Sustainability In Business

There’s some controversy brewing lately over just how bike-friendly the city of Santa Monica is. Last May, Santa Monica received a bronze level Bike Friendly City recognition from the League of American Bicyclists (LAB). Some of our westside bicyclist friends have started a petition to revoke Santa Monica’s award.

Published September 10, 2009 by C.I.C.L.E. : By Joe Linton

There’s some controversy brewing lately over just how bike-friendly the city of Santa Monica is. Last May, Santa Monica received a bronze level Bike Friendly City recognition from the League of American Bicyclists (LAB). Some of our westside bicyclist friends have started a petition to revoke Santa Monica’s award. The issue was reported in the Santa Monica Daily Press, and the L.A. Times 

We at C.I.C.L.E. have ridden in Santa Monica, and even hosted our latest Urban Expeditions ride there, so we’d like to weigh in on the issue. Santa Monica is among the most bikeable cities in car-centric Southern California… but, unfortunately, that’s not saying much. Being the fastest bicyclist in one’s high school doesn’t qualify one for the Tour de France.

We think that there’s a lot that the city of Santa Monica can do to be truly deserving of recognition as a bike-friendly place. Here’s a list of our top five recommendations for the city of Santa Monica:

1 -Establish Measurable Goals for Increasing Bicycle Transportation

Santa Monica’s Sustainable City Plan and its annual progress reports are widely recognized as innovative and effective ways to track the city’s progress toward sustainability. Most of the city’s sustainability targets tracked are very specific, for example, diversion of “70% of total [solid waste] by 2010.” When it comes to transportation, the city merely looks for an “upward trend” in green modes. The city of Santa Monica should set specific numeric targets for modal shares - such as 5% of trips by bicycle by 2012. This target should drive project prioritization. This mode target approach has been very successful in Boulder, Colorado and Vancouver, British Columbia.

2 – Build Better Relationships between Police and Bicyclists

Tension between police and cyclists is one of the primary reasons cited for the petition effort. Both cyclists and police need to work together to de-escalate this conflict. One tool that would help is to work together to produce police education materials like this excellent video made by the Chicago Police in collaboration with local cyclists. 

 3 – Extend the Bikeway Network

The city should close gaps between existing bikeways and popular destinations. Here are a few examples:  bike lanes on Arizona Avenue and Broadway should extend to Third Street Promenade (and even to Ocean Avenue). Bike lanes on 17th Street should extend to Santa Monica College. The city should plan and implement “bicycle boulevards” – traffic-calmed residential streets easily shared by bikes and cars. These could be very appropriate for many city streets including much of Ashland Avenue, Pearl Street, and the eastern end of 17th Street.

4 – Increase Bikes-on-Buses Capacity

The Big Blue Bus currently allows two bikes on the front rack of each bus. Over time these racks should be upgraded to the newer three-bike capacity racks, as are found on the San Fernando Valley’s Metro Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit.

5 - Host a Series of Ciclovía Street Festival Events

Originally from Bogota Colombia, a ciclovía is regularly occurring street closure… well maybe really a street opening! Generally on Sundays on a few selected streets, cars are restricted and pedestrians and bicycles reclaim the space. Santa Monica has a reputation for hosting great festival events, perhaps some of these can be expanded out of the parks and into the streets – think of it like an extended Third Street Promenade a few times each month. Ciclovías are catching on in the U.S. with dozens of cities hosting them. Watch these videos to see how fun they are in San Francisco and New York.

Just like we sometimes see Olympic athletes weeping over only achieving bronze medals, we’re looking forward to the city of Santa Monica not settling for anything less than gold in the coming years. Let’s work together to make the city truly bike-friendly.