Today's City Council Bike Meeting
Thread started by
daymen at 11.21.08 - 7:38 pm
Streetsblog Story
Hey guys, we're still working on the story, but anyone that wants a rundown of what happened can see it in it's not yet edited glory above...
reply
Thanks for the coverage.
I was utterly blown away how much the D.O.T. reps tried to make up bullshit excuses about how its gonna take 10+ years to get sharrows on any LA roads. They came off as lazy and incompetent bureaucrats in my eyes. It was pretty enraging.
On the other hand it was amazing to see and hear so many peeps from the community representing.
trickmilla11.22.08 - 1:15 pm
reply
"They came off as lazy and incompetent bureaucrats in my eyes. It was pretty enraging. "
ABSOLUTELY ENRAGING.
at least we know what one of the main problems is. a transportation department that is focusing on moving quantities of VEHICLES and not quantities of PEOPLE
Roadblock11.22.08 - 1:21 pm
reply
My favor excuse as to why Sharrows is not a good idea was that the paint could be slippery for the bicyclist!
HAHAHAHAHAHA...........
Geezz thanks for your concerns about us!
User111.22.08 - 1:38 pm
reply
I love the completely alice in fucking wonderland logic of:
(paraphrasing) If we put down sharrows on a street with high traffic volume we could be liable for bike accidents because we implied that the street was safe for bicycle traffic.
Whaa??
Every street in LA is legal for bicycles.
Every street in LA is ridden by bikes.
If we create signage that directs cyclists and drivers as to the safest road position for bikes and makes vehicular riding safer that is a liability.
They think a lack of signage that creates an environment where cyclists and drivers are ignorant to road conditions resulting in intimidation of cyclists and unsafe road position for cyclists and motorists is a more legally sound position for the city than singnage that clearly communicates safe and legal driving and riding practices.
IGNORANCE = SAFETY
D.O.T. = YES WE CAN't
trickmilla11.22.08 - 3:04 pm
reply
I leaft out an important (?)
"If we create signage that directs cyclists and drivers as to the safest road position for bikes and makes vehicular riding safer; that is a liability
?"
trickmilla
11.22.08 - 3:07 pm
reply
Those numbskulls. The more I think about it the more enraged I get. They were framing everything as though the one and only way to get around is by car.
The reps from LADOT were completely ill prepared to talk amidst a crowd of cyclists and they fucking knew it.
What a joke.
In my mind the question is how do we get the LADOT to think in terms of moving people not cars. How do we get them into the idea of cycling as a mode of transportation.
Roadblock11.22.08 - 3:51 pm
reply
Exactly! "People, not cars!" should be our new slogan. It's not a question of cars vs. bikes vs. buses vs. trains or whatever. As we all know, a bike can be a very effective way of getting around this city and with a little help on the infrastructure and education side will only get better.
My thanks to all who spoke yesterday, you were all awesome! I was proud to be there and share the moment.
mr rollers11.22.08 - 4:34 pm
reply
To further this debate, maybe we should point the LADOT to the nerby city of PASADENA which has sharrows on some streets...
PEOPLE! NOT CARS!
FuzzBeast11.22.08 - 6:27 pm
reply
God, I wish I had thought to check out people's profiles before I went so I would have recognized you. Figured out who Roadblock and Sexy were (although it wasn't until after I left for Sexy, even though we shared an elevator).
My feeling is that we almost have to have two strategies here, one for LADOT and one for LAPD. I'm going to draft a letter that people can cut and paste or edit down to the council offices if they want to either later today or tomorrow. If Rosendahl and LaBonge want to talk the talk, that's great; but we need to stay on them to walk the walk.
daymen11.23.08 - 8:41 am
reply
The LACBC is meeting with DOT on this issue and would love to have our thoughts to take to them.
trickmilla11.23.08 - 9:29 am
reply
Just another thought that I woke up with this morning: the LADOT still seems fixated on this idea that bikes are slow and somehow an impediment to traffic. Granted, cars are faster on the open road, but how many of us have had the experience of actually making better time than cars on the roads even during moderate traffic conditions?
There is ample evidence to show that traffic calming measures that slow cars down actually increase the overall flow of traffic.
mr rollers11.23.08 - 10:04 am
reply
The issue of moving people vs. boxes really needs to come to the forefront.
I think its important to keep up pressure regarding sharrows and other improvements. But in a sense those the band-aids for the system compared to the idea of rethinking how we prioritize moving people around vs. just counting metal boxes on the road regardless if they have 1,2, or 20 people in them; and simply ignoring the existence of peds and bikes.
trickmilla11.23.08 - 10:25 am
reply
Classic! Parks was up in his blackberry the whole time!
Some ladies that worked for the city were sitting behind me and would only shut up when they were tapping their blackberries.
Yey for black berries!
trickmilla11.23.08 - 4:49 pm
reply
Parks. Meh.... politicians.... heh. beaurocrats....
until I see paint on the ground it all means nothing
Roadblock11.23.08 - 4:56 pm
reply
Mr. Rollers - great pics! Awesome archive!
SoapBoxLA11.23.08 - 5:42 pm
reply
-->
Ridazz Roulette!
Photos here: