Bike Long Beach

Bike Month 2013 activities are in full swing this weekend at the Tour of Long Beach

admin — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:31:36 +0000

Bike Month 2013 activities are in full swing this weekend at the Tour of Long Beach & Bike Festival, the annual bicycle circuit around Long Beach benefiting Miller Children’s Hospital and post-tour party.

Here is this weekend’s line-up:

May 11

Tour of Long Beach, beginning at 6:30 a.m., Marina Green Park. More than 3,500 riders are expected to participate in the fourth annual event as cyclists tour one of two long circuits around the City, or participate in Olympian Tony Cruz’s 100-mile Cruz Gran Fondo. A five-mile Family Fun Ride along the beach starts at 8:30. The event supports pediatric cancer research at the Jonathan Jacques Children’s Cancer Center at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. Complete details and online registration is available at http://www.touroflongbeach.com

BikeFest, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., the Pike at Rainbow Harbor. This year’s post-Tour party hosted by the Downtown Long Beach Associates will featured Beachwood & Friends Craft Beer Garden, a Vintage Bike Exhibit & Fashion Show at 1 p.m., live entertainment and swing bands, children’s activities, a vendor village, and food specialties from Downtown’s Restaurants. Free bike valet service provided by BIKEable Communities.

Bike Saturdays. Long Beach’s Bike Saturdays Program is one of the largest citywide discount programs for cyclists in the nation. Ride your bike at more 100 participating local shops and eateries to receive a special discount or offer. Visit BikeLongBeach.org/bike-saturdays for a complete list of participating retailers.

An updated listing of events and detailed information will be posted throughout the month at: www.BikeLongBeach.org/events

Sign-up for e-news from Bike Long Beach at: http://www.bikelongbeach.org/contact/e-newletter-sign-up-page

To download the poster below, click the link here: BLB bike month calendar 2013

Here’s an update on other events and activities being held in May:

Separated lanes in Long Beach…more bike riders…fewer accidents

allancrawford — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:56:31 +0000

In April 2011 the City of Long Beach installed two one-way protected bikeways (aka cycle tracks) on Broadway and Third Streets, which transect the heart of the downtown area. The project provides one-way bikeways along the left side of each street, separated from traffic by a parking lane and a raised curb. One traffic lane was removed to accommodate the protected bike lane. Traffic signals were also modified at most intersections to provide bicycle signals and left turn arrows for vehicle traffic.

The project was a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) demonstration project that required a 12-month “Before” and “After” study to review the effects these changes have had on bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicle conditions along the two streets.

The results of the one year after:

Bike ridership has increased by 33% along the street,
Pedestrian use has increased by nearly 15%,
Bike accidents are down 80 percent from 5 per year to 1,
Vehicle accidents are down nearly 50% from over 90 per year to fewer than 50
The number of bicyclists on the sidewalk has decreased by 30%.

Implementation of the protected bikeway project on 3rd and Broadway resulted in a 33% overall increase in the number of bicyclists using the two streets and a 30% decrease (the video says 50% – the correct number is 30%) in the number of bicyclists on the sidewalk. The two streets have also experienced a 13% increase in the number of pedestrians since implementation of the project.

While the amount of bicycle and pedestrian activity on the two streets has increased significantly, vehicle traffic volumes and speeds are down since project implementation. Peak hour traffic counts are down by 12%, while 85th percentile traffic speeds have dropped on both streets. On 3rd Street, traffic speeds have dropped from 36 mph to 27 mph, and on Broadway speeds have gone from 30 mph to 26 mph.

An additional benefit of the project has been a reduction in collision rates. Prior to implementation, there had been an average of 6 bicycle-related collisions per year on the two streets. In the 1 year post-implementation study period just 1 bicycle-related collision has occurred. The overall traffic accidents are also down. Rates for vehicle crashes dropped by nearly 50% after project implementation, from an average of about 90 per year for the previous three years to less than 50 during the one-year study period.

Please bring your bike to downtown Long Beach…and as the banners along the street say “Dine, shop and bike in downtown Long Beach.”

Long Beach…Bike Friendly and the Safest Too

allancrawford — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:38:35 +0000

Two great articles on Long Beach Bike Safety Campaign in the Long Beach Post and on Streets Blog.

Brian Addison has done a great job of outlining the key elements of the Long Beach Share our Streets campaign in two articles; one in the Long Beach Post and the second in Streets Blog. If you have not seen the articles..in particular the one in Streets Blog we recommend you check them out.

Here is some of what Brian had to say…

The analysis of these crashes over the past 10 years by Bike Long Beach prove fascinating. According to the numbers, 45% of bike-related crashes are caused by error on behalf of the cyclist, with 35% due to a motorist, and the other 20% undetermined. And the vast majority of these crashes, somewhere around 80%, are due to five main causes:

Cyclist riding on the wrong side of the road
Cyclist partaking in unsafe maneuvers
Cyclist running a stop light or stop sign
Motorist running a stop light or stop sign
Motorist making an unaware turn

The first and the last account for about 55% of all bicycle-related crashes. What makes the data more fascinating is the fact that, despite who was at fault, a driver was involved 40% of the time, mostly making a right hand turn.

To help curb these numbers and educate the masses, the “Share The Streets” campaign–a collaborative effort between Bike Long Beach, The City of Long Beach, Long Beach Transit, and Metro–has been launched. One can easily call one of the most comprehensive cycling safety programs initiated by a municipality.

Read more of Brian’s articles and of course check out the Share our Streets Campaign on the Bikelongbeach.org.

Brian…thanks for doing such a great job of covering the Long Beach bike program.

Share our Streets Press Release

admin — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 20:23:03 +0000

‘Share Our Streets’ Bicycle Safety Campaign Rolls Throughout City and Web

A comprehensive safety outreach campaign encouraging motorists and bicyclists to “Share Our Streets” is under way throughout Long Beach and on the Web. The campaign’s critical safety message is that most bicycle-related accidents could be prevented if bicyclists and motorists would follow five safe-riding and driving practices.

“The goal of the Share Our Streets campaign is to educate motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians the rules of the road and encourage everyone to behave safely and predictably,” Mayor Bob Foster said. “It is especially important for bicyclists to be visible when riding with traffic, and for motorists to use extra caution when approaching driveways and making turns at intersections.”

The campaign features a wide variety of multimedia and outdoor components, including street banners; advertisements in local publications; public transit posters; Public Safety Announcements (PSA) in movie theaters; and a new website – www.bikelongbeach.org.

The five violations responsible for more than 80 percent of bicycle-related accidents since 2002 are:

· Bicyclist riding on the wrong side of the road against oncoming traffic; · Bicyclist making an unpredictable and hazardous move (e.g., darting in front of a moving vehicle); · Bicyclist running a stop light or stop sign; · Motorist running a stop light or stop sign; or · Motorist making a right or left turn in front of a moving bicycle.

“The data shows that the two most common types of incidents are bicyclists riding on the wrong side of the road, and automobiles making turns without being aware of bicyclists,” said Allan Crawford, Bike Coordinator, City of Long Beach. “The Share Our Streets campaign aims to help bicyclists better understand how they play a vital role in their own safety and to remind motorists to stay alert for the growing number of bicyclists who have the same right rights and responsibilities on Long Beach streets as motorists”.

Local organizations, businesses and schools can find a Share Our Streets “SOS” Toolkit at www.bikelongbeach.org/sos-safety/share-our-streets-2, with downloadable materials and order forms to request free safety education materials and bicycle racks. Bicycle and pedestrian training “rodeos” can be scheduled by clicking on “Classes and Workshops.” The website also features safety instruction and information about “know your neighborhood” bike tours. Community contributions to the site’s events calendar, links pages and blog are welcome.

Share Our Streets is made possible by a grant from Metro with in-kind support from Long Beach Transit.

Long Beach is nationally recognized as a silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, and is ranked as a top-20 Bike-Friendly City by Bicycling magazine. Bike Long Beach is a program of the Long Beach Public Works Department.

For more information, e-mail Allan.Crawford@longbeach.gov or call 562.570.6618.

Causes of bike accidents in Long Beach — 10 years worth of data

admin — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 00:20:06 +0000

As Long Beach becomes more and more bike friendly…and as we get more and more people to bicycle, we are also seeing an increase in the number of bike related accidents. Through our Share our Streets campaign we have been working to make both bicyclists and motorists more safety aware. You may have seen our banners…and our bus ads. Hopefully you have toured our website www.bikelongbeach.org and looked at many of the safety related tips.

To help make our campaign more effective we want to make people aware of the primary causes of bike related accidents in the city….and to let them know what they can do to be safer as a bicyclist and as a driver.

The number of bike related accidents is increasing – at a rate about equal to the rate of growth in bicycling.

As you can see from the chart below…the number of bike related accidents has increased over past 5 years. This is increase is coincident with the growth rate of cycling in Long Beach…which based on our bike counts doubled between 2008 and 2010.

While we have not done the statistical analysis it looks like the growth rate of accidents is slightly below the rate of growth in the number of riders, which is what we would expect. In other words while the number of accidents is increasing the actual rate is decreasing. This is certainly what is seen in other cities – when you get more bicyclists on the road…it is safer because drivers are more aware of the bicyclists and treat them with more respect. We are anxious to see our 2012 data to see whether this trend holds.

Major causes of bike related accidents

An analysis of Long Beach traffic accident data since 2002 has revealed five leading causes that make up more than 80 percent of all automobile-bicycle incidents:

Bicyclist riding on the wrong side of the road against oncoming traffic;
Bicyclist making an unpredictable and hazardous move (e.g., darts in front of a moving vehicle);
Bicyclist running a stop light or stop sign;
Motorist running a stop light or stop sign; or
Motorist making a right or left turn in front of a moving bicycle.

Major causes of accidents are wrong way riding by bicyclists, right turns by cars and failing to yield by both

According to the Long Beach data about 45% of the bike related accidents in the city are caused by the bicyclist (35% are driver related and 20% undetermined).

As you can see from the chart below the number one cause of accidents where the bicyclist is attributed to be at fault is riding on the wrong side of the road. Over 30% of the accidents where the bicyclists is a fault can be attributed to this one cause.

The second cause is what is referred to as Auto Right-of-way violation. In this case it means the bicyclist pulled in front of the vehicle. This makes up just under 30% of the accidents.

The third largest cause, making up 15% of the accidents, is running a stop light or stop sign.

The forth major cause is what is termed “other hazardous movement.” This is the primary cause of about 12% of the accidents. That means the bicyclist most likely did something unpredictable…and got hit by the car.

These four behaviors are attributed to be the primary causes of over 75% of the bicyclist “caused” accidents. The other 25% is made up of things such the two shown here (improper turning and unsafe speed). Two of the others that do show up lower on the list are BUI (biking under the influence) and no brakes…presumably fixies with no breaks).

Accident caused by drivers

The Long Beach data suggests that about 1/3 of the bike related accidents in the city are caused by the motorist. As you can see from the adjacent chart over 40% of these accidents are categorized as either Auto Right-of-way violation or Pedestrian Right-of Way violation. In other words the driver pulled in front of the bicyclists (I’m implying here that when the report refers to pedestrian..they in fact are referring to the bicyclist). Another 15% is related to improper turning. And finally 12% is related to running a stop light or stop sign.

Another interesting piece of data is that in over 40% of all bike related accidents…whether they were attributed to the bicyclist or the driver… the driver was turning or entering the roadway. Almost 30% of the time the car was making a right turn and 10% a left turn. When combined with the data from the table above this strongly suggests that the single biggest cause of driver caused accidents is making right turns and in the process cutting of the bicyclist.

A final note – in just under 7% of the total accidents..the driver was stopped … which based on the data most often means that the bicyclists hit a parked car (oops).

Conclusions

From a safety perspective…bicyclists can at times be our own worst enemy. Almost 50% of all accidents that are caused by the bicyclist are related to either riding the wrong way or failing to yield the right-of-way to a vehicle. Our Share-our-Streets campaign has a big focus on these two issues. Clearly we are headed the right direction with the message “ride with the flow of traffic” and “courtesy counts.” This is also an area where we need to work with our law enforcement personnel to help change this behavior.

Recommendation to bicyclists…never ride against the flow of traffic!!!! And…yield to cars trucks….don’t assume they will see you.

For vehicle caused accidents the major issue is failing to yield right of way to the bicyclists and this is most evident when are turning and/or entering traffic. In other words driver cut off bicyclists and in doing so actually hit the bicyclists. Facilities such as our separated lanes go a long way to alleviate this problem. This is demonstrated by a drop of almost 40% in bike related accidents on the Broadway and 3rd bicycle corridor since the lanes have been installed. Our Share-our-Streets messaging of “slow when passing” and “courtesy counts” also target this issue.

Recommendation to drivers…don’t try and jump in front a bicyclists when entering traffic or when making a right or left turn. Be respectful and let them go before making your turn or moving into traffic.

Pacific Avenue Bike Plans – Los Cerritos Area

admin — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 00:44:18 +0000

The final planning meeting for the Pacific Avenue Bike Corridor is scheduled for Wednesday January 9 at 7:00 pm at the Expo Center (4321 Atlantic Avenue) in Bixby Knolls. The meeting is designed to get final community input on the portion of the route between Wardlow and San Antonio.

A critical portion of this route is the segment between Wardlow and San Antonio. This section of the route has a proposed:

Roundabout at 36th (see diagram below)
Circle at Bixby Road
Signal at Wardlow.
Bike lane on San Antonio

In addition to these proposed additions…sharrows are being proposed on Roosevelt between San Antonio and California.

The has been considerable discussion in the community about the desireability of the light at Wardlow. From the perspective of the bicycling community this is a vital link. Pacific at Wardlow provides the only place to safely cross the 405 and the Blue Line. From the perspective of the community they are concerned about increasing cut through traffic in their neighborhood. Initially there was discussion of the pros and cons of roundabouts and circles…but now they seem to be popular with the community.

Below are the diagrams showing the signal at Wardlow and the roundabout at 36th.

….The signal at Wardlow would be configured to help reduce the amount of cut through traffic.

This can be accomplished by allowing only right hand turns on southbound Pacfic at Wardlow and by visibly narrowing the northbound lanes on Pacific as you enter the Los Cerritos Neighborhood.

In addition the signals can be timed to only allow left hand turns from east bound Wardlow onto Pacific at the beginning or end of each light cycle, which should also help reduce cut through traffic.

The park-like roundabout and medians at 36th and the traffic circle at Bixby are also designed to reduce cut through traffic, provide overall traffic calming and enhance the visual character of the street.

The proposed circle at Bixby and Roundabout at 36th would be similar to those on Vista Street in Belmont Heights.

We look forward to seeing you on the 9th for the community conversation.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Regards,

The bike and ped team….

You have to love 4th Street / Retro Row in Bike Friendly Long Beach

admin — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:31:42 +0000

Long Beach is working hard to become more bike friendly. We have separated lanes in the downtown area. We have green sharrows on 2nd Street. We have a great bike boulevard on Vista…and are in the process of designing three more Bike Boulevards.

And now we have Sharrows, new pole banners and buses with great bike safety messages all in the Retro Row area of 4th Street.

One of the most vibrant and interesting shopping and dining areas in Long Beach is RetroRow on 4th Street. Centered between Junipero and Cherry on 4th, it is populated by unique stores offering “retro” clothing and other goods, a great book store, awesome coffee shops including the well known Portfolio, the great Art Theater, which has hosted several of our bike film festivals and two new parklets, one in front of Lola’s Mexican Restaurant and the other in front of Number Nine restaurant.

Retro Row has always been an area that has attracted bicyclists.

Coffee shops such as Portfolio, owned by Kerstin Kansteiner, has for years been a mecca for bicyclists looking for a great place to hang out. And it is now the place were the monthly Cyclone Coasters ride begins, a rider that attracts over 100 bicyclists each month for leisurely ride through Long Beach on vintage bikes.

Because this area was bike friendly and had a number of business owners who were interested in making their shopping area even more bike friendly…Retro Row was chosen to participate in the Long Beach’s first Bicycle Friendly Business Districts program.

But along the popularity of bicycling in the area came issues with bicyclists on sidewalks. And the merchants said…we love the bicyclists coming into our shops and restaurants…but what can you do to help us get the bicyclists off of the sidewalk?

The city looked at the option of putting in bike lanes…but without removing the center lane – or removing lots of parking there just wasn’t enough room for bike lanes.

The use of sharrows on the street was suggested to the business owners and the residents…and the overwhelming response was…lets try it.

So two months ago our City Street Crew installed the sharrows on a 14 block stretch of the street. At about the same time as part of our Share our Streets campaign we installed pole banners with safety message for both motorists and bicyclists ..and walk your bike on the sidewalk messages. We also began a program with our police department to do a combined education and enforcement campaign centered around walking your bike on the sidewalk.

This photo shows the sharrows, the bike banners and one of the “bikes may use full lane” signs that are posted along the route. It also illustrates the proper place to ride…out on the sharrow. The reason for riding here is that the rider (1) is out of the door zone and (2) is visible to drivers.

If you have not been to 4th Street and the Retro Row area recently…grab your bike…and come down to check out the sharrows and of course the great shops and restaurants located all along the street.

And ask the merchants about the Bike Saturday program…and about how they are making use of the 4th Street Cargo Bike

Dine on the parklets in front of Lola’s or Number Nine– two of the great restaurants along Retro Row.

And check out the coffee shops, numerous vintage shops and the Art Theater, which has worked with us to host a number of bike film festivals.

We want to say thanks to everyone who has been such a big part of not only making Long Beach more bike friendly – but making great areas like Retro Row wonderful places to Dine, Shop and Bike….

Want to know the route from the BikeStation to Retro Row…check out the Maps and Rides section of BikeLongBeach.org

Why We Need Bike Friendly Business Districts

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 17:59:51 +0000

Momentum Magazine takes a look at Long Beach’s Bike Friendly Business District program-which is North America’s first program where business owners, employees, and customers are incentivized to utilize bicycles.

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE BACK TO PRESS RELEASE MAIN PAGE

Please comment on I-710 EIR: Bike and Ped access

admin — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 21:18:29 +0000

CalTrans is proposing a major reconstruction project for the I-710 corridor that would potentially widening the freeway and install separated lanes for commercial vehicles. This corridor, if and when constructed, will have a major impact on the safety of bicycling and walking across the I-710 and the LA River in Long Beach as well as the other cities along the I-710. You can make a difference on whether or not the design is biking and walking friendly…by sending comments to CalTrans .

While construction for the project is years away…the time to make comments is now…during the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) phase of the project.

About the project

The I-710 (Long Beach Freeway) is a major transportation artery that links the Ports of Long Beach and LA to the rest of southern California. The stated objectives of the project are to (1) improve air quality, (2) improve mobility, congestion and safety and (3) assess alternative, green goods movement technologies.

The project team has identified several alternative designs for the freeway. These alternatives are presented in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIR), which is now available for review. This is the public’s opportunity to comment on the project…including making comments on how bicyclists and pedestrians will be accommodated. The project is not expected to begin for several years…but now is the time to make comments on the bike and ped facilities.

Details for the project and the instructions for making comments are on the Metro.net I-710 corridor website.

Bike and Ped impact

As part of this project the bridges and associated intersections that cross the I-710 in Long Beach..and the other cities along the corridor… will be redone. In Long Beach these include Anaheim, PCH and Willow, Wardlow and Long Beach Boulevard.

What is being proposed for Anaheim, PCH and Willow is referred to as Single Point Intersections (SPI’s). This design is intended to facilitate large volumes of vehicular traffic. However, as stated in the CA DOT guide to intersection design (p90) “These intersections can be efficient at moving high volumes of traffic, particularly left turns. However, the signal timing and intersection configuration required to provide the efficient movement of motor vehicles adversely affect pedestrians and bicyclists.”

The SPI diagram highlights some of the potential issues for bikes and Peds with this type of intersection.

From Complete Intersections: A Guide to reconstructing intersections and interchanges for Bicyclists and Pedestrians (CA DOT 2010, p 91)

What the EIR says about Peds and Bikes

According to the executive summary on Page 19 “The I-710 Corridor Project includes changes to arterial interchanges that may affect sidewalks and bicycle lanes. The I-710 corridor project will provide facilities for bicyclist and pedestrians in locations where local streets are affected by the construction of the build alternatives. Because bicycle and pedestrian facilities will be maintained or improved, the effect of the I-710 Corridor Project is that travel by walking and bicycling will not substantially change as a result of the implementation of the build alternative.”

In the full EIR there are limited comments on Bicycling in the community impacts section…page 3.3-25 to 27.

PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT. Increases in walking and biking are positively associated with improvements in health, including decreased obesity, chronic disease, and stress. Childhood obesity is a particularly important issue that could be addressed through increased student walking or biking to school (P. Simon et al. 2009).

I-710 CORRIDOR PROJECT. As discussed earlier in this section, the build alternatives would improve local streets by constructing new curbs, gutters, and striping, as well as new sidewalks and outside shoulders to allow pedestrian and bicyclist mobility and safety. While the build alternatives would result in some changes in access, these changes would not result in adverse impacts to access to schools within the Study Area.

During construction, the build alternatives would result in temporary access impacts due to local roadways and interchanges being improved as part of the I-710 Corridor Project, and these proposed improvements have the potential to temporarily impact travel (driving, walking, and/or biking) for students who use these roadways to get to school.

All construction-related activities would cease after completion of construction, and direct access would be returned. Once in operation, the build alternatives would not result in adverse impacts to modes of travel for students and would enhance access to schools by reducing traffic congestion.

In reviewing the EIR there does not appear to be any proposal to include bike and ped facilities within the interchanges themselves…or improve access for bicyclists and pedestrians from either the east side (over the LA river) or from the west. The only stated improvement is “enhance access to schools by reducing traffic congestion.

Here are the links to the website with the EIR and the comment forms.

A draft of the Long Beach proposed comments regarding the projects impact on bicycling and walking is included below.

Thanks for taking the time to address this important issue for bicyclists and pedestrians along the I-710 corridor.

City of Long Beach comments

Safe connections for bicyclists and pedestrians across the 710 corridor (the 710 freeway and the LA River) are vital for connectivity of Long Beach students, residents, workers and visitors. Long Beach is working to provide safe options for people to walk and bike to all portions of our city. Our residents, visitors and workers….need and deserve these safe options in all parts of the city…including along our important connections between the east and west sides of our city…i.e., across the 710 Corridor.

Our concerns

In the EIR it is stated ” Because bicycle and pedestrian facilities will be maintained or improved, the effect of the I-710 Corridor Project is that travel by walking and bicycling will not substantially change as a result of the implementation of the build alternative.”

We do not believe that this is entirely accurate. According to the Complete Intersections: a guide to reconstructing intersection and interchanges for bicyclists and pedestrians (Cal DOT 2010 p 90) “These intersections (SPI’s) can be efficient at moving high volumes of traffic, particularly left turns. However, the signal timing and intersection configuration required to provide the efficient movement of motor vehicles adversely affect pedestrians and bicyclists.”

Compact SPI’s can be configured to mitigate some of the bicyclist issues. In its June 2001 Design Memorandum, “Single Point Interchange Design, Planning, and Operations Guidelines”, Caltrans requires that “If an SPI alternative other than a Compact SPI is chosen, a separate bicycle facility shall be constructed in conjunction with the SPI.” Note that even if a separate facility is provided, the SPI should still meet bicyclist signal timing guidance provided in Traffic Operations Policy Directive 09-06.

Our recommendation

We recommend that two types of facilities to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians:

1. Consider separated class 1 facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians in a minimum of five locations. One near the Anaheim Crossing, one between PCH and Willow near Hill Street, one between Willow and Wardlow near Spring, at Long Beach Boulevard and at Artesia Boulevard. Each of these will be well used on a daily basis…providing safe routes for students moving to and from their local schools as well as for our workers, our residents and our visitors.

2. Work with the Long Beach City Traffic Engineer to design and provide well marked facilities (street marking as well as signage) for both pedestrians and bicyclists to help them safely navigate the single point intersections. This should include stripped bike lanes, pedestrian paths and bike signals and extended light timing to accommodate the needs of both bicyclists and pedestrians.

Long Beach 5 year bike plan

admin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:44:03 +0000

Where is Long Beach headed over the next 5 years in terms of it’s effort to become the most bike friendly city in the US? We have more than 30 miles of additional bike lanes and bike paths planned. We are launching a major bike share program in early 2013. And we are focused on Education…safety education for our kids, for our bicyclists … and for our motorists… We are working with our businesses and business districts to attract more bicyclists and pedestrians. We are working on “bike, dine and shop local.” We are working to attract more businesses, visitors and residents…by becoming a more livable..bikeable…and walkable city… We are working toward becoming…the most bike friendly city in the US…

Where did this effort start

Becoming the nation’s most bike friendly city…doesn’t happen over night. It takes planning, community outreach, fundraising and of course execution.

The initial work toward becoming more bike friendly started with developing a bike master plan in 2001. This plan, which was developed in conjunction with planning firms and the local community, provided the blue print for what the city would do over the next 10 years. And if you go back and look at the document, you will see most of what was outlined in that document has been accomplished.

In 2005 city staff, following the direction of our City Council, began writing grants that would provide the funding to execute the master plan. Over the next 6 years the City applied for and received over $20mm in Federal and State Grants that would be used to fund the programs and project outlined in the Master Plan. This included funds not only for bike infrastructure and programs, including Safe Routes to Schools and bike safety education programs, but pedestrian related streetscape projects as well. To date we have spent roughly 1/4 of the grant money…with most of the remainder to be spend over the next 4 to 5 years

What is the plan for the next 5 years ?

The attached document, which was prepared in mid 2011, outlines the City’s plan for 2011 to 2015 and the vision for 2020.

It includes:

The vision for 2020
A discussion of the major pilot projects (2nd street green sharrows, Vista Street Bike Boulevard and the downtown separated lanes) that have been completed
An overview of currently funded projects including scope of the project, funding and schedule
Bike infrastructure projects
Ped infrastructure projects
Bike Share
Education and safety programs including Safe Routes to Schools

Some of the major projects that you will see include:

Pacific Avenue Bike corridor
Daisy Street Bike Boulevard
15^th Street Bike Boulevard
6^th Street Bike Boulevard
The Share our Streets Safety Campaign
Safe Routes to School educational program
Bike Share

You will see from the documents that many of the initial projects were in the coastal and downtown areas of Long Beach. These included the Sharrows on 2^nd Street, the Vista Street Bike Boulevard and the downtown separated lanes.

But..that was just the start…most of our currently funded programs extend inland … the cross the city from east to west and from north to south. The provide valuable connections for our children to safely walk and bike to school. The provide routes within neighborhoods for residents to “bike, shop and dine local.” And they provide education programs that will make it safer for everyone to share our streets.

But again…this is still just the beginning… We are working with our community groups and our council members to identify additional opportunities in our neighborhoods and across our city to give our residents and our visitors the option of safely bicycling and walking anywhere … and everywhere in Long Beach. We look forward to hearing your comments..and getting your input on the plan…

Bike Strategy 2011 v2.0 council Presentation (Part 1)

Bike Strategy 2011 v2.0 council Presentation (Part II – infrastructure)

Bike Strategy 2011 v2.0 council Presentation(part III safety and Education)