Bicycle Parking Ordinance Has Passed!

Expect to see more of this!

The LADOT Bike Program is happy to report that the Los Angeles City Council has passed the long awaited Bicycle Parking Ordinance. This will mean improved bicycle parking standards citywide at commercial, industrial and residential-type locations. The ordinance includes a number of forward-thinking changes  including:

• Formal definitions for different types of bike parking 
• New standards for different types of bike racks including long-term and short-term bicycle parking
• Improved standards for where bike racks are located on a property
• Clearer  requirements for short-term and long-term bike parking.
• New provisions allowing bike parking to be substituted for car parking for up to 20 percent of  the total automobile parking required for non-residential uses or up to 30% of the auto parking required near Transit Oriented Developments (TODs). Residential buildings will be able to swap up to 10% of their car parking, and if located within 1,500 feet of a transit facility, up to 15%. This exchange would occur at a rate of four bike parking spaces, per automobile space.
• New standards requiring properties with  20 or more long-term bicycle parking spaces to also include 100 square feet of bicycle repair and maintenance space for residents and employees.
• A Permitting process for allowing bike corrals to be installed in the public right of way.

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Metro Hosts First Union Station Master Plan Community Meeting

This way to Metro’s LA Union Station Master Plan community meeting

Metro kicked off the first of four Union Station Master Plan community meetings last night at their headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.  (In April of 2011 the county’s primary transit operator purchased the station and some of the surrounding properties from the real estate company Catellus Operating Limited Partnership for $75 million dollars.)  Community members listened as Metro officials and representatives from Gruen  Associates and Grimshaw Architects (the consultants hired to develop a master plan for the station) proposed their objectives for the area, including accommodating current and future transit needs, protecting and enhancing the station, and improving multi-modal access and connectivity to the surrounding neighborhoods.

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Bicycle Parking Ordinance goes before PLUM Committee, Tomorrow

Some innovative bike parking from the Know How Shop in Highland Park

Tomorrow afternoon, the Planning & Land Use Management Committee will review an ordinance that aims to vastly improve bicycle parking requirements in the city.  If adopted, the Bicycle Parking Ordinance would increase the amount of bicycle parking required in new commercial, industrial developments while for the first time requiring bicycle parking in new multifamily residential developments, as well. The ordinance proposes set standards for signage, lighting, and access; and, addresses different types of bike parking, including the need for both short and long-term parking.

The proposed ordinance was reviewed and passed by the Transportation Committee last week. Please consider attending the meeting tomorrow to show your support for improved bicycle parking requirements in Los Angeles. The meeting is set to be held at the Board of Public Works Edward R. Roybal Hearing Room 350, City Hall, 200 North Spring St., at 2:30 pm.

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Bike Rack City Marked

We’re stoked to see community organizations like Multicultural Communities (familiar to many of us via their City of Lights program) put on events like the “Bike Rack City Ride” to educate and empower the public about our bicycle sidewalk parking program. In case you’re not familiar with the program, the city offers free bicycle parking in the form of inverted-U shape racks along sidewalks in front of commercial areas. We depend on your requests to help us provide bicycle parking where it is needed most. Your requests have contributed to an all time high of over 600 racks installed this past fiscal year.

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Community Profile: Society of the Spectacle

Two LADOT bike racks in front of bicycle friendly Society of the Spectacle. Photo credit: Walk Eagle Rock

(This post is part of our community profile series, which provides an insightful look into bicycle friendly and bicycle related businesses in the City of Los Angeles. We hope to show why these businesses choose to be bike friendly, and how they are helping to improve the qualify of life for all Angelenos. The LADOT Bike Program is committed to encouraging and supporting bicycling in the City of Los Angeles. If you know of a business that would like to be included in our series here on the LADOT Bike Blog, feel free to leave us a comment below, fill out our form, or email us at ladotbikeblog@gmail.com.)

Featured in today’s community profile are Amy and Katie O’Connell, owners of the eye wear store Society of the Spectacle, located on 4563 York Boulevard in the Highland Park neighborhood. Both are very enthusiastic about cycling and enjoy riding around the Highland Park and Eagle Rock area.

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City of L.A. Bike Parking Map Now Online!

Now featuring bike rack locations!

The next time you’re looking for a place to park your bicycle, look no further than LADOT’s online Bicycle Services Bikeway Map. The map now shows the location of LADOT’s classic inverted U racks throughout the city, in addition to our existing and planned bikeway networks.

With over 5,000 bicycle parking spaces available in the city, chances are there is one close to your destination. To access the bike rack layer, select the box next to “Bike Parking” with a mouse click.

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Former Parking Meters to become Bicycle Racks in San Pedro and Wilmington

LADOT staff including General Manager Jamie de la Vega stand behind a new bicycle rack in San Pedro. Selected parking meters will be converted into bicycle racks in San Pedro and Wilmington.

Hundreds of parking meters in San Pedro and Wilmington will be removed this week in an effort to ease parking and increase economic activity in both areas (covered by the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Breeze). What many people may not know is the removal of these parking meters will allow select meter posts in both areas to serve a new purpose as bicycle racks.

Yesterday’s press event kicked off what will likely involve two weeks of removal and installation work. The new racks feature our beloved LADOT Bike Program logo and allow two bicycles to be safely locked to each former parking meter. (More info about our parking meter racks are available here).

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