It’s amazing how much time we waste as a society fighting against desperately needed things (like more housing) because of parking and traffic.
Somehow it all keeps coming back to cars, and the way we’ve chosen to design our cities.
This wasn’t an episode of Parks & Recreation; it was over 30 neighbors (condo owners) showing up to express their sincere outrage & anger that a developer would propose a 225-unit complex on an open field next to a Whole Foods in the midst of a housing crisis.
#a2council
Why don’t “electric cars” solve it for me?
Because my beef with so many cars in cities is only 25% tailpipe pollution. Other 75% is safety, livability, housing cost, density, space for bikes and buses, noise, our kids unable to bike to school.
Electric cars solve none of that.
A $3,000 e-bike is viewed as expensive.
A $15,000 car is viewed as inexpensive.
That has to change for our planet to survive and our cities to be livable.
One of the best things to come out of this election is Ocasio-Cortez, more than anything, because with no background in politics she just went for it and won. And now giving us an insiders view from a 20-something year old. Makes anyone feel like they could do it too.
In my on-boarding to Congress, I get to pick my insurance plan.
As a waitress, I had to pay more than TWICE what I’d pay as a member of Congress.
It’s frustrating that Congressmembers would deny other people affordability that they themselves enjoy. Time for
#MedicareForAll
.
This will be my SUV for the next 10 years. 100 mile range. Full suspension. Can easily handle hills. Holds 3 kids. Never look for parking or stuck in traffic. This is the future of transportation in cities.
Electric cars won’t get rid of traffic
Hybrid cars won’t get rid of traffic
Autonomous cars won’t get rid of traffic
Only having a multimodal city will get rid of traffic
When self driving eliminates traffic, LA will be incredible. If LA had real and efficient mass transit it’s also be amazing.
At 5am it takes 16 minutes to get somewhere it normally takes 30 with “no traffic”. 45-60 in rush hour.
I got tired of hearing the same excuses every time a bike project is proposed. Here are the nine most common objections I’ve heard, and how to counter them:
My wife asked if the e-bike was charged so she could use it for an errand. I was pleasantly surprised as she doesn’t normally bike without me. Turns out parking is hard where she is going.
The more convenient driving is, the more people will choose it. The opposite is also true.
It’s not rocket science. Biking is often faster than driving in LA. We have nearly year round perfect weather. E-bikes are now affordable. All that’s missing is the infrastructure to make people feel like they’re not gonna die, we’d get so many cars off the road!
Currently about 10% faster to bike from Santa Monica to West Hollywood than to drive. Probably about 20% faster if you’re on an e-bike. I bet people would bike it if it felt safer.
Reaching zero roadway deaths may sound impossible, but some sizable US cities have repeatedly achieved it. We can and must do everything we can to build on this progress and end the crisis on our roads.
I got tired of everyone (including
@POTUS
yesterday) saying that electric cars are the end all be all solution to climate change. So I wrote something about it:
Riding a bike is the *only* mode of transportation where every time you leave your house you think about your mortality and wonder if today is the day that you’re going to get seriously injured or killed just trying to get to where you need to go.
The average car, with gas, insurance, and car payments is around $1,000/month. The idea that car infrastructure is for the “working poor” while bus and bike lanes are for the “rich” is complete nonsense.
What I hear in this video:
1 — we’ve failed the younger generation in building enough housing so that they can afford to live near where they work
2 — we’ve failed as a country to develop great mass transit options that allow people to get to/from work quickly and efficiently
The problem is “traffic” engineers only view cars as “traffic” and pedestrians and cyclists as impediments to free flowing traffic. The entire profession needs to be blown up and started over.
“Nobody bikes in LA. If we build protected bike lanes everywhere it would be just a waste of space. You have to have a car in LA. It’s too dangerous to let kids bike in LA.”
@CicLAvia
The fact there is no train from Austin to Houston is insane. It could easily be one of the most profitable routes in the country, it would be better for the environment, people’s safety and convenience.
Exhibit A of why we don’t just need bike infrastructure but a wholesale culture change in Los Angeles.
For the record we were on a 25mph residential street and this guy started honking.
The greatest PR and marketing scam in history is car companies convincing Americans to spend a disproportionate amount of their income on a car that sits parked 95% of the time and the other 5% is used for many trips that are easy bike rides. (50% of car trips are <3 miles)
The amount of unsolicited expert parenting advice this morning was impressive.
Most cheered us on and said she was doing great. One person (of course in a massive SUV) slowed down and rolled down their window to tell me how I was risking her life.
@annaholligan
We live in a world where a $10,000 electric cargo bike is expensive but a $20,000 car is inexpensive.
I ride my R&M Load 75 in Los Angeles as my car. I take my 3 kids anywhere they need to go, and transport whatever I need on it.
It’s cheaper and more fun this way.
.
@Anne_Hidalgo
is the most inspiring mayor in the world right now, transforming her city to be centered around people instead of cars.
Thank you
@lemondefr
for covering Measure HLA, and thank you Anne for your amazing work!
There are too many (idling) cars in Griffith Park.
Close the park to all cars.
Have a free frequent electric shuttle that goes to the attractions from the perimeters.
I knew as a kid that European, Latin American, many other cities felt different. I didn’t know why and I certainly didn’t think that the US could feel that way.
Realizing that these are all just choices we make and that we can make different choices has been very empowering.
“The private car is, by far, the most wasteful of urban space. Because we have apparently decided that the car has a sacred right to go anywhere, halt anywhere, and remain anywhere as long as its owner chooses, we have neglected other means of transportation.”
- Lewis Mumford
Just another day in LA where biking to an appointment is faster than driving.
This one is 3 miles from my house — 50% of car trips in the city are going 3 miles or less every day! 🤯
Some thoughts on the 10 freeway fire, its closure, and our political leaders responses.
TLDR: We can’t keep treating car infrastructure as sacrosanct with money being no object, and do the opposite for rail, bus, bike, sidewalks, etc.
Been wanting to ride up to Mulholland with my Dad for years, but he’s 69 and hills aren’t easy for him. Look what happened when I put him on an e-bike... these things will change the world.
Wow.
@PeteButtigieg
biking home from work in DC. THIS is leadership. Thank you, Pete. Can’t wait to see what you do over the next 4 years to encourage non-car modes of transportation in cities.
Close your eyes and imagine how much cycling would explode in sun filled LA if our infrastructure looked like this.
How many kids would bike themselves to school?
How many errands and commutes would be done by bike?
Here’s the cool thing: it’s not too late!
The network of separated bicycle paths and bicycle streets in Utrecht is very extensive. You can cycle straight through the city, from west to east, hardly having to share the road with motorized traffic. This makes
#cycling
safe and fun for cyclists of all ages and abilities!🚲
You can’t be a “climate mayor” or a Councilmember who is an “environmentalist” without proactively & aggressively giving people safe options for transportation that don’t involve cars. Label yourself however you want but proof is in actions & willingness to stand up to status quo
14 years ago I drove everywhere in LA
I constantly complained about traffic
I said LA needs more parking
I never considered that I was part of the problem for using a car for every trip — in this case, a 2 mile trip that took 40 minutes.
Cities can change
People can change too
Once you learn about how destructive cars have been for our mental health, physical health, livability, safety of our kids, and impact on climate change, it’s impossible not to resent how LA has made its road space decisions, or fight to get it to change course.
My 4 year old loves riding her own bike to school. I love it too, and it’s mostly on calm residential streets, but not all of the route. I spend my mornings thinking about which corners, intersections, & driveways are likely to be the calmest for her.
No drivers have to do this.
This is Franklin Ave in Hollywood. A designated “bike route” by the City of Los Angeles, as you can see by the sharrows. It’s also a perfect example of the absurdity of sharrows as protection. Would you feel comfortable on this bike route?
We did it!
The majority of Angelenos want safer streets. They want a multimodal transportation system. They want to save lives.
This city will look very different once the City implements its own plan.
Breaking: Voters approve Measure HLA, which requires L.A. to reengineer some of the region’s boulevards, reducing traffic lanes, building more space for bicyclists and buses and providing better protections for pedestrians.
I don’t blame drivers in LA from feeling like they have no choice but to drive. I blame past city councilmembers, Mayors, and city agency leadership for lacking the courage and imagination to build infrastructure that would make drivers think twice and consider alternatives.
I was admiring the new bollards at Rosewood / La Brea
@LADOTofficial
recently put in to stop drivers from illegally going straight. And as I’m shooting the video…
@timfremaux
can we add a few more across? Cahuenga / Lexington has more and prevents this absurdity
E-bikes outsell electric cars in the US. Imagine what they’d do if cities prioritized safe infrastructure. How much cleaner the air would be, how many cars we’d take off the road, how many people would be in better moods just getting to where they need to go.
Every
@CicLAvia
I imagine what would happen if the city made infrastructure safe enough for this not to be a special event.
Listen to how quiet this is in the middle of the city.
Look at the kids.
Look at the joy.
We can have this if we want.
Every restaurant, coffee shop, market, etc was bursting with customers. Bikes are good for business, for community, for physical and mental health, for the planet. ❤️
@CicLAvia
@VickieforNYC
Why do you think biking is only for wealthy people? I don’t get it. Bikes are a fraction of the cost of cars, and especially in NYC, often the fastest way to get around.
“The 10 is closed for 2 miles indefinitely”
EMERGENCY
Mobilize all resources
24/7 operation
Communicate through every channel
All top brass
Vs
“The tracks are falling into the ocean”
“Train service disrupted for months”
“LA River bike path closed for a year”
🦗🦗🦗
Today, the mayor of
@CityofBevHills
Bob Wunderlich cited
@SecretaryPete
’s words in his support of their new Complete Streets plan which is chock full of bike lanes. Thank you
@PeteButtigieg
. Leadership matters and is powerful.
Hi
@SecretaryPete
@PeteButtigieg
why are cars like this legal on our streets? My 6 year old wouldn’t stand a chance and an adult would also be killed. No one needs a lifted pick up to do their work, and auto makers consistently make deadlier front grilles.
Please help.
LA’s police chief
@LAPDChiefMoore
blames cyclists riding on streets that don’t have bike lanes and pedestrians that don’t wear reflective clothing for a year of record road deaths in LA.
I’m excited to report that the Baldwin Hills Conservancy voted unanimously today to grant
@streetsforall
$150k towards the Ballona Creek Bike Path Extension feasibility study (with
@SWAgroup
).
We’ve now secured $400k, and are nearly fully funded!
Get ready for more of this :)
@mikehtrujillo
This was taken in 2018, before the bus lane was put in on Venice (which was on the City’s mobility plan). The bus lane can be used by first responders to speed up response in situations like this.
Why do we allow drive throughs (this is a Starbucks at Highland and Willoughby) in LA? They gum up traffic and you have idling cars belching fumes at their least efficient.
Meet LA’s comprehensive public rail system - the largest in the world (in the 1920s). Has any other large city snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as badly as LA?
I wrote this. Instead of making the hard(er) decisions to physically change our streets, our city keeps putting in signage and other ineffective things that don’t actually protect lives.
Time for the city to take this seriously and change the design of our streets.
Amazing how many people rise to the immediate defense of even *studying* tearing down a freeway, yet accept the harms incurred daily from the freeway as a given.
As a society, we’re car blind. Only when we recognize the consequences of cars can we have an honest conversation.
More than 49 million Americans live within a mile of a highway and face startling health risks from traffic pollution, according to an ABC News data analysis.
Last night
@metrolosangeles
had closed Wilshire and La Brea for construction work on the future D Line.
There was no traffic Armageddon
There was no chaos
Just quieter, safer streets
It’s a myth that we need as many streets as we have in LA, all just for cars.
Just presented to Culver City city council and they unanimously approved $100,000 to
@streetsforall
towards a feasibility study on extending the Ballona Creek bike path east to Venice/Cochran! Learn more at . So excited to get this done!
It’s time to ban cars in front of schools in LA. Lowering speed limits and adding speed humps isn’t nearly enough.
By schools, our thinking has been about enhancing the convenience of moving children by car, versus protecting the children themselves.
.
@PaulKoretzCD5
is killing Uplift Melrose. Despite a majority of residents, businesses, both schools, religious institutions & both NCs supporting. If that’s not enough to get a transformation project done in LA w/free $50M from CA, nothing is. It’s why we can’t have nice things.
Yesterday we joined
@CD5LosAngeles
in unveiling a memorial sign at Olympic and Overland to honor Monique Muñoz, whose life was taken too soon by an act of speeding on our streets. This sign serves as a reminder to drivers to slow down and practice safe driving behavior.