Bicycles and L.A. Transit Officials

Regarding the article on L.A. bicycle coordinator Michelle Mowery (“Transit Officials Pay Lip Service to Bikes,” Nov. 15), I take issue with her statement that the Blue, Green and Red lines “ban bikes during commuting hours, despite the fact the these trains are plagued by inadequate ridership and empty cars. That ban is neither bike friendly nor particularly smart.”

I am a Long Beach resident and I take the Blue Line round-trip to work five days a week. I board the train at 6:30 or sometimes at 7 a.m. at the Willow St. station, which is the fourth northbound stop. After two more stops, the train is always full. By the time we reach the Green Line transfer point, which is halfway to Los Angeles, the train is packed with standing riders. Several fellow employees in my office have the same crowded experience. To try to squeeze a few bicycles in the cars would be neither passenger friendly nor particularly smart. Each bike would take the space of at least three passengers and be a safety hazard to other riders.

BRIAN A. DUARTE

Long Beach

Michelle Mowery was right on the money concerning the MTA and their opposition to bike commuting for Los Angeles. I commute by bicycle twice a week from my home in Sierra Madre to my job downtown at the the Department of Water and Power. The days I ride, my car gets to rest in the garage and I get some exercise. I would certainly ride more often if the MTA would get off the dime and install some bike racks on their buses as Foothill Transit has already done. It appears to me if that it doesn’t involve million-dollar construction contracts and the pouring of more concrete into our city, the MTA is not interested.

PETER J. GALINDO

Sierra Madre