How Los Angeles Makes Biking in Paradise a Nightmare
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
- With flat land and a year-round Mediterranean climate, it's just bizarre that LA isn't the biking capital of the world.
Near death experience: / i_couldve_been_more_ca...
Scene of independent Japanese kid recorded from "Old Enough" on Netflix.
End music: • LOONA/ODD EYE CIRCLE -...
0:00 Just showing that Los Angeles should be the bike capital of the world, not Amsterdam
2:20 The actual content starts here
8:12 Medical research showing the risks and benefits of bicycling
11:17 An LA County city that does bicycling right
13:11 LA's broken promises
15:55 The invisible but significant pent up demand for bicycling
I moved to L.A. ten years ago and was only biking as my form of commute. It was a constant struggle. at one point in Culver City I joined a lane to "share" while at top speed. A car got on my ass and screamed that I shouldn't be in the street. This was less than 1/4 mile from the bike path, but I needed to make it there first. Since then I've avoided it because with the birth of my first child I'm worried I'll die needlessly on the streets of Los Angeles. I hope that one day my grand-child might see a bikeable city here. Good video man.
@@robertzuniga3483 Some cities here it's illegal for adults to ride on the sidewalks
I think I met that idiot also.
@@salsalawyer But always legal to get scraped off the street and blamed for your own demise.
If you can just move into a more bike and child friendly city? Really don't get why anyone would want to live in cities like this if they have a family or plan to have one.
I live about 30 miles east of LA, I used to love riding my bike but after more that 1 time cars getting so close to me I could touch the car, pretty sure they did that on purpose. I also know people hit by cars while on their bike. Not to mention now more than ever we have worry someone will steal our bikes
The fact that LA isn't one of the best cycling cities in the world is such an indictment on American culture, national and local policy makers and leadership. Such a waste
indictment of sanctimonious Democrats constantly preaching about "climate change" while driving their SUVs, skiing weekends, and flying to abroad at least annually.
Obnoxious comments like this are what make urbanists so annoying, even when I want the same things as them urban planning-wise.
@@abrahamcalderon1843What was “obnoxious” if you care to explain? I felt like this comment was accurate and objective lol
I think this all the time. Florida too. It’s so flat and beautiful all the time. Such a shame we don’t do better in the US
Car manufacturers killed public transportation 100 years ago and hijacked the national transportation agenda in the 30's for the promise of a cartopia, which the middle class bought into hook line and sinker. Here we are.
Narrow bike lanes (or lack of them entirely) in LA pisses me off so much because there is SO MUCH ROOM. They have 60-150 feet wide streets and dedicate ALL of it to cars. They make biking impossible here for absolutely no reason. They could just as easily make it fantastic because they have more than enough room for it, but they just don't. It's infuriating.
And to add insult to injury, everyone is constantly complaining about the traffic in LA, yet no one in power seems to have the backbone required to implement the most common sense affordable solution to it.
Because NIMBYs want their precious cars.
LA is too car brained to just give a tiny bit of the street to bicycles
Two issues: People with money and/or power never consider what could be but rather who has the money and power today . In other words, people seeking power in America do not look too far down the road. Also businesses and politicians want money today not later and cars have the road as it were today.
They don’t make it impossible for no reason. There’s definitely a reason: they don’t care and cyclists aren’t a large enough interest group to matter
The difference between the bicycle gutter on the busy road and the suspension bridge in the air is that the suspension bridge has guard rails, doesn't have potholes, bits of the walkway entirely blocked, or things coming at you from the side trying to knock you off the path.
Even in cities in the UK there are many places you have to either bike like Mark Cavendish, roll along the pavement at walking pace, or be squeezed into a gutter, before you sprint merge into a multi lane roundabout. In some places, even with a 750 watt motor on the bike it's not enough. No chance for a 75 year old woman out for a gentle ride to the shop.
I used to be a cyclist and used a bike for everyday transportation in Texas. The assholes that design bike gutters really need to go ride in them to see what dog shit they are. Love being in Latvia where I just walk to get to places
I'm in Austin, I bike to work. With how things are going, I'm scared they would take away my gutters as well 🥲
Silver lining is that till now, drivers here seem to be respectful of the bike lane, at least along my path. Haven't seen them veer into the lane like how it's shown in the video.
@@thunderb00m One thing he doesn't mention is that since driving is stressful because any car poses a possible threat to another driver, cyclists pose no threat to a car and for this, drivers do and should give cyclists more space and respect. Not all do of course. The ones that do are the ones that have a bike or are informed at least.
@@thunderb00m I live in Round Rock basically next to Hutto. The farmland out here is awsome to bike in.
You can also send the city Dutch bike paths infrastructure, perhaps it works.
I used to tune pianos on my bike in San Francisco. Now I drive 25,000 miles/yr tuning pianos.
I would LOVE to walk and bike everywhere when I’m home (i drive 3-4 days per week). But i can’t. I will die. Such bullshit.
That part about Japan hits close to home, because I figured this out as a teenager from all the SOL anime I watched, I realized how common it was for the characters to either bike, walk, or take a train ride to their job or school, and then stop at a corner shop on their way back home. Teenage me was incredibly jealous.
Anyways, nice video! I hope to see this channel grow!
Yes indeed... especially interesting as we see now in the news frequently parents getting arrested because their kids were out walking down the street alone.... personally nowadays I bike or walk to the grocery store(s), farmers market, or ant other place....
The problem is even when preteen /early teen kids in the United States do have that level of Independence they tend to act really 💩. We have these 10 to 13 year olds that were constantly vandalizing our store and the neighborhood close to where I worked. Like I love seeing that they're active but then behaving that way no. Japanese culture has a huge emphasis on respecting your elders and being generally respectful. We had the ban them from the store. Because they were constantly playing in the store then they eventually mess with something electrical, they vandalized the neighboring store. Eventually they had a call the cops on them. I'm like where are their parents? Nay man I'll never understand the free range kids movement. Children need to be taught how to behave.
@@milliedragon4418 when I was a kid though in the 60' and 70's we wandered freely far and wide, and we didn't vandalize stores... there's something else going on there, just walking around without parents isn't causing it....
@@PRH123 Same here. We walked or rode out clunky bikes all over the place. But I liked the candy cigarettes too.
@@slowp100 I remember when I was only 3 years old walking down the street alone to my friends house…. I walked a mile or so to school from 7th grade…. to me it seems totally natural….
You really hit the nail on the head about how you feel "unwelcome" in a shared route. Thanks for shedding light on Santa Monica's progress, that caught me off guard!
These videos are impressively high quality.
And I appreciate that you're able to use your medical background to contextualize the findings from research .
Also I had no clue that Santa Monica has some bicycle infrastructure that actually helps people feel safe.
This channel deserves way more subs.
i wish i could ride bikes all the time but the unfortunate reality is that we have way too many aggressive and unregistered drivers here in Crenshaw. they drive around in stolen vehicles with no plates, or the plates are stolen from another car, so they have zero accountability for their actions because they know they'll never get caught. they run red lights, cut people off, weave, speed and do all sorts of crazy illegal maneuvers and don't have a care in the world for pedestrians and cyclists. it's the same reason i had to stop taking the metro. too much crime and gang violence. criminals ruin everything. i wished we lived in a high-trust society where people don't get stabbed to death on the metro.
sounds like the authorities are allowing that area to be compromised. They would not allow that stuff in other areas where citizens would raise their outrage
Its seems like good infrastructure would really help in this case. If they had less places to ride their stolen cars and the streets were designed in a way that forced them to drive less recklessly then there would be less conflict with them.
@@jamesmedina2062 unfortunately in this part of LA there are a lot of blacks and for whatever reason they do lots of crime and drugs and the politicians cater to them instead of the law abiding people.
I live and cycle in LA everyday. I agree with everything you say and it is getting worse by the day. It is deadly, non enlightening and it would seem almost every driver wants and expects to permanently eliminate you from this earth. The drivers here are the worst. I too refuse to drive my car to work only to pay for parking. Beware of where you park your bike regardless of its lock, as it will be stolen in LA. Especially, if you own European road bikes like I do. Drivers here ignore and abuse the signs for joint cycling and motoring traffic, intentionally. They will intentionally KILL YOU. LAPD do not care about us at all. The turn right privilege law here at a stop sign is deadly. "Cyclists" here ignore traffic signs as though it does not apply to them. Stupid and ignorant. It is common place and culture here for motorists to run stop signs and cut you off. Getting "doored" by reckless drivers in cycling lanes is common place in cycling lanes. You have to watch every parked car to see if there is anyone in each car, because they will "door" you and if they do they will not apologize. They just spring them open without a care in the world.
I do not observe all traffic control signs but I see with my eyes if what I am doing is safe. I should probably observe the signs and norms cars follow but for one thing, starting and stopping takes far more work and secondly my city has not a single bike/walk path in the whole city. Greenways and bike paths are the real answer.
Nah. Not it would seem almost every driver wants and expects to permanently eliminate you from this earth. Not “it would seem almost every driver wants and expects to permanently eliminate you from this earth.” /
Social media has been a disaster for transportation because drivers aren't paying attention. First they were texting while driving. That was bad enough. Then they were video chatting. Now they are Instagram Live-ing. I'm convinced this is why "blacking out" car windows has gotten so popular (although it's illegal... but that law is not enforced at all) -- because the drivers do not want to be caught with their phones in their hands while driving (also illegal). Sigh. This will take decades to fix.
Same problem every where in USA 🇺🇸 if car’s don’t want to share the road they should be taken off the road, and bikes 🚴 on the road are supposed to be observing the same rules of the road as far as signals and stopping at the same place’s if we are to share the road. Too many drivers don’t obey the rules either! lol 😂 it’s a recipe for disaster on both sides lol people who drive can’t even parallel park if they were given the chance by other drivers,n do it safely 😅
Learn from Vancouver
Great video! The difference between LA and Santa Monica is wild. Long Beach is getting pretty good with bike infrastructure too. There are still gaps, but they’re starting to build protected bike lanes with concrete curbs instead of plastic bollards and have 10s of millions of dollars of bike infrastructure lined up using state and federal money.
But going to Ciclavia always makes me feel like even that won’t be enough. We need to close entire lanes to traffic because there really is so much demand. Paris has been doing that and it looks amazing.
Also, check out Streets for All sometime. They’re trying to get rid of city council’s power to veto bike lanes in LA which should substantially improve implementation or the bike master plan.
It's still frustrating that the only communities deemed appropriate for bike infrastructure are the beaches. I'm all for recreational cycling, but it winds up pigeonholing it to an activity versus a mode of practical transport
@@GaigeGrosskreutzGunClub and really rich ones
@@GaigeGrosskreutzGunClub The only reason that I would move to LA is so that I can live close to the beach. I get people live and need to commute inland for their jobs, but having bike friendly cities near the beach is a good starting point for the region.
@@AssBlasster oh of course, I'm not disparaging beach biking infrastructure, but it seems like is viewed as the exception and not the rule when it comes to active transport
@@GaigeGrosskreutzGunClub Well active transport is an afterthought at best. As with most infrastructure in the USA, there is very little consistency with infrastructure standards or coordination between cities. LA is particularly bad being a polycentric metro area, where Santa Monica takes initiative on bike infra while LA proper just ignores it. Makes for a frustrating situation.
You forgot to mention how deadly the normal street design in NA is that during the pandemic, even thou car trips decreased as everyone was on lockdown, the number of crashes and mortality rate increased which was due to the fact that these stroads weren't overly congested anymore and people were driving the speed they were comfortable in. Also love the Japan example. Such a good show honestly and its crazy that they can just let their 4 year old kid go to market or grocery store unsupervised, even in suburbs.
Yep. During the lockdown I figured I'd be getting even more biking done, but the opposite happened - there were fewer drivers, but the ones who remained had turned all the streets into their personal racetracks. I wound up doing more indoor trainer biking than ever, and I'm a seasoned LA bike commuter.
As a dutchman who has been cycling for 40+ years, I consider walking in downtown Mogadishu to be safer then biking in a US metropolis.
bc we too busy making money, also nice dog whistle against africa you dutch toad
I'm a lifetime bicycle commuter in Los Angeles, and I found cycling in Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Indonesia much safer than LA, and motorists there will often drive on the wrong side of the street.
Not every city in the US is like LA. I grew up in the twin cities, and biking in Minneapolis is pretty darn safe with lots of protected routes. I can confidently say that it's far safer to bike in Minneapolis than to walk in my current city (Honolulu), and it's not even close. Biking in Minneapolis is fun and safe. Walking in Honolulu is scary (except for the beachside tourist routes), and biking here is like playing russian roulette.
@@davidw2739I think it comes down to the car drivers not so much the Infrastructure. If the drivers are familiar with sharing "their" space with others that behave differently.
I live in Germany, in a "suburb" of Bremen. Bremen is known to bike friendly. Everyone expects them and won't run them over. Here at my place neither the cars nor the cyclists expect bikes to share the street, so "everyone" bikes on the sidewalks and if you dare to use the street the car drivers tend to get mad at you.
I think you need a critical mass of brave cyclists "to pave the road" for all others so they are seen and respected.
Great video! Especially love how you don’t just discount the car entirely but portray a coexistence of both car and bike infrastructure. Well done
This is so accurate ! My every day life as a bicyclist in West LA. Local politicians even killed the very necessary bike lane on Westwood boulevard to UCLA Thank you !
Nah. Not Thank you ! Not “Thank you !” /
man my commute to UCLA every day on bike can get really scary, it is what it is. I don’t have to pay for parking though - I guess the cost of getting run over is less than that haha.
Love the video! LA resident here, and I'm hopeful the bike/pedestrian movement is gaining steam through efforts like yours.
Hi Nimesh! This is an amazing video 👏🏻 i can relate to it on so many levels. I am a physician to and I ride my bike from my home in West LA to the hospital and i take those exact roads. I completely agree, cycling is a high impact lifestyle choice because it’s environmentally and financially sound with amazing health benefits. Unfortunately, LA is a disaster due to the lack of proper cycling infrastructure and the stress I receive from the anger and hostility of cars can make it unpleasant. However, I refuse to give it up because it makes me the happiest when I choose cycling to get to work. Keep on spreading the word and advocating for whats right in this community!
Oh, and that part where you’re riding on SaMo Blvd next to Waldorf Astoria with all those huge people/planet killing SUVs…..there has been not one time when I ride there and they aren’t blocking the bike lane
That's great to hear! It's great to hear input from people who choose to bike, because there are so many more people who would choose to get around by some form of transport other than car if the city made it a safe, efficient, dignified option. Stay safe!
Great video, Nimesh. It's clear you put a lot of work into these, and you're right, it's pathetic how little bike infrastructure is in LA given the opportunity to make it happen. Bike gutters are scary and dangerous. With some of the progressive, pro-transit council members recently elected around LA and channels like yours, hopefully this will improve.
I live on the west side of LA as well and this is why my bike has sat in my room virtually untouched for the past three years.
The west side has the worst motorists. "Crazy" is everywhere, but "vicious" is my adjective for west side of Los Angeles, Hollywood, West Hollywood, and I'm talking now as a motorist. I could not imagine riding a bicycle there. I live in eastern Long Beach and it's not bad here for bicyclists. I'll live out my days in comparative "Bicycle Paradise." But nothing compares to Netherlands, etc.
The worst thing about 'bike lanes' is the debris. I live in Raleigh, NC. When I'm not mountain biking I like to ride from my house to downtown (3 miles) but it seems the bike lanes collect all the debris from the car lanes, including screws and glass. Raleigh is getting there and they have an extensive greenway that goes in all directions for hundreds of miles total.
I noticed the last time I was in LA that there are a ton of staple racks along the streets. You can park basically anywhere. But the problem was, as this video states.
One thing I'm frankly obsessed with as of late that is still vanishingly rare in California is protected intersections. There's a city or two that built some on their wide street intersections and maybe on small neighborhood streets somewhere, but not even close to being as comprehensive as the Dutch approach. In the Netherlands, every intersection that needs extra safety for bicycles gets that safety. Big or small, four way, roundabout, T junction, you name it, they do it. It's remarkable how elegant a design concept the protected intersection is and how widely applicable it is, while being an effective way to handle junctions. I've never seen one in person, but I know this country needs to put them everywhere.
It looks like two cities in California have them from CZcams search results, San Luis Obispo and Fremont. I wonder if there are more cities with protected intersections in our state.
@@mrmaniac3 You are so correct! Getting from A to B by bicycle in a safe way should be standard, and for pedestrians too, the entire route. You do not plan a car route from A to B with an off road section in it do you?
Protected bicycle paths should be continuous, and if mixed use cannot be avoided, cars should be limited to 20 mph by speed bumps, chicanes and other speed limiting structures, while bicycles can pass without hinder.
The lay-out should be the same everywhere so pedestrians, cyclists and drivers know how to deal with the situation though they never been there before. That is the strength of Dutch infra.
A good infra for bicycles and pedestrians also benefits those in wheelchairs (muscle and electric) and mobility scooters.
While visiting the US I thought; 'Where are you hiding your handicapped citizens?
Until I saw the bad state of sidewalks, too narrow, poles that leave no room to pass them, high curbs, discontinuous routes, bad cycling infra. People are condemned to stay at home, and the only places they can go to are those with a handicapped parking next to the entrance door. But than they need the ability to drive a car or be brought there.
In the Netherlands old or handicapped people can call a taxi, that will bring them where they want to go, they only pay the price of a bus fare, the rest is payed to the taxi company by municipal social welfare. This allows them to be independent as long as possible. Do their own shopping, visit family, go to doctor or hospital without having to bother helpers.
I feel the same way about "shared lanes". Never was able to articulate the guilt I felt, but so many cities have these as actual infrastructure in their long term improvement plans. Engineers need to test their designs when they are implemented.
So true!!! It would be total FAIL if they did.
I built a DIY eBike with a 1,500 watt mid-drive motor. Although I can comfortably do 50kph I typically ride at 32kph in town to keep to the speed limit. Having said that we do have a few road stretches that are shared. And one main road connecting areas that has no space whatsoever for riding a bike. On those roads I take the whole lane and ride the speed vehicle speed limit up to 60kph. I realize that is speeding but boy oh boy does it feel, and is, so much safer than trying to eke out some space with vehicles scraping by me at 70+ kph. Having been hit 7 times by cars over my cycling life with two of those being hospitalized with broken clavicle, ribs, and serious road rash I do not apologize for "speeding" where my life is more important than the law.
👋 👏 bike shop employee here, thank you for documenting what many of us have thought for a while now
Love this video!!! SoCal has the potential to be a bicycling capital of the world but we need to build the infrastructure to make everyone feel safe and welcome on the streets!
Bicycling capital? Well, it's possible but you have a long, long, road ahead...
Would already be a great achievement f you would come close to Dutch standards...
LA has a lot going for it, perfect weather, wide roads (easy to convert for multi modal use), and LA is surprisingly dense enough to make it practical.
@@dutchman7623yeah but TBH I think that to get the same ridership they don't even have to have that good bike Infrastructure because the weather encourages people to go outside.
Wow, what a great video. I live in Henderson , a suburb of Las Vegas where we have bike infrastructure all over the place. I've found some of the beach cities of California are decent to bike but once you're in the big cities like L.A or San Diego everyone curses your existence.
Excellent, comprehensive presentation. A lot of time and effort went into making this. You have done the cycling Community a great service. May you live in good health!
Funny, I actually went biking in Santa Monica the first time I've ever went to Los Angeles. It was an electronic bike tour that was about 3+ hours, and we biked all of Santa Monica, from the pier well-into neighboring Venice. The city is perfect for biking and I was extremely comfortable during the experience, even during the parts where we went onto roads with cars.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us! For how great LA weather is, it's amazing how badly they biffed it with their cycling infrastructure🤦♀But anyways, keep up the good work, I'm absolutely loving your channel this far 🤙
When that car turned directly into you I flinched. My adrenaline is still racing. Whew.
I've ridden a bike on these streets, worked in that part of West L.A., and had some very scary close calls. Santa Monica's a breeze in comparison. Thank you for going through that plan and looking at the streets more closely. We deserve better.
I love your channel. High quality urbanist content set in LA is a treat
Just started biking in LA as my primary form of transportation. It feels like a video game I play every single day where the price of screwing up is serious injury or death.😵
Come down to LA’s sister city, Long Beach. They’ve done a lot to expand bike infrastructure. Mostly near the coast and downtown, but with plans to keep expanding and improving it
Great channel! I’m interested in biking again but unsure of where I can do so safely in my corner of LA (the valley). Our new mayor Karen Bass has described herself as a bicyclist and has pledged to expand protected bike lanes so I hope she makes good on that promise.
Many politicians will use their jobs for personal gain (of course). It gives them a sense of pride to fit in and it gives them an income. Few are the Bernie Sanders of the world willing to rankle feathers. You should voice and offer support. You could create a phone registry of other willing participants to volunteer and support changes.
@@jamesmedina2062 Bernie gets a payoff and takes a dive every election cycle wtf are you even talking about 😂
The loona music coming in at 13:30 was such pleasant whiplash lmao great video dude!!!
Nimesh, you clearly have a voice with great things to say about cycling in LA and everywhere. I hope to see more videos from you in the months ahead.
I dont really care for bikes or bike commuting. Still, I'd like to get into biking as a form of transportation because, as you've stated, car commuting is atrocious.
But the horrendous infrastructure in place for said bike commuting puts Evel Knievel to shame.
The cycle (or lack thereof!) continues
Excellent video.
Great video. I’ve lived in the mid Wilshire area for 20 years, I have a bike radius of four or 5 miles from Culver City to the Hollywood hills, from Beverly Hills to downtown. The entire 20 years, it has been a terrific bicycle network, which is dense and goes everywhere, which is called side streets. I can spend 1000 hours bicycling, literally without spending one minute on a major street like Wilshire or La Cienega.
The sad thing is modern suburbia’s reliance on cul de sacs and collector-arterial stroads eliminates the option to use side streets. Believe it or not, Chicago is an amazing cycling city because of the side streets/grid street pattern.
@@brianmiller5444 ditto mid wilshire to hwd
I used to live in the mid wilshire area. That area is a nightmare. It could take me 45 minutes to go down 3rd street in traffic. Many people that work at Cedars live in those apartments and have to get in a car to go 1.5 miles to work! How do people think that this is an acceptable way to live?!what needs to be done is 6th street needs to be blocked off from La Brea to La cienega and be bike/bus/pedestrians only. Nithya (city council for CD5) has been a huge advocate. Unfortunately, her neighbor Koretz has single handedly shot down bike lanes in his district (ie uplift melrose). Now that he is gone hopefully we will see more bike lanes in that area.
@@jacklynma9613 All i can say is I bike all over mid wilshire and hwd for 20 years with no complaints or bad stories.
Obviously a car down 3rd street is awful at peak traffic.
I am talking about: a bike taking Sycamore from Wilshire north to Hwd Blvd, or biking down 4th St from Park La Brea to K town. It was about biking and on side streets.
Wow. This video really nails it commuting on bike in LA. I commute from the valley to the west side and share a lot of the routes you showed. I hope someone that handles city infrastructure sees this and heavily considers taking action.
I've been in L.A. since last summer as a student, and have been hoping to ride my bike freely on the road. I came from Japan, funny enough that you mentioned Japan, where most city roads weren't quite friendly, at least by my standards. I hoped that there would be more bike-friendly roads here, and Santa Monica was pretty good, but it just seems impossible to get to Santa Monica by bike, since the roads around my place are narrow, full of cars, and road parking that gives me more anxiety. I'm rethinking buying a bike or bringing a bike to L.A. It has more bike lanes than Japan but is more dangerous at the same time.
I really appreciate what you are doing with your channel and hope to see more videos from you soon.
so sad! Los Angeles has so much potential.
Great job of not just highlighting problems, but also showcasing real solutions as well!
There is NO way I would try biking in the LA now. I used to bike when there less cars and no cells phones/social media distracting already poor drivers. My reactions are just not up to avoid becoming a speed bump these days.
im moving to la soon and its nice to know theres people who care about this kind of stuff as much as i do cause, i recently got a miata and while im excited to drive it around the mountains, actually driving in la sounds terrible and having lived near philly and nyc and living in new jersey and knowing what really good public transit infrastructure looks like, its hard but im excited, im really hoping la gets better with their infrastructure cause it has the potential!
Loving your videos Nimesh, keep doing these!
Love these videos. I'm planning to move to LA from Chicago soon for school and one of my biggest anxieties has been figuring out how I'll deal with a city that's so car-centric. In Chi I can pretty much bike or ride the train anywhere so I've gotten used to not needing a car. It's encouraging to see other people who are also interested in that lifestyle even in LA. Keep it up!
Yeah it's gonna suck lol. Getting anywhere in LA is an absolute mission, prepare to not want to ever do anything not in your neighborhood even with a car. Weather's much better though.
LA is a shet hol3
What school? If you're going to UCLA the buses run frequently and at going to USC you'll have access to a light rail line.
What is it like in Chicago?
You can take the train from Santa Monica via museum row to downtown . Or form downtown to Hollywood. Check their route map.
Probably already commented on, but it's just a travesty with the year round perfect weather LA has that they decided cars were the way to go
Thanks for capturing this, I really think you did a great job at showing the reality of riding in LA.
I used to work for LACBC - we ate, slept and breathed bicycle infrastructure and legislation. Its still an ongoing battle to add the proper infrastructure to such an otherwise ideal place to ride bikes and be a pedestrian.
Riding in LA is by far the most beautiful and diverse thing Ive ever done, and I hope many others get to experience that. We have a massive potential to make a positive change if we can work together. The cycling community in LA is a beautiful group of unique and welcoming individuals
I live south of you in San Diego and the NIMBY's HOWL every time a bike a bike lane is put in or they lose one parking spot.
Car brain is real.
Muh parking spots!
Love this material, great to see an urbanist channel about Los Angeles!
Great video! Found this on Reddit and I’m hoping your videos blow up on CZcams! There’s a lot to love about LA but also a lot of work that needs to be done, and it’s good to see someone point those details out so people don’t immediately jump to “LA is bad and hopeless”
the introduction really highlights how transporation is directly linked to neighborhood planning
So basically live near the beach if you want to bike commute in LA. I'm more familiar with San Diego and it's just as terrible on the citywide scale. They don't really have a good bikeable area outside of the boardwalk areas in Ocean/Mission/Pacific Beach
America's lack of walkability cities continues to be exposed. I live in Texas and we're known as one of the worst states for walkability. I have to drive a minimum of 15 minutes just to get food because of how spread out things are here. I plan to move to San Francisco next summer and I can't wait to sell my car. Great job on producing these videos, America needs real progress and the more awareness we can bring the better
I live in London, I was shocked when I visited my sister in Houston. There were no pavements to walk anywhere, and people wonder why obesity is an issue kids/adults can't walk anywhere.
@@ttemfash People in Houston try to use the hot weather as an excuse. Means nothing when hot and humid places like Taiwan and Hong Kong have public transport and walkability in their city, Texans just don't care enough!
@@machtmann2881 I agree, it’s a really silly excuse tbh . The car has been the dominant feature on the roads in the US, if you don’t have a car the quality of life diminishes drastically that can’t be right. I live in a location where I can walk, bike take the bus, train or tube my options are endless hence why I don’t own or need a car. I hope the US state rethink the infrastructure and its impact on the people, economy and the environment.
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Your videos are funny, clever and most of all informative. Please be safe out there and keep posting!
If you live in LA, my condolences!
Great video! Keep it up, LA needs your content
Wow it is great to see content that covers places I’m familiar with!
Like most transportation problems in LA, the trouble is you need a network and you need mixed use zoning. Right now LA builds things like rail lines and bike paths in isolation and often builds a low quality version at that. Then on top of that, nothing is close because of how the city is laid out.
I think Santa Monica is able to be more effective because it is a more compact city. The city of Los Angeles stretches from San Pedro to Sylmar and that is just a lot of area to cover and a lot of competing priorities.
that bike rack on the busbumper is wild, never seen that before
Great video man. The effort and research you put into this is impressive.
All it took was one look and I subscribed! All the best Nimesh, I'll be watching!
Another excellent episode. Thanks for this, Nimesh. I'm laughing inside a little as I am watching this video from a hotel room in Amsterdam and I am shocked about how far behind we are in terms of bicycle infrastructure. Granted, Amsterdam is somewhat of an anomaly, but I can't help but image how much easier getting to my friends house in LA would be if I could just bike instead of drive. As you mentioned in your last video, universities seem to understand the importance of good pedestrian and cycling design. I wish LA would take a page from the books of the universities in its own borders. Some sacrifices must be made such as removing street parking or reducing lane width to accommodate this, but that's far better than the no bicycle alternative.
And to know that Amsterdam hasn’t got the greatest bicycle infrastructure of the country, far from it.
Really, really nice job putting this video together, Nimesh!
Ciclavia!!!! Omg that's exactly the kind of stuff I need to keep in mind when I'm really to give Seattle a break from cycling
This was fantastic Nimesh!
Thank you for your video. I live in the LA area to, and everything you talked about, particularly the ambiguous "bike routes" to the guilt you feel when taking up a lane, matches up in to my experience.
I love these videos Nimesh! Really great quality and awesome insights!
Would love to see your thoughts on Seattle if you ever visit!
Great video, love the library card on the key chain, looking forward to more :)
So torn with Ciclavia. Tons of fun, for sure, but I worry that it further solidifies the mindset that bicycling is only for recreation versus a viable mode of transportation.
Great work on the video. Wish someone covered Long Beach, CA like this! The city was gung-ho adding bike infrastructure in the early 2010s, but has unfortunately slowed down in recent years
Long Beach modified Spring Street, east of Studebaker Road, by REMOVING one of three automobile lanes in each direction, installing a low concrete barrier that is way better than a painted line; but it won't stop a drunk from plowing into bicyclists. I use this lane occasionally. Formerly, I used the SIDEWALK, and I should add that this run goes for a half mile or so. It was a killing zone for anyone to ride a bike in the gutter formerly. So this is encouraging, but the sidewalk sufficed before, for my purposes. MOST OPIONIONS are very angry and negative, on NextDoor. The car addicts want very square inch of pavement for their 3000 pound monstrosities.
I take the lane and if someone wants to overtake me, I signal and move over so they can pass if it's safe to do so. If it's not then I wait until it is safe and then signal and get over. I find that that simple gesture earns me a lot of respect and I almost never get a punishment pass and usually, the driver waves thank you instead of giving the middle finger. I try to work with drivers as much as possible to promote the flow of travel. The other day I did this and when the car passed it was a sheriff. He smiled and waved.
This is awesome Nimesh! Keep it up. We needs more cycling advocacy in the city!
Great video and even better music choice (LOONA + urbanism = heaven)
Road diets and traffic calming are necessary, and so are Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (N.E.V.)/bike lanes that are protected by parked cars, street trees, and similar barriers and that include protected intersections.
This video is amazing dude. I also love the occasional touch of humor, keep it up!
Thanks for another awesome video, Nimesh!
Hey man. Nice video! I was really surprised to only see 2 videos uploaded. Keep up the content. You'll do really good. Subscribed!
Los Angeles could be the best cycling city in the world but instead it's a giant parking lot and continuous 8 lane highway
Great video!! A nice touch at the end!! Loved it!!
I stayed in West LA for a few weeks during the holidays (Santa Monica and Colby). While I didn't do any cycling, I attempted to go out for some 5k runs and it was a freaking nightmare. I actually decided just to DRIVE to Santa Monica beach to run on the pathways there. Cars in LA don't stop at stop signs and expect pedestrians to yield. It's crazy. And I cant imagine cycling to Westfield CC.
Stay safe out there bro.
You’re such a talented youtuber! Please keep up the awesome videos!
Well produced and needed video - thumbs up and subscribed.
Your videos are superb - keep the amazing content coming!
Wild how a mostly flat city that's warm year round still somehow manages to be a bicycling nightmare.
Oh man, all those places you showed on Santa Monica Blvd is so spot on. Especially the idiots that are parked in the bike lane when there's barely a lane to begin with! So crazy, stay safe out there. I've biked close to 7000 miles in LA and have been alright so far...hoping to keep the streak and always staying alert
The perfect weather for biking along with the perfect storm for dying on the road, having your bike stolen IF you arrive at your destination and a widespread addiction to cars makes for a mountain of physical and psychological barriers to overcome .
Awesome video! It was very informative while being engaging. I'm looking forward to more of your videos
LOVE YOUR CHANNEL BROTHER!
Love seeing Down to earth LA youtubers
4:14. I love the timing on this segment as the giant truck passes by.
Like all the driver has to do is dose off for a second and then I'm done for.
One that's even better than Ciclavia is the marathon crash ride - you're able to cycle on the closed marathon route in the middle of the night, and see how LA is an incredible bike city if they'd just build the infrastructure for it.
Total Miles of Bike Lanes Planned: 51.37
Total Miles of Bike Lanes Implemented: 5.44
To use one of Elon Musk's favourite phrases, that's an order of magnitude less. And what needs to happen is two orders of magnitude more than what was planned. Keep up the good fight, Nimesh.
This video gave me a lot of anxiety. Keep fighting the good fight.
Wow, instant sub, I like your style a lot. Santa Monica's network looks awesome! I've seen New York has also done a tremendous job during the pandemic. I wasn't ready for that strong, independent onna. Cheers from France!
Awesome video about the state of biking in LA. Those stats on planned vs implemented are harrowing. I've added the upcoming CicLAvia days to my calendar, it looks like so much fun!
This is a sad situation. Unfortunately it reminds me of my city, Edmonton, Alberta. We're not only dealing with poor cycling infrastructure, but also harsh winters. To top it off, many people are opposed to bike infrastructure, using the winter as the reason, even though cycling is a good way to get around even when it's cold. I'm hopeful because our city council has recently approved funding for a comprehensive bike plan. Unfortunately I might be pretty old by the time it gets fully implemented, if it will (your example of LA makes me a bit less optimistic). Thanks for a great video, pointing out a real problem.
Go to the channel Not Just Bikes; he has a video called Why Canadians Can't Bike in the Winter (but Finnish people can). It might help.
Hehe in Denver, bike lanes are where the snow is supposed to collect after they plow. 🙄 mmm bike gutters
@@MorganBrown "supposed to be"?? Doesn't seem like much of a bike lane to me!
@@the1andonly yeah I was being sarcastic. Though I feel like the city thinks the bike lanes are an excellent place to dump ice and snow
@@MorganBrown Yes, they do that here. Drives me nuts.
Great video, informative, cool camera work, and love see places I know too.
Nimesh, your content is absolute bangers! I live in Sawtelle and ride my bike and use public transport as my main source of commute to Santa Monica, Mar Vista, Culver City, etc - and I notice that West LA is doing a much better job making the streets cycle safe as compared to the rest of LA county.
I’m glad you were safe making this video
Great video! LA needs to get serious about adding proper bike infrastructure to the mix.
That publix bag was a nice easter egg too 👀
About those empty bike racks at the mall towards the beginning of the video, one of the biggest reasons they're going unused isn't that people aren't biking there; it's that the racks are often in out-of-the-way locations, which makes it super convienient for your bike to get stolen.
To your east, in the city of Rancho Cucamonga, is the outdoor mall, Victoria Gardens. Because of it's proximity to the Pacific Electric Trail (a multi use Class 1 trail), a lot of cyclists visit the mall. However, most of the bike parking is underutilized as they are behind buildings and not visible to most pedestrian traffic.
Just because the bike infrastructure is mostly treated as an afterthought like this, you won't see the usage you think you should get.