Linking Expo, Bikes & Los Angeles’ Westside

With the recent opening of the Culver City Exposition Line station, there has been significant change here on the Westside of Los Angeles.

In the few weeks that the station has been open, friends and neighbors say they are riding the Expo to and from downtown Los Angeles instead of driving and loving it. Bikes are permitted on the light rail, which makes it possible to take your bicycle and still enjoying the convenience of biking wherever you want while avoiding the costs of driving and parking.

Several bus lines including Culver City Bus, Metro and (Santa Monica’s) Big Blue Bus have extended service to and from the Culver City station with most having capacity for at least two bikes on the front of each bus (I’m not sure this is true, but you can verify this independently).

Bikes are nearly everywhere in town. It’s fun to ride to work and park down the hall from your desk and it’s fun to use the increasing network of bike lanes on the Westside.

It’s convenient to stop by the Bike Center in Santa Monica and rent a bike for a couple hours to get around and experience the area. Those who are interested can borrow a bicycle free of charge, a service that is provided to Bike Center members who have an annual membership.

The concept is known as “bike share” and is something that is slated to occur on the Westside over the next couple years as Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Monica each rolls out public bike share systems. With bike share, riders use an available bike from a local kiosk for a short period, and return it to a nearby kiosk when they reach their destination. This model is successful in Washington D.C. London and Paris, and with smaller private areas in places like Google’s campus in Venice and on the UC Irvine campus.

And yet with all the initiatives that make riding a bicycle more practical and convenient, we need business to provide improved parking for bicycles at their facilities. Typically, in large shopping centers there maybe a couple of racks located in one or two locations.

We also need cities to address “zombie” intersections where traffic signals don’t sense a cyclist, leaving no safe way for a cyclist to trigger the light to cross. Prior to sensors being planted into the pavement, traffic lights used to change based on a timer. Returning to when a senors triggered traffic lights could be added as a no-cost effective stopgap solution, in addition to the existing sensors until updated sensors that are able to detect when a bicycle approaches can be installed.

All Westside cities have updated their bicycle plans over the past few years except Beverly Hills) Investment in bicycle infrastructure is an inexpensive way to reach green house gas and traffic reduction goals, particularly when you consider that more than 60% of trips taken by car average just two miles or less.

Be a part of a responsible solution. Next time don’t drive, ride a bike.

Steve Herbert is a frequent bicycle commuter and a member of the Culver City Bicycle Coalition.

For more information and to submit your questions, write: ccbicyclecoalition@gmail.com, visit our blog:ccbike.org