Bicyclist Anti-Harassment Ordinance Ready for City Council

We here at the LADOT Bike Blog just heard from our sources in City Hall that the precedent-setting Bicyclist Anti-Harassment Ordinance will go before the full City Council sometime in the next two weeks.  Many bicyclists can relate harrowing stories of an out-of-control driver assaulting them simply for being on the road, and the ordinance scheduled to come before City Council aims to give bicyclists a tool to fight back against the daily harassment to which many have been subjected.  With the coming vote at the California State Legislature for the “Give Me 3” legislation, July is shaping up as a huge month for LA bicyclists.

Bicyclists from all over Los Angeles, all over Southern California, and all over the country should keep their eyes on this groundbreaking ordinance and support the City’s decision to provide bicyclists with tools to protect themselves on the road.

Turn out support this month to help LA join the vanguard of bicyclists' rights

This landmark piece of legislation wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for CD 11 Council Member Bill Rosendahl.  It was CM Rosendahl who introduced the council motion directing the City Attorney to craft the anti-harassment legislation, and it was CM Rosendahl who helped shepherd the legislation through the Transportation Committee on its way to full City Council.

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LA River Bike Path Section Closed May 25th For Repairs

Just a quick heads-up for the LA bicycle community: a section of the LA River Bike Path will be closed tomorrow for repairs. The northernmost part of the LA River Bike Path, from Zoo Drive in the north to Los Feliz Boulevard in the south, will be closed all day on Wednesday May 25th and scheduled to re-open Thursday May 26th.

The northern terminus of the LA River Bike Path

Pavement & Railing Repair

The all-day closure is being done to repair breaks in the railing along the river and to repair pavement on the bike path in poor condition.  While no one likes having the LA River Bike Path closed, I think we can all agree that a smoother and safer ride is worth a single day of closure.

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Anatomy of a Bicycle Friendly Street: Signage

(Ed Note: Most information on Bicycle Friendly Street treatments come from the Technical Design Handbook in the 2010 LA Bike Plan.  Though we are happy to present it in bite-sized pieces, we highly recommend you download it yourself and have a good read.  You can download the Technical Design Handbook here.  For a refresher on what a Bicycle Friendly Street is -also called a Bike Boulevard- you can read our introductory post here. You can also find previous posts on chicanes, round-a-bouts, loop detectors and other BFS treatments here. 

The LADOT Bike Blog hopes everyone had a nice Bike Week LA 2011. To commemorate this year’s  “Bike Friendly LA” theme, the LADOT Bike Blog continues its ongoing series detailing the specific treatments that go into making a Bicycle Friendly Street (BFS) – a big part of LA’s bicycle friendly future.

Today, we will take a look at the Traffic Control Device (TCD) known as signage. Signage is considered a “Level One” BFS application based on its relatively low level of physical intensity. It is important to note that BFS applications are site-specific, and that not all streets require the highest application treatments. The Bike Plan Technical Design Handbook (TDH) recommends gathering community input along with the necessary engineering and design work to determine the level of application necessary for each individual street.

CA MUTCD-approved signage

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On 4/21, Metro Operations Committee Considers Lifting Peak-Hour Bike Ban

Bicyclists across LA County should get ready for an upcoming meeting of the Metro Operations Committee.  They’ll be meeting this Thursday, April 22 21 at 1:00 PM in the Metro Board Room at Metro Gateway Plaza.  Up for discussion: removing peak-hour restrictions for bicycles on all Metro Rail lines (here’s the report pdf).

You may soon be able to do this at any time of the day

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LA Officially Adopts New Bicycle Rack Standard Plan

(Ed. Note: Though we published this post on April 1st, it’s not a joke.  This new parking standard is for real.)

Just this week, the Bureau of Engineering signed off on a citywide Bicycle Rack Standard Plan. This new plan will be put to use as we purchase and install bike racks for our citywide sidewalk parking program.  The document creates measurable standards to govern proper bike rack material quality, proper bike rack installation procedures, and proper bike rack location criteria.

Page 1 of the new bike rack specs

The new Bicycle Rack Standard Plan for City-owned bike racks is a public document, so download your own copy right here.  Having these new standards in place will get all City departments on the same page when it comes to bike parking and ensure that all new bike parking is installed properly.

We should take a moment to note, however, that the new standards only apply to City-owned bike racks.  Bike racks installed on private property, or bike racks installed by other public agencies (such as CRA/LA or Metro), can deviate from these standards. Also, having a standard doesn’t preclude us from doing art racks or other types of racks on occasion; it does, however, make ordering new racks to satisfy business requests for bike racks easier for us.

We’d like to give special thanks to former LADOT bicycle coordinator Carlos Morales for all his hard work on drafting the Bicycle Rack Standard Plan.  Carlos has moved on from LADOT to take a position as the Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator for the City of Omaha, Nebraska.  We wish him the best and thank him for his years of dedicated work at LADOT.

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2010 Draft LA Bike Plan to go Before Planning Commission Thursday, 11/4

(Update: The location of the Planning Commission meeting for the Bike Plan has been changed to City Council Chambers in City Hall)

It’s been a long road, hasn’t it?  It’s the beginning of the end for a planning process that began back in 2008:  The draft 2010 LA Bike Plan comes before the Planning Commission in City Hall Room 1010 this Thursday, November 4th, at 8:30 AM.  If passed, the plan will move on to a hearing before the City Council.

If you need a last minute refresher, you can always bone up at labikeplan.org.

8:30 AM on Thursday, November 4, in City Hall Room 1010

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How to Get a Bike Rack

Lots of Bike Racks

The LADOT Bike Program  has installed over 3,600 bike racks and 446 meter hitches in the City of Los Angeles.  We’ll soon be adding as many as 1,700 additional bike racks in business districts over the next two years.  In the short term, the LADOT Bike Program is aiming to install around 100 new racks every month for the rest of the year.  Even better, we install them at no charge.

With so many bike racks to install, LADOT needs your help to find the best places to put them.  Sure, we could find locations to put in bike racks by ourselves, but we think it’s better to crowdsource possible new locations.  After all, bicyclists who ride the streets of LA every day know best where demand for bike parking is highest.  Rick Risemberg of Bicycle Fixation already took advantage and wrote about his request, and the subsequent installation, in the Larchmont neighborhood.

 

If you want them, ask.

 

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