Bicycle Commuters See Rough Road Ahead

Re “The Bike Is Back,” editorial, May 31: I have been a bicycle commuter since 1984 and have commuted over routes in both Los Angeles and Orange counties. Additionally, I served two years on the now-disbanded Bicycle Advisory Council of the city of Newport Beach. My experiences have led me to conclude that, with the exception of the city of Irvine, municipalities pay only lip service to the needs of the bicycle-commuting community.

Coupled with cities’ general indifference to bicycle commuting, in the mid-’90s the Orange County Transportation Authority diverted funding that would have improved bicycle commuting.

Until the number of bicycle commuters reaches a level at which cities must adjust their thinking, bureaucrats will make decisions based upon uninformed input from their respective staffs. I don’t think that good decisions regarding local bicycle commuting needs can be made unless the decision-makers actively solicit and respond to input from bicycle commuters. Until then, it’s a challenging (often dark) world out there, dominated by road hazards and fast-moving vehicles piloted by someone probably multi-tasking with a cell phone or a cup of coffee.

Gary McKee

Newport Beach