About this time of the month, the LADOT Bike Blog often posts up the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the Bike Plan Implementation Team (BPIT) – usually taking place on the first Tuesday of the month. Rather than an agenda, however, we’ll instead be discussing a number of changes being made to the BPIT – most notably, the cancellation of the August & September meetings, and the changes that will be put in place for October’s meeting. These changes (among others, detailed below the fold) were made at the behest of members of the bike community & other stakeholders, and should help make the BPIT more productive and equitable.
The BPIT: A Work in Progress
The nature of BPIT meetings has always been fluid. As a collaborative process between bike advocates, City Departments, and the public, the BPIT has changed in ways both large and small with each passing month. The BPIT, in both its composition and its responsibility, is a work in progress for the City; each meeting has been an experiment in what works, and what doesn’t, in moving forward the implementation of the LA Bike Plan. After fielding the comments of the bike community over the last few months on the BPIT’s format (especially regarding extending equity to those beyond the walls of the meeting room and making certain that meeting attendees can be properly prepared beforehand), a number of changes to the meetings’ format were agreed upon.
BPIT Changes: Quarterly Meetings, Longer Meetings, More Preparation Possible
Going forward, BPIT meetings will be held on a quarterly basis rather than monthly. Switching to a quarterly basis will allow bike advocates and community groups more time to meet with their constituents before BPIT meetings, to better represent the needs and points-of-view of those who aren’t able to attend a meeting at City Hall on a weekday afternoon.
The new BPIT meetings will be longer than past meetings, planned for at least 3 hours – or more. Many attendees had voiced concern in the past that meetings were not long enough to give a proper hearing to each agenda item.
BPIT meetings in the future will emphasize constructive problem solving and collective prioritization of projects; this is in contrast to the current format of BPIT meetings, which have tended to weight more heavily towards the presentation of project specifics. By switching to a quarterly schedule, agendas and materials for the meeting can be released to the public well in advance of the meeting date. With attendees and communities afforded the chance to get fully informed before each meeting, less time will be taken up in explaining the particulars of each project, and more time can be dedicated to collaborative problem solving.
Help Set October’s Agenda
All of these changes will come into effect for October’s BPIT meeting. The agenda for October’s BPIT, however, has yet to be finalized. If there is a project or bike plan priority that you would like addressed at October’s BPIT meeting, email Jane Choi at City Planning. The BPIT is a collaborative process between all stakeholders, and is only as effective as those who show up and participate. So make your voice heard, either in comments or an email to Jane.
More details are forthcoming on the BPIT, so keep an eye on the LADOT Bike Blog over the coming weeks. We hope to soon release a schedule of topics for future BPIT meetings, allowing communities and groups to effectively organize and prepare for BPIT meetings that impact them the most.
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We are supportive of this at LACBC because we are glad to get more time to outreach to low-income groups who need to be involved in the bike lane selection process. Being able to have longer, more thorough meetings with more community input is great! Not to mention the time of day every month was really hard for folks to make regularly!
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