Bicycle advocate and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took to the Internet to talk bike policy in the aftermath of this weekend's crash. While there's nothing groundbreaking in his essay; it's nice to see our city's political leader take a stand for bicyclists.
If anyone thinks advocates are tilting at windmills when it comes to fighting for rights and infrastructure; consider the list of the Mayor's achievements on cycling issues compared to where the city stood one year ago. Villaraigosa lists the Measure R set-aside from the city's local return funds, the new relationship between the LAPD and the cycling community, and the newest draft of the Bike Plan as reasons cyclists should feel good about the city. One year ago, cyclists were attacking a previous draft of the Bike Plan, the LAPD was doing everything it could to hide documents relating to a bungled traffic report after a hummer drug a bicycle through the Downtown, and the Measure R set-aside was far from a done deal.
But today, the news is that L.A. does have a cycling mayor, and according to the Huffington Post, he's already itching to getting back on his bike:
I will be back on my bike as soon as I'm able, and I hope to see moreAngelenos out there with me.
We'll be there, Mr. Mayor. Now, if only we could get you to stop calling his crash an "accident."
