Laguna's Parking Structures No Solution

 You want to build WHAT?

In the US a car lifespan motionless is similar while 50% of US trips are 5-miles or less. Electric Vehicles are no solution to parking demand. The solution to urban parking and mobility is a balanced mode-share of transport. 

-LS

Street Safety and Candidate Position Laguna Campaign 2022

Here's how seven candidates for City Council value street safety policy for Laguna Beach in their 2022 election campaign. 

Complete Streets Policy and Vision Zero are policy level commitments made by cities to improve parking, traffic, mobility and traffic collision rankings. As this investigation shows, NONE of our Candidates have chosen these policies as a campaign platform in Laguna Beach. Will 2023 be business as usual?  UPDATE:  In "7-Questions for 7-Candidates" Alex Rounaghi supports Complete Streets Policy in his campaign. - LB Independent 4 November 2022.

-LS

Preventing Pedestrian Road Kill, Now There's an App

 

(John Foy and Associates photo credit)

FORD's new mobile App is designed to alert the motorist about pedestrians and cyclists nearby the traveling vehicle. The App relies on a Bluetooth Low Energy interface to send a signal from a pedestrian or cyclist's smartphone to the passing Ford vehicle equipped with the latest Ford Infotainment System. The system then calculates the potential collision risk providing the driver both screen and audio alerts. The App debuted at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America's World Congress in Los Angeles in September 2022.

“Newer Ford vehicles already with Ford Co-Pilot360 Technology can detect and help warn drivers of pedestrians, bicyclists, scooter riders and others — and even apply brakes if drivers do not respond in time,” Jim Buczkowski, Ford’s executive director of research and advanced engineering, said in a statement. “We are now exploring ways to expand vehicle sensing capability, for areas drivers cannot see, to help people drive even more confidently on roads increasingly shared by others using their two feet or two wheels.”

Ford's executive director revealed plans to shift control of the vehicle from the driver to the algorithm - the consequence of autonomous vehicle technologies. It follows then that liability of vehicle operation shifts from the motorist to the vehicle too.

With logic like this a fatality at Pearl Street and South Coast Highway would not happen because Stanley Issacs was carrying a transponder App. And what if Stanley Issacs had no App?  Would Stanley be at fault for crossing the highway in a crosswalk with no pedestrian permit on his smartphone? And what of those with no Smartphone, like surfers heading to the beach?  

And what of system faults in a technical command chain from Smartphone to vehicle sensors to Infotainment System to the vehicle Can Bus (it's complicated)? Aren't drivers distracted enough ordering pizza, reading football scores while following GoogleMaps from their Dashboards? Must a jury decide consequences of inappropriate technology in 40-million California vehicles?

Oct 28 UPDATE:   Ford announced the pursuit of its Argo self-driving car would be abandoned while retaining "driver assist" capability. Ford invested $3-billion in its self-driving Argo, the math says the business would not return on investment for another 5-years from now.    

The company disclosed a $2.7 billion accounting charge this quarter to wind down Argo, resulting in an $827 million loss.

 The driver-assist technology with on-screen warnings and alarms continues. For details see Wired magazine here.

-LS

After $1Billion 405 Widening Traffic Delay Times Increase

Ya don't say?!

"... it appears adding lanes in the Sepulveda Pass has thus far had little effect in easing traffic."

 

KTLA photo credit.

More confirmation for Laguna planners: building more auto infrastructure simply draws more motorists, raises intensification, increases injuries and fatalities due to collisions. (KTLA story).

-LS

Asphalt to Art Reduces Car/Pedestrian Collisions

The Asphalt Art Initiative aims to improve pedestrian safety by painting eye-grabbing murals on street pavement, they will award grants grants of $25,000 to 19 European cities for this work.   The project supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and  The Aspen Institute was announced on Monday in Amsterdam at a CityLab summit. 

An art project in Kansas City MO reduced traffic crashes 49%, adding color to curbs in Baltimore Maryland reduced traffic speeds by 45% (Bloomberg CityLab Article). The street safety record in Europe is far better than the United States (Bloomberg City Lab).

More examples of Street Art are found here. 

These Art interventions could improve Laguna's atrocious traffic safety record. Would the city of Laguna Beach be so bold? Would the Laguna developers adopt philanthropic projects like Bloomberg?

-LS

First CicLAvia Held 10/10/10 in Los Angeles

 Twelve years ago Monday 10/10/10, LA DOT and CicLAvia held their open-streets event city-wide in Los Angeles.  7.5-miles long from Boyle Heights to Downtown LA to East Los Angeles, 100,000 Angelinos participated that day.  Laguna Beach is 7-miles long, just the right size to host a Cic-LB-via.

 

The next CicLAvia is on Sunday, Dec 4 from 9AM - 3PM where 7.25 miles of streets connecting Exposition Park, Historic South Central, Florence-Firestone, and Watts will be open to people not cars.

-LS

What Kind of Streets does Laguna Want?

A DW Special Report with the Cycling Professor.

"Some people say we can rethink the cities we live in for the better. But what does that actually mean? How can we reclaim and reuse our own cities to make THEM cooler and cleaner, and US happier and healthier?"

 -LS

Gov. Newsom signs OmniBike Bill AB 1909

On Friday 23 September 2022 California Governor Newsom signed the "OmniBike" Bill into law making four significant safety enhancements to existing law concerning cycling. 

1. 

   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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
   

-LS

 

Beach Fee for Day-Trippers

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.

Malibu Beach Parking

Blocking Beach Access

Paradise Cove, Malibu  (drone view)

 Paradise Cove, Malibu (walking view)

Carbon Beach, Malibu 

Malibu Solution: New Beach Parking because "Nobody Walks in LA"

Cape Cod National Seashore

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.

-LS

Black Rock City and Day-Trippers

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.

-LS