Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Keywords DRAFT 2019 LB Downtown Specific Plan

Here is a quick summary of mobility keywords found in the DRAFT 2019 LB Downtown Specific Plan (DSP  169 pages): 

  • Bicycle: 5
  • Bike: 1
  • Bus: 4
  • Complete Streets Policy: 0
  • Downtown housing: 4
  • Enhanced Mobility and Complete Streets Transition Plan: 0
  • Increasing density:0
  • Lightrail: 0
  • Market-rate:0
  • Multi-story:1
  • Park: 49
  • Parking requirements: 12
  • Parking structure: 13 
  • Pedestrians: 28
  • Rail: 0
  • Relaxed parking: 0
  • Scooter: 1 
  • Shuttle: 4
  • Single formula: 0
  • Skateboard: 1
  • Transit Center: 6
  • Transit: 26
  • Trolley: 17
  • Walking: 3

  • Parking: 411

The intent of our 2019 DSP is clear. Once again our Laguna Beach Planning Commission denies solutions to Laguna's mobility crisis by preserving 1950's parking requirements (the same as Irvine's). The LBPC denies mobility planning altogether, Laguna is a parking lot after-all.

-LS

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

LB DRAFT Downtown Specific Plan 2019


In 169 pages (80MB) of our Planning Commission's latest DRAFT Downtown Specific Plan, Complete Streets Policy is not mentioned, instead complete streets is reduced from a state transportation mandate to a paradigm. Note the mandate was specified previously in the RFP for a Downtown Parking Management Plan. Now read the strawman logic setup (DSP page 17) in this mumbo-jumbo:

Transportation changes are notable with respect to new perspectives on parking. The complete streets paradigm emphasizes designing for all modes of travel, particularly transit and pedestrians, and has resulted in a de-emphasis on requiring parking based on the assumption that every person will be driving their own car and only visiting a single establishment. In the Downtown, the increase in available trolleys and the success of demand-based pricing has changed both the behavior of and the parking availability for customers. This process is predicted to continue with the expansion of ride-sharing services and the advent of autonomous vehicles.

The claim is made that demand-based pricing and available trolleys has already changed the behavior of customers and parking availability. Further, future technological means will change roadway user behavior and parking availability, so there is no need to take actions with complete streets interventions.
  1. PC claims with no cited data are unsubstantiated
  2. Expanding ride-sharing services will benefit customers - unsubstantiated
  3. Automomous vehicles will benefit customers - unsubstantiated
  4. As if by magic a paradigm is enough to change customer behavior 
  5. As if by magic a paradigm boosts parking availability 
  6. Complete Streets Policy mandates is only a paradigm, so ignore it
  7. The Enhanced Mobility and Complete Streets Transition Plan is not referenced 
  8. The Deliverables in the Appendix are missing.
Only a corrupt city manager, paid city lackeys and revolving-door consultants could write mumbo-jumbo shiz like this.

-LS

Friday, August 9, 2019

Scooters Suck? Uh-oh

Image result for electric scooters lime
A VOX Future-Perfect story

We regret to inform you...


 

 

 Say it ain't so!   


Scooters aren't good for the environment?  Well it depends, while riding a scooter is better than driving a car the lifetime environmental costs are not. It depends how you crunch your numbers a study shows:
  • Making, deploying, transporting, Juicing them is not emission-free
  • Worse for environment than transport modes they replace
  • Calculate the emissions per mile per passenger carried over life-cycle
  • More emissions than bus with high ridership, electric moped, electric bicycle
  • More emissions than regular bicycle, or carbon-free walk.

    -LS

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Radschnellweg Munchen Deutschland (Bike Freeways)

Radschnellweg Munchen, Germany
Germany is building bicycle freeways (Radschnellweg) exclusively for bicycle commuters. CycLAvia reports the latest one is between 10 German cities, including Duisburg, Bochum, and Hamm, and planned to remove 50,000 cars from existing roads. That would work well for Laguna Beach where Laguna Canyon Road's capacity is expected to carry 56,000 (ADT) per day by 2020. Irvine to Laguna on the Old RT-185 would work so nice!

-LS

Monday, August 5, 2019

Fremont's Tesla to Test Solar Roof

Click CNBC Story
The Fremont plant will begin testing of Tesla's Solar City architectural roof tiles, one leg of the solar economy triad (collection-distribution-storage) for a fleet of electric cars. Will Laguna Beach ignore the possibilities and deny municipal power? 


-LS