In the summer of 2008, when Streetsblog first announced its "1% for bikes, 1% for peds. campaign" in what would later be known as Measure R, we never thought that a year and a half later we would still be fighting that fight nor that we would be close to a partial victory.  

Tomorrow, the Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee will be discussing how the city will program its share of the Local Return funds from Measure R.  Following the mayor's promise that Los Angeles would set aside a portion of its Measure R funds for non-motorized transportation; the LADOT and Council Members have been living up to Villaraigosa's promise by programming 10% of the city's Local Return funds for these modes in every version of the budget that has come to light.  Building on the campaign launched here last summer, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition has been organizing transportation, public health, and environmental groups to keep the 10% set-aside alive.

However, the process of actually allocating those funds has been a slow one.  It was back in May when Council Members Bernard Parks and Jose Huizar first proposed projects to be funded by Measure R and later in the month when then Transportation Committee Chair Wendy Greuel outline for the city's Measure R share.  Over the next six months, different reports from the Chief Legislative Office have arrived spelling out a dire economic climate and different proposals for the city's Measure R funds.  Tomorrow, the city departments working on the proposed budgets are asking for another sixty day extension.  A copy of the proposal, with a project list to be funded at the end, can be found here.

So what's the hold-up?  Unfortunately, the sad state of the city's finances have complicated the issue of what to do with a new funding source.  The CLO's report notes that the city is expecting shortfalls in various transportation funds and has to raise a "local match" for some Measure R projects within city limits.

When it comes to raising funds for "local match," the city has to raise 3% of funds for construction of:

• Crenshaw Transit Corridor
• Exposition Boulevard Light Rail Transit
• Green Line Extension to Los Angeles International Airport
• Regional Connector San Fernando Valley 1-405
• Corridor Connection San Fernando Valley
• North-South Rapidways (Canoga Corridor)
• San Fernando Valley East North-South Rapidways Westside Subway Extension

According to the CLO, that comes to a cool $200 million.  Given the mayor's stated goal of completing all transit projects within ten years, the LADOT and Council will be under pressure to front-load transit funding which could lead to a reduced ability to set aside bicycle and pedestrian funds.

In addition, the city is expecting shortfalls from the two transit taxes that make up the bulk of the city's transportation budget which could lead to a delayed time lime for some projects and a combination of fare hikes and service cuts for the D.A.S.H. buses.

On top of that, remember those first motions by Parks and Huizar mentioned above?  Each of those motions directs Measure R funds towards specific projects.  In Parks' case it would fund intersection improvements near the Foshay Learning Center.  Huizar wants further study for the Downtown Streetcar.

Despite all of these projects pulling what are quite honestly a limited amount of Measure R funds, just under $21 million dollars for the current fiscal year, it's honestly surprising that the bicycle/pedestrian set-aside has lasted this long.  Maybe the tide is turning when it comes to setting aside money for non-motorized transportation at 200 Spring Street?  I guess we'll have to wait another 60 days to find out for sure.

The BikeStation in Washington D.C., which provides parking and services for bicyclists who use transit. (Photo: U.S. DOT)

The FTA's new rules, released for public comment on Friday, replace the previous definition of the so-called "structural envelope" surrounding a transit station.

In the past, regulators had tended to use 1,500 feet as the distance which "most people can be expected to safely and conveniently walk to use the transit service." But the Obama administration, stating plainly that the current radius is "too short," has proposed expanding it to a half-mile for pedestrian improvements and three miles for bicycle projects.

In its explanation of the new proposal, the FTA wrote:

The most successful and useful public transportation systems have safe and convenient pedestrian access and provide comfortable waiting areas, all of which encourage greater use.

Distances beyond the walkshed of public transportation stops and stations may in fact be within the range of a short bicycle trip. Providing secure parking and other amenities for bicycles and cyclists at public transportation stops or stations can be less expensive than providing parking for automobiles.

The proposed regulation also codifies a U.S. DOT definition of "livability" that Streetsblog Capitol Hill took note of when it was first mentioned by Transportation Secretary LaHood: "If people don't want an automobile, they don't have to have one."

Pedestrian life downtown. Photo by MarcTonySmith/Flickr

Los Angeles -Long Beach-Santa Ana Metro Area is among the most dangerous communities in the nation for pedestrians, ranking third in the percentage of crashes involving pedestrians and 27th out of the 52 largest metro areas in total pedestrian safety, a new report shows. Unfortunately, the report also shows that our Metro area shows the least political will to correct the problem, ranking in the bottom 10% when it comes to spending funds to protect the most vulnerable road users. The Greater Los Angeles Metro Region ranked fourth from the bottom when it comes to spending money to fix dangerous roads. You can read the full local press release by LA Walks at their blogsite.

The report, Dangerous by Design: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (and Making Great Neighborhoods), ranks America's major metropolitan areas and states according to a Pedestrian Danger Index that assesses how safe they are for walking. An update of the 2004 Mean Streets report, Dangerous by Design was released by Transportation for America and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership.

The report also examined how states and localities are spending federal money that could be used to make the most dangerous streets safer, and found that Los Angeles -Long Beach-Santa Ana Metro Area ranks 48th, spending (only) $0.45 per person. Yet, 26.99% of traffic deaths in the metro area are pedestrians, making the metro area the 3^rd highest rating location in the nation. This percentage is particularly high since only 2.7% of the population walks to work.  In other words, few people commute to work by walking, owing in part to the unsafe nature of our streets, and our governments are not spending nearly enough money to reverse that trend.:

"Los Angeles is where we are in the rankings because we are not investing to protect our citizens from speeding traffic as well as designing and building livable streets in our neighborhoods," said Deborah Murphy, Founder of Los Angeles Walks, "Be it the horrific crash that claimed the lives of two USC students after one was drug for almost 200 yards, or the case of a commuter being slammed by a city-bus in a crosswalk downtown; there are too many crashes every year that point to a dangerous system in need of real investment."

Unfortunately, these types of crashes are all-too frequent. Just last night, a pedestrian was killed by a car while legally crossing the street in a crosswalk in Long Beach.

One small step the City of Los Angeles could make immediately is setting aside a portion of its Measure R Local Return funds for bicycle and pedestrian safety. The City Council Transportation Committee is set to vote on how to spend it's portion of the county-wide transit tax on November 18.

"As Congress prepares to rewrite the nation's transportation law, this report is yet another wake-up call showing why it is so urgent to update our policies and spending priorities," said James Corless, director of Transportation for America.

Angelenos could have a great impact on the debate in Washington, D.C. on how transportation dollars are spent. ⁞ After all, L.A. is the largest city in the home state of Barbara Boxer, the Chair of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Earlier today, Walk Score, the website that ranks areas based on how easy it is to lead a car-lite lifestyle, has taken a big step towards improving its metrics by adding transit data.  As long as a city has google transit, which thankfully Los Angeles now does, you can get a much clearer picture of how easy it would be to ditch your car after moving to a new neighborhood.

The site's usefullness to home buyers and others just looking to move is one of the sites' most useful tools.  Local real estate websites, such as Zip Realty, use Walk Score on their website to help home buyers make decisions.  When we were planning to move to Los Angeles, my wife and I used Walk Score to narrow down the neighborhoods in which we looked for a rental house; so I can vouch for the site's usefulness.  Of course, the site doesn't take into account urban design and safety issues, but between google street view and the LAPD's crime map that information is also readily available.  In other words, Walk Score is a great place to start, but you probably want to do a little more research before signing a lease, a fact Walk Score doesn't try to hide.

Walk Score has a use that they don't advertise, what I call "Livable Streets Trash Talking."  My neighborhood has a Walk Score of 87, which is way higher than the scores for my brother's in Woodland Hills (67), my mom's in Marina Del Rey (71) or my Church's in West L.A. (72.)  Since I work from home, I can also boast that my "office" has a more walkable area than the Flying Pigeon Bike Shop (71) and my wife's office in Brentwood (72).  However, the trophy for having the most walkable community around your office goes to the Bus Rider's Union who edged the Bike Coalition with a score of 98 to 95.

The passage of Metro's Long Range Transportation Plan last week has helped heat up a national conversation about Los Angeles, how it grows, how it moves and the future of our Metropolis.  Of course, Diane Meyer's "World Without a Car" exhibit has people locally thinking outside the auto; but others are picking up the conversation such as the Transport Politic and Think Progress' Matt Yglessias. However, that debate shows us one critical missing link in our transportation planning.

We still don't know how Angelenos move from place to place.  For the most part, we're still reliant on census figures that only ask about commuting trends, traditionally under-count people of lesser means and definately under-count immigrants.  Recently, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, in their most recent report on how the city is going to spend its Measure R funds, reported that combined, 3.6% of Angelenos commute by bicycle or by walking in Los Angeles based on figures provided by the Southern California Association of Governments.  Outside of major projects or reports that require them, the city does not do bicycle or pedestrian counts leaving planners reliant on bad statistics or guesswork based on personal observations and biases.

When commenting to the Council on the report, I wondered how 96.4% of people commute without walking at all; but of course I realize that they are referring to the dominant mode in the commute.  However, that number shouldn't be used as an excuse to under-fund pedestrian improvements.  After all, the city worker that drives from the Valley to the large parking lot to the West of City Hall is reliant on safe crossings to get from his car to the office, just as the dedicated pedestrian is reliant on a series of safe crossings to get from place to place.

But if the city is reliant on census figures that over-count the number of car-reliant transportation trips, then advocates for car alternatives are always going to be behind the game.  For example, my wife is a car commuter when she's not on maternity leave, but I would estimate that less than half of her total trips involve getting in her car.  Trips to the store, park, Farmer's Market, gym, and around the neighborhood are done on foot or on bike.  The census, the data source relied on by the city, completely discounts those trips because it only measures commuter trips.

What do you see? A city transportation study would see one van. Photo: aisipos/Flickr

The situation has become so dire that the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition has begun measuring its own bike counts, and news organizations have begun running their own polls to try and get a picture of what's actually happening on the street.  While a recent poll by the LA Downtown News' results were similar to those completed by City Planning, the unscientific method of asking one's readers how they commute, will certainly lead to those results being dismissed.

Speaking of City Planning, the process that created the new Downtown Street Standards included bicycle and pedestrian counts and those standards are amongst the most progressive ones in the county.  The standards promote bike lanes, sidewalk widenings and open space.  When an agency bothers to actually check what's happening, the results are planning documents that favor "non-motorized transportation."  For more on the street standards, listen to Streetsblog interview the Urban Design Studio's Emily Gabel-Luddy.

As the city moves forward with it's Bike Plan and other community plans, it's past time that it begins gathering data on it's own about the effected areas.  Relying on the census and the guesswork of engineers who have looked at their job as finding the best way to move cars is only going to lead to wider roads, unhealthy communities and a rising Car Culture, even as that way of planning wanes in the major cities around the United States.

A coalition of activists for seniors and the disabled went to federal court to try and force Caltrans to meet federal safety standards for sidewalk, intersection and other pedestrian amenities.  The group charges that when doing road construction, our state DOT is ignoring the federally mandated fixes and upgrades that are required by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

An attorney for the plaintiffs tells the Times that data from Caltrans from 2001 to 2006 shows that the agency failed to install about 1,000 required curb ramps during road improvements. The 1,000 missing improvements doesn't include curb ramps that were installed but don't comply with federal law.

Caltrans and urban officials from around the state seem aware of the problem.  The Times explains:

Government officials and powerful municipal organizations such as the League of California Cities have contended that access lawsuits will burden financially strapped state and local agencies that are already struggling to comply with the law. Caltrans estimates that it would cost about $2.5 billion to make improvements statewide...

...Caltrans has spent $10 million -- an amount that will be spent annually for the next several years -- to build and upgrade curb ramps as well as improve sidewalks.

I'm certainly not a math expert, but at this pace it will take Caltrans a mere 250 years to bring California into compliance with the ADA, assuming no conditions get worse over the next two and a half centuries.

While that $2.5 billion seems to be a huge amount of money, certainly thrown out by the League of California Cities to scare people away from supporting the safe streets and sidewalks that all Californians deserve, consider that LA County itself will be spending $8 billion of Measure R funds to increase highway capacity and encourage car-driving commutes over the life of the gas tax.

Locally, the City of Los Angeles has its own ADA problems.  Back in January Donald Shoup broke down the many issues that the City faces as it tries to come into compliance and the many ways its dropping the ball.

A college-age Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), with her father at right. (Photo: Klobuchar for Senate)

Coburn's amendment fell short by a vote of 39-59, with three other Democrats, Sens. Russ Feingold (WI), Evan Bayh (IN), and Claire McCaskill (MO), also aligning with the majority of Republicans in favor of the opt-out.

Feingold, Bayh, and McCaskill are fiscal hawks who frequently vote to limit the scope of government spending, making their votes less surprising than Klobuchar and Webb's -- if just as disheartening for clean transportation advocacy groups.

Klobuchar in particular hails from a state where bicycling is a popular element of local culture. She has spoken often of her personal appreciation of biking, hiking, and other outdoor activities, and welcomed a 14-year-old climate activist to Washington after the young girl's 1,500-mile bike ride.

Klobuchar's office has not yet responded to an inquiry about her vote on Coburn's two amendments to the Senate spending bill that funds U.S. DOT for next year. The second Coburn amendment that fell short today was a modified version of his earlier proposal to restrict all "transportation enhancements."

Even when limited to only block funding for transportation museums, however, the second Coburn plan was defeated on a 41-57 vote.

A couple of years ago, the City of Pasadena considered banning bicycles from what they're now calling the "Rose Bowl Recreation Loop" because of the conflict being created between cyclists and car drivers.  At the time the city sided with the drivers citing their "commutes" as more important than the cyclists and pedestrians using the loop as a public space.  Pasadena's plan was hotly debated, but eventually shelved.

What a difference two years make.  After last year's hugely popular "Car Free Rose Bowl" event, attended by just about every planner and member of the Pasadena DOT on payroll, the city decided to take a second look at their plan and the change could barely be more drastic.  Pasadena is now proposing two plans that would increase access for cyclists and pedestrians in two different plans that will be presented at a community meeting tomorrow between 5 and 7:30 p.m. at the Brookside Golf Club and Lot K.  For more information please call 626-744-4610.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Rose Bowl Circle, it's a three-mile loop around the stadium that provides access to the parking lots and a handful of local roads.  The loop is popular with recreational and racing cyclists from around the region and beyond because of the well-maintained roads, flat area and scenic and easy-to-access location.  In addition, the area is also popular with residents who use the walkway for exercise or just to spend some time outside.

Let's take a look at the three options outlined for Pasadena by their consultants at Crain & Associates.

The first option is to leave things as they are.  Pasadena is well aware that there are serious problems with the current plan, and lists them in the report available on the project website.

• Pavement markings and signs specify one-way pedestrian flow, but are disregarded by many.
• Four-foot striped buffer is intended to separate pedestrians from bicyclists. However, pedestrians use the buffer as additional walkway, and often encroach into the bicycle and vehicle lane.

Enhanced Two-Way Walkway Proposal

• Walkway is widened to 13 feet, allowing 2-way travel “Wrong Way” signs will be removed.
• Walkway is on colored asphalt rather than a separate sidewalk, to allow motorist use during special events.
• Flexible delineator posts separate pedestrians from bicyclists and vehicular traffic.
• Some parking restrictions may apply.
  

While the "Enhanced Two-Way Walkway" proposal is a modest improvement, by far the most progressive proposal is the "Enhanced Walkway, with Bike Lane
and One-Way Vehicle Travel" pictured above.  This time the plan actually removes a car-travel lane for the benefit of all other road users. 

Photo: La Cita Vitta/Flickr

Eight months after Measure R has passed, the Metro Board is finally ready to pass its Long Range Transportation Plan at its meeting on July 23.  Instead of 2008, the LRTP will be passed in the 2010 fiscal year.  Instead of a gloomy "constrained" plan, the Board will be passing a much more robust plan because of the half cent sales tax dedicated towards transportation.

Of course, not everyone was a winner in Measure R.  Despite pressure from 200 people that signed a letter asking the Metro Board for a bicycle and pedestrian set-aside in Measure R funds, so while the rest of the plan is "strategic" funding for non-motorized transportation remains restrained.  Metro staff is quick to point out that municipalities are free to use their part of the 15% of Measure R funds that go back to communities for whatever they want including bicycle and pedestrian projects; but it's still sad to think that whenever the Metro Board releases copy for the final LRTP they are expecting to vote on later this month, the official website hasn't been updated since March 2008, all categories will see larger numbers than originally forecast except the bicycle and pedestrian projects.

But there is some good news.  While the 2008 LRTP said there was $241 million set aside for bicycle and another $241 million set aside for pedestrians; Metro staff is now saying there is actually $324 million each for the bicycle and pedestrian budget line.  Metro staff explains where Metro currently stands in relation to bike and pedestrian funding:

The $324 million identified each for bicycle and pedestrian modes represents a revenue stream reserved for each mode in escalated dollars from 2005 - 2030.  In today's dollars, this would be equivalent to receiving an average of $11.7 million per year each for the life of the LRTP from 2005 - 2030.  That this is a substantial, dedicated long-term investment for bike and pedestrian improvements within our agency’s transportation plan. 

The Measure R Local Return funds are above and beyond what is identified in Metro’s Long Range Transportation Plan.  In other words, the 15 percent return is a separate amount of funding that the region’s 88 individual cities have the opportunity to utilize for, among others, bike and pedestrian projects they feel are important. 

That's a pretty big math error, especially since the "strategic" amounts listed for bicycle and pedestrian projects were $368 million per mode in the 2008 LRTP.  We've already made up most of the difference between "constrained" and "strategic" by just fixing a math error.  It doesn't seem like too big a lift for Metro to come with with another $84 million to help non-motorized transportation jump from "constrained" to "strategic" too.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) doesn't think walking has much to do with public health. (Photo: MSNBC)

Sen. Mike Enzi (WY), senior Republican on the health committee, slammed the legislation for seeking to "pave sidewalks, build jungle gyms" and expand bike access to help improve public health:

We need to root out the waste, fraud and abuse that is driving up health care costs – not create a whole slew of new wasteful programs.

It's unclear whether Enzi knows that the federal government already has a program to encourage biking and walking, nor whether he's aware of their demonstrated public health benefits. But his talking point is already migrating to other Republicans, who have twisted the health care bill's proposed "community transformation" grants into a big-government bogeyman.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) picked up Enzi's baton today in a speech against the health bill:

[E]arly indications are that it will direct billions of dollars to things like having the government build sidewalks and government-subsidized farmers markets.

The idea here is to use tax dollars to encourage healthier lifestyles. But at a time when Americans are buried under medical bills and frightened about losing the coverage they have, farmers markets and sidewalks aren’t the reforms they have in mind.

If anyone doubts that the city is starting to hear and understand the issues of cyclists after a series of organized May rides, those doubts should be expelled today.

During a rather routine LADOT report on how $6 million in funds collected in 2005 and 2006 would be spent on bicycle and pedestrian projects, Councilman Bill Rosendahl spoke up to ask what input was given by the cycling community?

The LADOT lamely responded that it thought that the list was presented at a Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting.  Michelle Mowery, LADOT Senior Bicycle Coordinator, also opined that the committee was aware of the projects in the list, but maybe not the list itself.

To bolster their claim of outreach to their own Advisory Committee, one can note that the entire report was copied to former BAC Chair Alex Baum.  Of course, a cynic might note that Baum had been replaced as chair two months before the report was completed. 

The questions took a turn for the aggressive when LADOT representative Paul Meshkin responded to Rosendahl that there was no input gathered that he knew of, an aggressive Rosendahl wondered out loud why not.  After being pressed by both Rosendahl and Tom LaBonge, the LADOT committed to getting word of this $6 million in funding out to the bicycling community and to solicit feedback on what the community thinks of the project list.  Rosendahl insisted that communication include a notice that the City Council would open up the record at a full meeting for comments before passing the list.

Well Councilmen, I'm here to help.  The entire project list can be found on pages five and six of the report available here.  It includes partial funding for Phases I and II of the San Fernando Road Bike Path (which I had thought was already completed,) various maintenance and study programs and a slew of pedestrian projects.  When the Council posts that there will be a full hearing, I'll post a notice with all the relevant details here.

That being said, Rosendahl and LaBonge's larger point wasn't just about getting a list in front of cyclists who read blogs and are on official mailing lists; it's about getting the greater community involved and interested in bike planning and specific projects.

While I can certainly appreciate the Council Members standing up for cyclists after getting caught twice in ride-bys; I can't help but notice that this is a list of bicycle and pedestrian projects yet there was no discussion of getting input from the larger pedestrian community.  Because the "pedestrian community" includes everyone who's ever entered city limits, they could have just made sure the list was also presented to the city's Pedestrian Advisory Committee, a far less controversial mirror to the Bike Advisory Committee that has been chaired by Deborah Murphy since it's inception in the 1990's. 

Of course, it's entirely possible that Rosendahl and LaBonge are unaware the PAC exists since they haven't appointed representatives to the committee at any point during their terms, despite nearly a dozen letters from the Committee, the LADOT and even Transportation Committee Chair Wendy Greuel asking them to do so.

Last Friday the LAPD was at it again.  In what they claimed was an effort to make the intersection of Wilshire and Western safer for pedestrians, the LAPD was handing out tickets to pedestrians who crossed the street against a flashing red hand.  In the ten minutes I observed their their ticketing I observed the following.

First, nearly all of the people being ticketed made it across the street before the traffic signal they were facing turned red.  In other words, their actions put nobody in danger.  The three LAPD officers were in a constant state of filling out ticket forms, and I counted two pedestrians who didn't make it across before the red.  One of whom was an elderly woman who started as soon as she got the white person and who received no help from the LAPD officers busy writing tickets.

Second, at somewhere over thirty vehicles I lost count of the amount of vehicles that made a left hand turn after the light they were facing turned red.  Unfortunately, my slow frame camera had trouble getting a clean shot of a car running a red, but was able to capture an image of an articulated Metro Rapid Bus in the act.  For the record, I was standing next to an LAPD officer when I snapped this picture.

Third, many of those people rushing across the street against the flashing reds, but before the solid reds, were trying to catch a bus.

The message?  Impatient drivers running red lights aren't causing crashes throughout the city.  It's the fault of pedestrians who make it across the street before the traffic signal turns red. Of course, this "blame the pedestrian" mentality also exists with the LADOT who believes removing unsignalized crosswalks is the best way to make crossing the street safer for pedestrians.

It's honestly no wonder that David Jassy thinks he can get out of physically assaulting and repeatedly running over a pedestrian with the "these things happen defense."  We live in a city where pedestrians are assumed at fault for crashes while red-light-running motorists are given carte-blanche.

Back in January, the LA Downtown News reported on exciting new design standards for new development in the Downtown which will lead to wider sidewalks, landscaped parkways and medians, and bring additional streetlights, trees and street parking to Downtown.  The standards, approved last week by the City Council, will require that as new development comes to the Downtown, that developers will be required to come up with pedestrian plans for the development.

Another part of the plan requires that 75% of the parts of buildings at street level be zoned retail, office or other active uses. The standards also dictate that buildings' primary entrances open onto the sidewalk or a sidewalk-accessible public space.  This part of the new rules may be more important than the sidewalk requirement.  Let's face it, there are plenty of areas in Los Angeles that have wide, attractive sidewalks, but as I discovered when I went for an unplanned, unmapped walk in the Downtown in 2007 wide sidewalks along dead streets with no pedestrian attractions aren't going to encourage anyone to walk through the neighborhood.

In other words, if I were to be planning the new development of Streetsblog Towers in Downtown L.A., I would be required to look at widening sidewalks around the Towers, not widening the road.  In addition to my office, Streetsblog Towers would also have some shops and other attractions for people walking by. 

While these new design standards are certainly a sign that elected officials are looking for ways to breathe life into dead streets, it remains to be seen if they're really willing to do what it takes to truly reclaim the streets for everyone and change the city's parking requirements for new developers.  It's great to encourage people to walk by planning a better walking environment.  It would be even better if those pedestrians aren't required to pay for other people's parking when they buy or rent in the Downtown.

The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council has barely been in existence for two years, yet they've already layed out a vision for transportation in the video East Hollywood on the Move, led the way by endorsing the Cyclists Bill of Rights before any other Neighborhood Council and proclaimed that streets are for people, not cars, at the first annual ArtCycle.  Last night they began to marry their vision with policy when they declared themselves a "pedestrian oriented community" and vowed to get all members of the community involved in redesigning parts of the community following the "Sole Mates" process.

The first step will be reaching out to stakeholders such as businesses, community groups, and schools to get people involved and excited about bringing safer and more comfortable streets to the East Hollywood Community.  While the idea of designing your community's transportation around pedestrians is certainly a ground-breaking idea, the process of building and funding the plan is as exciting a model as the pedestrian focus.  Instead of the "Design and Defend" strategy exemplified by the Pico-Olympic Plan or the "complete public outreach and never let anyone see the final document" strategy exemplified by the 20?? Bike Master Plan.

Once outreach is completed, the next step is to set pedestrian standards for all part of the neighborhood then getting the funding for the projects.

We'll keep our eyes on the happenings in EHo.  In the meantime, if you want to read more, SoapBox has the full press release.

The Clean Tech Corridor will rest alongside the Cornfields Arroyo Seco – the first and only LEED-pilot neighborhood by any big city in the United States of America.  A cluster of pedestrian-friendly streets sitting along public transit lines.  A model for future communities where residents walk more, drive less  and have access to quality jobs and affordable housing.

For more on what a "Clean Tech Corridor" actually is and what it could mean to L.A.  Check out this post at blogdowntown by Eric Richardson.

Via BikinginLA, the above image captures so much of what is wrong with pedestrian planning in Los Angeles:

They say no one walks in L.A. And that may be true soon, if our local department of transportation continues their policy of removing crosswalks for the safety of pedestrians.

No, seriously.

Then there’s this intersection in Westwood, which features what may be the world’s first crosswalk where no pedestrians are allowed — despite the presence of a working pedestrian signal.

Kind of makes you wonder just who it’s intended for, doesn’t it?

One of Glendale's Better Streets for Pedestrians

Sometimes when you live in place as large as Los Angeles, you can forget that there are other relatively large cities that are almost literally next door.  For example, The City of Glendale is home to nearly 200,000 residents, many of them foreign born and is barely a blip on the county-wide radar.  Yet, Glendale has it's own transportation problems.  For example, this week's Glendale News-Press carries two different stories of pedestrians being killed while crossing the street after a driver broke the law.

However, Glendale is making steps to change its streets.  Working with the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition, Glendale received a $305,000 grant from the county to re-make itself as a safer place for both cyclists and pedestrians.  The grant, which is being overseen by planner and long-time bike activist Colin Bogart, who told the City Council about a pilot plan already in design that if succesful could be expanded city-wide.

Bogart told the City Council that a corridor to connect Pacific and Maple parks in south Glendale was already being considered for a $20,000 project by the coalition. Under the project, the group would use a small geographical area to demonstrate new traffic-calming and safety measures before possibly expanding them citywide.

Whatever the project might include has not been finalized, he said, but he cautioned against relying on standard bike lanes as the only option for improving bike-riding conditions on Glendale streets.

The City is also hoping to change it's somewhat alarming obesity rates by getting people out of their cars to do more local trips.  37% of adults are overweight and 15.9% are obese, in Glendale and surrounding cities in the San Fernando Valley.

Thanks to tipster Erik Hovland for his help with this story.

Photo: Hubbuzz.com

In a segment on NBC's "Football Night in America" last night, the network's NFL desk anchors and commentators were asked what they've done to "green their routines." While Jerome Bettis uses the cold setting for laundry and Keith Olberman forgoes bottled water, Cris Collinsworth said he is walking to the studio every Sunday, and former New York Giant and Cadillac Escalade pitchman Tiki Barber announced that he has taken to transit.

From the NBC web site:

Tiki Barber: Doesn’t drive anymore, and no longer takes taxis. When he travels for work, he rents a hybrid vehicle. Relies on mass transit while in New York City -- buses and the subway. And he’s found that taking mass transit is more efficient than driving or taking a cab.

Collinsworth and Barber join fellow sports stars Sean Avery (and teammates), Cliff Lee, and several Baltimore Orioles in car-free commuting. How about it, Jeter?

Note to Tiki and Cris: Streetfilms would love to film your commute. Contact Clarence if you're up for it.

Photo: NBC

Last Spring when Steetfilms came to town, we talked with Urban Planner Deborah Murphy about some of the challenges pedestrians and pedestrian advocates face in Los Angeles.  Today, we wanted to highlight one of the innovative things that LADOT is doing to make pedestrians lives safer and easier in Los Angeles.

Clarence Eckerson explains:

In an effort to improve pedestrian safety and traffic flow, the City of Los Angeles recently installed ten diagonal crosswalks/pedestrian scrambles/Barnes dances (just pick one, they all mean the same) around the metro area. We were able to check one out with Glenn Ogura of LADOT near the USC campus to learn a little bit about them. Golly Jeepers! During some light phases, we saw well over 100 people taking over the intersection - just take a gander at the video.

Also, at the end of the film you'll see the Streetfilms' debut of one of Los Angeles' hardest-working, dashing young bloggers.  I, of course, am referring to Eric Richardson, of Blogdowntown, who explains that the Scramble Crosswalk actually came to Los Angeles in the 1950's before being ripped out because they slowed down car traffic.

Here is a mesmerizing time-lapse video from Spacing Toronto and photoblogger Sam Javanrouh. The clip shows traffic moving through Toronto's pedestrian scramble -- a.k.a. priority crossing, a.k.a. Barnes Dance -- installed at Yonge and Dundas Streets last August.

There's no music, so you'll need your own soundtrack. We suggest the Beta Band's "B + A".