The mighty Wilshire Boulevard was a no-car zone for the better part of the day Sunday. Six lanes of bliss, it started from One Wilshire Blvd. downtown and stretched all the way out to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Along the way - the DWP handed out free water (maybe an effort at PR - there's been some grumblings about the department's financials), and every cafe, sandwich shop, and eatery was crammed with customers who'se bikes were inelegantly piled outside.We've had several CicLAvia's now and the consensus is (1) people love them and (2) they give small businesses along the routes their biggest one-day revenues of the year. Grumpy car people complain about the street closures (just as Cockatoo, a non-runner, complained about the marathon route disrupting the part of the city with the fewest runners), but they can be consoled by it only being one day. Also, maybe their co-workers will be a little less hard to deal with Monday after a lovely Saturday on their bikes.
On a side note, during my normal bike-commute home we've noticed that at least west of Vermont, the lane next to the curb has been painted BUS LANE. I looked up at the street sign and saw that during rush hour it's reserve for buses but BIKES OK. Hello! A nice, safe lane without malevolent car people trying to pass you and missing you by inches. Now, we can just glance back once in a while to make sure no buses are coming and pedal on home. So much better than the sidewalk. (Which is legal here, if not preferable.)
A win-win. And was it my imagination that there were more bike-commuters Monday? Did CicLAvia open a few eyes as to what's possible, even in Los Angeles?
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