Los Angeles City Council OKs 20-year transportation plan
Source: Washington Post
Car-loving Los Angeles has approved a transportation plan that would add 300 miles of bicycle lanes to existing roads.
The City Council on Tuesday approved Mobility Plan 2035 a sweeping overhaul of how Angelenos are expected to get around town in the next 20 years. It aims to increase the use of bikes, public transportation and even old-fashioned foot travel, reduce accident deaths and wean motorists from jammed streets.
But opponents argue reducing the amount of roadway for autos would increase congestion and make it harder for firefighters and police to answer calls.
A city Environmental Impact Report suggested the same problems but also said the plan would reduce the amount of car travel by 1.7 million miles a day.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/los-angeles-city-council-oks-20-year-transportation-plan/2015/08/11/295a5bde-4089-11e5-b2c4-af4c6183b8b4_story.html
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)look and feel after their bicycle commutes out to the Valley in 90 degree summer heat.
The climate in LA is great for bicycling in the winter I'm sure, but our city sprawls and bikes don't go fast enough or far enough. We got a bicycle lane in our part of town. Huge fanfare, but we don't see many bikes. Kind of a fizzle. An idealistic fizzle.
I wish they would spend the money on fixing the sidewalks and on expanding rail and bus routes in the city. If they reduced the fares on public transportation rather than spend money repainting the streets with bike lanes, we'd be much better off. Somehow I suspect there must be some corruption involving painting the bike lanes.
LA is great for recreational bicycling. But if you live in East LA and work in Santa Monica or even downtown LA, the commute is too long for a bicycle ride -- unless you like getting up very early and getting home very late.
I think the money could be better spent. This is just an attempt on the part of City Hall to appear to be hip and environmental. Empty bike lanes are worse than no bike lanes at all.
This will result in even more traffic congestion, and recently the traffic in LA has become unbearable. Bike lanes are of utterly no use for disabled people, for families taking their young children to day care or grade school, most high school students (who walk to local schools or have to car pool to high schools far from their homes) or most elderly people.
These bike lanes will get a few people out of their cars in LA ----- very, very few. Lanes will be removed from the streets to make way for the bike lanes. The bike riders will continue to ignore stop signs, continue to be blind to anything beside or in back of them, and accidents will continue to happen as car drivers have to deal with one more distraction on the road.
Bike streets where available might be a good idea. But the bike lanes are a mistake.They will make a bad situation worse.
LA is not Portland.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)It already takes me a hour and a half to 2 hours to go 31 miles to work. Public transportation would take me 2 to 3 hours each way (depending on what buses I could catch in commuting time alone (doesn't count waiting for the few and far between buses on the route at times I need them).
Ride my bike 31 miles each way? And no showers to boot!
Maybe they could just make the days longer so I have more hours to commute.
seabeckind
(1,957 posts)31 miles?
Spend up to 4 hours a day staring at traffic?
Just how much does that cost?
Why?
Sedona
(3,769 posts)Bike paths could cut it to 28 minutes according to google maps.
I wonder if my 53 year old body could take a ten mile trek every day?