Expo Line bicycle facilities update
As the Expo Line Phase I nears completion, the Culver City Bicycle Coalition has been increasing efforts to ensure adequate bicycle facilities at the Culver City station. Jim Shanman, a founding member of the coalition, led the advocacy effort, encouraging cyclists and supporters to write to the Expo Authority to let them know how important it is to include multi-modal facilities at the station. When asked about the issue, Shanman noted that “It would have been a tragic error to spend $930 million on a state-of-the-art public transit system and not have appropriate facilities to encourage the greatest number of users.”
Shanman represented the coalition at the Expo Line Board Meeting on Dec. 1, to make sure that plans for a Clean Mobility Center at the Culver City station were still moving forward. At a follow-up meeting with Shanman and other cycling advocates, representatives from the Expo Authority confirmed that the center would be built under the bridge at Robertson Avenue and Venice Boulevard as part of Expo Line Phase II construction. The center is planned to be a 900 square-foot facility, with 50-60 bike racks, repair station, attendant station and bathrooms. Groundbreaking is expected in the spring of 2013.
So while cyclists are fighting over the 10 bike racks and eight bike lockers planned to be available when the Culver City station opens, they will have something to look forward to when the Clean Mobility Center finally opens.
Linwood Howe to launch weekly Walking School Bus
The Linwood Howe Safe Routes to School Committee has been working hard to bring weekly “Walking School Buses” to Linwood Howe Elementary School in January. The Walking School Bus is simply an organized group walk to school, led by parent volunteers. Schools around the country are starting up such programs as a way of encouraging kids and parents to walk to school more often, sometimes using incentives to foster friendly competition.
Linwood Howe Principal Amy Anderson has been a huge supporter of kids walking/biking to school and has led monthly Walking Wednesdays for the last year, inspiring a similar program that has recently been launched at El Marino Elementary School.
Gayle Haberman, a parent at Linwood Howe and chair of the Safe Routes committee, had the opportunity to observe a Walking School Bus at a school in San Marino in the fall and came back with ideas about how to implement a similar program at Linwood Howe. Anderson immediately jumped on board and is ready to turn more of her Viking students into “Hiking Vikings.”
Beginning in late January, two Walking School Buses will run every Friday morning – one from the east of and one from the west of campus. Funds from the Safe Routes to School grant awarded to Culver City will be used for T-shirts and water bottles to be used as incentives for the students. Classrooms will also compete for possession of a Hiking Viking trophy.
Charges filed against Christine Dahab
Christine Dahab, the motorist who struck and injured 13 cyclists on Jefferson Boulevard in Culver City last June, has been charged with two counts of felony DUI.
The Los Angeles Police Department, which did the initial investigation, had preliminarily placed some of the blame on the cyclists, who were stopped at the side of the road at the time of the incident. Officers Davis and Neuman of the Culver City Police Department followed through with a more thorough investigation and recommended to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office that felony charges be filed.
Dahab is scheduled to be arraigned at the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse on Dec. 22.
Bike Safe, Bike Smart! is a weekly column to promote responsible cycling by providing information, education and advice about riding. It’s written by members of the Culver City Bicycle Coalition (CCBC), a local chapter of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. The CCBC hosts a family ride each month. For more information, go to ccbike.org/.