This Tuesday, Santa Monica City Council is expected to vote on final approval of the pilot program for temporary weekend street closures for vehicular traffic for a few weekends this summer on Main Street. In other cities programs like this have proven to reduce car use, support local businesses, and increase walking and biking. Santa Monica City Council needs to hear from you – share your support for a more sustainable, walkable, and vibrant Santa Monica! We want Santa Monica to be a great place for residents, workers, students and visitors of all ages to safely walk, bike, and scoot. As we emerge out of the pandemic, finding creative ways like this to support healthy active mobility and our local businesses by providing more outdoor experiences is critical for our community wellbeing and our economic recovery.
We know you may have previously sent an email or submitted a survey but we need you to help demonstrate support to Council this evening with a short note to ensure that Item 7-A is approved. Click and customize the template below.
Santa Monica Spoke enthusiastically supports the Main Street Buisness Improvement District and the Ocean Park Neighborhood Association pilot. Other cities in the US and around the world have long been discovering the economic and safety benefits of slow and shared streets for safer, more equitable and sustainable mobility, for people walking, biking, scooting and driving. We have the data, we know that prioritizing people over cars makes streets safer for everyone, improves gridlock, is better for the environment, and indeed improves the experience of mobility regardless of mode. By providing safer and healthier options that encourage more people to leave their cars behind and explore the city, we improve safety, climate impacts, economic and environmental resilience, and vitality for our future.
This item will be heard tomorrow at the Tuesday, June 8th council meeting. Please send a quick note of support on Item 7-A, pilot program for weekend closures on Main Street, to the members of City Council* — template and email addresses listed below. *preferably by noon on Tuesday June 8th.
Example from Santa Barbara
Template: Please personalize as you like
To: councilmtgitems@smgov.net, sue.himmelrich@smgov.net, kristin.mccowan@smgov.net, phil.brock@smgov.net, gleam.davis@smgov.net, oscar.delatorre@smgov.net, Kevin.McKeown@smgov.net, christine.parra@smgov.net
Dear Mayor and Santa Monica City Council,
As a Santa Monica resident, I support the pilot to pedestrianize Main Street for a few weekends this summer and hope you will consider making it permanent. Pedestrianized streets are more vibrant and encourage people to visit by foot, bicycle or scooter and leave their car at home. Pedestrian streets improve the visitor experience, encourage people to stay and bring in more customers to shops and restaurants. Streets that are pedestrianized are much more relaxing and enjoyable to visit and eat outdoors than a street with the noise and pollution of car traffic.
I very much support this program and ask that you vote to approve of the pilot on Main Street!
On Tuesday, October 13th, Santa Monica City Council unanimously adopted the Bike Action Plan Amendment adding protected bike lanes to the Current 2011 Bike Action Plan. We were humbled and grateful for the youth that spoke so passionately and articulately at the online meeting — despite the late hour — in support of expanding protected bike lanes and safety for our community, workers, students and visitors.
Broadway Protected Bike Lanes
We’d like to thank City Staff for their meticulous work preparing the Draft Plan and the Santa Monica City Council for their continued direction and support to expand healthy active transportation options in Santa Monica along with necessary infrastructure and safety improvements for people walking, biking, scooting or driving cars. Together – with commitments like this – we can and must continue to prioritize improving safety for all, particularly our most vulnerable road users.
Santa Monica leads again! Today we celebrate the launch of the new shared hybrid ebikes and expanded mobility options in Santa Monica allowing more people access to healthy active mobility options beyond just driving a car. Today new Lyft ebikes launch in Santa Monica, available at 80 Breeze Stations.
The Lyft hybrid ebike comes with a cable to lock to any Breeze station for free. You can also lock to a public bike rack within the West Los Angeles service area for an extra $1.
At launch pricing: Ebikes are now available in the Lyft app, starting at just $1 to unlock + $0.34/min.* Whether you’re going that first mile or that last mile, ebikes are a fun, affordable way to get around town.
Price by the minute
Ebikes cost $1 to unlock and $0.34/min to ride.*
Community Pass members pay $5/month and $0.05/min to ride.
Stay within service area
Lyft ebikes are available within the city of Santa Monica (the pink region) and can be ridden anywhere within the West Los Angeles service area (the purple region). Note that pedal assist won’t function outside these service areas or in the red regions visible in-app. Please do not leave parked ebikes outside the purple region, as you will be fined.
*Taxes and fees may apply. For more info, see FAQs.
The 2011 Bike Action plan provided a road map for developing Santa Monica’s bicycle network including a 5-year and 20-year visions. Back in 2011 protected bicycle lanes were not yet as well-known or accepted in highway design in the United States but began picking up steam not long after it’s adoption. Protected bike lanes have for some time been central component of our advocacy here in Santa Monica, as well as cross the US. This Amendment provides an vital updates to the Bike Action Plan so that it may build on it’s 20-year vision by incorporating now accepted best paretics by updating corridors to protected bike lanes. The Amendment is being developed following the same goals and objectives of the Bike Action Plan, but includes an updated approach to meet the needs of Santa Monica today. This Bike Plan Amendment is also an essential component as it creates an encouraging path forward for Santa Monica to build a network of protected bikeways citywide in the next five years, helps the City compete for outside grant funding, support our progress towards the community’s climate, safety, and mobility goals, while building resilience during these uncertain economic times with a vision for a more sustainable and resilient future.