Since my Let’s Get Down to Business post I’ve been thinking about why the Bike Plan is important. Five years ago I would not of cared nor thought it worth spending time on. You know what has changed? Us. Those who pedal in this city. We’ve come a long way. We have numbers and energy that I didn’t imagine possible in 2004, yet those outside of our circles don’t see it. They need to see us, hear from us and know what we are about.

Yes, I know the city doesn’t give a fuck about us. Special interests run government and we’re irrelevant to them. But you know what? We are motivated, passionate, loud and our cause is just. This is exceptional. The 2009 Bike Plan is actually less useful/relevant to cyclists than the 1996 one, but their cogs keep turning and doing what they do – nothing. If we don’t cause a ruckus and spell out why this is so fucking important to people – not just cyclists – those cogs will just continue spinning into oblivion and uselessness. Let’s put a wrench in it!

Joe Linton wrote that LA’s Bike Plan is a Step Backward on Bike Lanes from the 1996 plan. If you have not made a comment regarding the Bike Plan, what are you waiting for? Here is the real site and then a fun, mirrored one with a little more umph (where your comments still get submitted to the city): www.labikeplan.com. Alex Thompson gives a more thorough critique related to the Council District Transportation Advisory Committee with some great talking points. Enci discusses why non-cyclists should care about the Bike Plan.

Also LA’S BEST BIKE PLAN – BWG WORKSHOP:
Meeting at Santa Monica/Vermont Red Line Station at noon on Saturday the 31st and heading Downtown for the 1pm workshop. On facebook also.

Meet @ The Exchange at 1pm: 114 W. 5th St., Downtown LA, CA 90013

A new city meeting has been added in Northeast LA:
Wednesday, Nov 4
Ramona Hall
4580 N Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90042
6-8pm

I’ve been involved with Los Angeles cycling ‘culture’ since 2003 and the growth, energy and spirit of it has been unexpected, lively and insanely motivating. Since back then we have C.I.C.L.E, the Bicycle Kitchen, the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition; all of which have been working diligently to put people on bikes in this city. And my how we have grown. Midnight Ridazz has ballooned by epic proportions and now the splinter rides of splinter rides have their own rides. There are a whopping four community bike spaces, not including the bike shops opened by active members of those spaces. There once was a time when I knew every cyclist I’d pass on Sunset Blvd. I’m delighted that this is no longer the case and bike riders abound like never before. And in the city where everyone said it was impossible…

But in a way, very little has changed. The Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) is virtually unknown to those who use two wheels as transportation, our ‘inside’ person with the Dept of Transportation since 1994, Michelle Mowery, acts as if it is still the mid-nineties and bicycling as transportation is a totally unachievable pipe-dream in this city of cars. Advocacy appears to be dominated by the triumvirate of Alex Thompson–Stephen Box–Joseph Brayj attending meetings, blogging and opining.

And now the 2009 Bicycle Plan has been released. Our city hired a Portland-based consulting firm to create the plan, but it lacks the energy, direction or vision of Portland. To quote Stephen Box on StreetsblogLA,

I understand that we are not Portland, but the point of a bicycle plan is a vision of what could be. I’ve spent time in Portland; the weather sucks, the roads are narrow and the city is spread out. Yet they are considered a bike mecca with only 6% of trips made by bicycle. We could have 6% of trips here in Los Angeles if our city took our concerns seriously and built bicycle infrastructure. New York, for example, tripled the number of bicycle commuters in three years by making the cost-effective, smart, safe changes that cyclists were demanding. Our city could not even organize a Bike Plan meeting within 5 miles of the East Hollywood ‘hub’ of cycling. We need to demand more from our elected officials.

So what do we do?

As the number of social rides and fast rides has increased, the number of advocates/activists has not. When we have such few rebel-rousing, noise makers, the city believes that we are a minority fringe with only a few people who care about this issue. Michelle Mowery went as far to say that it is not a bike issue, that it is only about ‘them’. This is detrimental to the future of bicycling in our city. We simply need more voices, more action and more pressure. We know that cycling is great for us, but we need to represent beyond our own interests: more urban bicyclists is better for the health and social well-being of everyone. Fewer cars means less pollution, safer streets and a more democratic and engaged citizenry. But it is up to us to make this case and up until now we have done a mediocre job.

Urban cycling is not swimming or golfing. It’s gritty. Every day we are harassed and forced to fight for our space on the road. We are a tough bunch, used to taking shit from people and giving it right back. We fight to survive on our own streets. We need to harness this grit and anger and change our situation for the better.

Where from here?

Come to the LA Bike Working Group meeting this Saturday at 1pm in the LA City College Faculty Lounge* as we work to improve the plan. 1000 come to a social ride, but we’re lucky to get 10 to a meeting. You can do both and you can influence how policy is written in our city. More info here and facebook is here.

Write a comment about the 2009 Bike Plan here: Los Angeles 2009 Bicycle Plan. Yes, they do read and note them. Imagine if we generated 10,000 responses demanding more bicycle infrastructure and actual implementation! You should review it and form your own opinions, but the most popular arguments are: lack of vision, no real plan for implementation and cyclists’ concerns are secondary. If you only read one article, read L.A.’s Draft Bikeway Plan: Non-Committal, Sloppy and Perhaps Illegal by Joe Linton.

Get involved with a campaign. There’s C.I.C.L.E, the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition, and even Midnight Ridazz has some advocacy plans. And don’t forget that the Department of DIY always has open positions (DIY bike lanes, DIY park).

Read. Seriously. We need substance beyond rhetoric and need to be educated on the case for bicycles.

Speak with cyclists, friends, activists. These ideas and events need to be given life. No one is going to do it for us. Tell others about what is going on.

Donate money. My least favorite of the actions. We need money for all that we do, but we’d prefer you and your energy. Donating money creates the mentality that others will do it for you, but those most invested in this have spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars of their own money because of their passion. Buy an activist a burrito!

Just got these stickers back from the printer, after a long while in the making. Stoked! A rip-off of the ubiquitous, One Less Car sticker from Microcosm. The bottom says, ‘Fewer Smug Emissions’.

Most people, at least here in Los Angeles, ‘get it’, but I want to clarify more on the meaning of this and I’ll do so in my all-time favorite format, FAQ’s.

What’s wrong with driving a prius? They get great gas mileage!
Yes, they do. When I need to rent a car for a trip (PA/VA MTB adventure!) I always try to get one. But buying a prius and making no other changes in how one travels every day in a city is not a paradigm shift. Cars are environmentally and socially damaging in many ways beyond fuel use. The energy and resources required to build and ship them, the destruction the space created for automobiles does, the separation of being in a 2,000 pound box, etc. And many hybrids drivers use it as an excuse to just drive more often!
To a cyclist, a prius is just a small hummer.

Isn’t this splitting hairs? Why critique people who are trying to make a difference?
Are they really trying? How much of a difference are they making? Buying a prius and not making any fundamental changes, ie walking, biking, public transit, etc, is easy and non-threatening. What makes that worse is the smugness of hybrid drivers, as if what they are doing requires great risk or vulnerability.
On my bike I risk my life every day for what I believe is the right thing to do. Prius drivers are constantly being patted on the back for what they do while cyclists are still being criticized for being in the way and demanding too much.

Can’t we all get along?
Ever been cut off by a prius with an Obama sticker? It happens more often than it should. The tipping point for the One Less Prius sticker was nearly being hit by one such vehicle IN THE BIKE LANE on Sunset Blvd. The guy gave me the finger when I threw my hands up.

But I drive a prius and I’m nice to cyclists!
Great, congratulations on being civil. And you want to be patted on the back for this? Get on a bicycle and join us in the streets, where we put our body behind what we believe. Get out of the safety of your metal box and feel what we feel, live what we live.

Cyclists are smug too! Isn’t this a contradiction?
Yes, some are. But who has more sweat-equity? Who is literally busting their ass for what they believe?

Okay, okay, I’m beginning to understand. Where can I learn more?
There are plenty of bicycle resources here in Los Angeles in the sidebar of this blog. Derrick Jensen just wrote a fantastic article, Forget Shorter Showers, about the importance of political change over personal change, that is appropriate for everyone interested in environmentalism.

Where can I get a sticker?
In person. Look for me on the bike.

Wow, I’ve gotten quite a lot of criticism for this sticker. While it is always great to see people thinking, most comments (here and in random forums for automobilists) can be easily dismissed with, ‘Did you actually read the post?’ or ‘Do you have a sense of humor?’

It still comes down to the fact that driving a prius is not a paradigm shift and has similar environmental, social and community health repercussions as an SUV. It changes very, very little. Is it a better option when one is forced to drive? Yes. I made that clear in the first question. And note the sticker does not say, ‘Fuck you for driving a prius you mindless, selfish bastard’. It’s a joke on people taking themselves too seriously. Can every single person in the world use a bike for every trip? Of course not. I never said that. But most urban people could use bicycles for many of their trips. Unfortunately, our cities are not set up this way, they continue to use 2,000+ pounds of metal to go 2 miles and real change never crosses their mind.

Those who ride a bicycle are taking more of a risk (one that is often exaggerated) and we do not have the infrastructure to make it more feasible. Reducing the risk and getting this infrastructure is the paradigm shift I am busting my ass for every day!
See you in the streets.