Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In

Gottlieb in the Times: Stop Climate Change By Bringing More Bikes to L.A.

12_14_09_gottlieb.jpgRobert Gottlieb via UEPI

Robert Gottlieb, of the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute
at Occidental College
, penned an op/ed piece for today's Los Angeles Times arguing that the key for Los Angeles to meet it's environmental goals is to encourage more people to get out of their cars and into their bicycles.  UEPI is the main sponsor for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Summit that takes place in March.

The thrust of Gottlieb's piece is that for Los Angeles to truly be a world leader in environmental issues the city needs to embrace cycling.  In a city with many psychological barriers to getting on a bike, the city needs to reach out to under-represented communities when it comes to riding a bike such as seniors and women.  The op/ed comes days after the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition released the results of their bike count showing only 12% of cyclists counted were women.  Further, Gottlieb argues that we need more leadership from the city after singleing out Mayor Villaraigosa for talking the talk on the environment.

We need visionaries and "practical idealists" (asVillaraigosa likes to say) to push these kinds of changes forward.Janette Sadik-Khan, New York's transportation commissioner -- who iscoming to L.A. in March to receive an honorary degree from OccidentalCollege -- has been an inspiration to bike advocates and climate changeactivists alike. Wander around Times Square or down Ninth Avenue andyou immediately see how the streetscape has been changed to accommodatebike riders and walkers.

I'm already reading some mild criticism of Gottlieb's piece in email from activists.  Some of the complaints have to do with a lack of specifics after Gottlieb states an idea or his apparent unawareness that there is a strong movement to bring ciclovia style events to Los Angeles already underway.  However, after having opinion pieces I've written in the past get cut to pieces before publishing, I've learned that it's best to focus on what is in an op/ed not what's not in it, because oftentimes the editing is completely out of the author's control.  Besides, Gottlieb sure didn't seem like a lightweight when he sat down for an interview with Streetsblog almost a year ago.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Metro Board Funds Free Student Transit Pass Program through July 2025

Metro student free passes funded another year - plus other updates from today's Metro board meeting

April 26, 2024

Eyes on the Street: New Lincoln Park Avenue Bike Lanes

The recently installed 1.25-mile long bikeway spans Lincoln Park Avenue, Flora Avenue, and Sierra Street - it's arguably the first new bike facility of the Measure HLA era

April 25, 2024

Brightline West Breaks Ground on Vegas to SoCal High-Speed Rail

Brightline West will be a 218-mile 186-mile-per-hour rail line from Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga - about 40 miles east of downtown L.A. - expected to open in 2028

April 23, 2024
See all posts