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Pedestrian, Bicycle Advocates Hold Die-In On City Hall Steps

Bicycle and pedestrian safety advocates were joined by Sen. Anthony Portantino, Assemblymember Laura Friedman and Los Angeles City Council Member Bob Blumenfield for a die-in and press conference outside Los Angeles City Hall to call attention to the 312 people who were killed in crashes in the city. 

This is the greatest number of traffic fatalities our city has seen in more than 20 years. The tragic loss of life we experience annually is unacceptable and avoidable, and cities around the world have proven it for decades now.

Over the last 10 years, nearly every comparable country has managed to make meaningful improvement in reducing the number of traffic fatalities they suffer. Unlike so many of these nations that began taking pedestrian and cyclist safety seriously in the 2000s (by lowering speed limits, building bike lanes, building roundabouts and utilizing automatic braking systems that detect pedestrians) the U.S. has done little to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of cyclists and pedestrians. Meanwhile, vehicles in the US have grown larger and are, as a result, deadlier to everyone on the road.

The results are heartbreaking, and Angelenos have had enough. We’ve seen what works in other countries: building bicycle infrastructure separated from vehicles, narrowing streets so that cars drive slower, adding underride guards to trucks so people can’t get dragged underneath. We’re ready for these improvements here at home.

Motion To End Spot Street Widening Advances From Public Works Committee

The Los Angeles City Council Public Works Committee advanced a motion Wednesday aimed at ending the city's practice of spot street widening. The city currently requires developers to spot widen roads, leading to incoherent streetscapes that are at odds with a safe, livable City. BikeLA joined several other organizations earlier this month in voicing our support for the motion, which was introduced by Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Bob Blumenfield, along with former Councilmember Mike Bonin.

As many of you already know, wider roads make the city more dangerous, polluted, congested, and costly to maintain. Requiring developers to spot widen roads also contributes to our housing crisis by adding up to hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of a housing development. It also often converts greenery to impermeable asphalt.

Spot widening also creates streets designed for drivers, not pedestrians, with crossing distances lengthened, causing streets to be more dangerous and confusing to walk along and across.

Finally, spot widening leads to poorly designed, incoherent streets. The city’s streetscape should be intentionally planned block by block and neighborhood by neighborhood, not parcel by parcel with no vision other than widening. Ending spot widening will lead to a better designed city that works better for all who use it.

We look forward to this motion making its way through the full City Council!

Re-Live The Joy Of Bike Fest Through Our New YouTube Channel

BikeLA has launched a new YouTube channel, with our first video capturing our inaugural LA Bike Fest, where we celebrated the bike community and our tireless work through music, food, bike valet, minor bike repairs as needed, and interactive entertainment. Honored with a Spoke Award, we thanked Councilmember Nithya Raman, Council District 4, Yolanda Davis-Overstreet from the West Adams Safety Project, and Jimmy Lizama, our E-bike Pilot Partner, for their continuous work as allies and activists fighting for safer streets.

California Electric Bike Voucher Program Expected To Launch This Year

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