Category Archives: action alert

Save Westwood and Central in LA Mobility Plan 2035

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ACTION ITEM:
Support LA Mobility Plan 2035 with Bike Lanes on WestwoodMobility Plan 2035 LACBC

With all “consensus” amendments now adopted in Mobility Plan 2035, two new amendments that directly undermine the balanced network approach by cutting out two critical segments of the bike network are left. The entire Mobility Plan is premised on the idea that all modes deserve complete, functional networks so that people have a range of good mobility options. That principle is under attack with these two remaining amendments:

  • Councilmember Koretz’s amendment would remove Westwood Blvd from the Bicycle Enhanced Network, which provides direct access to UCLA for hundreds of students, faculty, and staff who ride this route every day. This segment has approximately 800 bike riders on an average weekday.
  • Councilmember Price’s amendment would remove Central Ave from the Bicycle Enhanced Network, which runs through the heart of historic South Central, serving businesses, youth centers, schools, and the Constituent Services Center (CD9’s district office). This segment had approximately 60 bike riders per hour during our 2013 bike count.

Because these amendments are not consistent with the overall goals of Mobility Plan 2035, LA city staff is recommending against them. However, each council office is expected to lobby vigorously for the removal of these bike lanes from the plan.

We need your support to uphold the LA Mobility Plan’s balanced approach and to avoid piecemealing the carefully designed networks. You can show your support by:

1.) Coming to the Los Angeles City Planning Commission public hearing on these amendments, where a final decision on whether to keep these critical bike lanes in Mobility Plan 2035 will be made.

Los Angeles City Planning Commission Public Hearing
When: Thursday, February 11, 2016, at approximately 8:30 a.m. or soon thereafter
Where: Los Angeles City Hall, Public Works Board Room 350 (3rd Floor) – 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, 90012

2.) Sharing your support by email. Can’t make the meeting? You can still support bike lanes on Westwood Blvd and Central Ave by emailing james.k.williams@lacity.org (and bcc us at hyeran@la-bike.org). A sample email is available on LACBC’s blog.

3.) Spreading the word. Share the blog post with your networks. On Monday, we’ll be having another #MobilityMondayLA.

Read the LACBC blog for more details on these amendments, and come to the Planning Commission Public Hearing on Thursday!

Call to Action: Bills to transform how California funds bikeways

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Calbike FundingOur California Bicycle Coalition has two hugely important bills that will transform how California funds bikeway projects. Here’s what these laws would do:

  • Implement a Complete Streets policy for state funding: We are thankful to Senator Jim Beall for including sensible complete streets provisions in SBX 1-1 that will make the wisest use of road maintenance funding by including “new bicycle and pedestrian safety, access, and mobility improvements” in every project funded by the state. It calls for sidewalks and protected bike lanes or bike paths in transit-dense areas on most roads with a speed limit over 25 miles per hour.
  • Increase dedicated funding for biking and walking: Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, Autumn Burke, and David Chiu’s ABX 1-23, doubles the size of the Active Transportation Program (ATP) with a $125 million increase. The ATP is the sole source of state funding dedicated to biking walking and Safe Routes to School projects. Last year, the ATP was underfunded by nearly $800 million for shovel-ready walking, bicycling and safe school access projects. ABX 1-23 also includes a bike network grants program that will support local agencies to build whole networks that connect every destination in communities like yours with an unbroken web of bike paths, protected bike lanes, and quiet bicycle boulevards.

Now we need your help. Contact your state Senator and Assemblymember now to let them know that you support implementing strong “complete streets” policies to ensure that state funding is being spent to build protected bike lanes, increasing the Active Transportation Program, and creating a state program to give cities large grants to build out entire bike networks.

Action Alert: Ask Your Senators to Support Bicycling

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People for Bikes
Write a letter to your senators in support of bicycle infrastructure funding.
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Did you know that your senators are making decisions that will affect the future of bicycle infrastructure in California?
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Use this easy letter-writing tool to reach out to your senators and ask them to continue their support of bike funding.
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The U.S. Senate is currently working on a proposal for TIGER grants, an important source of federal transportation funding for projects to build roads, transit, ports, and bicycle infrastructure. The House has proposed $100 million in funding for next year, far less than the $500 million that TIGER was funded at this year. Let your senators know that you support full funding of the program and the bicycle projects it helps make possible.

Thanks for taking action!

— The PeopleForBikes Team

CALL TO ACTION: AB 8 (Hit and Run Alert Bill)!!

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hit and run billboard SAFECALL TO ACTION: AB 8 (Hit and Run Alert Bill)!!
A message from S.A.F.E / Finish the Ride

Tuesday, June 30th, Bill Faces “No” Vote in State Senate
 
AB 8 (The Hit and Run “Yellow Alert” Bill) would allow law enforcement to use California’s existing network of changeable message signs to display specific descriptions of vehicles suspected in hit and run crimes.  AB 8 will help catch those who commit these crimes that send nearly 19,000 people in CA to the hospital or grave each year.  
 
THE PROBLEM:

We at SAFE were shocked to recently learn that the California Highway Patrol, an organization that is responsible for “Safety, Service and Security”, strongly opposes this sensible action which has minimal costs and has proven to be effective in dramatically increasing safety in other states, namely Colorado.

The core of their opposition is based on their poorly researched and unsubstantiated statements that hit-and-run crimes occur because of undocumented immigrants. 80% of those who commit hit-and-run crimes are never identified, and their immigration status is unknown.  What we do know is according to LAPD, a large percentage of hit-and-run offenders who do get caught were running because they were driving drunk, not because of the color of their skin.

As a result of the CHP’s opposition, the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Senator Beall is opposed to AB 8. This could kill the bill in the committee.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) E-mail, call or fax letter of support to Senator Beall (the Chair of the Transportation Committee) or to your local Senator by Monday, June 29th. The following is a list of names and links to contact information:

Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose)
Chairman of the CA Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing

Capitol Office
State Capitol, Room 5066
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4015
Fax: (916) 651-4915

Other Committee members include:
Senator Anthony Cannella (Vice Chair) (Merced, Fresno, Salinas)
 Senator Benjamin Allen (West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, & Beach Cities)
Senator Patricia C. Bates (Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Juan Capistrano)
Senator Ted Gaines (Redding, Rocklin, Folsom, Auburn, Lake Tahoe)
Senator Cathleen Galgiani (Stockton, Modesto, Lodi, Tracy)
Senator Connie M. Leyva (San Bernardino, Ontario, Pomona, Fontana)
Senator Mike McGuire (Eureka, Santa Rosa, San Rafael, Mill Valley)
Senator Tony Mendoza (Downey, Whittier, Cerritos, Buena Park, Pico Rivera, Montebello)
Senator Richard D. Roth (Riverside, Corona, Moreno Valley)
Senator Bob Wieckowski (South / East SF Bay, Hayward, Fremont, San Jose, Santa Clara)

2) The following is a sample letter to e-mail or fax Senator Beall and other committee members in your district:

(DATE)

The Honorable ________
California State Senate
State Capitol, Room _____
Sacramento, CA 95814

Regarding: Support of Assembly Bill 8 (Gatto), the Yellow Alert System

Dear Senator _____________,

According to the California Highway Patrol, hit-and-run crimes seriously injure or kill approximately 19,000 Californians each year.

I was shocked to hear that CHP, an organization that is responsible for “Safety, Service and Security”, would oppose a sensible action that has minimal costs and has proven to be effective in dramatically increasing safety in other states, namely Colorado.

With all due respect to the officers in CHP who put their lives on the line to protect our communities, the arguments presented by them are poorly researched and miss the entire point of this legislation.  What concerned me the most were their unsubstantiated statements that hit-and-run crimes occur because of undocumented immigrants.  80% of those who commit hit-and-run crimes are never identified, and their immigration status is unknown.  What we do know is according to LAPD, a large percentage of hit-and-run offenders who do get caught were running because they were driving drunk, not because of the color of their skin.

Please uphold your duty to protect and serve your constituents regardless of color and creed. Support AB 8.

Sincerely,

X_____________________
[Professional Title]

3) Use social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc…) to spread the word and gain support.  Use #PassAB8 and #EndHitandRuns.

Please let the Senate Transportation Committee know that the CHP views on this bill are grossly misinformed and AB8 is an essential part of fighting the epidemic of hit-and-run crimes.

Help us Fix the DRIVE Act

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Bike League Action

On Monday morning, U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced The Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act,or DRIVE Act.  As the acronym suggests, the bill focuses on freight and highways.

While we did get some important changes to the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), there are still several more ways we can make this bill more inclusive of people who bike. You can read the League analysis of the bill here.

Tomorrow the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will debate the bill and vote on a number of amendments to improve safety, promote safety innovations, and support multimodal transportation. The bill is 270 pages long and there are inevitably a lot of amendments, including several that we believe are essential to make the bill more balanced, multi-modal and supportive of local control.

Your Senator is on this Committee. Please help us by asking them to support these amendments.

We have less than a day to show support for a bill that’s a transportation bill — and not just a driving bill.

Below are the amendments we hope your lawmaker will support during tomorrow’shearing.

Cardin Amendments on the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP)

  • To restore funding to 2009 levels
  • To ensure states can’t transfer funding that has been allocated to local governments

Gillibrand Amendment on Vision Zero

  • To create an incentive program to reward local innovations in traffic safety

Markey Amendment on Safe Streets

  • To ensure states adopt a Complete Streets policy

Merkley Amendments on equity and access

  • To establish  a national goal of achieving a transportation system that connects people to economic opportunities through multiple modes of transportation
  • To establish a pilot project to study connectivity of transportation options to economic opportunities

Cardin Amendment on flexibility in overall funding levels

  • Stating that if more funding for transportation is found through tax reform or another measure, the committee won’t be limited by the funding numbers in this bill.

Thank you for helping us build a more bicycle-friendly America for everyone!

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