How Riding Bikes Save your City & Our Planet

Los Angeles is such a strange place.  It has a mild climate, mostly dry days and lot’s of hidden history.  It’s a flat topography yet because of “urban renewal” in the 20th century, our streetcar system was dismantled and replaced with buses, entire neighborhoods razed and wiped off the map to build freeways launching us head first into car-dependency. As roads to move these vehicles became prioritized everything else, sidewalks and bikes were pushed to the sidelines. Being a pedestrian all my life, I’ve taken for granted that sidewalks are basically everywhere.  But once you get onto a bicycle you start to realize that this city does not care about you. all you have is a strip of paint to just try and avoid getting doored by the car parked next you or dodge the drivers making a right turn from behind. It’s strange kind of treatment because we have bike paths, dedicated roads just for bikes, think of it like a bicycle highway. Since bikes are a lot smaller than cars, you can fit more of them in a single lane than you can with 3 lanes for cars. These routes when you ride them, feel like shortcuts through the city getting from A to B with no stoplights, no pedestrians or cars to interrupt you. Having a bike let’s you get to places with the speed of a car (e bikes and road bikes) and with the flexibility of a pedestrian (you can also use sidewalks if you need to). For example to get to Expo/Sepulveda (my home station) it is either a 20 mins walk, 10 mins by public transit or 10 mins by bike. 

Bikes serve as a good middle ground to get to destinations, like something that’s far by walking, too much of hassle to drive but close enough by bus, biking is a convenient alternative. Public Transit works better tied in with other infrastructure, one of the main reasons Japan is lauded for it’s public transit is because destinations from said stations are walkable in distance or bike able with safe streets, not Main Street stroads with SUV’s going 40. The thing that’s sad about LA is that most people commute less than 5 miles, an bikeable distance the most is that most out of reach destinations are a doable combo with bike + Public Transit. Bikes increase the speed vs walking and shorten the distance. I know that people who use bikes to commute save a lot more time and money because bikes are inherently cheaper and have less maintenance costs, also you don’t need a license to operate one just like walking. Don’t think of bikes as accelerated walking though, because with the proper infrastructure (protected bike lanes etc)

especially E bikes since they can easily match or beat cars in terms of convenience and time. Because a lot of pedestrians including myself would love to get onto a bike if it saves more time but with the current state of free for all, bikes exposed to high speed vehicles, bike riding can’t be done on the most direct routes. 

And see, the city (supposedly) wants to invest in bicycle infrastructure, in 2015 many council members along with former mayor Eric Garcetti passed the LA 2035 Mobility plan basically our framework, in planning a more sustainable Los Angeles but the problems are that many neighborhoods (Mar Vista, Venice, Brentwood, Marina del Rey) have opposed these improvements. What’s even worse is Traci Park (In CD11) opposed measure HLA (Heathly Streets LA) a measure presented before voters in 2024 that would force the city to follow the plan they have been ingnoring for so long, citing “costs concerns, and potential loss to emergency response time” which Streets For All debunked as false and that these benefits would carryover and even improve response times. Her predecessor, Mike Bonin was a lot more progressive with transportation, much to the dismay of the wealthier neighborhoods and recalled over 3 times because they didn’t like street safety improvements, but at least he tried. With Metro building so much transportation, there’s gotta be a better way to connect people with these transit options. The LA Times, LAUSD, Sierra Club and LA Forward are among the many organizations that endorsed HLA and helped get it passed. So while Traci Park was busy defending rich neighborhood interests, the westside congestion problems worsened. With the popularity of CicLavia and seeing the expansion of bike infrastructure in Culver City and Santa Monica, all I can do is shake my head in dismay as we are getting left behind. If you build it, people will come. LA is facing an impasse, do you do the right thing and follow your word or scream and protest the changing times and demands of our citizens?

Don’t just take my words for it though, Every so often CicLavia Sundays bring a new script to the game. Miles of LA Streets are closed to Cars and opened to the public to roll, skate, bike and of course walk. This isn’t just car free fun though; A 2016 Study by UCLA and RAND Corporation really highlighted the importance of the car-free events. This research showed that these events aren't just a pleasant alternative to gridlock; they actually get people moving, with a significant number of participants reporting they would have been completely sedentary if not for CicLavia. Imagine – thousands of Angelenos, who might otherwise be stuck in traffic or on their couches, suddenly experiencing the joy and freedom of biking (or walking) through their own city.

Even more so is the fact that bikes don’t pollute, need a license or insurance to operate, is open to all ages and that there is ample bike parking at most places in L.A. Climate Change is real and will result in dire consequences if we don’t address them.The simply truth is there is not enough space in Los Angeles for everyone to own and operate a car. This is a city not a suburb.  

Lastly, Why not try out cycling? It’s fun, cheap and is good exercise. While today might be earth day, please don’t forget that every day is just as important to care and make sustainable choices for the future of our planet. Thanks for reading and go green!