On September 21st SAMOCAN hosted Michael Schneider, a native-born Angeleno, who started Streets For All to change LA’s built environment from being car-centric to being multi-modal. Michael walked us through his story and what led him to start Streets For All. Michael focused on the impact Streets For All is having on the transportation revolution in Los Angeles and how to get involved to change the city for good. This presentation was recorded and is available to view in the video embedded above.
Share your comments on how to improve bike connections in these Westside Mobility Projects!
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) is partnering with Council District 11 to plan a network of four bikeways connecting Westside neighborhoods and adjacent cities. The bike routes will feature traffic calming measures to make them comfortable for riders of all ages and abilities.
Share your thoughts for a chance to win a FREE bicycle! You’re invited to join LADOT at a community event for a chance to participate. For more information on the project and ways to participate, please visit LADOTWestsideMobility.com
To: Santa Monica City Council, Santa Monica Planning Commission, City Manager David White, Mobility Manager Jason Kligier, Director of Public Works Rick Valte,
Subject: Protecting our bikeways from motor vehicle incursions
Dear Council Members and City Leaders:
Santa Monica has become an exemplar of far-sighted bikeway design and implementation in our region. Recent innovations seen on Ocean Ave. and 17th St. have raised the bar for creating protected bike facilities that provide the safety and comfort to allow many more people to bike for their everyday mobility. Additional protected bikeways planned in Santa Monica’s Bicycle Action Plan will bring us ever closer to realizing a citywide bikeway network that will be a game-changer for mobility, traffic reduction and meeting our Vision Zero and climate goals.
Unfortunately, some motorists are undermining the benefits of recently-installed protected bike lanes (and standard, striped bike lanes) by parking in them and sometimes even driving in them. This behavior is photo-documented almost daily in social media posts.
When motor vehicles block these lanes it forces cyclists to divert into traffic lanes, sabotaging the safety and utility of these facilities, spoiling their potential to provide safe, equitable mobility choices for greater numbers of people. Further, when cyclists need to divert around vehicles blocking bikeways, this induces unsafe cycling behavior that might expose the city to liability as a result of negligence in maintaining proper bikeway access.
Therefore we, the undersigned organizations strongly urge the city to take steps to address this epidemic of bikeway incursions. There appear to be several strategies that could be explored:
– Physical barriers where they are safe and appropriate to prevent or discourage drivers from entering bikeways, such as bollards at entrance points, concrete separators and modular curb elements (like seen on Broadway).
– Additional signage and pavement markings to make it blatantly clear that bikeways are off limits to cars at all times.
– Signs that stipulate substantial fines for violations.
– Enforcement by parking and traffic officers, especially where vehicles park on the sidewalk or driveway aprons. But as a general rule, officer enforcement is sporadic and therefore less effective than physical elements.
– Perhaps photo enforcement, using something like the Automotus camera technology recently deployed in the Zero Emission Delivery Zone program.
– A literature search to explore best practices being used by other municipalities.
Clearly, physical barriers that prevent motor vehicle incursions 24-7 without the need for enforcement personnel is the superior and likely most cost-effective choice. And it makes sense to implement effective solutions to this problem before new bikeways are installed, so that this problem is not perpetuated and to save from having to make costly retrofits.
Please direct staff to find effective solutions to this vexing problem so that we can fully realize the many benefits of our growing bikeway network, especially public safety, and prevent this critical investment from being compromised.
Send Council a message in support of the motion by Councilmembers Zwick and Torosis and Mayor Davis to keep our city’s bike lanes safe with a combination of enhanced parking and traffic enforcement, reducing double parking, and quickly building safer bicycle infrastructure.
Join us September 21st for our SAMOCAN Event we will be hearing from Michael Schneider, a native-born Angeleno, who started Streets For All to change LA’s built environment from being car-centric to being multi-modal. Michael will walk us through his story, what led him to start Streets For All, the impact that it’s having, and how to get involved and change the city for good.
One of CASM’s members from the 2023 Climate Corps, Ryan Kim, published an article titled Opinion: Climate Corps is Empowering Youth to Speak up for Climate Action in Santa Monica focusing on his experience this summer. Ryan Kim talks about his experience in the farmers markets with Climate Corp Leaders Nancy Sanchez, Mario Melgarejo, and Jasmine Contreras and manager Amy Butte. He talks about his advocacy project speaking at the Santa Monica City Council Meeting on June 27 and advocacy sessions conducted in the Climate Corp program. Want to read Ryan Kim’s article? Click the link below: Opinion: Climate Corps is empowering youth to speak up for climate action in Santa Monica | HS Insider (latimes.com)
More about Ryan Kim:
Ryan Kim is a student in his junior year and is currently attending Santa Monica High. He likes to play games, run and hike often during his free time. He is the current news editor for his school’s journalism. He enjoys taking photos and videos of nature and friends and loves to write opinions or news articles. He hopes that in the future, he can go to many different places including Paris and Italy.
On August 23rd SAMOCAN hosted Stephanie Doyle, from Vote Solar, who presented about the new legislation in California (AB 2316) passed in 2022, and the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, which adds an incredible opportunity to expand solar access for Californians this year. Stephanie Doyle discussed how community solar is a renewable energy strategy that can offer equitable participation by non-homeowners in the development and ownership of solar and battery storage systems. It is a concept that still needs to be perfected to be functional in Santa Monica and California but its a great start to the renewable energy movement. This presentation was recorded and is available to view in the video embedded above.
Visual anthropologist Dr. David Blundell on Thursday July 20, 2023 shared his perspective on local knowledge and environmental sustainability by reviewing the context of where people live. David Blundell expressed how people have had difficulty embracing their lifestyle with the environment in the urban world due to electronics and media in their lives. Dr. Blundell acknowledges that while local indigenous peoples have continued to be inspired by nature, local knowledge should be passed down to generations to come, or it will be forgotten. As a native 5th generation Santa Monican Dr. Blundell proposes a continuance of local knowledge and uses his own experience living in South East Asia to expand on environmentally sustainable ways to live.
While Dr. Blundell uses his own experience living in South East Asia; he also discusses how important his childhood was learning about Santa Monica’s groundwater and swimming in local Santa Monica springs.
It was through these experiences in Santa Monica that inspired Dr. Blundell’s own awareness of how people can bring local ecological resources and sustainability into our daily lives.
You can watch Dr. Blundell’s presentation in the recording embedded below.
CASM is starting to hire under is Climate Jobs Corps program!
Climate Jobs Corps is in partnership with the City of Santa Monica and is funded by the state of California’s Youth Jobs Corps program to support underserved young people. Climate Jobs Corps is open to youth ages 16 to 30.
Please see our currently available positions here.
Climate Action Santa Monica invites high school and college students to apply for the CASM Climate Corps 2023 program.
Since 2016, Climate Corps have engaged in local climate action for an informative, fun and empowering summer confronting the global climate emergency. Climate Corps is a program of Climate Action Santa Monica (CASM) to engage in climate action in our local community for an informative, fun and empowering summer experience.
A primary partner of the program is the City of Santa Monica, which has integrated sustainability goals and rights into its laws, regulations, and operations through the Santa Monica Climate Action & Adaptation Plan. This plan aims to profoundly reduce greenhouse gases by 2030, and aims for the City of Santa Monica to be carbon-neutral by 2050. CASM Climate Corps members help bring climate policy and action to life in our local community.
In collaboration with our partner, the City of Santa Monica, Climate Corps ages 15 to 21 learn about and have real-world experiences in:
causes and impacts of climate change
local sustainability policies and programs
communicating feedback to leaders.
engaging with and educating the community on sustainability issues.
If you have questions, email us at casmcommunity@gmail.com
21 youth completed our 2022 Climate Corps program!
We focused on the water system and drought adaptations, organics recycling, and building decarbonization. Corps surveyed at 7 farmers’ markets and created a digital campaign educating on water and drought.
Applications for our summer 2023 CASM Climate Corps will be available in January 2023. We welcome applications from all youth ages 15 to 21. The program is 5 weeks long during afternoons during SMC and SMMUSD summer sessions.
