Streets As Art Part I

Planitizen: "The space per capita devoted to cars exceeds the space devoted to inhabitants."

Brookings: "America’s vehicle population has been increasing even faster than its human population ... For the time being, the only relief for traffic-plagued commuters is a comfortable, air-conditioned vehicle with a well-equipped stereo system, a hands-free telephone, and a daily commute with someone they like."

"Congestion has become part of commuter's daily leisure time, and it promises to stay that way. "

The Laguna Beach "Village Entrance"

Laguna's policy makers may choose to adopt this outcome from experts, or strive for better urban land planning than the inevitable because "it promises to stay that way."

Whether expert's land use models are right or wrong, the urban space devoted to public art competes with the public space for roads and infrastructure. Here's how public art copes in other cities around the world. (Click to enlarge)

Street Art

Street Illusions

Participatory Art

 

 -LS

 

 

 

Parking Lot 4A

You wanted a parking-lot, right?

Latest Village Entrance 1947-2017

"Driving in I don't want to see cement" -Councilman Steve Dicterow

Let's read that again

"Driving in I don't want to see cement"

Here is a tally of legend design elements in Concept 4A (click to enlarge)

• Car Parking: 7
• Pedestrain: 2
• Bike Parking: 1
• Multi-use trail: 1
• Bikerack: 0
  
• Transit: 0
• Transit Station: 0
• Complete Streets: 0
• Public Bench: 0
• Parklett: 0
• Uber/Lyft: 0
• Car-Share: 0
• Bathroom:0

• Bike-Share:0

 

 

"When we provide too much parking for a place, it stops being a place." 
-The Shoupistas                                -LS

Mandatory Bicycle Helmets

In the 1950's auto manufacturers dismissed seat-belts fearing to adopt them made automobile driving appear unsafe. Today seat-belts are mandatory standard equipment and far more efficient as safety equipment than airbags (lives saved per safety feature dollar invested.)

Today the bicycle industry faces mandatory helmet laws for cyclists. If helmets were mandatory for automobile usage would motorists drive less?  Maybe. But once again the auto industry covers their bets. What do you think?

-LS

May is Bike Month

Register to win at OCTA and win a Trek FX-2 bike or a Fitbit Blaze:

• Pledge a ride sweepstakes here
• Pledge a distance to ride, download Strava here

Bike month notable dates:

1. Bike to School Day   May 10
2. Bike to Work Week  May 15 - 19
3. Bike with Caltrans  May 16

For all the details visit the OCTA website  (and scroll down).             -LS

It's Happening LB Tour De Coop (Updated)

  







Sunday
 April 30 2017

4th Annual

Community Coop and Garden Tour

Sign-up 9:30a

Bluebird Canyon Park

Info: Facebook

Ladies on Grass -what a great time it was!

-LS

Uber for Bikes BikeShare

The App tells you where to find a bike. To unlock it swipe your QR code and ride away, with a dockless bike you can leave it where your journey ends. Your ride cost $0.15 and the bike is available for the next user.

Startups for dockless bikes are springing up in China and receive funding by the heavyweights in Internet tech.   MoBike started by Hue WeiWei and David Wang (former head of Uber Shanghai) deployed dockless bikes in six cities the first three months of 2017. Backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent and Foxcomm MoBike production will reach 10 million bikes per year (The Guardian).

Ofo began as a Peking University project in 2015, today they claim 10 million dockless bike users in 33 cities. Ofo led by 26 year old Zhang Siding raised $130 million in capital from investors including Didi, smartphone maker Xiaomi and U.S. hedge fund Coatue who backed Facebook and Google (Reuters).

Chinese municipalities like Hangzhou respond to severe air pollution and auto congestion with improved municipal bus service but funded public bike shares too citing huge savings in bus fuel costs operations costs and air pollution. 
 

Bike Share dumping in China

Chinese authorities responded to bike dumping with public re-education programs: credits for good behavior and penalty fees for bad.    

Naturally for the best solutions to improve bike usage and mode-share look to the Netherlands where the autonomous Google bike is available to anyone any age. Available April 1 2017. 

Footnote:  1.0 Why bikes stay up!            -LS

Hot Spots on PCH

Ask a touring cyclist, Laguna is the most dangerous bottleneck from Oregon to the Mexican border, no wonder since there are no provisions for cycling on PCH. To improve cycling safety and reduce traffic congestion, develop the alternative mobility modes.

The competition for cyclists with motorists, Broadway at PCH.

A Sharrow is the only reasonable option through downtown.

Emergency parking bounded by fog line, North Emerald Bay today.

This is a bike-lane?  Caltrans thinks so. LBPD says so. The OC Register says so.  On 17 June 2014 John Colvin was killed here while riding his bike right of that white fog line. Nearly three years have passed and still no provisions for PCH cyclists, today the safest place for a cyclist on PCH remains riding the OCTA bus.


 

Ghost Bike for John Colvin

The collision occurred at North Emerald Bay.

 Caltrans take a Memo: this is a genuine bike lane. Bike lanes have design features enumerated by NACTO in their Urban Bikeway Design Guide and feature signage, roadway symbols, buffering, at times green paint: a WAKE-UP call for motorists. A Wikipedia reference: Cycling Infrastructure is here.

Merging cycle traffic on a San Mateo parkway. (Streetsblog)

Three years after a fatal collision claimed the life of cyclist Lauren Ward of Los Altos and several years of unrelenting pressure by residents, Caltrans and San Mateo Public Works installed this buffered bike lane on Alpine Road. The same should be done for PCH as the roadways are very similar.

Menlo Park Council Member Kristen Keith at Alpine and 280.

Likewise this bike lane under a San Mateo overpass is similar to the dangerously dark overpass at 73 Toll Road and Laguna Canyon Road, the same design considerations apply at LCR. (Streetsblog SF)

-LS

Hot Spots on Laguna Canyon Road

See any pedestrian bike or rail traffic on this road? One solution to Laguna's car traffic and parking congestion is building the mobility modes we don't presently use, like walking biking bus and rail. 

Is this a bikelane?  Caltrans thinks so they designed it, they maintain it yet few are brave enough to use it.













Gee Caltrans thanks for the written instructions. SHARE THE ROAD they say, or maybe my bike tires are too fat?

Stuff Dutch Moms Like Facebook

SHARE THE DRAIN














Would Olif and his kids ride LCR?


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the truth test, if our roads were good as those in Holland Denmark and Germany you would see this at Anneliese Schools.

Build it and they will come.   -LS