Category Archives: infrastructure

Action Alert: Support Roll-On Access on Amtrak

Acton Alert: The League of American Bicyclist
Bike League Action

Support Roll-On Access on Amtrak

TODAY the U.S. House of Representatives is voting on an amendment to standardize roll-on service for bicycles, wheelchairs and other devices used for transportation by people with disabilities.

Please act now: Ask your Representative to support the Lipinski Amendment to standardize bicycle roll-on service at Amtrak stations.

Demand for multi-modal transportation options, including the increasingly popular combination of bikes with buses and trains, is growing across the country. Currently, only a handful of Amtrak stations and train services allow convenient roll-on access, and where they do, the service is popular and well-used. The Lipinski Amendment would require Amtrak to report to Congress on what standardized roll-on service would look like and what it would take to get there.

A number of bicycling organizations have been working with Amtrak to improve roll on service. Offering the service will make Amtrak more accessible, increase ridership and give riders more transportation options once they get to their destination.

Click here to take action!

Beverly Hills Greenway: 62-feet for a World-Class Street

BHSM-social2
Click image for more background on the campaign

“62-feet for a World-Class Street”

A world-class Santa Monica Boulevard is possible in Beverly Hills. The boulevard’s future has been the subject of much angst, but Beverly Hills can have it all:

  • A complete street for people driving, taking transit, walking AND biking;
  • A beautiful boulevard with the very best in street design;
  • A safe roadway of uniform width; and
  • A green boulevard that maintains the same amount of green space.

A coalition of Beverly Hills residents, business owners and other stakeholders is supporting the “Beverly Hills Greenway”–a compromise design that achieves all of the project’s objectives without the controversial impacts. Will you join us?

For background on the Santa Monica Boulevard reconstruction project, visit our friends at Better Bike Bevery Hills: SM Blvd Greenway.
Facebook campaign here


Click here to sign the petition

I support a green vision for Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills that both respects Beverly Gardens Park and provides sustainable transportation choices. The Beverly Hills Greenway would maintain the current amount of green space, add bike lanes and keep traffic moving safely–all in a uniform 62-foot roadway.

62 feet for a world-class street!


 

This has been a long campaign – Thank you LACBC, Mark Elliot our friends at Better Bike Beverly Hills for staying on top of this. Here is some of the previous support we’ve posted on the issue.

ACTION ALERT: Santa Monica Blvd Reconstruction Project, Beverly Hills
ACTION ALERT: Support Bike Lanes on Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills, Tuesday March 4th, 2013

short overview, read more here 

About the ‘Beverly Hills Greenway’ Proposal

Developed with the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, our proposal envisions a boulevard 62′ wide that exacts no cost to the adjacent park. That’s because today’s corridor is irregular and measures as much as 63′ wide in some sections – wider than we need. So we actually add green space to the boulevard in order to compensate for any that might be used to include bicycle lanes for safer two-wheeled travel along a short Wilshire-Canon segment.

Indeed this proposal is a no-net-loss concept: grass needed to make this street ‘complete’ is replaced by grass where today there is blacktop. That is, two feet is added to boulevard’s width on that single segment while we reduce the width of the boulevard by one foot on two other segments. Voila! No net loss of green space.

Greenway-profile-625

The resulting boulevard profile accommodates the same traffic volume for motorists while bike riders can use state-approved bicycle lanes. On tomorrow’s Santa Monica Boulevard, everybody will benefit! If drivers dread sharing a lane with bicyclists today, the Greenway will separate non-motor traffic to maximize traffic flow while mooting the required three-foot buffer under the state’s new safe-passing law. And bicyclists who ride the corridor will feel safer outside of the vehicle flow. We have found that’s the #1 reason people cite for not biking in Beverly Hills. As we see it, 62 feet is just perfect for a world-class street!

Support the Beverly Hills Greenway!

 

A View in the Rear View Mirror, Santa Monica Spoke

At this year’s LACBC Holiday Open House we had a slide show instead of the vision boards we assembled last year. LACBC and each Local Chapter contributed slides from this year along with a few of our favorite images. Each chapter was asked to contribute 5 slides.

Our 5 slides from the LACBC Open House Slide Show.

smspoke_openhouse_community
top: Community event SMMoA, right: Community Meeting with city staff & SMPD, bottom: Walk & Bike Audit gathering input for MANGo
smspoke_openhouse_education
Youth Bike Skills Festival at Mc Kinnley for Bike it Walk it Week
smspoke_openhouse_fun
top: LACBC Sunday Funday Santa Monica up PCH to meet CalBike Surf & Turf Tour, right: Road side assistance at Tour da Arts Bike Event, bottom: Santa Monica Festival at Clover Park
smspoke_openhouse_infrastructure
top: new bike corrals on Main Street, right: Santa Monica’s first greet lanes on Ocean Park Blvd, bottom: Silver level Bicycle Friendly Community national designation by League of American Bicyclist
smspoke_openhouse_kidicalmass
Kidical Mass is more than just a bike ride. A city that seeks to build safer streets to encourage families on bikes is safer for all road users.

#GivingTuesday: Consider donating to Santa Monica Spoke

IMG_1550

#GIVINGTUESDAY‬!
As we gather this holiday season with friends and family, we give thanks for the health and safety of those we hold most dear and look forward to sharing and creating cherished memories with family, friends and neighbors like you!  
We hope you will also take a moment to consider a year end donation to us at Santa Monica Spoke / LACBC! 
With your support we can expand our adult and child education programs and classes, outreach and more! More success and continued work toward more equitable and safer policies and infrastructure for people walking and biking in Santa Monica and the Los Angeles region.

Gift a MEMBERSHIP
50% of
 your membership dollars stay local / 50% help support region efforts through LACBC,
or you can Donate 
via LACBC on our behalf to Santa Monica Spoke
Donations are tax deductible!
Questions? let us know. 


DONTATE TODAY: ONLINE FORM HERE 

Thank you from all of us at Santa Monica Spoke!

REMINDER: Update Meeting & PARTY this Saturday!

Join us this Saturday afternoon for
an Update & Input Meeting, 

followed by a family friendly Party to celebrate
the 3rd Anniversary of our Bike Action Plan

More info and RSPV link HERE

Meeting, Updates & Input, BAP is 3