Here Comes the Train – and Bikes and Pedestrians

By Ann K. Williams
Lookout Staff

February 16, 2011 – The Lookout is conducting a series of interviews with city notables to get a sense of what’s to come in Santa Monica. Last week, we sat down with the city’s Director of Planning Eileen Fogarty who shared her vision of what the city will look like as it develops in the next few years. Today’s story will look at the Expo Light Rail that will cut through the city by 2014, if all goes as planned.  [More]

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Bike Action Plan To Encourage More Biking, Less Driving,

By Jason Islas
Special to the Lookout News

February 18, 2011 — As part of the LUCE plan to revamp the city’s infrastructure, Santa Monica city officials have begun developing a new Bike Action Plan to reduce car traffic and to encourage commuters to ride bikes.

“We want it to be done and approved by the City Council by July 2011,” Lucy Dyke, deputy director for special projects told the crowd at Wednesday night’s bike and pedestrian safety meeting at the Ken Edwards center.
“The Bike Action Plan isn’t just a map,” Dyke said.
She said that if it were just a map, it would be too rigid. Dyke believes the Bike Action Plan should be able to evolve as the city develops.

And Cynthia Rose – a volunteer on the Steering committee of Santa Monica Spoke, a chapter of the Los Angeles County Bike Coalition – agrees.
Rose called for “cultural change” with regards to how bicyclists are seen.
“[The city] needs to demonstrate that cyclists, pedestrians, and public transportation are important to make the city work,” Rose told the Lookout Tuesday. [more]

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Practical benefits of bike sharing in a very urban environment:

Bike Sharing Coming To Hoboken & Jersey City?

… it is hard to imagine that bike sharing will not become a critical option in the urban multi-modal menu of all cities.  In my experience, the greatest practical challenge for expanding bicycle use in urban areas as a transportation option is the limited space residents have to safely keep bicycles at home.  Small city flats in walk-up buildings are simply not ideal for owning and regularly using a bicycle, and many people are unwilling to spend money on a material possession that spends its nights on the street (and doesn’t weigh two tons).  Bike sharing circumvents these challenges by making the bicycle available as a “service” rather than a “possession”, which eliminates the need to store the bicycle at home and removes the safety/security concerns from the individual.  It also naturally allows bicycles to be used more continuously throughout the day, reducing resource consumption as well as the total number of bicycles in a city (which at some point can become overwhleming as anyone who has witnessed a Shanghai commute can attest!).

Perhaps the bike stations in Santa Monica can also be bike sharing facilities.
Barbara Filet

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Road Rules: Addressing Traffic Safety in Santa Monica

Sorting through some of the chaos on the streets, particularly oft-misunderstood rules about bicycling.

The streets of Santa Monica are often a place of conflict, as drivers compete for asphalt, pedestrians try to get across in one piece and cyclists attempt to squeeze in wherever they can fit. Some of this conflict comes from carelessness, impatience, frustration and roadway design. But oftentimes, it also comes from ignorance or confusion about what the rules of the road really are.

To have a truly sustainable city, being able to get around by foot and bike is an essential component. However, if some people live in fear of walking or cycling in the city, which is often the case presently, it not only undermines sustainability, it effects the quality of life in the community. [more]