Bus Vs. Bicycle

[Jason Saunders]

What would you do if you were legally commuting by bicycle on a Los Angeles street and a Metro bus driver became irate, honked at you, told you to get off the road, then proceeded to pass you with the thinest of margins, jeopardizing your life and those on board the bus, all because you were slowing her schedule down.

This is what Steven Box, a local bicycle advocate did and he wound up in handcuffs:

laist.com/2007/09/24/hollywood_bus_d.php

[Jason Saunders]

I wrote a letter to Metro's Customer service in regards to this. If you feel like doing the same the address is [e-mail]:

____

Dear Metro Customer Relations,

I'm writing in regards, to the incident on or about September 27, 2007 that occurred between one of your bus drivers and a cyclist by the name of Steven Box on Hollywood and Wilton as described in his article on LAist.com:

laist.com/2007/09/24/hollywood_bus_d.php#comments

I am extremely disturbed by the lack of training of your driver in regards to the safety of other travelers on the road. It needs to be doubly emphasized to your drivers that not only do cyclists have a right to the road as described in California Vehicle code 21200 but in many municipalities within Metro's jurisdiction such as Santa Monica and Culver City, cyclists are mandated to use the road and not public sideWALKs for safety reasons. For your driver and supervisor to be ignorant of this reflects poorly on Metro's training.

Furthermore, in regards to Supervisors Dunn's recorded comments, cyclists should not be viewed as hazards to be honked at no more then any other vehicle on the roadway. As a supervisor he should be well aware of this.

Not only did your driver endanger the life of the cyclist on the road but she endangered the lives of the passengers on the bus. I sincerely hope that an update to Metro's training manuals emphasis the necessity to give cyclists plenty of room when bus drivers find themselves in close proximity to cyclists on the road.

With respect and appreciation for Metro's valuable public service,


Jason Saunders
www.saunders.bz

[whitmanlam]

It's inevitable, we simply do not have bicycle lanes in Los Angeles. Portland does, Seattle does, even Orange County does, but we don't. Even our main thorough fares of Wilshire and Hollywood Blvds are bicycle no man's lands.

[Elson]

whitmanlam said:

It's inevitable, we simply do not have bicycle lanes in Los Angeles. Portland does, Seattle does, even Orange County does, but we don't. Even our main thorough fares of Wilshire and Hollywood Blvds are bicycle no man's lands.

Ummm, you've obviously never biked in Los Angeles, nor actually been to Portland.

Streets like Sunset Blvd, Venice Blvd and parts of Santa Monica Blvd already have bicycle lanes.

In Portland, though they have dedicated bikeways along the rivers (Willamette, Columbia rivers) and on abandoned RR rights of way (Springwater corridor), not every street in Portland has bicycle lanes!

Actually Los Angeles also has dedicated bikeways along the rivers (LA River, etc) and on abandoned RR rights of way (i.e. Chandler and Culver blvds).

The thing that separates Portland from Los Angeles is merely a better awareness and understanding of road use by both motorists and bicyclists alike, and an understanding that certain streets, whether they have actual bike lanes or not, are recognized as bike routes. There are also directional signs with mileage (i.e. "Downtown 6 mi") placed specifically for cyclists.

Los Angeles also has recognized corridors as bike routes, with the signage to prove it. The problem here is few of the bike corridors are interconnected to form a network, as what Portland has.

Los Angeles can potentially be a VERY bicycle-friendly city: Many of the roads are wide enough, the terrain is relatively flat (You wouldn't want to bike up the hills of SF) and (the #1 reason why people transplant themselves here) - year-round good weather.
Spread-out, you say? Aren't Angelenos a health/fitness obsessed lot? Longer distances make better workouts.

I've biked down Wilshire before and bike down Hollywood Blvd. all the time. Have you ever even tried?

The only thing that's lacking is public awareness and political will.

The fact that this is an issue now is an obvious sign that things are changing. After all, people of color wouldn't be able to sit anywhere they wanted to on a bus if Rosa Parks had never caused a ruckus.

Look around you -- there are more people bicycling on the streets these days. Look at the front of a bus -- it's not that rare to see both racks full of bikes.