Bicycling

On April 24, a gentleman and his family were driving around Downtown Los Angeles in a hummer when a crazed cyclist rammed the back of the vehicle.  Confused and angry, the downed cyclists' friends surrounded the hummer and threatened the driver.  With only a hummer to protect him and the people he cared for, the driver continued forward, inadvertently striking some of the bikes.  One of the rabid cyclists threw their bike at the vehicle, damaging the mirror.  After he was safely away from the cyclists, the driver pulled over and waited for the police to arrive.

Even without the taglines at the top of the video, I'm guessing that you could figure out which city's P.S.A.'s were a strident warning to drivers to pay attention or they're going to kill someone and which city's compared cyclists to insects.

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.

The city's expanding bike network is paying dividends -- boosting the level of cycling and making streets safer in the process. Snagged from the latest issue of TA's StreetBeat, this graph is a great illustration of the "safety in numbers" effect identified by researcher Peter Jacobsen in a landmark 2003 paper published in Injury Prevention. The stats in New York reinforce Jacobsen's body of evidence that the more bicyclists and pedestrians are out on the street, the safer biking and walking becomes.

As we approach the summer season, a time when streets are more filled with people NOT in a car, and the number of crashes involving cyclists and pedestrians continues to grow; now would be the perfect time for some city or county leader to take a stand and make this the start of a new commitment to making the streets safe for cyclists and pedestrians.

The Los Angeles bicycling scene has always demonstrated a "Do It Yourself" mentality from a thriving group ride scene exemplified by the Midnight Ridazz to the trio of bicycle co-ops sprinkled around Los Angeles.

Jeff Mapes, author of the acclaimed book  Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities will be visiting Los Angeles this weekend and presenting two public sessions on his book and the state of bike advocacy this Saturday. 

If anyone doubts that the city is starting to hear and understand the issues of cyclists after a series of organized May rides, those doubts should be expelled today.

It finally appears as though the Expo Bike Path, the path that is going to run parallel to Phases I and II of the Expo Line is going to be built.  After the Expo Construction Authority punted on taking the lead on the project earlier this year, leaving the federally funded path to Los Angeles, Culver City and Santa Monica to complete the environmental reviews; it appeared the path might not happen.  After all, if construction couldn't begin by the time Phase II of the Expo Line began construction, the path would become unaffordable.