor smiled and nodded, said "Great!" and I'm convinced that for a moment he contemplated ditching the entourage and instead hanging out with the LA Greensters. Maybe next time!

LA’s Draft Bike Plan is a huge document of thin ambition, that relies
on controversy over process to distract from the fact that it lacks
vision, it lacks substance, and it lacks the teeth necessary to bring
about any change

The Draft Bike Plan was released last week, an hour before the end of
day on the eve of furlough Friday, giving city staff the opportunity to
"drop and run" and providing a three-day cooling off period before they
had to answer for the long overdue, hotly contested and controversial
document.

Commissioned in December of 2007, the Bike Plan is part of LA’s
Transportation Plan which is an element of the city’s General Plan. As
the consultants so eloquently explained during the community workshops
during March of 2008 that kicked off the Bike Plan process, the Bike
Plan is a critical funding document that must be updated in order to
qualify for funding. As for positioning it as a powerful visionary
document with implementation teeth, city staff have never expressed
such ambition.

The limited opportunity for robust community involvement at the onset,
the long, dark and silent period of time when the plan went overdue,
the release of Bike Plan maps that positioned "infeasible" as a
standard for the future of LA bikeways and the promise of another
limited public access comment period have all fueled great gnashing of
teeth and provided great fodder for the blogs.

Now that the Draft Bike Plan has been released we can evaluate it and I
contend that it fails on three levels, based on content, based on
process, and based on commitment.

CONTENT:

Missing from the Draft Bike Plan is the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights, a vision document that has picked
up endorsement from neighborhood councils and community groups
throughout Los Angeles, working its way to the City’s Transportation
Committee where staff was directed to include it in the city’s Bike
Plan. It is missing. In its place is a plaintive whimper of a vision
that simply asks for consideration. At the Federal and State levels,
Equality is positioned as the foundation of mobility planning but here
in Los Angeles, cyclists can look forward to a future based on
"consideration."

Long Beach, by way of comparison, has a Bike Plan that opens boldly by
stating that the City of Long Beach "Consider every street in Long
Beach as a street that bicyclists will use." It continues by
establishing a policy to integrate its bikeways facilities with
surrounding communities, a significant commitment given the fact that
LA County cyclists have 88 municipalities to traverse and synchronicity
is important if cycling is to be a viable transportation choice.

Los Angeles also positions integration with surrounding communities but
seems to feel a stronger kinship with Portland than with Long Beach.
Portland uses colored bike paths to indicate conflict, Long Beach is
famous for its green bike lanes and Sharrows which use the coloring to
indicate preferred position. Given a choice, Los Angeles integrated
with Portland, giving credence to an earlier criticism that the Bike
Plan should have been developed by local consultants and with a local
sensitivity.

From the missing Cyclists’ Bill of Rights to the boiler-plate data and
specs, the Bike Plan not only misses the big picture but it also fails
to establish itself as the authoritative document that could be used to
settle some of the minor Bikeways controversies that have arisen of
late in Los Angeles.

For example, are Bike Paths for the exclusive use of cyclists or are
they simply misnamed mixed-use paths that are off-limits to motor
vehicles? Are bike lanes open to mopeds and if so, up to what size
engine is permitted on a bike lane? Is the concept of wrong-way cycling
on a sidewalk valid and is it legal to ride a bike in the crosswalk?

The
Draft Bike Plan does demonstrate a bit of creativity, unfortunately
it’s creative accounting. By using the collective term "Bikeways" which
includes Bike Paths, Bike Lanes, Bike Routes, Bike-Friendly and Good
Wishes, the Draft Bike Plan can claim a significant improvement over
the old plan. But apples to apples, LA’s old Bike Plan had 452 miles of
existing and proposed Bike
Paths and Bike Lanes. The Draft Bike Plan now has 400 miles of existing
and proposed
Bike Paths and Bike Lanes. That’s a decrease. Adding Bike Routes and
Bike-Friendly streets to the mix is bad math and engineers should know
better. The simple fact is, LA slid backward and Topanga Canyon
Boulevard was designated for bike lanes on the old plan, the
engineering and funding was in place and the LADOT rejected it,
electing to downgrade it to "infeasible" and finally "possible" but in
reality "never."

From the vision to the details, LA’s Draft Bike Plan is hundreds of
pages of very pretty, shelf-ready Bike Plan, destined to collect dust.

PROCESS:

Dr. Alex Thompson of WestsideBikeSIDE
wasted no time, calling the LADOT out for the short comment period that
prevented Neighborhood Council involvement, simply by shortcutting a
process  that essentially requires a full month cycle for committee
meetings and then a full month cycle for Board Meetings, simply to
offer feedback. Thompson takes them to task simply for failing to
create a process that accommodates the 89 Neighborhood Councils who
purportedly advise the City of Los Angeles on issues that efect the
quality of life in their communities.

BikeGirl
jumped in calling the Draft Bike Plan "Infeasible" and pointing out
that the four public workshops fail to reach the cyclists of LA,
completely ignoring her community. This complaint echoes that of
Councilman Ed Reyes who asked last year why the Eastside wasn’t
involved, actually introducing a motion to City Council in an effort to
connect with the process.

GreenLAGirl
(editor’s note, look for Siel’s day running Streetsblog in a couple of weeks) entered the fray, calling out Thompson and BikeGirl, challenging them
to deal with the process and focus on evaluating the Draft Bike Plan.
Siel offers some advise on dicing the cumbersome task of evaluating
hundreds of pages of technical content, proposing that the solution
might simply be to request more meetings and dividing the duties
amongst a team of cyclists.

Again, the brouhaha over process echoes the debate that took place last
year when the City Council’s Transportation Committee weighed in on the
runaway Draft Bike Plan. Chairperson Wendy Greuel and Councilman Bill
Rosendahl have both expressed conviction that a flawed process results
in a flawed product, a position that has grown stronger as time
progressed.

Ted Rogers’ (editor’s note: Ted will be taking his turn at the Streetsblog handlebars next week) BikinginLA
gives moderation a shot and concludes with a hopeful note saying
"Meanwhile, I’m marking my calendar for the West L.A. meeting on
October 28. And I hope to see a room filled with informed and
passionate cyclists."

Through it all, it should be noted that the LADOT is in the process of
developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Neighborhood
Councils in which 60 days is the minimum period of time for comment on
small projects and the amount of time increases with the significance
of the proposal or plan. It is telling that the Draft Bike Plan is
given less than the minimum time, giving it less significance than
simple neighborhood improvements or variances.

The Draft Bike Plan refers to "respect and consideration" as the
essence of the vision and it is imperative that the City of Los Angeles
bring those words to life now, not down the road after the Draft Bike
Plan has gone through the process.

APPLICATION:

The value of LA’s Draft Bike Plan is in its ultimate impact on the
streets of Los Angeles but we have little hope that real change will
occur and, in fact, we have evidence that it is a document with no
teeth carrying little commitment from even its departments of origin.
The same folks who have been shepherding the Bike Plan to the dotted
finish line apparently failed to notice the huge Police Headquarters
being build across from City Hall over the last few years. All the talk
of bikeways amenities, support for cyclists, steps taken by the city to
encourage cycling as a viable transportation choice are contradicted by
the simple fact that nobody from City Planning of the Department of
Transportation found the courage to simply cross the street to offer
some advise to the LAPD on the positioning of their bike racks.

The Draft Bike Plan is loaded with pretty colored diagrams on bike
parking along with descriptions of appropriate and safe and practical
positioning for bike racks. If Planning and the LADOT were shy about
relying on the Draft Bike Plan they could have offered up the
Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals (APBP) standards
for bike parking. But they didn’t, leaving the Los Angeles Police
Department to figure it out on their own. Granted, one would think that
the LAPD would be familiar with Crime Prevention Through Environmental
Design (CPTED) but such is not the case. The bike racks are as far from
the front entrance as possible, around the corner and behind a wall, in
an area that offers refuge to someone who would want to hide and wait
for a victim.

Of course, this is Police Headquarters! Only a fool would commit a
crime so brazenly. Perhaps the same bike thief who stripped the bikes
at City Hall east while they were parked just feet from the from doors
but around the corner and out of the eyeline of the armed General
Services officers who ensure the safety and security of City Hall East!

LA’s Bike Plan has long given the LADOT the responsibility to
communicate to the city departments simple bike parking standards. To
this day the Library Department, the Fire Department, City Hall, Rec
and Parks, and the 45 City Departments that compete with each other for
autonomy can’t agree on how to position a bike rack if they even have
bike racks.

This does not speak well for the Draft Bike Plan’s ability to serve as
the platform that will bring together the dozen departments that have a
piece of the street that the cyclists of Los Angeles, hereafter known
as transportation solutions, must navigate in order to get home safely
at the end of the day.

Conclusion: LA’s Draft Bike Plan is thin on content of
substance, is the product of an ongoing flawed process, and avoids at
all turns any attempt to position itself as a document of change with a
real plan for implementation. It is an exercise in civic enragement
designed to qualify the City of Los Angeles for Bikeways funding that
will then simply fall into the co-mingled coffers of the LADOT, a
department that has failed to establish or support cycling as a viable
transportation choice in the City of Los Angeles.

"See you on the Streets!"

Sunday's Crenshaw Crush drew cyclists from all over the city to Leimert Park, home of the Drum Circle, for a bike ride that introduced riders to the history, the culture, the politics and the people of the Crenshaw District.

Aubrey Provost, the 8th Council District representative on the City's Bicycle Advisory Committee, has spent years sitting in policy meetings discussing plans and proposals and finally he decided that the best thing he could do to improve cycling in Los Angeles was to simply get people on their bikes. He enlisted the support of the LA Greensters and the Crenshaw Crush was on.

A Crush is a great big hug and that's what 75 cyclists gave the Crenshaw Community as Ron "the Sherpa" Durgin of the LA Greensters led a 20+ mile tour that started with the Florence and Normandie epicenter of the LA Riots where Aubrey gave his first hand account of one of the lowest points in LA's history. It was a sobering moment that set up the highlights of hope and success that followed.

The cyclists included the East Side Bike Club, LA Grange, Real Ryda's, Major Motion  and Cynergy Cycles along with the LA Greensters  and a load of unaffiliated but new best friends, some from far away and others from down the street. They ranged in age from 7 to 70 and in skill level from beginner to core.

Jeremy Grant of the LA Greensters led a poker ride and at every fork in the road where Ron took the flat route, Jeremy would lead the poker riders on a mad hill climb, five in all, adding miles and hills and the Baldwin Dam to their journey. Somehow they caught the flatlanders at the pit stops every time.

Along the way, the Crenshaw Crush got some miles in before stopping at USC's Exposition Park and the Rose Garden. Aubrey regaled us with tales of days gone by when the Rose Garden was a race track and the uptown/downtown social center as well as the days when it almost became a parking lot. We took off and the Poker Riders disappeared while we took the long slow route to Crenshaw.

The Crush at rest. Photo: Stephen Box/Facebook

Three weeks ago I asked the world for help in fulfilling Rebel Without A Car Production's commitment to producing a film sustainably. Our goal was to shoot locally and in partnership with the community.

It all seemed so doable when we were brainstorming and imagining a world of "Big Stories told with Little Footprints!" but when the production got going and I realized that all the grip & electric, all the camera and audio, all the food and all of the production supplies would need to be transported on bikes, I began to sweat.

There was a brief moment when I imagined myself riding solo through the streets of Hollywood in the middle of the night, laboring to keep the production moving, all the while cursing Enci's commitment to shooting "At What Price" sustainably.

That's how I found myself posting a video, calling for help, hoping that someone, somewhere would come and join me. In a moment of optimism, we named our substitute Teamsters "The Greensters" and the journey began.

Time was running out and I received a couple of emails, a couple of calls and a few nods and expressions of interest. I was happy for any interest, I was hopeful for help, and I was under pressure!

The day of reckoning came and history was made in East Hollywood!

Greensters showed up from all over, Beverly Hills, Orange County, Highland Park, Silver Lake, K-Town, Pasadena, Hermosa Beach, Marina Del Rey. They arrived on Xtracycles, they pulled wagons and trailers, they came on bikes of all shapes and sizes. DJ Chickenleather, who usually gets up at the crack of noon, even on his day off, arrived with a homemade bamboo trailer that looked suspiciously like a re-purposed Pier One patio display. It was all good!

We were a team. A team of Greensters and we had some history to make. Oh yeah, and a film.

The Greensters proceeded to pickup the rentals for the film shoot, getting in line with the Teamsters and their Studio trucks.  The Greensters moved a lot more quickly and a lot more efficiently. They put the Teamsters to shame. (One guy with a big truck is no match for a swarm of Greensters who divvy up the load and "Ride Loaded!")

Ron "the Sherpa" Durgin served as Transpo Captain and planned the routes, organized the Greensters and led the convoy down Santa Monica Boulevard and to the location in East Hollywood, riding an Xtracycle loaded with gear and a the filmmaker who documented the journey!

Jeremy Grant also rode an Xtracycle as did Erik Knutzen and by the end of the production, they had quite a few converts. I had anticipated more cyclists with trailers and wagons but the Xtracycles proved to be the transpo solution of the future. No matter how we started off, within moments the Xtracycles were at the front of the pack while DJ and I rode caboose, debated philosophy and interviewed each other.

Josef Bray-Ali of Flying Pigeon LA graciously donated the use of a Bakfiet and an Xtracycle and Beth and Tracey put them to good work. Monster Kat of Handmade Store on a Bike loved what we were doing and set us up with two of the trailers she uses for her pedal-powered store.

The Greensters came from all walks and with different perspectives and that added another layer of sustainability to the endeavor. Laura is a Film Producer, Dale is a Transportation Engineer, Wai is a Marine Biologist, Shant is a LEED Contractor, Feather is a Chef, and Allan & Herminia are ZeroWaste Consultants. Through it all, the Greensters shared a passion for creating community and challenging the status quo.

During the shoot, the Greensters shopped local Farmers markets and the crew was nourished with fresh food, prepared at Camp Rebel, all with a zero waste commitment. Production was supported at all times with cyclists such as Ricardo who were quicker to get around the neighborhood on bikes than if they had been using cars.

Kimby Caplan in Bakfiet while the Greensters are lending a hand. Photo by Brian Smith.

Riding around Hollywood was loads of fun but the true test came when late at night it was time for a company move. The Camera Crew were a little under-impressed as they watched us roll out, ready to move all the equipment to an exterior location a couple of blocks away. "Time is money! It's getting late! What about power?"

In less time that it takes to pry a Teamster out of a Motorhome, we had moved everything including the solar-powered LibertyPak generators and the Nila lights and we were ready to shoot. Josef's Bakfiet served as camera-bike and the DP sat in the bucket with her camera and a contented look on her face as Flying Pigeon LA put another dolly grip out of work, replaced by a Greenster!

We had a great time, we challenged the transpo paradigm of "the Industry" and Hollywood didn't fall of its axis.

At the end of the shoot, Enci had her film. That, in and of itself, is an accomplishment. But we went one better. We did it sustainably, with a zero waste commitment and by overcoming the two biggest obstacles that prevent Hollywood from doing the right thing; Transportation and Energy.

As for the Greensters, the next objective is to lay down the "Sustainability Manifesto for the Industry."

The challenge is on!

(Stephen Box has been leading the charge for a better bike plan on Metro trains than the "two bikes per car " rule that was proposed earlier this month.  In this post he updates us on his efforts to build consensus for a better plan.  Over the weekend he got a bevy of support from the candidates running for the Los Angeles City Council CD2)