Celebration Starts at Bike Station When 5,000th Commuter Shows Up

Social Security worker Elisa Trujillo became an unwitting poster child for federal transportation investments Friday as she pulled her 30-year-old Schwinn Varsity into the Long Beach bike station, the 5,000th commuter to do so since the center’s opening in March.

Station supporters turned the occasion into a sort of festive political rally, with area elected officials calling for congressional reauthorization next year of $1 billion worth of alternative transportation funds, which helped establish the parking depot.

The diverse crowd of cyclists, council members and park rangers listened to Rep. Steve Horn (R-Long Beach), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, confirm his support for renewing the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.

“These alternate forms [of transportation] will still have my strong support,” when the funds are reconsidered next year, Horn said.

Sitting near the back of the 11 a.m. gathering at the city’s transit mall, 50-year-old cyclist Joan Hemphill offered her own praise for the station.

“It’s like valet parking,” she said. “It’s far more convenient than driving your car downtown.”