I moved to L.A. ten years ago and was only biking as my form of commute. It was a constant struggle. at one point in Culver City I joined a lane to "share" while at top speed. A car got on my ass and screamed that I shouldn't be in the street. This was less than 1/4 mile from the bike path, but I needed to make it there first. Since then I've avoided it because with the birth of my first child I'm worried I'll die needlessly on the streets of Los Angeles. I hope that one day my grand-child might see a bikeable city here. Good video man.
If you can just move into a more bike and child friendly city? Really don't get why anyone would want to live in cities like this if they have a family or plan to have one.
I live about 30 miles east of LA, I used to love riding my bike but after more that 1 time cars getting so close to me I could touch the car, pretty sure they did that on purpose. I also know people hit by cars while on their bike. Not to mention now more than ever we have worry someone will steal our bikes
i wish i could ride bikes all the time but the unfortunate reality is that we have way too many aggressive and unregistered drivers here in Crenshaw. they drive around in stolen vehicles with no plates, or the plates are stolen from another car, so they have zero accountability for their actions because they know they'll never get caught. they run red lights, cut people off, weave, speed and do all sorts of crazy illegal maneuvers and don't have a care in the world for pedestrians and cyclists. it's the same reason i had to stop taking the metro. too much crime and gang violence. criminals ruin everything. i wished we lived in a high-trust society where people don't get stabbed to death on the metro.
sounds like the authorities are allowing that area to be compromised. They would not allow that stuff in other areas where citizens would raise their outrage
Its seems like good infrastructure would really help in this case. If they had less places to ride their stolen cars and the streets were designed in a way that forced them to drive less recklessly then there would be less conflict with them.
@@jamesmedina2062 unfortunately in this part of LA there are a lot of blacks and for whatever reason they do lots of crime and drugs and the politicians cater to them instead of the law abiding people.
Crenshaw, LA? I always think its kinda funny how some dudes ride quads on the road like, that's cool and all but they're so unwieldy on the streets and if a cop catches you like, you are not running away in a quad. They're quite slow
Cant even have homeless in mission viejo. Theyve got a hack... The city uses the sheriff to police. Therefore there is no city jail, when you get arrested you get deported from the city and must make your way back. Plus they are vigorous. I once had them follow me, wait for me to go through a drive thru (del taco), then continue to follow me, and pull me over for running a red light. It was a weird signal that gives the right turn its own devided turn and a separate lane, everyone goes through the red as it seems setup that way. But they use it as a trap, now i know why i often see them where i got pulled over with other vehicles. The cops are off doing stupid shit and claiming criminals property.
Thank you for your video. I live in the LA area to, and everything you talked about, particularly the ambiguous "bike routes" to the guilt you feel when taking up a lane, matches up in to my experience.
Wow, after seeing this, and the comments below I feel gratitude that in the last 25 years and now, I have had a safe bicycle commute with no car instances due to space for bikes to ride, and a smaller town. Gratitude, Gratitude and Gratitude.
It's time to press charges or start a civil suit against these engineers. Over and over again they start with a sidewalk, a curb, a huge painted parking lane, then they add a tiny bike lane in the door zone, then 2 or more massive car lanes. With the same space they could EASILY paint the lines differently and go curb, 6' wide bike lane protected by a parking lane, then 2 car lanes but they ALWAYS put the parked cars in the safest place and use the bike lane as an emergency shoulder designed not to damage wheels when a car swerves into it leaving people at risk of death for no reason. Why do they worry about damage to empty cars more than damage to people?
We have Car Free Day every second Sunday in Jakarta. This is when certain sections of road are blocked 06:00 to 10:00 am, only pedestrian and bicycle are allowed. The local gov starting to implement painted bicycle lane but nobody rides on it because there are man hole cover at regular interval. Many of the cover is not well constructed, either they are recessed below road surface, or they rise above road surface.
Working for UCLA, living in west LA and being an active recreational and commuting cyclist, I agree with you. 70% of the cars in LA don't use turn signal, and the road design is extremely dangerous for cyclists. And don't forget the cars parked by the side of the road! Any car door can kill a cyclist at any time. And bike theft! I really want to ride to the Ralphs to buy groceries, but I don't want to risk losing a wheel if not the whole bike!
Cool vid! I am a West LA local. The streets are getting worse everyday. I would recommend trying a motorcycle. Nobody should die on a pedal bike. You can bail off a bird scooter faster than a bicycle. You can also park for free with the motorcycle.
Adding Girl Front's instrumental is such a great touch to this video since iirc most if not all of the music video for it was filmed in LA! Stan Loona, but also Stan better cycling infrastructure!
The best safety advice for cyclists in the city to avoid bike damage and hospital trips is to always imagine regardless of strobe lights or reflective clothing YOU and your bicycle are the color of a clear ice cube that a multitasking motorist may or may not notice on the road. Who is legally correct about road rules matters not about this very sound advice that helped me many many many times through the years of very close calls while peddling fast.
rip. i was hit by a car not long ago. i can relate. i read up on the event and when i saw "no helmet" that pissed me off so much. not because he didn't have it..its the fact that he NEED to use it and it felt like they tried to paint a picture of this guy being reckless. the folks that took care of me kept on bringing up the point about wearing a helmet and i fired back. its not because i want to look cool or anything. the fault is not mine. he was a reckless driver making a hazardous turn...as said in the police report. i was in my bike lane i did not have a helmet as well but that fucker still ninja me out of nowhere when he tried to make a right. i just friggin hate it when these people are so damn shallow. no helmet=dangerous rider. how about you fucking drive properly and LOOK AROUND? the priority in this country is so whack. when a woman is raped its because she dressed slutty. yeah not gonna blame the rapist but blame the victim instead. when someone gets gun down by a mass shooter blame yourself for not having a gun instead of blaming the easy access to firearms and loose gun regulation. gas prices are SOARING!! why the hell did you build your cities and towns to be car centric instead of like the scandivanian countries?! the layout is all within walking distance and their public transit are top notch.
I live and cycle in LA, and yea, its bad. Atleast i take the metro for the rest of the trip cause the street i have to ride on is hellish, its a six land stroad in the middle of a fairly dense neighborhood. Not nice.
Having taken part in the EPIC study myself (mainly for dietary reasons) it is indeed unfortunate that it indicates some of the benefits of exercise tail off with more cycling. But it's still better than not cycling. Here in Edinburgh I feel we're some way between good and bad - there are some great existing off road routes including a whole network of totally separate former railway lines which I can join just at the end of the next street. It's one of the reasons I moved to this area in particular. Most of the city streets are also 20mph. But we're still quite low on high quality separated infrastructure across the whole city. The weather also isn't that reliable either... With a plan to retire in the next few years I'm looking again for somewhere that I can move to which has that ideal combination of great weather and a great living experience for those on bikes. Denmark and Netherlands have great cycling infrastructure, but not year round great weather. Germany has good cycling infrastructure and well behaved drivers, but only slightly better winter weather. If you want absolutely superb weather all year round as well as patient drivers and decent cycling infrastructure/cycling culture, then Lanzarote and Tenerife are my recommendations. Mainland Spain is catching up, however, and although so far I've only visited Alicante which was generally quite good in both weather and urban cycling infrastructure, I've also heard good things about Seville, Valencia, Barcelona and Girona. Barcelona and Girona are a bit cooler than ideal in the winter. For many cities it's just a matter of time - when I visited London last year it was much better for cycling than previously, although still too busy a city for me to live - the key is having a realistic plan plus the money to implement it. In Edinburgh we do have many plans but although we now spend a minimum of 10% of the transport budget on cycling, that budget is just too small and there is a backlog of projects plus resistance to change that delays some projects. Thank you for a very informative production and best wishes from across the Atlantic!
I usually am not that chauvinistic, but man do I love living in the Netherlands! You name the word "paradise" a few times in this video, but all I see are big, wide empty looking streets and roads with little green and very few nice looking buildings, but with lots of cars. I would feel totally lost there.
Holy, I just looked up the climate of West LA. July is whole 5C (8F) cooler in the summer and possibly bearable on a bike. The rest of the year looks great! These bike routes look deadly and quite frankly infuriating
Impressive, well thought out video. I have been an avid cyclist for decades and it is an important part of my lifestyle. I moved to southern Orange County, CA because of their extensive biking infrastructure, especially Irvine. I was fed up with risking my life in order to bike. Before moving to SoCal I lived in Oakland and they actually do a pretty good job with their bike network and people do use it if it is available to them. Hopefully L.A. can learn from example, like Santa Monica as use mentioned.
Japan is not a good example of any road infrastructure (rail is amazing though). Cities are packed, convenience store every 100m and there is zero free parking. Then everyone walks and everyone is aware and careful of people walking. It has nothing to do with the infrastructure. I have never seen a proper bicycle lane. You either go in the middle of traffic with every car confused as how to handle a bike in front/side (drivers are very careful though). Or go on the sidewalk like everyone but can hardly go faster than 10km/h because it's bumpy, pedestrian red lights everywhere (where cars have green) and it's often too small so you get back on the road to pass pedestrians. Outside of biking, walking is great around city centers/stations and a bit beyond, with large sidewalks + limited traffic (Tokyo is a giant city center, but I don't live there). That's really good, don't get me wrong but outside of this, there are small sidewalks (2-3 people large) on big arteries, and then nothing. Those nothing road are awful if they become popular. Thing is, to actually go somewhere you end up using those popular nothing road because it's the only ones connecting part of a city that is very divided by rail lines and rivers (no pedestrian only, nor bike only connecting path). Hence the TV show. Yes it's very safe to go to the nearby station or convenience store, especially if you have the money to live at the right place (money that people with children are likely to have). But actually commuting, to somewhere else in the city, without rail or car, is very very far from an European basic city.
Same thing in San Diego. After living there for 40 years as a cyclist, I moved to Colorado. CA cities are all struggling with debt and old conservative politicians running their local fiefdoms. What I've seen is acceptance of grant money, and Fed money for studies, but funding never gets allocated because the politicians will not risk alienating shop keepers and suburbanites.
I see more and more people are giving up on cars as primary transportation because they are simply unaffordable. Cars are expensive to operate/register/insure/maintain in California. I don't live in a super bike friendly area, but I have an e-cargo bike that gets more use than my car for local errands. I keep a video camera going at all times facing rearward in case I ever get hit.
YES , this is how NOT to build bike lanes ... but they do it this way anyway because it´s cheap , easy & fast to build to comply with the statistics but without ANY real value ... bike lanes & sidewalks must be separated from fast car/truck/bus traffic (if needed even via barriers) , just like the Nederlands do it (like in Amsterdam) , see the channels "Not Just Bikes" , "Alan Fisher" , "City Nerd" , ... but also the video "How did planners design Soviet cities?" from the channel "City Beautiful" for a walkable modern city & reduction in car dependency...
I cycle in Peru, some cities don't have any cycling lanes, LA roads look familiar from here, same toxic car culture. Don't feel guilty for taking the whole lane, your safety comes first. FUCK CARS
The fact that LA isn't one of the best cycling cities in the world is such an indictment on American culture, national and local policy makers and leadership. Such a waste
indictment of sanctimonious Democrats constantly preaching about "climate change" while driving their SUVs, skiing weekends, and flying to abroad at least annually.
Car manufacturers killed public transportation 100 years ago and hijacked the national transportation agenda in the 30's for the promise of a cartopia, which the middle class bought into hook line and sinker. Here we are.
These videos are impressively high quality. And I appreciate that you're able to use your medical background to contextualize the findings from research . Also I had no clue that Santa Monica has some bicycle infrastructure that actually helps people feel safe.
Narrow bike lanes (or lack of them entirely) in LA pisses me off so much because there is SO MUCH ROOM. They have 60-150 feet wide streets and dedicate ALL of it to cars. They make biking impossible here for absolutely no reason. They could just as easily make it fantastic because they have more than enough room for it, but they just don't. It's infuriating.
And to add insult to injury, everyone is constantly complaining about the traffic in LA, yet no one in power seems to have the backbone required to implement the most common sense affordable solution to it.
Two issues: People with money and/or power never consider what could be but rather who has the money and power today . In other words, people seeking power in America do not look too far down the road. Also businesses and politicians want money today not later and cars have the road as it were today.
I live and cycle in LA everyday. I agree with everything you say and it is getting worse by the day. It is deadly, non enlightening and it would seem almost every driver wants and expects to permanently eliminate you from this earth. The drivers here are the worst. I too refuse to drive my car to work only to pay for parking. Beware of where you park your bike regardless of its lock, as it will be stolen in LA. Especially, if you own European road bikes like I do. Drivers here ignore and abuse the signs for joint cycling and motoring traffic, intentionally. They will intentionally KILL YOU. LAPD do not care about us at all. The turn right privilege law here at a stop sign is deadly. "Cyclists" here ignore traffic signs as though it does not apply to them. Stupid and ignorant. It is common place and culture here for motorists to run stop signs and cut you off. Getting "doored" by reckless drivers in cycling lanes is common place in cycling lanes. You have to watch every parked car to see if there is anyone in each car, because they will "door" you and if they do they will not apologize. They just spring them open without a care in the world.
I do not observe all traffic control signs but I see with my eyes if what I am doing is safe. I should probably observe the signs and norms cars follow but for one thing, starting and stopping takes far more work and secondly my city has not a single bike/walk path in the whole city. Greenways and bike paths are the real answer.
Nah. Not it would seem almost every driver wants and expects to permanently eliminate you from this earth. Not “it would seem almost every driver wants and expects to permanently eliminate you from this earth.” /
Social media has been a disaster for transportation because drivers aren't paying attention. First they were texting while driving. That was bad enough. Then they were video chatting. Now they are Instagram Live-ing. I'm convinced this is why "blacking out" car windows has gotten so popular (although it's illegal... but that law is not enforced at all) -- because the drivers do not want to be caught with their phones in their hands while driving (also illegal). Sigh. This will take decades to fix.
Same problem every where in USA 🇺🇸 if car’s don’t want to share the road they should be taken off the road, and bikes 🚴 on the road are supposed to be observing the same rules of the road as far as signals and stopping at the same place’s if we are to share the road. Too many drivers don’t obey the rules either! lol 😂 it’s a recipe for disaster on both sides lol people who drive can’t even parallel park if they were given the chance by other drivers,n do it safely 😅
I used to be a cyclist and used a bike for everyday transportation in Texas. The assholes that design bike gutters really need to go ride in them to see what dog shit they are. Love being in Latvia where I just walk to get to places
I'm in Austin, I bike to work. With how things are going, I'm scared they would take away my gutters as well 🥲 Silver lining is that till now, drivers here seem to be respectful of the bike lane, at least along my path. Haven't seen them veer into the lane like how it's shown in the video.
@@thunderb00m One thing he doesn't mention is that since driving is stressful because any car poses a possible threat to another driver, cyclists pose no threat to a car and for this, drivers do and should give cyclists more space and respect. Not all do of course. The ones that do are the ones that have a bike or are informed at least.
I used to tune pianos on my bike in San Francisco. Now I drive 25,000 miles/yr tuning pianos. I would LOVE to walk and bike everywhere when I’m home (i drive 3-4 days per week). But i can’t. I will die. Such bullshit.
You really hit the nail on the head about how you feel "unwelcome" in a shared route. Thanks for shedding light on Santa Monica's progress, that caught me off guard!
Great video! The difference between LA and Santa Monica is wild. Long Beach is getting pretty good with bike infrastructure too. There are still gaps, but they’re starting to build protected bike lanes with concrete curbs instead of plastic bollards and have 10s of millions of dollars of bike infrastructure lined up using state and federal money. But going to Ciclavia always makes me feel like even that won’t be enough. We need to close entire lanes to traffic because there really is so much demand. Paris has been doing that and it looks amazing. Also, check out Streets for All sometime. They’re trying to get rid of city council’s power to veto bike lanes in LA which should substantially improve implementation or the bike master plan.
It's still frustrating that the only communities deemed appropriate for bike infrastructure are the beaches. I'm all for recreational cycling, but it winds up pigeonholing it to an activity versus a mode of practical transport
@@GaigeGrosskreutzGunClub The only reason that I would move to LA is so that I can live close to the beach. I get people live and need to commute inland for their jobs, but having bike friendly cities near the beach is a good starting point for the region.
@@AssBlasster oh of course, I'm not disparaging beach biking infrastructure, but it seems like is viewed as the exception and not the rule when it comes to active transport
@@GaigeGrosskreutzGunClub Well active transport is an afterthought at best. As with most infrastructure in the USA, there is very little consistency with infrastructure standards or coordination between cities. LA is particularly bad being a polycentric metro area, where Santa Monica takes initiative on bike infra while LA proper just ignores it. Makes for a frustrating situation.
That part about Japan hits close to home, because I figured this out as a teenager from all the SOL anime I watched, I realized how common it was for the characters to either bike, walk, or take a train ride to their job or school, and then stop at a corner shop on their way back home. Teenage me was incredibly jealous. Anyways, nice video! I hope to see this channel grow!
Yes indeed... especially interesting as we see now in the news frequently parents getting arrested because their kids were out walking down the street alone.... personally nowadays I bike or walk to the grocery store(s), farmers market, or ant other place....
The problem is even when preteen /early teen kids in the United States do have that level of Independence they tend to act really 💩. We have these 10 to 13 year olds that were constantly vandalizing our store and the neighborhood close to where I worked. Like I love seeing that they're active but then behaving that way no. Japanese culture has a huge emphasis on respecting your elders and being generally respectful. We had the ban them from the store. Because they were constantly playing in the store then they eventually mess with something electrical, they vandalized the neighboring store. Eventually they had a call the cops on them. I'm like where are their parents? Nay man I'll never understand the free range kids movement. Children need to be taught how to behave.
@@milliedragon4418 when I was a kid though in the 60' and 70's we wandered freely far and wide, and we didn't vandalize stores... there's something else going on there, just walking around without parents isn't causing it....
@@slowp100 I remember when I was only 3 years old walking down the street alone to my friends house…. I walked a mile or so to school from 7th grade…. to me it seems totally natural….
The difference between the bicycle gutter on the busy road and the suspension bridge in the air is that the suspension bridge has guard rails, doesn't have potholes, bits of the walkway entirely blocked, or things coming at you from the side trying to knock you off the path. Even in cities in the UK there are many places you have to either bike like Mark Cavendish, roll along the pavement at walking pace, or be squeezed into a gutter, before you sprint merge into a multi lane roundabout. In some places, even with a 750 watt motor on the bike it's not enough. No chance for a 75 year old woman out for a gentle ride to the shop.
Great video, Nimesh. It's clear you put a lot of work into these, and you're right, it's pathetic how little bike infrastructure is in LA given the opportunity to make it happen. Bike gutters are scary and dangerous. With some of the progressive, pro-transit council members recently elected around LA and channels like yours, hopefully this will improve.
Hi Nimesh! This is an amazing video 👏🏻 i can relate to it on so many levels. I am a physician to and I ride my bike from my home in West LA to the hospital and i take those exact roads. I completely agree, cycling is a high impact lifestyle choice because it’s environmentally and financially sound with amazing health benefits. Unfortunately, LA is a disaster due to the lack of proper cycling infrastructure and the stress I receive from the anger and hostility of cars can make it unpleasant. However, I refuse to give it up because it makes me the happiest when I choose cycling to get to work. Keep on spreading the word and advocating for whats right in this community!
Oh, and that part where you’re riding on SaMo Blvd next to Waldorf Astoria with all those huge people/planet killing SUVs…..there has been not one time when I ride there and they aren’t blocking the bike lane
That's great to hear! It's great to hear input from people who choose to bike, because there are so many more people who would choose to get around by some form of transport other than car if the city made it a safe, efficient, dignified option. Stay safe!
I'm a lifetime bicycle commuter in Los Angeles, and I found cycling in Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia much safer than LA, and motorists there will often drive on the wrong side of the street.
Not every city in the US is like LA. I grew up in the twin cities, and biking in Minneapolis is pretty darn safe with lots of protected routes. I can confidently say that it's far safer to bike in Minneapolis than to walk in my current city (Honolulu), and it's not even close. Biking in Minneapolis is fun and safe. Walking in Honolulu is scary (except for the beachside tourist routes), and biking here is like playing russian roulette.
@@davidw2739I think it comes down to the car drivers not so much the Infrastructure. If the drivers are familiar with sharing "their" space with others that behave differently. I live in Germany, in a "suburb" of Bremen. Bremen is known to bike friendly. Everyone expects them and won't run them over. Here at my place neither the cars nor the cyclists expect bikes to share the street, so "everyone" bikes on the sidewalks and if you dare to use the street the car drivers tend to get mad at you. I think you need a critical mass of brave cyclists "to pave the road" for all others so they are seen and respected.
Love this video!!! SoCal has the potential to be a bicycling capital of the world but we need to build the infrastructure to make everyone feel safe and welcome on the streets!
Bicycling capital? Well, it's possible but you have a long, long, road ahead... Would already be a great achievement f you would come close to Dutch standards...
LA has a lot going for it, perfect weather, wide roads (easy to convert for multi modal use), and LA is surprisingly dense enough to make it practical.
@@dutchman7623yeah but TBH I think that to get the same ridership they don't even have to have that good bike Infrastructure because the weather encourages people to go outside.
This is so accurate ! My every day life as a bicyclist in West LA. Local politicians even killed the very necessary bike lane on Westwood boulevard to UCLA Thank you !
man my commute to UCLA every day on bike can get really scary, it is what it is. I don’t have to pay for parking though - I guess the cost of getting run over is less than that haha.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us! For how great LA weather is, it's amazing how badly they biffed it with their cycling infrastructure🤦♀But anyways, keep up the good work, I'm absolutely loving your channel this far 🤙
You forgot to mention how deadly the normal street design in NA is that during the pandemic, even thou car trips decreased as everyone was on lockdown, the number of crashes and mortality rate increased which was due to the fact that these stroads weren't overly congested anymore and people were driving the speed they were comfortable in. Also love the Japan example. Such a good show honestly and its crazy that they can just let their 4 year old kid go to market or grocery store unsupervised, even in suburbs.
Yep. During the lockdown I figured I'd be getting even more biking done, but the opposite happened - there were fewer drivers, but the ones who remained had turned all the streets into their personal racetracks. I wound up doing more indoor trainer biking than ever, and I'm a seasoned LA bike commuter.
Great channel! I’m interested in biking again but unsure of where I can do so safely in my corner of LA (the valley). Our new mayor Karen Bass has described herself as a bicyclist and has pledged to expand protected bike lanes so I hope she makes good on that promise.
Many politicians will use their jobs for personal gain (of course). It gives them a sense of pride to fit in and it gives them an income. Few are the Bernie Sanders of the world willing to rankle feathers. You should voice and offer support. You could create a phone registry of other willing participants to volunteer and support changes.
I feel the same way about "shared lanes". Never was able to articulate the guilt I felt, but so many cities have these as actual infrastructure in their long term improvement plans. Engineers need to test their designs when they are implemented.
I built a DIY eBike with a 1,500 watt mid-drive motor. Although I can comfortably do 50kph I typically ride at 32kph in town to keep to the speed limit. Having said that we do have a few road stretches that are shared. And one main road connecting areas that has no space whatsoever for riding a bike. On those roads I take the whole lane and ride the speed vehicle speed limit up to 60kph. I realize that is speeding but boy oh boy does it feel, and is, so much safer than trying to eke out some space with vehicles scraping by me at 70+ kph. Having been hit 7 times by cars over my cycling life with two of those being hospitalized with broken clavicle, ribs, and serious road rash I do not apologize for "speeding" where my life is more important than the law.
The worst thing about 'bike lanes' is the debris. I live in Raleigh, NC. When I'm not mountain biking I like to ride from my house to downtown (3 miles) but it seems the bike lanes collect all the debris from the car lanes, including screws and glass. Raleigh is getting there and they have an extensive greenway that goes in all directions for hundreds of miles total.
There is NO way I would try biking in the LA now. I used to bike when there less cars and no cells phones/social media distracting already poor drivers. My reactions are just not up to avoid becoming a speed bump these days.
I dont really care for bikes or bike commuting. Still, I'd like to get into biking as a form of transportation because, as you've stated, car commuting is atrocious. But the horrendous infrastructure in place for said bike commuting puts Evel Knievel to shame. The cycle (or lack thereof!) continues Excellent video.
I've been in L.A. since last summer as a student, and have been hoping to ride my bike freely on the road. I came from Japan, funny enough that you mentioned Japan, where most city roads weren't quite friendly, at least by my standards. I hoped that there would be more bike-friendly roads here, and Santa Monica was pretty good, but it just seems impossible to get to Santa Monica by bike, since the roads around my place are narrow, full of cars, and road parking that gives me more anxiety. I'm rethinking buying a bike or bringing a bike to L.A. It has more bike lanes than Japan but is more dangerous at the same time.
Wow, what a great video. I live in Henderson , a suburb of Las Vegas where we have bike infrastructure all over the place. I've found some of the beach cities of California are decent to bike but once you're in the big cities like L.A or San Diego everyone curses your existence.
Great video. I’ve lived in the mid Wilshire area for 20 years, I have a bike radius of four or 5 miles from Culver City to the Hollywood hills, from Beverly Hills to downtown. The entire 20 years, it has been a terrific bicycle network, which is dense and goes everywhere, which is called side streets. I can spend 1000 hours bicycling, literally without spending one minute on a major street like Wilshire or La Cienega.
The sad thing is modern suburbia’s reliance on cul de sacs and collector-arterial stroads eliminates the option to use side streets. Believe it or not, Chicago is an amazing cycling city because of the side streets/grid street pattern.
I used to live in the mid wilshire area. That area is a nightmare. It could take me 45 minutes to go down 3rd street in traffic. Many people that work at Cedars live in those apartments and have to get in a car to go 1.5 miles to work! How do people think that this is an acceptable way to live?!what needs to be done is 6th street needs to be blocked off from La Brea to La cienega and be bike/bus/pedestrians only. Nithya (city council for CD5) has been a huge advocate. Unfortunately, her neighbor Koretz has single handedly shot down bike lanes in his district (ie uplift melrose). Now that he is gone hopefully we will see more bike lanes in that area.
@@jacklynma9613 All i can say is I bike all over mid wilshire and hwd for 20 years with no complaints or bad stories. Obviously a car down 3rd street is awful at peak traffic. I am talking about: a bike taking Sycamore from Wilshire north to Hwd Blvd, or biking down 4th St from Park La Brea to K town. It was about biking and on side streets.
Come down to LA’s sister city, Long Beach. They’ve done a lot to expand bike infrastructure. Mostly near the coast and downtown, but with plans to keep expanding and improving it
yea the bike “infrastructure” here in LA is pretty hilarious. I encourage you to check out Pasadena though. Really bikeable by LA standards and a great place to live, though very expensive Also the drivers there respect you more in my experience.
Funny, I actually went biking in Santa Monica the first time I've ever went to Los Angeles. It was an electronic bike tour that was about 3+ hours, and we biked all of Santa Monica, from the pier well-into neighboring Venice. The city is perfect for biking and I was extremely comfortable during the experience, even during the parts where we went onto roads with cars.
America's lack of walkability cities continues to be exposed. I live in Texas and we're known as one of the worst states for walkability. I have to drive a minimum of 15 minutes just to get food because of how spread out things are here. I plan to move to San Francisco next summer and I can't wait to sell my car. Great job on producing these videos, America needs real progress and the more awareness we can bring the better
I live in London, I was shocked when I visited my sister in Houston. There were no pavements to walk anywhere, and people wonder why obesity is an issue kids/adults can't walk anywhere.
@@ttemfash People in Houston try to use the hot weather as an excuse. Means nothing when hot and humid places like Taiwan and Hong Kong have public transport and walkability in their city, Texans just don't care enough!
@@machtmann2881 I agree, it’s a really silly excuse tbh . The car has been the dominant feature on the roads in the US, if you don’t have a car the quality of life diminishes drastically that can’t be right. I live in a location where I can walk, bike take the bus, train or tube my options are endless hence why I don’t own or need a car. I hope the US state rethink the infrastructure and its impact on the people, economy and the environment.
Excellent, comprehensive presentation. A lot of time and effort went into making this. You have done the cycling Community a great service. May you live in good health!
The west side has the worst motorists. "Crazy" is everywhere, but "vicious" is my adjective for west side of Los Angeles, Hollywood, West Hollywood, and I'm talking now as a motorist. I could not imagine riding a bicycle there. I live in eastern Long Beach and it's not bad here for bicyclists. I'll live out my days in comparative "Bicycle Paradise." But nothing compares to Netherlands, etc.
So torn with Ciclavia. Tons of fun, for sure, but I worry that it further solidifies the mindset that bicycling is only for recreation versus a viable mode of transportation. Great work on the video. Wish someone covered Long Beach, CA like this! The city was gung-ho adding bike infrastructure in the early 2010s, but has unfortunately slowed down in recent years
Long Beach modified Spring Street, east of Studebaker Road, by REMOVING one of three automobile lanes in each direction, installing a low concrete barrier that is way better than a painted line; but it won't stop a drunk from plowing into bicyclists. I use this lane occasionally. Formerly, I used the SIDEWALK, and I should add that this run goes for a half mile or so. It was a killing zone for anyone to ride a bike in the gutter formerly. So this is encouraging, but the sidewalk sufficed before, for my purposes. MOST OPIONIONS are very angry and negative, on NextDoor. The car addicts want very square inch of pavement for their 3000 pound monstrosities.
I noticed the last time I was in LA that there are a ton of staple racks along the streets. You can park basically anywhere. But the problem was, as this video states.
One thing I'm frankly obsessed with as of late that is still vanishingly rare in California is protected intersections. There's a city or two that built some on their wide street intersections and maybe on small neighborhood streets somewhere, but not even close to being as comprehensive as the Dutch approach. In the Netherlands, every intersection that needs extra safety for bicycles gets that safety. Big or small, four way, roundabout, T junction, you name it, they do it. It's remarkable how elegant a design concept the protected intersection is and how widely applicable it is, while being an effective way to handle junctions. I've never seen one in person, but I know this country needs to put them everywhere.
It looks like two cities in California have them from RU-vid search results, San Luis Obispo and Fremont. I wonder if there are more cities with protected intersections in our state.
@@mrmaniac3 You are so correct! Getting from A to B by bicycle in a safe way should be standard, and for pedestrians too, the entire route. You do not plan a car route from A to B with an off road section in it do you? Protected bicycle paths should be continuous, and if mixed use cannot be avoided, cars should be limited to 20 mph by speed bumps, chicanes and other speed limiting structures, while bicycles can pass without hinder. The lay-out should be the same everywhere so pedestrians, cyclists and drivers know how to deal with the situation though they never been there before. That is the strength of Dutch infra. A good infra for bicycles and pedestrians also benefits those in wheelchairs (muscle and electric) and mobility scooters. While visiting the US I thought; 'Where are you hiding your handicapped citizens? Until I saw the bad state of sidewalks, too narrow, poles that leave no room to pass them, high curbs, discontinuous routes, bad cycling infra. People are condemned to stay at home, and the only places they can go to are those with a handicapped parking next to the entrance door. But than they need the ability to drive a car or be brought there. In the Netherlands old or handicapped people can call a taxi, that will bring them where they want to go, they only pay the price of a bus fare, the rest is payed to the taxi company by municipal social welfare. This allows them to be independent as long as possible. Do their own shopping, visit family, go to doctor or hospital without having to bother helpers.
I've ridden a bike on these streets, worked in that part of West L.A., and had some very scary close calls. Santa Monica's a breeze in comparison. Thank you for going through that plan and looking at the streets more closely. We deserve better.
Another excellent episode. Thanks for this, Nimesh. I'm laughing inside a little as I am watching this video from a hotel room in Amsterdam and I am shocked about how far behind we are in terms of bicycle infrastructure. Granted, Amsterdam is somewhat of an anomaly, but I can't help but image how much easier getting to my friends house in LA would be if I could just bike instead of drive. As you mentioned in your last video, universities seem to understand the importance of good pedestrian and cycling design. I wish LA would take a page from the books of the universities in its own borders. Some sacrifices must be made such as removing street parking or reducing lane width to accommodate this, but that's far better than the no bicycle alternative.
Ouf, I'm just at the part where you have to share the lane and my concern whenever I have to do that is that the drivers get so angry when this happens, blame you and then proceed to very dangerous behavior including against you. Even if they have the self control, I know how infuriating it gets for them (my driver friends rant about it regularly). So I don't wanna be in their way for my own and later other people's safety. I always feel the need to appease them by being as apologetic as I can be lol
This was good, but you didn't touch on one very important thing about biking in LA. THEFT. Kryptonite locks mean nothing. They can literally be cut off, and your bike is gone in 60 seconds, leaving you stranded and a crime victim. High-end bikes can easily be resold at a deep discount. Licensing makes no difference. You'd be better off with a well hidden GPS tag or tile, but do you really want to find and demand your bike from the thieves who stole it? And don't expect LAPD to drop their high speed chase to seize your property to return it to you!
Wow it is great to see content that covers places I’m familiar with! Like most transportation problems in LA, the trouble is you need a network and you need mixed use zoning. Right now LA builds things like rail lines and bike paths in isolation and often builds a low quality version at that. Then on top of that, nothing is close because of how the city is laid out. I think Santa Monica is able to be more effective because it is a more compact city. The city of Los Angeles stretches from San Pedro to Sylmar and that is just a lot of area to cover and a lot of competing priorities.
Wow. This video really nails it commuting on bike in LA. I commute from the valley to the west side and share a lot of the routes you showed. I hope someone that handles city infrastructure sees this and heavily considers taking action.
im moving to la soon and its nice to know theres people who care about this kind of stuff as much as i do cause, i recently got a miata and while im excited to drive it around the mountains, actually driving in la sounds terrible and having lived near philly and nyc and living in new jersey and knowing what really good public transit infrastructure looks like, its hard but im excited, im really hoping la gets better with their infrastructure cause it has the potential!
Total Miles of Bike Lanes Planned: 51.37 Total Miles of Bike Lanes Implemented: 5.44 To use one of Elon Musk's favourite phrases, that's an order of magnitude less. And what needs to happen is two orders of magnitude more than what was planned. Keep up the good fight, Nimesh.
Love these videos. I'm planning to move to LA from Chicago soon for school and one of my biggest anxieties has been figuring out how I'll deal with a city that's so car-centric. In Chi I can pretty much bike or ride the train anywhere so I've gotten used to not needing a car. It's encouraging to see other people who are also interested in that lifestyle even in LA. Keep it up!
Yeah it's gonna suck lol. Getting anywhere in LA is an absolute mission, prepare to not want to ever do anything not in your neighborhood even with a car. Weather's much better though.
I feel like yes, bike lanes in US are nearly non existent but from the clips you've shown - people can't drive for shit. Like driving through bike lane for 100 ft just to turn right? What the hell?
Just a minor nitpick about the intro: the line on the bottom should’ve been “Nimesh in,” then the line on top of it would be “Los Angeles.” Also, how many of those planned miles of bike lanes in LA were protected?
Yeah, I was debating between the 2 formats, but then I realized that people would be reading it from their computer screen instead of from a moving car, so I went with what you see now. Absolutely 0 of the planned bike lanes were protected.
Just started biking in LA as my primary form of transportation. It feels like a video game I play every single day where the price of screwing up is serious injury or death.😵
This is a sad situation. Unfortunately it reminds me of my city, Edmonton, Alberta. We're not only dealing with poor cycling infrastructure, but also harsh winters. To top it off, many people are opposed to bike infrastructure, using the winter as the reason, even though cycling is a good way to get around even when it's cold. I'm hopeful because our city council has recently approved funding for a comprehensive bike plan. Unfortunately I might be pretty old by the time it gets fully implemented, if it will (your example of LA makes me a bit less optimistic). Thanks for a great video, pointing out a real problem.
I recent moved to the San Fernando Valley and expected to bike to work on my e-bike bc it’s so level and there are no hills to make me all tired and sweaty, but after driving along cars that go well above 50 mph on residential streets… let’s just say I sold my bike after a month bc it was just easier to drive to work at that point (plus less fear of getting idk killed)
