LADOT
Streetsblog LA
LADOT: We’re Too Poor to Staff Bike Advisory Committee Meetings
As budget cuts hit agencies across the city, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation continues to make cuts by retreating from its already lacking commitment to public outreach. In a letter addressed to Bicycle Advisory Committee Chair Glenn Bailey LADOT General Manager Rita Robinson informs the Committee that the LADOT will no longer be able to provide staff to attend any meeting that takes place after business hours and won't provide any support staff at all. The LADOT has already backed away from its commitment to have a working Memorandum of Understanding with Neighborhood Councils, and now they're bailing on providing support for its own advisory bodies. You can read Robinson's letter here.
January 5, 2010
Why the Festival of Rights Matters
Some see it as a niche ride for activists. Some see it as Stephen Box's attempt to get on television and continue his feud with Councilman Tom LaBonge. Still others as a ride that engenders mire bad will with city agencies than it's worth. After all, how many hard core cycling activists really want to ride through car choked streets to look at a bunch of holiday lights?
December 22, 2009
Thoughts on Portland, Los Angeles, Race and Bicycling (updated 4:24 P.M.)
At last week's Big Bike Meeting at City Hall, Senior Bike Coordinator Michelle Mowery took a swing at a question about the city's outreach on the Draft Bike Plan, and missed. The questions, which compared the outreach in Los Angeles to that of Portland, home of Alta Planning who consulted on the city's plan, asked why the outreach for our plan is somewhat lacking. Mowery's answer, transcribed at Westside BikeSIDE has been lampooned and pilloried throughout town. But now the debate has headed north to Portland.
December 16, 2009
Last Night’s Bike Meeting Highlights: Late Start, Unanswered Questions but Anti-Harassment Ordinance Moves On
By the time the bike portion of the "Bike-Only" City Council Transportation Committee hearing began at 3:45, one hour and forty-five minutes late, it was clear that the bicycling-love-fest that we've seen at past "Bike-Only" meetings wasn't going to happen. Not only did the meeting start late because of an over-run of the City Council meeting, but Councilman Richard Alarcon had already stormed out of the room because Councilman Bill Rosendahl had caused the full Council to lose quorum and Councilman LaBonge had already snapped at the audience for talking during public comment.
December 10, 2009
Next Week’s Big Bike Meeting: Bike Harassment, the LAPD, Bike Planning and More!
When Streetsblog spoke with Councilman Bill Rosendahl about his priorities as Transportation Committee Chair, he promised a number of sweeping changes and regular "bike themed" committee hearings. Next week he is going to make good on some of his projects when he chairs his first "bike-only" City Council Transportation Hearing. You can read the full agenda here, or just read on as we'll preview each issue that will be discussed.
December 4, 2009
Eyes on the Street: LADOT Rides the Sidewalk
This photo of an LADOT parking enforcement cyclist riding down the sidewalk was taken yesterday afternoon. Of course, riding in the sidewalk is perfectly legal in Los Angeles. However given some of the actions by the LAPD and the warnings by bicycle safety experts that sidewalk riding is the most dangerous place for a cyclist; it would be nice to see LADOT's "official" cyclists take to the street, and set the example for other cyclists, when it's time to ride.
December 1, 2009
Echo Park Community Warns Metro: Hybrid Plan for Route 2 Terminus Untested, Illegal
At 1:00 P.M. down at Metro Headquarters Board Room, the Metro Board Planning and Programming Committee will vote on a staff proposal to accept a "hybrid alternative" to the Route 2 Terminus project. Last week, Streetsblog discussed the broken process that led to the "hybrid" where the community proposed a design that would have calmed traffic and added open space to the road but LADOT rejected that proposal because it didn't do anything to add capacity to the road. Basically, all three agencies had to agree on a design, and despite Metro's approval of the local design, it had to "compromise" with the LADOT on what is now being called the "hybrid option."
November 18, 2009
More at Stake in City’s Measure R Debate than Just Bike/Ped. Issues
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.
November 17, 2009
The Gold Line Is Rolling, Now What about a Bike Network to Support It?
During our ride on Friday, Steven Frien wondered a couple of times why there wasn't talk of having a bicycle lane on 1st Street running parallel to the Gold Line on First Street . Later in the day, during The Source's review of our review of the Gold Line, Steve Hymon upped the score by asking why there wasn't better bike planning along the entire route. After all, we know how much bike parking there is at every station, wouldn't it be nice to have a bike network to keep those racks full?
November 16, 2009
SCAG and City of Los Angeles Thinking About Solutions to the Last Mile Problem
It's not often that we cover news out of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), but a recent study funded by the City of Los Angeles and SCAG on the "last mile" problem has led to a report sponsored by the city that is all about getting people out of their cars. The report was presented by LADOT Chief Rita Robinson and Planning General Manager Gail Goldberg at a meeting this morning, then again by SCAG to regional stakeholders this afternoon.
November 12, 2009