Bike Trains are the Lightest Rail

Safety in numbers!

Jump on the train! The bike train that is… A group of enthusiastic bicyclists have organized LA Bike Trains: routes across Los Angeles, encouraging Angelenos to ditch their cars and join a bike train to work.

What is a bike train? It’s a slow and steady bike ride to work taking a regular route in the company of other bicyclists. Bike trains are led by reliable Conductors that monitor the speed and safety of the ride, ensuring all commuters are on board and comfortable. Bike trains encourage safety in numbers and provide a festive morning commute. Bike Train Conductors are dedicated volunteers, experienced urban cyclists who recognize that biking to work can be daunting for an individual, but easy and enjoyable in a group.

Right now the LA Bike Trains have 5 routes:

Route 001 : Silver Lake to Hollywood
Led by Bruce Chan - Meets Wednesdays at 8:00am at Cafe Tropical.

Route 002 : Mid-Wilshire to DTLA
Led by Nona Varnado - Meets Wednesdays 9 am at Cafe Americano .

Route 003 : Sunset Triangle to Santa Monica
Led by Wes High - Meets Tuesday at 7:45am at Sunset Triangle Plaza.

Route 004 : Silver Lake to Downtown
Led by Alex Rixey - Meets Thursdays at 8:00am at Caffe Vita on Sunset and Hillhurst, near the Vista Theater.

Route 005 : Westlake to Long Beach
Led by Christopher Lovejoy - Meets Wednesdays 6:45am at 7-Eleven on 7th Street.

LA Bike Trains is eager to expand! To provide input where you would like to join a bike train, fill out their Commuter Survey.

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We’re Halfway Through L.A. Bike Week

Swee Woo bikes with parasol in hand at Grand Park, following the press event kickoff of L.A. Bike Week

We kicked off Bike Week with a press conference in Grand Park on Monday morning (our Flickr pics from the event, and Daily News photos). Pam O’Connor, Mayor of Santa Monica and Chair of the Metro Board of Directors, challenged Angelenos to “make L.A. a world class city for cycling.” O’Connor also introduced two new Metro initiatives: a two-year/20-ride partnership with C.I.C.L.E. and a partnership with LACBC and BikeSGV to provide bicycle safety classes this summer.

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Los Angeles Bike Week 2013 on the Horizon!

Coming on the heels of a very successful Ciclavia, as part of National Bike Month, Los Angeles will be celebrating Bike Week May 13-19.

The Bike Week schedule this year is pretty packed!

Saturday, 5/11 – Dodgers’ Game Day Ride and Stadium Tour!

While Bike Week officially starts Monday, May 13th, C.I.C.L.E., the Eastside Bike Club, Metro, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are teaming up to sponsor a group bike ride for all ages from Union Station to Dodgers Stadium to catch a game with some bike-related perks. The ride meets in the Alameda entrance courtyard of Union Station at 2 PM. For more information, read this press release.

Monday, 5/13 – Fix Your Bike Day

9:45 AM Bike tour of Grand Park with elected officials

10 AM Bike Week kick-off media event at Grand Park

All day Bicycle repair workshops at various locations, including Westlake, Baldwin Park, South Gate

Tuesday, 5/14 – Blessing of the Bicycles

8 AM 10th Annual Blessing of the Bicycles at Good Samaritan Hospital, honoring Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl

Wednesday, 5/15 – Guided Rides Day

All day Group bicycle rides at various locations, including Culver City, Pasadena, San Fernando Valley, and South LA

Thursday, 5/16 – Bike to Work Day

All day Bike to Work “pit stops” with refreshments and giveaways at over 60 worksites and transit stops

All day Free transit rides for bicyclists at 11 transit agencies: Metro, Metrolink, LADOT, Culver City Bus, Glendale Beeline, Long Beach Transit, Montebello Bus Lines, Norwalk Transit, Pasadena ARTS, Santa Clarita Transit, and Torrance Transit

Pledge to ride your bike on Bike to Work Day and you could win a new bicycle from REI and other great prizes!

Friday, 5/17 – Sunday, 5/19 – Bike Local Weekend

All day Discounts for bicyclists who mention “Bike Week” at over 60 retailers

Specifics about events on these days can be found on the Metro Bike Week website.

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How Do You Get Abandoned Bikes Removed?

An Abandoned, Locked Bicycle by Artist in Nothing

You bike to your favorite coffee shop a few times a week, and the last few times you’ve been there, a bike frame has been locked up. It doesn’t have wheels. It doesn’t have a seat. It’s just taking up space where you could lock your bike.

What do you do to get rid of it so people can park there again?

In the City of Los Angeles, the Bureau of Street Services is in charge of maintaining bicycle parking. There is an online form you can use to request service.

To report an abandoned bicycle that needs to be removed:

1) Go to http://bss.lacity.org/request.htm

2) Input your name, address, phone number, and email address.

3) Scroll down to “Others” and click the circle button to its left.

4) In the “Enter Problem Description” box below “Others”, write that there is an abandoned bicycle you would like removed.

5) Below that in the next box, write the location of the rack or pole the abandoned bike is on. Be as specific as possible.

6) Enter any additional comments you have below that, and press the “Submit” button

7) You should receive a confirmation email from the Bureau of Street Services letting you know they have received your request.

It’s as easy as that. Removing abandoned bikes increases the supply of bicycle parking available to all of us. If you see one, take a moment to report it. You can also used the same procedure to report bikeways that need to be cleaned.

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Sunset Boulevard Bike-Transit Lanes Move Forward

Sunset Blvd. Bicycle Lane

Construction on 0.9 miles of bicycle and bicycle-transit only lanes could begin on Sunset Boulevard as early as next month. The bike facilities, consisting of .76 miles of peak period bicycle-transit only lanes and .14 miles of standard bicycle lanes, will reach from Figueroa Street to Douglas Street in Echo Park.

Linking up with existing bikeways to the west, the project, the first of the First Year Bike Lanes to move forward, will greatly increase the safety of bicycling between Echo Park and Downtown. Additionally, the peak hour bicycle-transit lanes will increase the speed of transit operating in the corridor, particularly the Dodger Stadium Express. In line with the 2010 Bicycle Plan, future planned bikeway improvements on this corridor include bike lanes along Cesar Chavez Avenue going east from Figueroa Street.

A public hearing for the Sunset Boulevard bicycle facilities occurred on February 14th, and the LADOT General Manager gave the project the go-ahead on April 22nd.  The Traffic and Safety Assessment for the project is available here, and the City Planning staff report is available here.

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Committee on Transportation Passes Three Foot Passing Bill

The Three Foot Passing Bill introduced by Assembly Member Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) in February received eleven “aye” votes and two “no” votes today in the Committee on Transportation. The bill now moves on to a hearing in the Committee on Appropriations at a date to be determined.

The members of the Committee on Appropriations you should contact to voice your support can be found here.

The bill would require the driver of a motor vehicle passing a bicyclist to allow three feet of space “between any part of the motor vehicle and any part of the bicycle or its operator.” The bill mandates a fine of $35 per infraction, with the driver paying an additional $220 if there is a car-bicycle collision that injures the bicyclist because the driver did not provide three feet of passing space.

Mayor Villaraigosa supports this bill, and it will be important for the next mayor to maintain that support to ensure this important bill becomes law.

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40% More Bikes on Spring Street in 2013

Parklet Studies has released a bike count for Spring Street between 6th and 7th Streets that it carried out last month. The report for the LACBC and LADOT follows up on a similar study last year on the same part of downtown.

The data show a marked increase in ridership on Spring Street, with forty percent more cyclists using it than in 2012.

Other interesting findings of the study include:

While in 2012, there was not much differentiation between the amount of weekday and weekend riding, in 2013, significantly more riders biked on Spring Street on the weekend. Of any time period studied, 11-12 pm on the weekend was the busiest, followed by 1-2 pm.

8 am and 9 am on weekdays saw 122 and 100 percent increases in bike volume respectively.

More bikes are being parked between 6th and 7th on Spring Street in 2013 than in 2012. Additionally, a greater percentage of bicycles are being parked at LADOT-installed facilities than in 2012, 53 percent in 2013 versus 50 percent in 2012.

Only 14 percent of total riders were women, but during the 11 am weekend peak that percentage rose to 36 percent. 

The percentage of cyclists traveling against the direction of traffic (salmoning) is significantly higher than in other areas of the city. On a weekday, 15 percent of riders were going against traffic, while on the weekend, this balloons to 44 percent. The city average is 4 percent.

The full report is attached here.

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