UCLA Bicycle Academy

Meeting Richard Jackson

2011-06-19T01:27:00.000-07:00

Dick Jackson has been called a Public Health Advocate. He is the Chair of the Environmental Health Sciences at the UCLA School for Public Health. His latest project: To teach UCLA to become a bicycle friendly campus.

Jackson has introduced the term Land Use into the public health discourse. His career includes a directorship at the Centers for Disease Control and serving as the highest State Health Officer in California. He is the co-author of "Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities" (2004). Most recently has has collaborated on a major PBS series Designing Healthy Cities which will be broadcast soon. The Federal Transportation Bill is a Health Care Bill was the title of a recent contribution to LA Streetsblog.

When a public health expert joins the board of the American Institute of Architects, then big and important questions appear on the horizon. Jackson is part (and inspiration) of the remarkable public health funding opportunities which have come to bicycle advocacy recently (Place Grants, Renew Grants). Public health agencies have started to fund bicycle coordinator positions (Glendale, South Bay) and develop Complete Streets Guidelines. Now it is time for UCLA to receive the good news.

Jackson means business. He proposed an F grade for UCLA in terms of bike friendliness, and without hesitation he asked the jugular question: How much money are they spending this year to improve the lot of cyclists? One answer he found on page 62 of the Bicycle Master Plan from 2006: The document envisions an annual budget of approx 100.000 for bike programs. Jackson likes to quote their bike budget in CSSCE (Car Storage Space Construction Equivalents): Less then 2. (1 CSSCE = $50.000) Which includes those give-away aluminium water bottles. For a campus with 22.000 car parking spaces, that does tell a story. The story of a campus in Southern California where active transportation is not a priority. Not yet.

But there is hope. There is now a new generation of administrators who get it. The Public Health Departments get it, and the schools for public health get it too. They have a clear understanding of the health costs of motorized transportation, and how land use has to be addressed (SB 375).

UCLA Bicycle Academy welcomes Dick Jackson to our effort to make this a stellar bicycle campus. The suspicion of transportation malpractice taints the image of UCLA. With his help and that of his colleagues from the UCLA Health System, we are poised . . . for a great ride!

Bicycle Friendly University (Bronze)

2011-03-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

The League of American Bicyclists has included UCLA in the list of Bicycle Friendly Universities. This is the first year of this new program. It has awarded our campus the distinction at the bronze level. (Press release)
Congratulations! Things are happening on our campus, no doubt. We had a "sweet" bikeumentary (Thanks Herbie & Mihai for all those wonderfully executed left turns), we have a bike library (students rent a bike for 35$ a term), Bruin Bikes for campus department use, the give me three feet campaign to educate car drivers, and a pledge to be alert (distracted driving campaign). We also have the Be=a=Green=Commuter blog. We even have a few (precariously placed) sharrows. Respect. R e s p e c t !

Of course, this is not the whole story. There is the continuing ban of cyclists from Bruin Walk, limited rewards for those who don't commute by car (aka Ride Card), there is a continuing loss of bikes through theft. There is a campus architect who is more committed to aesthetic standards than to serve his most sustainable commuters. And there is our chancellor who has forgotten to make those phone-calls to the city, the county, to Metro, to Caltrans, the Country Club, the congress. The list is long: To advocate for cyclists on Sunset and Wilshire, to get these roads re-surfaced around campus (how can anyone miss the badly torn-up interchange at Le Conte and Westwood?), to limit the impact of the 405 widening for cyclists, to re-open the National Cemetery for cyclists and pedestrians, to demand improvements for cyclists on the VA site, to get a bike facility where Wilshire crosses the the Los Angeles Country Club, to make UCLA the hub of a functioning bike network. That is what the UCLA Bicycle Master plan from 2006 referred to as Improving bicycle access to campus, calling it the first priority of the plan. In 2006.

What do you think? Join us for the monthly lunchtime meeting April 1st, and let's get these phone calls started.

Bicycle Politics: Stephen Box in District 4

2011-03-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

March 8 the LA City Council Elections are taking place, and for cyclists, especially those who can vote in District 4, this is a very important date. March 8. One of the Candidates in district 4, Stephen Box, has a long track record as a bicycle advocate in LA. Stephen is a friend of mine. Our paths have crossed on the board of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, and again on the Board of Sustainable Streets, a non-profit working in the area of bicycle education and encouragement. I know him as a great speaker, a sharp thinker, and a man of the greatest integrity. There is very little warm and fuzzy about Stephen, and that is how it must be, because cyclists don't need warm and fuzzy. We need solid and robust. We need an eloquent, sharp, intelligent representative on the city council.

City Council Elections have a very long tradition of favoring the incumbent. This is never good for democracy. If you have a way to support this challenger, please do it. Share this with your friends who live in North Hollywood, Toluca Lake, Laurel Canyon, Los Feliz, Larchmont Village, Koreatown, Hancock Park, Silver Lake, Park La Brea, Studio City. Find out more about Stephen Box at his campaign website, on facebook, on You Tube, and Twitter.

Stephen has received many significant endorsements. I am happy for him to count the UCLA Bicycle Academy among his supporters.

Dr Michael Cahn

January Meeting Notes

2011-01-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

The January meeting of the UCLA Bicycle Academy was held on 7 January at Luvalle Commons. Special guests were the 2006 UCLA Bicycle Master Plan and Donald Shoup. Donald is Professor of Urban Planning with a special interest in transportation and parking. He is the author of The High Cost of Free Parking, a revolutionary study which is of great relevance for sustainable transportation advocates. He is also the editor of ACCESS Magazine, a publication from the UC Transportation Center (free subscriptions are available). The latest issue has a paper about Electric Two-Wheelers in China.

Our other special guest, the 2006 UCLA Bicycle Master Plan presented itself in all its glory. 120 pages, ring bound, with many colour maps, tables and graphs, this is a veritable mine of information and good intentions. The plan was created by Sam Corbett, who now works for Alta Planning in San Diego. We have invited him to tell us about the plan at the February meeting. It was also resolved that those present will produce reviews of some the seven recommendations of the plan, comparing the language on the page with the reality on the ground

Improve Bicycle Accessibility to UCLA
Improve On-Campus Bicycle Accessibility
Improve Bicycle Parking at UCLA
Offer Incentives to Bicycle to Campus
Campus Bicycle Regulations
Bicycle Safety and Education
Bicycle Marketing

The "reviews" will appear on this blog. Some slots still open, please get in touch if you are interested in a particular topic and want to share your reading notes with the group

Also present (apart from the usual suspects) were four apologies (one dentist, one vet, two conflicts). If all goes well we will need two tables for the next meeting on the 4th of Ferbruary. Spread the word !

Reporting for duty

2010-12-05T01:16:00.000-08:00

Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny, Frank Zappa said in 1974 with his own marvelous voice. The same is true of bicycle advocacy at UCLA, not dead, surely, and the funny smell, well, you will have to judge that for yourself.

The proof? Friday 12/3 2010 at noon the UCLA Bicycle Academy (Steering Committee: from the left Dr Michael Cahn, Aric Gregson PhD, Mihai Peteu) met at Lu Valle for Bike Lunch and designed plans for the future: How to make the voice of staff and faculty cyclists heard loud and clear, and to give the cycling members of the campus community that publicity which will encourage others to try it out. Join us for the next meeting on 7 January at noon, and then every first Friday of the month.

Student advocacy is important, but advocating by staff and faculty has the benefit of the longer duration, greater familiarity with past developments, and an additional credibility that our demands should have with the administration. We will focus on building up a strong group of leaders (Steering Committee) and we ask for your support. We also want to offer a forum to publicize issues and systemic failures which are easily overlooked in the car-centric environment we live in.

We envision to publish first person narratives to bring home the normality of cycling from and to and on campus, and profiles, interviews, reports about campus based research that relates to cycling: historically, physiologically, politically, geographically, semiotically, urbanistically, environmentally, mathematically, you name it. At the same time we want to interact with the campus administration to assist them in improving bicycle services for staff, faculty and student. Because what is good for cyclists, is good for everybody!

League of Bicycling Voters LA: Organizational Meeting at UCLA

2010-05-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

Bike the Vote on May 15th — introducing the League of Bicycling Voters LA

It’s not hard to have a big influence on local elections. Calculations show that often there are more cyclists on the street than voters going to the urn. The newly founded League of Bicycling Voters LA wants to translate this fact into political currency.

On May 15th, cyclists from throughout the County of Los Angeles will be coming together on the Westwood campus to form the League of Bicycling Voters Los Angeles.

Patterned after the highly successful League of Bicycling Voters in Austin, Texas — which saw their entire slate of candidates elected to office in the last citywide election — the group is being formed at a time when cycling is more popular than ever.

Yet many cyclists, both beginners and experienced riders alike, believe they have have been ignored by unresponsive local, county and state governments, their safety needlessly endangered by roads and regulations that weren’t designed for bikes and policies that ignore their needs.

"For years we've tried playing nice, going along to get along, quietly sitting at meetings, waiting to be asked onto the floor for a dance,” explained Josef Bray-Ali, owner of the Flying Pigeon LA bike shop in Highland Park, and one of the founders of the local League of Bicycling Voters. “We've learned that the only place we can get our elected officials to pay attention is at the ballot box."

According to the group’s website, the League of Bicycling Voters “is not liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. It does not represent any one group or style of cycling.” Instead, it represents Los Angeles-area bicyclists of every type and description “to help ensure safer streets and a more bike-friendly community for all of us.”

Ted Rogers, author of the blog BikingInLA.com and another of the group’s initial founders, along with UCLA lecturer Dr. Michael Cahn, stressed that the League won’t conflict with other existing bicycle advocacy organizations, such as C.I.C.L.E. and the Los Angeles County Bicycling Coalition.

“This group is a purely political organization. Our purpose is to host forums and debates, get candidates on the record for their stands on bicycling issues, and to endorse and support bike-friendly candidates and propositions — which groups like the LACBC are prohibited from doing due to their non-profit status.”

The initial organizational meeting is scheduled for 10:30 am on Saturday, May 15th in Room 1347 on the ground floor of the UCLA Law School on the Westwood campus. Anyone who rides a bike and is eligible to vote in the County of Los Angeles is encouraged to attend.

Website: http://bikevotela.org/
RSVP our Facebook event
Join our Google Group

For more information contact Ted Rogers, 310/779-4910; lobvla@mindspring.com

League of Bicycling Voters Los Angeles

2010-04-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

The US Department of Transportation established that about 25% of Americans aged 16+ ride bikes. For the city of Los Angeles that means 300,000 – 400,000 cyclists among those who are registered to vote. Now consider this: In the city’s last mayoral election, only 285,000 people cast ballots. Which makes bicyclists one of the largest voter blocks in Los Angeles — and potentially one of the most powerful. Conclusion: Cyclists are well placed to elect the next mayor - and the city better get the bike parking in shape at the polling stations.

That’s the purpose of the League of Bicycling Voters Los Angeles: A new organization initiated by Ted Rogers, Josef Bray-Ali and Michael Cahn, dedicated to harnessing the power of the cycling community to influence the electoral process. The League will host forums and debates to get candidates on the record for their stands on biking issues, it will endorse and support bike-friendly candidates and propositions, and hold elected officials accountable for keeping their promises. Report cards, the whole lot. After observing and denouncing an administrative machinery which consistently fails to recognize the benefits of a bicycle friendly infrastructure, the League marks a step towards the next level.

This group is not liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. It does not represent any one group or style of cycling. It represents you, and thousands of other bicyclists in Los Angeles County, to help ensure safer streets and a more bike-friendly community for all us.

Click here to join the conversation of the Google Group and help us form the new League of Bicycling Voters LA. See the introductory announcement and join the Facebook group to stay in the loop and spread the word. We need all the help we can get to grow this into a fully transparent and powerful player in the Los Angeles Region. Lawyers, lobbyists, fund-raisers, political analysts, experts in not-for-profit governance and everybody else: Here is your opportunity to do the right thing. Let us build a powerful grassroots voter group from the spokes up, because a better environment for cyclists is a better environment for everybody. Conveniently for Bruins and their neighbors, the first organizational meeting is scheduled for Saturday morning, May 15, 2010 on the UCLA Campus. Details to follow.

The School of Public Affairs Thinks about Traffic, and Forgets the Bicycle

2010-03-10T17:46:00.000-08:00

UCLA Public Affairs are putting on a big conference on how to solve L.A.'s Traffic Problems, - but when you look at the program, you would not know that the bicycle was invented a while back.

How did this happen? Another big names event (Villaraigosa etc) about traffic in LA without a bicycle on the program? Could that be a waste of time? and money?

Franklin Gilliam, Are you perhaps missing something?
Brian Taylor, Why do respectable UCLA faculty agree to participate in a traffic related event and fail to protest that the bicycle has, again, not received a slot on the program?
Randall Crane, What is so bold about silencing the bicycle option?
Donald Shoup, If we cannot claim a slot for the bicycle on the program of the Rosenfield forum, why bother to go there at all?
Michael Dukakis, are you not taken for a ride by an program agenda that is blind to the obvious?

Bright minds who still think about traffic and congestion without considering the bicycle alternative are a true liability. How much longer will you consent that your name and your research decorate a program which pretends to be about traffic, and fails to include the obvious remedy on the title page? It should not be so difficult to find someone to speak about bicycles to this audience? Academic negligence anybody?

Sad, poor, disappointing, and worse: The organizers of this program missed a chance to include Janette "Bold Ideas" Sadik-Khan, New York City Transportation Commissioner, who is in Los Angeles the night before, giving a lecture on a LA campus. That was not bold, not good, and not a good beginning. Start Over. The assignment is: "Responsibility and Guilt: How the UCLA School of Public Affairs Research and Teaching Agenda contributes to Traffic Gridlock in LA"

Table 2. Spending on pedestrian and bicycle improvements by metropolitan area, 1992 – 2006 source

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA $0.20 (per capita)
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA $2.30
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro, TN $1.92

Waxman

2010-02-13T17:08:00.000-08:00

The UCLA Bicycle Academy and the Bicycle Coalition at UCLA invite all interested cyclists, staff and representatives of UCLA Transportation Services, Office of Sustainability, the Campus Architect, UCLA Government and Community Relations, the Transportation Deputy for Councilmember Rosendahl, the Westwood Neighborhood Council, and other stakeholders and interested parties, to attend a meeting with Lisa Pinto, District Director for Congressman Henry Waxman.
The topic of the discussion is the Re-Opening the National Cemetery for Bicycle Traffic

The meeting will take place at 5:15 pm on Wednesday February 17, 2010 in 6282 Bunche Hall, The Graduate History Lounge. If you take the elevator, turn right and you will find the room on your left. Map here

If you are unable to attend the meeting, we would be happy to read out and hand over any statement you may want to put together. Please send to velocipedus at gmail

History: Previous to 9/11 the National Cemetery was a preferred bicycle route between Brentwood and Westwood and helped cyclists to avoid the worst intersection in LA, the bottleneck where Wilshire and I-405 meet. Back then, the support of Senator Cranston ensured bicycle access through the VA cemetery. In the aftermath of 9/11 this route has been closed with reference to National Security. More recently, the Veterans Administration has spoken about the pastoral nature of the grounds. The current ban of cycling is articulated as part of a more general ban of recreational activity, failing to draw a distinction between cycling for recreation and cycling for transportation

Re-opening the cemetery for bicycle traffic would add a significant attraction for current car drivers to use the bike. It will reduce car traffic congestion in this area, which will improve air quality and reduce travel times. It is in accordance with a number of established policies and priorities, both locally and nationally. In short, the decision to close the cemetery has deprived UCLA of a Safe Route to College and lead to increased environmental impacts. Alternative routes (Ohio, Montana) discourage cyclists because of length and terrain. The widening of the I-405 currently underway will further limit the ability for cyclists to use the Wilshire corridor.

The aim of the meeting is to discuss judicial and political avenues to lift this closure.

Two Nobel Prizes for Bicycles at UCLA

2009-11-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

Please Sign the Petition for better bicycle access to campus today (UCLA Staff, Faculty, Alumni).

This is the story. Come with me. Here is the door to the future. The year is 2020. Hardly a car to be seen. Parking structures have been long been converted to better uses. Everybody is asking: Why did it take so long for UCLA to support its cycling staff and faculty? It made all the difference. Westwood feels so different now. Why did they loose three precious years before they began implementing the difficult parts of the Bicycle Master Plan ? How could they afford not to have a well-staffed Bicycle Bureau. Did nobody watch ? Did nobody care ?
Read all about it in the Open Letter to the Chancellor. Please Sign the Petition today (UCLA Staff, Faculty, Alumni) and share it with your colleagues on campus: (The UCLA Bicycle Coalition student group will probably set up their own petition)

We have quite a list of initial signatories, just in case you thought cycling was a sign of low achievement. Among our signatories are two (2, deux, dos, twee, zwei, due) Nobel Prize recipients from UCLA, one also the recipient of the UCLA Medal. That's why our Press Release is called: Two Nobel Prizes for Bicycles at UCLA

Initial Signatories:

Louis Ignarro, Professor for Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, UCLA School of Medicine, 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology

Paul Boyer, Emeritus Professor for Chemistry and Biochemistry, 1997 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1998 UCLA Medal

Olga Yokoyama, Professor and Chair, Department of Applied Linguistics

Annelie Rugg, Director/Humanities CIO, UCLA Center for Digital Humanities,
1992 Olympic Cycling Team Alternate

Richard Kim, IT Manager, UCLA Libraries, CA Cycling Sprint Champion 2009

Gregory Kendrick, Director, Freshman Cluster Program, Professor of History

Professor William McCarthy, UCLA School of Public Health

Mihai Peteu, Print Lab Supervisor, Design Media Arts Department

Sharon Ignarro MD, Attending Staff Anesthesiologist, Department of Anesthesiology, UCLA School of Medicine

Richard Abel, Michael Connell Professor of Law, Emeritus, UCLA School of Law

Now you Sign the Petition (Disregard donation requests on that site)

Westwood Neighborhood Council

2009-11-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

Westwood Neighborhood Council is being formed, and will open new ways of community input in how the area of UCLA is being planned, designed and improved. Neighborhood Councils have been successful in many parts of the city of LA. Anyone who works or lives or owns property in the neighborhood can become a member, and I can think of may reasons why the commuting cyclists from UCLA should be involved with such an organization. There is a membership form which needs filling out to achieve certification through the city here. Have a good look at the map on this form: One of the obstacles for cyclists commuting to campus, the LA Country Club, is officially part of our 'hood, and that may just increase our ability to start a friendly conversation with the club, perhaps a steady trickle of happy and well educated cyclists could become a new feature in their landscapes gardens.

UCLA Bicycle Coalition (Student Group)

2009-11-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

A new student group, the UCLA Bicycle Coalition, has been created, they have set up a facebook group and are now busy transforming into a proper student club. Here is the Google Group. They have put together their own petition regarding the Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan. Not to be confused with the open letter to the Chancellor which refers to the Campus Bicycle Master Plan. So much master planning, and still so much remains to be done. Still, things are moving forward. And fast.

First UCLA Bicycle Seminar: LA Bike Masterplan

2009-10-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

This Friday 23 October the first UCLA Bicycle Seminar: LA Bike Masterplan is taking place at noon, Kerkoff Lawn. You Have Been Warned. Google "LA Bike Masterplan". Be there to witness how the monster that is cycling lolls, wakes, and transportation may never be the same again. Joseph will speak shortly about the LA City process, your's truly will make some remarks about the unredeemed promises of the UCLA Bicycle Master Plan, and then it is for our cycling public (yes, you) to raise the issues and insults we are exposed to on two wheels.

The paradox is deep and important and needs to be spelled out to be fully enjoyed. Yes, we firmly hold the moral superiority on the road. Yes, more than two thirds of all car drivers have lost their innocence and clearly know they should not do it. They buy hybrids and are still full of shame. If you knock on their window they apologize for driving. Without delay. And still we are somehow unable to translate this perfect storm into action on the ground: Witness the gentlemanly ease with which UCLA claims lack of jurisdiction over the criminal street conditions in Westwood. The lack of access routes. The illegal closure of the National Cemetery where cycling is verboten because it considered recreation. Etc.

What is missing? Why does it not click? Why does our moral superiority not translate into the services we require to stay safe and to become more? I think we are at the brink of something here, and we need every cyclist on Kerkoff Lawn to make it happen. There are cities in this country where you cannot get elected if cyclists do not endorse you. And there are campus administrators who think they have done all they can. And who are about to pat themselves on their shoulder about the big success the Bicycle Master Plan has been. Yes.

Will women on campus accept a male equal opportunity officer? No they don't. Why do campus cyclists accept a transportation service which does not cycle to campus?

There will be comment cards for cyclists who want to make public comments on the LA bike plan right then and there. We'll also announce plans to ride to the Westside "public workshop" (the following Wednesday, Oct. 28 in Santa Monica) which is hosted by LA's Department of Planning and by LADOT to discuss the LA Bicycle Master Plan drafts. We hope to have large copies of the maps from the LA Bicycle Master Plan, but in the absence of those, we'll at least have a couple hard copies of the plan for cyclists to review. And, most importantly, we will have free burritos.

Credit for this seminar is available in Bicycle Heaven. Please give yourself a few hours to look at the documents. Lawyers, Planners, Urban Studies, Architects, Historians of the West LA Veloway are urged to attend. And everybody else.

Bike Lanes Grow Overnight at UCLA

2009-10-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

Bruin Walk chalked after initiation of Dismount Zone Policy

Along Bruin Walk on Monday, students were greeted by a makeshift lane, drawn anonymously in chalk and created for use by bikers and skateboarders. The pathway extended from the top of De Neve Drive to the area behind the Powell Building. Large capitalized chalk messages at Bruin Plaza declared “Resist the dismount.” (Daily Bruin)

Congratulations! There are plenty more bike lanes waiting for you to be born, and the background to this form of sidewalk art has been told wonderfully by Dan “Banana & Bicycle” Koeppel in his Paint Your Lane

But at UCLA the problem is bigger, and deeper. We have a Transportation Service on Campus in charge of bicycles. But they are not experts, they do not cycle, they do not “Improve Bicycle Accessibility to Campus” (The First Commandment in the Bicycle Master Plan). They have no cyclists to talk to, and so they start dreaming about cycling as a public safety issue.
True, there are some areas on Bruin Walk where uneducated bikes and pedestrians, all ears duly plugged, put themselves into danger. But to pull out CVC 21200 at a rate of 202$ is a bit harsh. And to say that it is consistent with the Bicycle Master Plan seems rather creative, or even deceptive: first because in my copy of the plan, the exclusion is limited to the period between 10:00am and 2:00pm, secondly the exclusion along parking structure 8 has been added without authority of the plan, and thirdly because the Bicycle Master Plan has plenty of recommendations which have not been acted upon – so why pull out the one which limits human powered transportation, and leave all the others in the drawer? Like, well, "Improve Bicycle Accessibility to Campus." And if cyclists use unsafe routes, as they sometimes do, perhaps it would be a good idea to provide a safe route for them, rather then simply serving them a simple street closure. You would think that a premier university in the country could somehow figure that one out.
But there is wider sense of injustice among cyclists: What do cyclists get in return for such restrictive policies? Why are there closing routes for bicycles, without providing an alternative route? Is there equity in the treatment of bikes and cars on the campus when safety is the issue? Or are those cyclists a lost cause, a tiny minority, not listened to, who will have to make do after the cars have had their share?

Which Way UCLA and VA (and National Cemetery)

2009-09-10T13:26:00.001-07:00

The Westside Urban Forum is inviting to an event entitled: Which Way UCLA and VA: Friday Sep 18, 2009 7:00 AM, Regency Club, corner of Westwood and Wilshire.

7:00 AM is early, very early, but it is important, and de rigueur for every cyclist who has fought his way through the car-filed cemetery which surrounds UCLA, especially to the West. Panelists include our own Chancellor Gene Block, the Hon. Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, and Ronald Norby, VA Healthcare Network. Moderator Cindy Miscikowski, President of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners & former Member Los Angeles City Council.

Come ye all you urban planners and cyclists, and let us find out if the developers and politicians have woken up to the call of the bicycle. And if the bicycle bell is still in your pocket from last night's council meeting, leave it there, it may come in handy. Bring money too, allow $ 10 surcharge if you wait to register after the 15th, because there is a ticket requirement, but Parsons Brinckerhoff seems to subsidize student membership. And who is going to stay quiet just because of $ 15 (student non-members). Perhaps the UCLA Urban Planning has a fund for this?

The issues from saddle and handlebar:

The Westwood / Brentwood bicycle dis-connection called 405

The Hallowed Ground Land Grab: Why do cyclists need to risk their lives on Wilshire when a path across the cemetery is simple and easy. Let's have a discussion if endangering and discouraging cyclist (and re-routing the subway to the sea?) is the appropriate and best way to pay honor to those who are honored there. Clearly, given all its benefits, the bicycle is the most patriotic form of transportation, and both the VA and the National Cemetery could do more to welcome it

Does Nothing: Unfilled promises of the UCLA Bicycle Masterplan which requires improvements of bicycle access routes to UCLA

Who Killed the West LA Veloway: A Grand Dream (image above) from the early 1980ies, pursued with much local support, including employing a planner to work on it

The Los Angeles Country Club: Miles of rolling hills for the golfers, but not even a few feet for a decent cycle path?

(Of course, some of this has been said before by the so-called The Bicycle Rider in Beverly Hills (pseud.) and his rather angry booklet)

Jazz is not Dead

2009-09-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny, said the honorable Frank Zappa. The same is not true of the UCLA Bicycle Academy. It is neither dead nor does it smell funny.

Santa Monica Spoke

2009-04-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

Santa Monica residents!

The second meeting of Santa Monica Spoke is coming up on Tuesday, May 28th, at the Community Room right next to the BikeRoWave (MAP). Come by at 6:30pm, grab some snacks, meet everyone, then we'll start a super-serious, no-nonsense discussion about everything bike related in Santa Monica at 7pm. We'll also have a chance to tour the BikeRoWave, the local bike coop, and witness it in full swing.

Mission
Share the resources and frustrations of Santa Monica cyclists
Empower cyclists to increase their number and improve conditions on
the street
Assist the City of Santa Monica to become a model bicycle community
Strengthen the LACBC through membership recruitment and fundraising

Agenda
Electing Officers (Chair or Board elected by Committee Chairs)
See who interested to be on what Committee
Electing LACBC relationship officer (to attend LACBC board meetings)

Caltrans Comes to Visit

2009-03-12T17:57:00.001-07:00

Yes, the Bicycle Coordinator of Caltrans district 7 will come for a visit. As a preparation, we created this map with some of the bicycle circulation issues known to mankind. UCLA has never much cared about what we have to fend with on our way to campus, despite a very direct language in the UCLA Bicycle Masterplan which demands improvements on access routes as the first priority.

View larger map on Google My Maps to add your own observations.

This map is interactive and open for all collaborators. Please click on this link to go to the Google Maps page, then click on My Maps and log in, and add your placemarkers with comments! Use the magnifying tool to place markers with precision and add description. This is a unique chance to get this looked at! Take note of of the specific dangers awaiting the cyclist, and refer to bicycle accidents you happen to know of.

Cycling with your Councilmember in Westwood

2009-02-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

Early morning political cycling anyone? Tomorrow, Friday, February 27, 2009, the LA County Bicycle Coalition organizes the second Car Free Friday ride.

We start at 8 am - come early and raise you bicycle complaints directly with your Council member Bill Rosendahl

From West LA to Century City: Here is the route

1. Start at Corinth Ave. and Santa Monica Blvd.
2. North on Corinth Ave.
3. Right on Ohio St., east on Ohio St.
4. Left on Sepulveda Blvd., north on Sepulveda Blvd.
5. Right at Westwood Park, ride through Westwood Park and Federal Building Area
6. Cross Wilshire at Veteran, north on Veteran
7. Right on Kinross Ave., east on Kinross Ave.
8. Right Westwood Blvd., south on Westwood Blvd.
9. Left on Santa Monica Blvd., east on Santa Monica Blvd.
10. Right on Avenue of the Stars, end ride in Century City Business Area.

There should be plenty of opportunities to raise the dismal state of bicycle approaches to UCLA, the lacking connectivity of SM Boulevard to Santa Monica, the state of the street surface, directly with your council member: Bring your complaints and bring your friends and bring a camera too – Just as this is an photo opp for the politician, it is also our opportunity to push for improvements with the council member directly.

Wilshire Boulevard

2009-02-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles, a book by Roderick and Lynxwiler, was presented at UCLA library yesterday, 18 Feb, with a reading and a book signing event. The occasion was enlivened when an unknown bicycle rider from Beverly Hills distributed a pamphlet entitled Wilshire. The [ ] of UCLA. Cyclists forgotten and insulted which highlights the difficulties of driving your bicycle on Wilshire. The author calls the street "Wiltshire", and claims that the campus has neglected to provide viable bicycle access to UCLA. Wilshire is not a Grand Concourse, it is an enormous barrier for bike access to UCLA, and the campus seems unwilling to recognize or improve this. The text highlights well-known issues for commuters from the East and from the West. It mentions the closure of the National Cemetery, which has severly impacted the connection between Westwood and Brentwood (and Santa Monica) – and the deplorable state of Wilshire at the Country Club for those who come from Beverly Hills. Sure, Wilshire is a scandal for cyclists, but even more of a scandal is the way the campus has given up any attempt to improve the lot of the cyclists on the approach.
The booklet has apparently been deposited at the UCLA library. In the meantime, here is a scan

Not called Christmas any more

2008-12-15T23:27:00.000-08:00

They say it is not called Christmas any more, but I just cannot kick the habit. Whatever you call it, don't forget your bicycle and your bicycle friends. The LACBC, our Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition has come up a with a nice selection of T-shirts for all frame and chest sizes, with marvelous designs, and a good cause it is too. www.zazzle.com/lacbc1. And don't forget one for yourself, after all those missed stops at the gas station, you surely have earned one, or even two.

Next year the Bicycle Coalition (www.la-bike.org) is planning a big membership drive at UCLA. T-shirts are good, but with all the work that waits for us to make the bicycle really viable in Los Angeles, we need smart and angry cyclists who join in and take charge. We could have a cordon of stations at most entries to the campus, and hail cyclists with good news about supporting the bicycle party. Now that the other election is over, we need to vote the bicycle king, and we need to do it soon. Please let me know if we can count on you to be on the sidewalk at the crucial time, and greet, thank, inform, count and recruit our brave and beautiful souls on the saddle. This is going to be a big one, and we want 50 bicycle recruiters placed at 12 points, and the exercise may include a short questionnaire and some counting of the bicycles.

There was also talk about a different kind of bicycle event: A ride from USC to UCLA, and one from UCLA to USC, 11 miles each way. Crews depart at the same time, they meet twice on the road, and a noisy encounter it may be. Before the return trip, each crew is fed and watered at the other campus in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, as only the bicycle can produce it. And the winner is: The group which sends more cyclists, and offers a kinder welcome to the arriving peloton. -

Lets hear from you if you can help to get this off the ground: velocipedus@gmail.com

Crash Data

2008-12-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

Please enter your crash data below as a comment, using some or all of the following criteria. This will help us to get a measure of the danger-spots around campus.
Crash Data Criteria:
Location, direction, speed
Time of day, date, daylight
Type of crash: Dooring, right hook, left hook, harassment (specify), distracted driver/cyclists, failure of gear,
Infrastructure involvement (Potholes, signage, bike-lane)
Injury, ambulance, hospital ?
Police Report? Cell phone useage, Alcohol, Drugs
Cyclist helmet / ear-phones
Insurance Involved? Lawsuit? Justice served?
Lesson Learned ? (How could we have avoided this incident)
Cyclists trained to League standards?

Ciclovia

2008-10-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

Save the date: Bike Town Beta #1 Los Angeles- Westwood Village
Saturday October 25th, 2008 6pm-10pm
Boundaries: Wilshire, Galey, Westwood, and Le Conte

This could be the first Ciclovia in Los Angeles - See if you can find a better party: Its a humble announcement, but the buzz is there.

And just in time for the new Complete Streets Legislation, just signed, which gives bicycle traffic an entirely new basis in law -

Perhaps we are in for better bicycle times. But has UCLA moved? Has their bicycle department heard from you about access routes, about street surfaces in Westwood and about crossing the 405? What about the cemetery closed for national security? Or perhaps a charming bikepath right through Los Angeles Country Club, instead of Hell on Wilshire, every day.

Yes, much work remains to be done, and Bike Town Beta can be a joyful beginning for this work. But where to go if UCLA does not get around to implement its own bicycle masterplan? And actually improve access to the campus? What doors to knock on? Which phones to ring?

That's the big question. Too big for a few academic cyclists? Probably not. No.

Obama on the bicycle

2008-06-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

This is from the Bicycleretailer

Obama Pledges Funding for Cycling

CHICAGO, IL (BRAIN) — Barack Obama, in a private 20-minute meeting with members of the Bikes Belong board of directors, told them if he were elected president he would increase funding for cycling and pedestrian projects. And the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also said he would support Safe Routes to Schools programs.

He also told them he seldom makes promises on what he would do if elected president, but that this was a promise he would keep. Tim Blumenthal, executive director of Bikes Belong, laid out the industry’s position on boosting funding for cycling-related projects and for Safe Routes to Schools at the meeting.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) called the opportunity for industry leaders—both suppliers and retailers—to meet privately with a presidential candidate so early in a campaign for the White House was historic. "It's important for this industry to understand that it is a force," said Blumenauer, shortly after Obama left the event.

Stan Day, SRAM’s president, said that Obama "gets it." He pointed out that Obama understands that bicycles can be part of a solution to issues as diverse as health care, obesity, energy and environmental policy. "He does his homework and he can connect the dots," he said.

Of the estimated 160 guests who turned out for the event, Day estimated close to 60 represented the bicycle industry ranging from suppliers, retailers and advocates. Among the guests were Greg LeMond and his wife, Kathryn. Obama, in his remarks to the guests, thanked the LeMonds for attending.

Chris Kegel, owner of Wheel & Sprocket, a six-store chain of stores in the greater Milwaukee area, drove to Chicago early Thursday evening to attend the fundraiser at the home of F.K. Day and his wife, Leah. Day is vice-president of SRAM.

"I think it’s very important that we (the bicycle industry) were involved with this type of event," Kegel said. Kegel added that he personally supports Obama and believes that Obama can help end the partisanship that divides the country.

Chicago retailer, JoAnne McSweeny, owner of Trek Bicycles on Michigan Avenue, said she has followed Obama’s career for years and supports Obama’s run for president. She, like many others, said Obama's support for cycling is important for the nation’s future.

During a conversational 15-minute speech, Obama poked fun at himself telling the crowd that when he was photographed last weekend riding a bike with his children, he looked like Urkel. For those unfamiliar with Steve Urkel, he was the nerdy, bespectacled semi-hero on the long running sitcom "Family Matters." The show was centered on an African-American middle class family living in Chicago.

Obama said he had no idea at the time he was riding with his children that he would soon meet with so many members from the industry. However, he pointed out, he knew photographers would be snapping photos of him on his bike, and that he wore his helmet to set an example for the kids.

Tom Petrie, president of Velimpex, who flew to Chicago Thursday afternoon, said he didn’t expect to hear Obama lay out a specific agenda for the bicycle industry. "However, it was refreshing to see somebody trying to unite the country instead of trying to divide it with wedge issues. I find it refreshing and, frankly, necessary,” Petrie said

For a complete report on the event, read the July 1 issue of Bicycle Retailer & Industry News.
—Marc Sani

Einstein on the Bike

2008-03-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Some will say they had known it all along. The intelligentsia, the teachers of our teachers, the professors and the PhD's have long lost the plot. Now they even want to go back to the bicycle! What is wrong with them? Why can they not use the car like the rest? Yes, the bystanders will probably shake their head when the intellectual elite of this university comes together from all corners of the campus and wears their bicycle with pride during our weekly professorial ride. Join us and support us!
Our job on campus is to thinking, and establish truths, and our hope is that together, as a heterogeneous group called The Bicycle Academy, we can change some minds about the feasibility of the bicycle.
Books and Bicycles are perhaps the greatest achievements of humankind. Books are airplanes of the mind, and bicycles are the airplaces for the body. For books we do have libraries, and for the bicycles we have potholes. Now there is our work cut out for us.