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Most of you will probably not be aware, but Long Beach is currently working hard on their "Bicycle Initiative". Their goal? To become the "most bicycle friendly city in America". Big words, and an even bigger commitment. Read about it in the Press Telegram Russ Roca, a photographer and PR guy for Long Beach Cyclists wrote a challenging letter back to the city here. So, I couldn't deny you my own two cents:
It is a beautiful thing to watch a paradigm shift. And it is plain to
see that the World is in the midst of one. How wonderfully exciting it
is to watch Long Beach take up the torch and run with it! I saw more
people on bikes yesterday than I've ever seen collected together in
this city. They were there to celebrate bikes and they were there to
support Long Beach.
Russ Roca wrote an amazing letter the other day in response to the
Press Telegram. The ideas put forth have been on my mind so much
lately. It seems, when change is left to those who have the money,
change is always dependent solely on that. MONEY.
Russ, your insights into this problem are enlightening. How is it that
the city would rather spend millions (literally millions) of dollars on
these improvements when they truly should not be necessary? As you so
deftly put it, Bicycles have the right to be on the road.
With that right though, bicycles are also held to every law that
vehicles are. A person on a bicycle could in fact get a speeding ticket
on a roadway, just like a motorist. Which brings me to my point.
There are those of us who have been riding bikes for years, braving the
streets of Long Beach when they were considerably less tolerant of
bicycles in the street. They are the commuters. And it is they who have
brought about this paradigm shift from the BOTTOM UP if only by being
out there on the road, riding their bikes day in and day out and never
giving up the fight for their own share of the lane.
So why, I ask, is it they who are singled out and penalized, often for
misunderstood (or antiquated) vehicle codes? Now, I don't want to
suggest that I don't believe cyclists should have to follow the rules
of the road. I am however suggesting that as the officers of the LBPD,
those same officers who we as cyclists depend on to keep the roads safe
enough to share with speeding traffic, learn the role of the bicycle on
the roadway and take into consideration that all cyclists deserve
tickets for infractions and all laws protecting them should be enforced. Let's make cyclists and motorists equal.
Even that guy riding his moutainbike dangerously fast on the sidewalk
who almost hit you as you came out of Chen's. Even that CSULB student
blowing through the stop sign on her beach cruiser on the way to class.
How about that guy who parked in the bike lane or that Hummer that's
too big to fit in one lane of traffic?
If the city really wants to be bicycle friendly, the city should learn
that we're ALL in this together. Everyone from the mom driving the SUV,
to the fixed gear riding pipsqueak who doesn't know the rules yet,
should be held to the same high standards. And how much would it cost
the city to make people aware of those standards? Will it cost as much
as a separated bike lane? Come on Long Beach, let's think outside the
box.
I love this town, and I know we have it in us to make this change, but
we have to understand what it means. The day bicycles and vehicles
share the road and all it's responsibilities, is the day Long Beach is
a safer, greener, healthier (and way more fun) place to live.
I can't wait.
-grizz | 
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