On Friday 23 September 2022 California Governor Newsom signed the "OmniBike" Bill into law making four significant safety enhancements to existing law concerning cycling.
Obsolete
Existing law required motorists to give people on bikes a 3-foot margin when passing, this law was difficult to enforce and did not provide enough space for safe passing. The change requires motorists to change lanes whenever passing a bicyclist, the new law is easier for police to enforce.
Some jurisdictions requiring bicycle license laws have abused the law by harassing youth riders, the new provision removes bicycle licensing laws throughout California. AB 1909 removes the pretext for biased policing against bicyclists.
In some areas eBikes are banned on bikeways, the new provision allows eBikes equal access to bikeways everywhere. Exceptions are State Parks and Recreation Departments may continue to prohibit them, local authorities may ban them from equestrian, hiking, and recreational
trails.
Bikes are considered vehicles and follow normal traffic rules at intersections, the final provision allows bike riders to cross streets on pedestrian
walk signals rather than only a green traffic light. AB 2264 directs Caltrans to give pedestrians a 3-7 second headstart on crossing the street. If AB 2264 is signed, provisions in AB 1909 allows people on bikes a
headstart, too. A study in San Francisco shows traffic violations reduced 65-98% when pedestrians are given this headstart. For more detail see the CalBike report.
Who should have access to public beaches? In California private beach property boundaries extend to the mean high-tide line, the beach going public gets the ocean side. This means private beaches occur the length of California that everybody can go to.
In Carbon Beach Malibu, billionaire moguls scoffed at rightful public beach access putting up "NO Parking" signs, painting curbs red, and building fake garage doors to enforce their illegal excluded visitors.
The restaurant owners at Paradise Cove Malibu, placed "NO SURFING" signs to discourage the surfing riff-Raff (us). In 2014 the restaurant withdrew their restrictions on order by the California Coastal Commission, then in June 2022 restaurant owners began charging a $20 Beach Membership to access the beach.
The Commission reminded Paradise Cove Land Co. threatening to
levy fines of up to $11,250 per day for blocking public access. The $40 parking fee remains although visitors may park along the highway for free. So how should beach communities otherwise pay for city services bestowed on beach visiting guests? Some resort to parking fees and membership fees.
Notice the absence of visitors walking, biking, busing in these short videos.
Beach entrance fees (below) are collected daily from late June through Labor Day, weekends and holidays from Memorial Day through September. All passes are sold during the months that the fees are collected. Passes are sold at the beaches not the park visitor centers.
Daily Vehicle - $25.00
Daily Motorcycle - $20.00
Daily Bicycle or On-Foot - $15.00 (under 16 free)
California State Park Beaches
Parking for Peak Season Weekend and Holidays: $20
Day Parking: $10
Small Bus: $30
For California State Parks entry fees apply for all motorized entry into the park and there is no parking available outside of the park. However, there is no fee for hikers or bicyclists entering the park.
The Burning Man Festival near Gerlach and Empire in northwest Nevada was held over the Labor Day weekend 2022 resulting in a massive 9-hour traffic jam. Here's what car-culture looks like.
9-hour traffic jam leaving Burning Man (Russian)
Black Rock City is a parking lot.
Burning Man Festival Parking, 2022
How do Burning Man visitors pay for city services? Black Rock City charges admission to the festival event.
Attendees
Organized and promoted by the Burning Man Project - the equivalent of Visit Laguna in Laguna Beach, this festival of arts is held annually on the playa desert in Nevada. In 2019, 78,850 people participated, then influenced by Covid in 2021 the unofficial event had an estimated 20,000 attendees.
Festival
"An underground gathering for bohemians and free spirits of all stripes, Burning Man has evolved into a destination for social media influencers, celebrities and the Silicon Valley elite."-NPR Each year the festival is organized by the Burning Man Project around a new theme. Participants are invited to build art projects, activities and events in that theme. Artwork includes experimental and interactive sculptures, buildings, artistic vehicles, theatric performances and other media.
Participation is a key precept for the community,much like Laguna day-trippers there is much controversy in the community over the problem of non-participatory influencers and elite at the event.
Admission
Regular admission (2016) for individual tickets is $424. CNBC (2016) estimated the total cost of attending could range from $1,300 up to $20,000. Money magazine (2017) estimated an average total cost of $2,348 to attend.
Meanwhile, the regular admission price has increased over the years, Nevada lawmakers have modified the entertainment and sales tax code to include nonprofits like Burning Man Project, the festival tax burden is absorbed in the admission price.
City Services
Firefighting, emergency medical services (EMS) mental health, and communications support is provided by the volunteer
Black Rock City Emergency Services Department (ESD). EMS units are funded by local, provincial or national governments.
Enforcement
Black Rock City is patrolled by various local and state law enforcement agencies as well as the Bureau of Land Management Rangers. The cost of enforcement is carried outside Black Rock City, BLM is funded by the federal government
Burning Man also has its own in-house group of volunteers, the
Black Rock Rangers at no cost to the City. The Rangers act as informal mediators when disputes arise between participants.
Local Gerlach-Empire police issue $1500 citations for drug and alcohol abuse.
Commercial Philosophy
The organizers encourage festival attendees as self reliant individuals, to bring all living provisions termed radical self reliance. Cash transactions are not permitted between attendees. Cash can be
used for a select few charity, fuel, and sanitation vendors: ice sales
benefit the Gerlach-Empire school system, private portable toilet
services and shuttles to the airport, private diesel fuel.
"To preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create
social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships,
transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from
such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for
participatory experience." -Wikipedia
How We Do It
With ticket sales nominally topping $6.4 million, Black Rock Project is well organized to be a profitable "nonprofit LLC" venture by covering visitor costs and externalizing their most expensive city services. There are no plans for parking structures or parking meters in Black Rock City.
Visit the Burning Man subscription page for RSS Feed, Facebook and Twitter links.
