How to Avoid Traffic and Arrive Smiling: Bike to Work
Editor’s note: In Southern California, the connection between resident and automobile is almost mythic. But much has happened to change the commuting landscape: unbridled growth, increasing traffic congestion and now the disruptions after a disastrous earthquake. This new weekly feature highlights the travails and triumphs of getting around Los Angeles in a new era of transportation.
Julie Hassan greets the morning sun somewhere around Marina del Rey as it sneaks above the snowcapped San Gabriel Mountains and peeks through a billowing canopy of pink and purple clouds.
“I love this part,” said Hassan, 32, the chilled morning air snapping at her cheeks and ears as she pedals her 18-speed bicycle over a Ballona Creek bridge. “It feels great to have the wind blowing in your face.”
This is Hassan’s morning commute, a particularly enviable trip in post-quake Los Angeles: An invigorating 15 1/2 miles along the surf and sand between her home in Manhattan Beach and her office at Santa Monica City Hall.
Hassan’s daily trip takes 45 minutes as she whizzes past the early morning crowd of joggers and other cyclists. The same trip in an automobile recently took an hour--a gear-grinding, teeth-gnashing pilgrimage along clogged streets and freeways.
“My co-workers are already frustrated when they get into the office and then they head straight to the coffee machine,” said Hassan, an investigator in the Santa Monica city attorney’s office. “I come in and I feel good. I think I look good. The blood is circulating. It’s very rejuvenating.”
Of the millions who make the daily schlep in Los Angeles County, Hassan is among the 1% who hop on their two-wheelers and actually look forward to the trip to work. With some of the world’s busiest freeways knocked out of commission by the Jan. 17 Northridge quake, thousands of commuters are looking for ways to get out of their cars. Bicycle enthusiasts like Hassan believe they have the answer.
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On the morning after the 6.6 temblor--while most of her co-workers fretted alone in their cars--Hassan rode to work as usual along the ocean bike path. No way she was going to fight traffic. “I just felt safer on the bike path,” she said.
Hassan’s daily ride begins shortly after 6 a.m. when it is dark and still and cold. Two battery-powered lights mounted on the handlebars cut through the dark, and an ensemble of color-coordinated Lycra keeps out the cold. The constant whir of the derailleur is the only sound as she pedals through deserted streets to the beach.
Heading north along the beach, she clips along at a respectable 20 m.p.h. past the Hyperion sewage treatment plant. (“When the wind blows the wrong way, it smells pretty bad.”) Past Los Angeles International Airport. Past the toy boats of the rich and famous in Marina del Rey. Past the bakeries along Santa Monica’s Main Street (“That place has great coffee.”) And finally to City Hall, where she showers and changes and reports to work by 7:30 a.m.
Most mornings for four years, this has been the routine for Hassan, who used to compete in triathlons and runs two marathons every year. Part of the reason she took her job was because Santa Monica encourages employees to commute in alternative ways.
“They sort of put us on a pedestal,” Hassan said. City employees are paid $1 for every day they ride their bikes to work, and there is a waiting list for bike lockers.
Some private employers also try to entice workers out of their cars. Prudential Insurance in Woodland Hills offers employees free membership to the company gym and will pay half the purchase price of a bicycle to workers who commute by bike two weeks a month for three months.
Bicycle commuting may not be an option for Palmdale commuters, unless they are commuting to, well, Palmdale. But transportation planners hope people will learn to live near work, and thus be willing to hop on a bike or just hoof it.
“I think the earthquake has created an awareness that our transit system, as it is structured now, is dependent on the single-occupant automobile,” said Paul Tay, bicycle coordinator for the city of Los Angeles. “Any one of those shakes could bring the whole thing down.”
Tay jokingly said the freeways could be put to better use by two-wheelers: “We’ve already built a wonderful bicycle path system,” he said. “The problem is there are too many cars on them.”
In Los Angeles, new buildings bigger than 50,000 square feet are required to provide bicycle parking and employee showers. Even so, Ryan Snyder, a bicycle planning consultant, estimates that fewer than 20% of companies offer facilities to encourage bike commuting. “It’s not nearly enough,” Snyder said.
In addition, few people feel safe riding their bikes on streets filled with hostile or inattentive motorists. Surprisingly, perhaps, Bicycle magazine rated Los Angeles in the top 10 bicycle-friendly U.S. cities--something Snyder attributes to the wide streets and pleasant weather.
But if bike commuting is to become more common--in some Dutch cities, 30% of all trips are made on bicycle--Snyder said much more needs to be done: more bike lanes and more links with other forms of transit, such as trains and buses.
Some of those projects are under way and many more are expected to begin in the coming months and years, Tay said.
“There are a lot of reasons people should consider an auto-less lifestyle,” he said. “Even in Los Angeles, especially in Los Angeles.”
Tay does not own a car. Julie Hassan does, and she does put mileage on it. Her weekly average? Five.
Bicycle Commuting
* Bicycle commuting requires more than just hopping on the old three-speed and heading for work. Long-time riders say the right equipment can make all the difference.
* A helmet is a must.
* Headlights, taillights and reflectors make riders more visible in the dark.
* Stiff-soled shoes make riding more comfortable and efficient.
* Clothing designed for cycling--especially spandex shorts and padded gloves--makes rides more comfortable.
* A rear-view mirror attached to the handlebars or helmet allows a bicyclist to see what is coming up from behind.
* Bicycle luggage ranges from simple backpacks to bags that keep business suits neat.
Once on the road, it is important to play it safe.
* Ride in a straight line and use hand signals.
* Always ride with traffic.
* Obey all traffic signs and signals.
* Don’t weave between parked cars.
* Stay alert for cars, pedestrians and other hazards.
For information on bike commuting within the city of Los Angeles, call bicycle coordinator Paul Tay at (213) 237-0477.
Los Angeles County bike maps can be obtained by calling the Metropolitan Transportation Authority at (213) 244-6539.
Call Caltrans for information on renting bike lockers at park-and-ride lots at (213) 897-0235. A $10 deposit is required for the key, but is refundable upon return.
