Cyclists Zip Down Clogged LA Freeways

Via WestSideBikeSide,
last week 10 Los Angeles cyclists (illegally) took to the 405 and the 10 on the premise that riding on those infamously congested freeways at rush hour is no less safe than taking the Pacific Coast Highway.

Other LA blogs have picked up the video. Metblog called it "equal parts stupid and awesome," and Joke Is Up calls it a "great little bit of anarchy here in Los Angeles." Viewers at YouTube
seem similarly at odds. One poster says he "fell asleep b4 I got to the
part where the idiots got crushed by a Hummer," but another commenter
asks what I think is the million dollar question: "LA is made for cars.
Why are bicycles getting places faster?"

Video: richtothele/YouTube via Streetsblog LA 

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

L.A. Freeway Cyclists Ride Again

|
A group of cyclists in Los Angeles continues its guerrilla rides on city freeways. In this video, via Streetsblog LA, riders are joined by rollerbladers as they cut through idling traffic on the 405. The "Crimanimal Mass" movement has gotten more sophisticated since the previous video installment, what with the narrative-style editing, helpful graphics and […]
STREETSBLOG USA

Less Is More: Highway Removal Could Make Buffalo a Better City

|
Harvard Economist Ed Glaeser wrote a controversial article a few years ago that highlighted the multiple, failed, federal government-backed interventions aimed at saving Buffalo from post-industrial decline. The city tried a $9 million downtown urban renewal project, a $50 million waterfront redevelopment project and $500 million metro rail project with mixed results, leading Glaeser to […]
STREETSBLOG LA

The Freeways Are Not So Nice

|
The above punk rock video by L.A. band It’s Casual is well on its way toward becoming a viral hit. The song and video vent anger at conditions on Los Angeles’ freeways and depict the benefits of finding other ways to travel. Lead singer Eddie Solis screams his rage while shots of congested traffic and […]
STREETSBLOG USA

In Miami, Cloaking an Anti-Cycling Proposal in Bike-Friendly Language

|
A county commissioner in Miami has introduced legislation to “provide greater flexibility to the Florida Department of Transportation related to bicycle lanes.” In other words, flexibility not to include them, even though federal rules require state DOTs to give “due consideration” to bike facilities in all federally-funded projects — a directive that US DOT clarified in 2010, […]

A Gehl Dispatch From Down Under

|
We reported yesterday that noted Danish urbanist Jan Gehl will soon be surveying New York streets with an eye toward improving them for human use. Gehl has been working in Sydney, Australia as of late, and an essay he wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald offers insight into what he may be looking for here in […]