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.

(Update: We're getting word that these racks have also popped up on Flower Street and Ventura Boulevard.  One person was so excited he wants to know where to send a "thank you" note to LADOT.  If you're the first to send in a picture of meters in an area there's a Streetfilms T-Shirt in it for you.  We'll post a composite series on Friday)

In my first post of 2009, I asked readers what they wanted me to cover and discuss in the new year.  One reader pointed out that with the city's change to meterless parking, a lot of bike parking was removed.  It may have taken half a year, but the LADOT has installed fifty-two of what their calling "meter hitches" on former parking meter polls on Hollywood Boulevard between LaBrea and Vine to create new bike parking. 

These new "hitches" have been used in other cities as they modernize their street parking so cyclists have as many places to park their bikes as before.  LADOT implied at last week's Transportation Committee meeting that hundreds more of these "hitches" are just waiting to be put up.

A statement from Garcetti's office is available after the jump.  If you see more of these racks pop up around the city please, let us know.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT GARCETTI ANNOUNCES NEW BICYCLE PARKING IN HOLLYWOOD

HOLLYWOOD -- In an effort to help Angelenos choose alternative modes of
transportation, Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti today
announced the installation of more than 50 new bicycle racks on
Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea and Vine.  Working with the city’s
Department of Transportation, Garcetti developed a pilot program that
transformed into bicycle racks parking meters made obsolete by the
city’s new Park-and-Pay system.

“This new program will provide more bicycle parking to make it easier
for residents and visitors who want to use bikes to get around the
neighborhood,” said Council President Garcetti.  “We want to make it
as easy and attractive as possible for people to ride a bike rather than
drive a car, especially for short trips.”

To expand bicycle parking capacity, the Los Angeles Department of
Transportation is installing “meter hitches” that convert the poles
of former parking meters into bike racks.  The racks have a central
vertical pole with two half circles extending outward on either side so
that multiple bicycle locks can clasp to the pole. On top of the pole is
a small metal sign of a bicycle, denoting the pole as bicycle parking.
(See attached photo.)  Fifty-two meter hitches were installed last night
as part of the first phase of the program.

"LADOT is encouraging people to stay healthy, and reduce traffic
congestion along with pollution, by taking advantage of the new bicycle
racks in Hollywood. Be sure to ride safely" said Rita L. Robinson, LADOT
General Manager.

Back in February, we announced that Council President Eric Garcetti, the Bike Writer's Collective and the CRA were sponsoring a bike rack design contest.  Earlier today, Garcetti's office announced the winner, Forester Rudolph’s SpokesQuotes rack.

Ok, I'm going to admit it took me more than a minute to figure out the design before Garcetti's staff sent me a draft of the design.  I think the coolest part of it is that each rack will have a famous quotation or culutural truism to reflect the diversity of East Hollywood.  In the picture above, the words "Rice is not cooked with only words" are engraved on the rack.

So, where will the racks actually go?  Assuming they get approved by various city agencies, approximately two dozen bicycle racks will be constructed and installed on Hollywood Boulevard between Western and Vermont as part of the comprehensive East Hollywood Streetscape Plan scheduled to begin later this year

The problem of insufficient bike parking isn't a new one for Angelenos and isn't limited just to Los Angeles.  Even cities such as New York, which installed 1,377 new bike racks last year is struggling to find adequate bike parking as the replacement of old parking meters with meterless parking is removing thousands of unofficial parking spaces from city streets. Here in Los Angeles, the problem in finding enough places to safely park your bike is well-chronicled.

In another sign that Metro is really beginning to "get it" when it comes to the importance of providing options to multi-modal commuters, Metro is planning on installing hundreds of bike racks and bike lockers at stations along the Orange, Red and Blue Lines. From a report to the Metro Board:

In FY 09, this procurement would add 136 lockers to our system at the following 9 high demand stations: North Hollywood, Wilshire/Verrnont and Universal Metro Red Line stations; Balboa, Reseda, Woodley and Sepulveda Metro Orange Line stations; Norwalk Metro Green Line station; and Fillmore Metro Gold Line station. Also to be added are up to 150 bicycle racks at the Metro Blue Line Imperial-Wilmington Station, Metro Red Line Hollywood/Vine and other stations where rack usage is high. In FY 10, we would add 88 additional bicycle lockers to 4 stations: El Monte and Artesia Transit Centers, Memorial Park Metro Gold Line Station, and another rail station to be determined.

Of course, while I count thirteen stations that will see parking improvements in this plan, we shouldn't stop advocating for better bike parking at any Metro station that has overflowing bike racks or parking that is so far off the beaten path that it is unsafe. In the meantime, let's help Metro out with their planning for 2010: Does anyone have a suggestion for the other Metro station which will get a major boost in bike parking in 2010?

The winner of the recent bike contest in New York. Can you do better?

There are few things that will turn me off more quickly to a place than a lack of bike parking or other bike facilities.  Recently, the utilitarian bike rack has undergone a face lift.  Be they the provocative designs of David Byrne, or the design contests that are sweeping the nation, the bicycle rack is becoming a cultural showpiece, a chance for people to think beyond waves, and U's.

Now, Los Angeles has its chance.  City Council President Eric Garcetti, the Bike Writer's Collective, Community Redevelopment Agency and the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition are sponsoring a "design a bicycle rack contest."  The winner will receive $2,000 and see their design pop-up at at least two dozen racks around East Hollywood.

The deadline for proposals is 3 P.M. on Friday, March 6 and should be either emailed to Helen.Leung@lacity.org  or mailed to:

Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti
East Hollywood Bike Rack Competition
Attn: Helen Leung
5500 Hollywood Blvd, 4th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90029

For more information on the contest, read the contest rules and regulations which can be found here.

Back at the start of the month, I asked readers for more story ideas and reader KG noticed that bike parking in the city was growing more scarce as parking meters were being removed for the new computerized parking plan.  So, we asked the LADOT if they what they were planning to do to make sure cyclists still had a safe, convenient safe to park.

It turns out the LADOT was a step ahead of us.  LADOT representative Michelle Mowery tells us that the leadreship in the LADOT is already behind a plan to convert fomer parking meters to bike parking as pictured above.  How long until we start to see this conversion of old meters could be as soon as the end of February.  If someone sees them on the street before I do, drop me a line and a picture and there's a Streetfilms t-shirt in it for you.

And now, for something completely different.

While a lot of the local news recently has been negative, let's take a second to forget our local issues for a moment and celebrate a new innovation in bicycle parking coming to us from the Land of the Rising Sun.

The above video shows a new, automated, bicycle parking system where riders place their bicycle in the track and it is taken in a machine and stored underground.  It takes about ten seconds to retrieve your bicycle when you wish it returned, which I guess could lead to some delays at rush hour, but is actually less  time than it takes me to free my bicycle after shackeling it to a bike parking area.  A poster showing how the storage works underground can be found after the jump.

Image via dannychoo.com

One of the great things about the Streetsblog Network is the way it can connect people in different parts of the country so that they can share solutions to livable streets problems. So maybe someone out there will be able to help Austin Bike Blog figure out what cyclists in that city should do when parking meters begin to be replaced by electronic parking kiosks:

A repurposed parking meter in Baltimore. Photo by bosconet via Flickr.

Should Austin try to convert some of the removed parking meters to bicycle parking, or should they remove them all and then install more bicycle parking after the fact — and if they do, how long will it take? Are we destined to have a “bicycle parking crisis” for a couple of years while things get sorted out? Will cyclists riot in the street? Will a private entity swoop in and save the day?

Also on the network today, M-Bike in Detroit writes about a Detroit News columnist who started off the year by listing some "fun facts" about auto crashes and fatalities. If you'd like to tell him those facts aren't fun, they've got all the contact info for you.

We'd also like to bring to your attention the National Journal's Transportation "Expert Blog," which puts out a question every week for a group of transpo honchos including government officials and environmentalists. Some of the more high-profile members of the panel, such as California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Oregon congressman Earl Blumenauer, haven't weighed in lately. But a recent question about falling gas prices did elicit responses from such varied sources as NJ Transit Executive Director Rich Sarles and Robin Chase, writer of Streetsblog Network member blog Network Musings and founder of the GoLoco ridesharing network. It's worth checking out.

Photo Taken from Enci's Cell Phone at Red Line Universal Station

As Metro struggles to make room for bikes on their trains, it seems the agency may have another bike issue to deal with:making their rail stations safe and convenient places to store bicycles.

This weekend, the Pasadena Star News reported on the sad trend of bicycles being stolen at Metro facilities, specifically Gold Line Stations, that lack the facilities to properly secure bicycles.  The story has two arcs.  One focuses on the story of a bike advocate who has had four bikes stolen from the Lake Avenue Gold Line Station in Pasadena during the past year, and a story on a four year quest to get bike facilities installed in the station that will end this January.

Unfortunately, the problem with a lack of bike facilities isn't confined to just theft.  As the above picture shows, bikes chained to wave racks in areas away from regular foot traffic provide an easy target for vandals.  Proper statistics for vandalism and theft at Metro stations isn't widely reliable because most people don't know where to report a problem.  Any crime committed on Metro properly should be reported to the county, but most people, myself included until reading this article, would report a theft to the local municipality.

In addition to bike parking areas, Metro will install 300 more lockers county-wide and is examining the costs of having supervised bike storage rooms.  From the sound of it, improved bike facilities can't come soon enough.

No sooner has the news come out that Measure R has officially been passed by voters four weeks ago, the Metro Board of Directors is already moving to begin spending some of that money.  This week's special Metro Board meeting, the first since late October and the last in 2008, has some Measure R proposals and other interesting proposals.

On the Measure R front, the Board will vote on two measures that will allocate the expenditures for the first couple of years of the 30-year funding proposal.  The first proposal by Richard Katz directs Metro staff to immediately begin pricing potential rail yards and maintenance facilities for the rail lines that can be built with Measure R funds.  The second proposal, by Mayor Villaraigosa, directs staff to put together a bus improvement plan to spend the billions of Measure R dollars directed towards bus programs.

Of news to cyclists, Metro is proposing to raise the fees for renting a bike locker from $25 a year to $48.  Metro runs their bike locker program with the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition who assures me this change should not be viewed as Metro looking to increase revenue on the back of cyclists.  It's more a matter that demand for these lockers has increased dramatically in the last year and oftentimes renters aren't using those lockers very often.  It's believed that the higher cost would give pause ot the occasional users, increasing the amount of lockers available to commuters.

Last, a temporary extension of the Sheriff's contract is on the agenda.  There's been a lot of talk online about the value of the sheriff's to Metro security after a Bus Bench blogger was arrested for filming in a public location.

Image: LA Streetsblog/Flickr

Two and a half years after a judge issued an injunction preventing the city from adding any new bicycle infrastructure to its streets, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and the San Francisco Planning Department have released a 1353-page Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on the San Francisco Bicycle Plan. 

At a cost of more than $1 million, the city has attempted to demonstrate in excruciating detail what would seem to be the obvious: better bicycle amenities contribute to increased cycling and an improved environment.

Despite the significant time and money required to produce the tome, Mayor Gavin Newsom struck an optimistic note, citing the proposed addition of 34 miles of bicycle lanes to San Francisco streets—a 75 percent increase over the existing 45 miles of lanes. 

“We’ve accomplished a great deal together, but much work remains to be done to improve the safety and convenience of bicycling,” said Newsom. “I will continue to push for a better bicycling environment as part of my deep commitment to improving the health of our environment, our residents and our city.”

A public hearing on the DEIR has been scheduled for January 8th. The deadline for comments is January 13th. 

While Rob Anderson, the plaintiff in the lawsuit that sparked the injunction, will surely continue his befuddlingly successful crusade (a couple choice jeremiads from his blog: cyclists as a special interest wielding inordinate political power or a frivolous mode of transportation akin to skateboarding), the city assumes the DEIR will be sufficient to lift the injunction. 

“The Planning Department is confident that the DEIR fully satisfies the issues cited in the superior court's injunction and will enable timely implementation of bicycle improvements that will enhance transportation alternatives in San Francisco,” said Planning Director John Rahaim.

What this means practically is a different matter. According to Andy Thornley, program director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC), even if the DEIR is certified by spring and the Bicycle Plan goes before the MTA board shortly thereafter, the 60 projects outlined for immediate implementation likely won't begin until the summer of 2009. 

“The Draft EIR is a very expensive bow-tie that we’re going to attach to the Bike Plan itself.  While it is a big deal, it shouldn't be the only focus. The city needs to build out the Bike Plan as soon as possible."

The injunction held that the previous version of the Bicycle Plan had not received sufficient review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Bicycle Plan DEIR identifies some potentially significant impacts as defined by CEQA affecting traffic congestion, transit operating delays, and loading activities for some project options, particularly along portions of Second Street, Fifth Street, Cesar Chavez Street, Portola Avenue and Masonic Avenue.

Though the city took considerable heat over the summer for revealing at a Board of Supervisors hearing that it had fallen behind its own schedule for releasing the DEIR, the Planning Department delivered on its promise to release it by Thanksgiving. Both advocates and critics of the Bicycle Plan will have plenty to sift through over the long weekend (and likely through the New Year).

Given the timeline of up to five years for completion of the 60 near-term projects in the Bicycle Plan, it is unclear whether Newsom, a likely candidate for governor in 2010, will realize significant bicycle improvements during his last term as mayor.

Photo: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

The Dodgers may be the team knocking on the World Series' door, but the San Francisco Giants have set a record that the Dodgers can only dream of.  The Giants provide safe, convenient, and inexpensive bike parking at least 81 times a year.  Ok, recently it's been only 82 times a year.

Streetfilms reports:

A regulation passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1999 states all events incurring a street closure require monitored bicycle parking if the event anticipates 2000 or more participants. This only makes sense in a city like New York, too. Why not encourage something like this at Madison Square Garden, Yankee or Shea Stadium? Or at the very least, some quality racks in a secure, protected location.

Can you imagine if the City of Los Angeles would pass a regulation such as this?  I would never drive to the Staples Center again!

Car Culture Paradise: 6464 Sunset Blvd.

Across the country, our friends in NY have been reporting on efforts to pass legislation requiring that commercial landlords allow tenants to bring bicycles into the building.  Apparently, we could use such a law here in Los Angeles as well.

Cyclists are reporting increased efforts to keep bicycles out of the places where people work.   One example is the efforts of Paramount Contractors and Development, Inc. building on 6464 Sunset Blvd. has recently told bike commuters who work in the building that they can no longer bring their bikes into the building or park them in the parking garage.  Instead, they are told to park their bikes at the one U-shaped bike rack on the street.  One U-rack.  For roughly 30 daily bike commuters.

The building management, which provides a large parking garage for those who drive to work, argues that it's not their problem that there isn't enough bike parking.  They have repeatedly had security stop cyclists from parking in the car garage and now that cyclists are bringing bikes into the building are threatening to revoke tennant leases.

Unfortunately for Paramount Contractors and Development, they aren't just wrong morally, they may also be in violation of the city's zoning requirement.  Los Angeles' zoning laws require that new commercial property of more than 10,000 sq. feet provide adequate bike parking.  Paramount is in the process of revamping and upgrading the buildings which brings it within the perview of Los Angeles' bike parking requirements.

Picture: Donna Grayson/Flickr