Early Wednesday Morning, Transportation Committee Has Full Bike Agenda

City Council Meeting packed with Cyclists on May Day, 2009.  Photo: Dr. Alex Thompson

The City Council Transportation Committee has re-scheduled the “bike themed” meeting that was postponed from mid-May for next Wednesday, June 17, at 8:00 A.M. in room 1050.

There is a clear tier to the agenda.  The “big ticket” items include a report from the LADOT on the Bicycle Plan, which for some reason has lost the word “Master” in its description and a report from the LAPD on it’s internal education on bicycle and pedestrian issues and a report on the late April “Hummer incident.”

Let’s hope that city officials come prepared attend the meeting to answer questions on both of these agenda items.  Last week at the Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting, LADOT Senior Bike Coordinator Michelle Mowery claimed she wasn’t able to answer any question about the Bike Plan becaues it’s Planning Department is in charge of the plan and Alta Planning and Design did all of the work. 

The same holds true for the LAPD’s report.  When the police tried to address the hummer incident at Council it didn’t even bring a copy of the report on the crash and was prepared to talk about how it wants to educate cyclists and pedestrians not how it does internal communications.

The debate on the Bicycle Plan could be very interesting.  Based on what’s been made available on the maps released two weeks ago, a debate has broken out on whether or not the best bet for cyclists is to work to amend the plan we already have or lobby to scrap it altogether and start over.  The Los Angeles County Bike Coalition is soliciting suggestions to improve the plan, but I’ve also heard plenty of chatter that the plan is already not salvageable.

Also on the agenda are motions having to do with funding, a resolution to lower the speed limits on sidewalks to an arbitrary “speed that is reasonable and proper,” a motion directing a slew of departments to develop a plan that brings back bike licenses in a form that promotes safety and discourages theft, and a question of what to do with abandoned bicycles at city-owned racks.