3. Biking and Micro-Mobility 

Micro-mobility includes bikes, adaptive bikes, e-bikes, cargo bikes, scooters, skate boards, and trikes (three wheels with a basket in back for groceries and more stability). It is essential to create a safe and pleasant “First Mile/Last Mile” connection for transit to scale up, because the data shows that if it’s not safe, 92-99% of people will simply opt-out. Unsafe, low quality bike lanes don’t scale past 1-8% (the “fit and the brave.”)

Bikes also expand the radius of a 15 minute commute: 

• Walking - ¾ mile

• Bike ride - 3 miles

• Ebike - 7 miles 

Dutch research shows us what works to create cities where mode share is 40-60% and 90% of people bike (Utrecht). Bikeable cities are being replicated all over the world: Paris, London, Ghent, Malmo, Copenhagen and every Dutch city. Safe bike lanes come in two designs: with cars, and without cars: 

With Cars

Bike lanes next to moving traffic need an extraordinarily high level of safety, design and engineering to keep people safe and separated from fast cars at all times. Here are guidelines based on Dutch design standards, and developed in conjunction with Streets for All for Caltrans to create a new classification for a safer bikeway design, aiming to unlock bike and micro-mobility options for the 60-90% of people who will bike if it’s safe: 

• Speeds of under 15-18 mph maximum, enforced by speed-cameras

• 3 feet barriers between parked cars and the bike lane to protect bikers from being “car doored”

• Bikeways are “ingress-proof” by cars and fully protected with parked cars, curbs or level-separated only – no plastic posts. 

• Dutch (protected) intersections only - no “left turn bike lanes” or car right turn lanes where bikes cross into traffic 

• Phased bikeway signals, giving priority to those on bikes.

• Design features that ensure cars slow down at intersections

• NOTE: Even in the Netherlands, these bike lanes are still not considered safe for unaccompanied children 

Without Cars

When cars are removed, minimal infrastructure is required – bikes can just be in the street. Allowances have to be made for some car access.

• Pedestrianized street    

• ADA and local access only for cars

• Cars are the “guests” (ie, they yield to everyone else) – aka, a Dutch “Woonerf” 

• Cobblestone or pavers signal to drivers this is not a thru-street

• 8.5-9 foot wide lanes to slow drivers down further   

Concerns and drawbacks:

Bike lanes create a “bikelash” because they take away drive lanes and require much slower speeds than the typical LA commercial corridors, which is 25-35 mph (but tickets don't even start until 45 mph – and are essentially never enforced). 

There are a few strategies to picking streets so car lanes can be removed, and cars slowed down:

• Leverage existing street plans — we can leverage existing plans to pedestrianize streets that have already been vetted by the community and transportation experts to ensure that the impact on traffic will be minimal:

  • Heart of Hollywood (to close part of Hollywood Blvd)

  • Uplift Melrose (to slow cars and add bike lanes in the vibrant businesses district)

• Focus on narrow, low car volume streets - major roads like Venice and Olympic are arteries through the city, carrying 6 lanes of heavy traffic. Instead of trying to calm those streets or impose a road diet, we can focus on streets that are narrower (Westwood is 60’ across, Pico is 80’, while Venice is 116’) and that dead end at one or both ends, and carry lighter loads that can easily “shed” to another street. Streets like these combine the elements: narrow, dead end streets with small, fine grain retail near transit and job centers:   

• Westwood Blvd - dead ends into UCLA, and turns into a small residential street at Pico

• Abbot Kinney – short street

• Hollywood Blvd - dead ends at both ends

4. Little Electric Vehicles (LEVs) and Gold Carts

LEVs (Little Electric Vehicles), NEVs (Neighborhood Electric Vehicles), Cantas and Golf Carts are exploding in popularity, especially with seniors. They have slower speeds and are lightweight, and pose minimal safety issues. LCI streets can have something called the “Slow Poke Lane,” which the Beach Cities are experimenting with – a slow lane just for golf carts and e-bikes. It is a great way to create communities that maximize mobility for all. 

5. Cars and Carshare

• Carshare: The LCI design can also include car share programs like Envoy. And peer to peer car sharing like Turo and Getaround is increasingly popular, and requires no special program from the city.

• ADA: There can be accommodation for some cars for residents that have no other options. Most small lots (25-30 feet wide) can accommodate 1-2 parking spaces in the back for ADA and work vehicles.

• Parking: Many neighborhoods have municipal lots nearby which can be an option facilitated in an LCI design plan. 

Case Study: Westwood Blvd

Westwood Blvd is an ideal potential LCI street – it’s about 1.5 miles, has small retail, intersects with two high-quality Metro lines (Expo Line and Purple Line (future)), and it dead-ends at both ends – into Westwood Village (at the north end), and it becomes a small residential street (south of Pico). The 405 and Sepulveda are a few blocks away for traffic to move to. Westwood Blvd can be designed to mode shift away from cars so the city can actually see traffic evaporation on the Westside. The following are potential designs for the LCI street mobility on Westwood Blvd (between Santa Monica and Pico). The street varies in width from 80’ to 110’ (including sidewalks.) These designs are for the 80’ sections. The wider sections can have added traffic lanes, pedestrian amenities, etc.

Design #1: Walkable and bikeable, with cars

This can be a transitional change. Transform the street to be like Larchmont – reducing drive lanes to one lane in each direction, slowing the cars, keeping parking, and widening sidewalks, and adding bike lanes.