LA Bike Plan Update: Let me stand next to your ire

[[image:bike_plan_mini.jpg::inline:1]]Last night I attended the Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan update meeting in West Los Angeles. I heard about the meeting a month ago, and was really looking forward to attending for many reasons.

Published February 21, 2008 by C.I.C.L.E. 
By David Pulsipher

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Last night I attended the Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan update meeting in West Los Angeles.  I heard about the meeting a month ago, and was really looking forward to attending for many reasons.  1.  I wanted to gripe about a few trouble spots in the bicycle network – of course.  But  2. I really was curious to see how this type of meeting would be orchestrated, and who would attend, what the format would be like, etc.

I thought the meeting was very well put together.  Before the powerpoint/Q&A session began, we could peruse large poster boards that highlighted LA’s bicycle mater plan from 2002.  There were ample sticky notes for us to leave comments on anything that caught our eye.  After meandering through the line of posters, I made my way over to the tables that had maps of Los Angeles and the existing bicycle network.  I made sure to comment my feelings about weaknesses in the network, specifically the mislabeling of Ohio as a bike path (it’s a glorified sidewalk), and a gap in the Venice bicycle lane near San Vincente.  I really got some frustration out… on the sticky notes on the map.  I think I may have even slipped a “hell” in there.  I’m not sure.

I got to do all of this before the meeting started.  I’d like to also add that they had juice, water, and some really yummy snacks for the attendees.  

Despite this, I must say the meeting left me a little disappointed.  Not because of how the meeting was conducted, but because of the behavior of some of the attendees.  I feel like many of them came to the meeting with a chip on their shoulder.  A chip might not even describe it… more like a boulder on their shoulder.  One of the first comments the presenter said was that she was looking forward to hearing every one’s comments -  and in order to do so we should be succinct and to the point because of time limitations.  “Fair” I thought; because I hate to be at meetings where people bloviate for hours on end.

Immediately someone interjects from the crowd “Why don’t you have enough time!?!?”
Then there were people arguing about trifle discrepancies between the year of the bicycle plan available online, and what you could purchase at the city.  People were attacking the presenters with a lot of venom, and it completely befuddled me.

The presenters were a mix of people from LADOT Bicycle Planning, and consultants from Alta.  Basically… they are OUR (cyclists) advocates to city planning in the city of LA.  The whole purpose of the meeting was for them to get OUR input on what we wanted to change.  They are on OUR SIDE!

I understand frustration.  I understand feeling alienated and disenfranchised in such an auto-centric city.  However, I don’t understand attacking people who are on your side of the issue.  The bottom line is, everyone at that meeting (presenting, and in attendance) wants LA to be a more bicycle friendly city.  It’s not as if they were the Hummer Club of America, or Exxon, Ford… or some other entity that’s pushing for bicycling to move back to the dark ages.  
I also understand being frustrated with the political process.  It’s difficult when you feel like you have to go through so many channels, only to have your comments “recorded.”

Last night I saw an opportunity for cyclists to come together to give feedback about what we don’t like about cycling in LA – specific suggestions about gaps in the network, areas that are underserved, infrastructure deficiencies and improvements.   If we rely on the consultants and city employees to do all of the research, they’ll only capture a limited sampling.  But if we corral our collective experience, we give them a greater pool of knowledge and expertise to draw on.   

If we are going to succeed, we have to know who to work with, who’s on our side, and who still needs more convincing.  Know your audience.  Know your enemy.  I heard so many people spouting off about how we need more bikes and less cars on the road.   Preaching to the choir buddy.  Instead of stating the obvious, why not tell us about a specific place where you feel like bicyclists have been neglected. Infighting only exhausts the process and wastes time when real solutions and strategies could be hammered out.

Despite LA being relatively flat, the road to a bike friendly LA has many steep hills.  One way we can help biking in LA is to differentiate between the steep hills, and the people who are trying to help make them smaller.

David is a bicycle commuter living in West LA, but originally from Denver. He is also pursuing a masters degree in urban planning from UCLA.