Bicycling

Earlier this week, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) allocated $2.58 billion of their thirty year plan for bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure improvements.  If that seems like a big number, it is.  While Los Angeles has been celebrating it's Bike Plan, and the Measure R set-aside that's going to help make it a reality, we should remember that the total funding set aside for the Bike Plan hovers around $50 million of Measure R funds plus whatever grants the city earns over the same time frame as San Diego County's multi-billion investment.

There's going to be plenty of press on today's press event celebrating the passage of the Bike Plan at City Hall.  Rather than join the dozens of stories that are going to appear in the press, on the web, and over the airways; Carter and I thought we'd relax, enjoy the party and take some pictures.  The good vibe wasn't just from the cyclists, but also from the politicians.  After months of arguing over what budgets to cut and what taxes to raise, it must have been nice to spend a morning presenting a clean, green and healthy city of the future.

Today, we approved a Bike Plan which provides more opportunities for people in Los Angeles.

It's all over but the signing.  And that's scheduled for tomorrow.

The confluence of the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco, is one of the most historic places in Los Angeles.  In 1769, Spanish explorers Colonel Gaspar de Portola, Father Juan Crespi and Michael Costanso "discovered" Los Angeles.  It also, in the words of the Arroyo Seco Foundation, "provides the key linkage of the Los Angeles River to vital habitat and wildlife corridor, joining the San Gabriel Mountains to the Santa Monica Mountains."

Last week, Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) introduced S.B. 910, which seeks to define what a "safe distance" is for a motorist to pass a cyclist.   While the language of the bill may seem innocuous at first read, Lowenthal's staff says the current draft of the bill is a placeholder for what will most likely become a "3-Feet Passing Law."

This morning, a crowd of over a hundred people assembled to celebrate the opening of the city of Los Angeles' first bike corral. The event took place at the corner of York Boulevard and Avenue 50, in Highland Park - in front of Cafe de Leche and directly across from Bicycle Doctor.

Bet you weren’t expecting to hear any good news from the floor of the House today, were you? Turns out not everyone in Congress is as axe-happy as some high-profile Republicans. For example, Amtrak survived one attempt to cut all its funding and another to cut $447 million. (Amtrak funding does stand to lose $224 million in cuts already included in HR 1, the budget bill for the rest of FY2011.)

Last week, in the run-up to the City Council Transportation/Planning and Land Use Committee Hearing on the Bike Plan, Josef Bray-Ali wrote, "I don't think I can make it, but if someone can mention LAMC 80.27 (the anti-cargo bike law) and ask for its repeal as part of the bike plan that would be awesome."  The response from many people, including at least one Streetsblog commenter, was confusion.