# Los Angeles Starts Moving from Cars to Bicycles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-starts-moving-from-cars-to-bicycles/727628 "2015-08-12T05:03:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-starts-moving-from-cars-to-bicycles/727628/1 "2015-08-12T05:03:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Over the decades, Los Angeles has bulldozed homes, paved through tranquil canyons, toppled countless trees and even flattened some hillsides, all in the name of keeping automobile traffic flowing as fast as possible. > > On Tuesday, city leaders decided to slow things down. They endorsed a sweeping policy that would rework some of the city’s mightiest boulevards, adding more lanes for buses and bikes and, in some places, leaving fewer for cars. The goal is to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians while also luring more people out of their cars. > > The plan represents a major departure in transportation policy for a city so closely identified with cars, and reflects the view of many planners that the old way of building more road space to address traffic is no longer a viable option. Known as Mobility Plan 2035, the plan spells out hundreds of miles of new bicycle lanes, bus-only lanes and other road redesigns. ttp://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-mobility-plan-20150811-story.html Weird. This seems very strange to me as I have always associated Los Angeles with a very car-oriented culture. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Niply\_Elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@The\_Niply\_Elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Niply_Elder)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-starts-moving-from-cars-to-bicycles/727628/2 "2015-08-12T05:27:10Z")
Yes surprisingly we have a fairly extensive bike lane network. I try to hit the strand once a week (all of it is like 22 miles) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-starts-moving-from-cars-to-bicycles/727628/3 "2015-08-12T05:27:53Z")
Hmm, could [this movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaFYcai1vK0) be more prophetic than we realize? ETA: And for those who are unfamiliar with it, tell me those credits aren’t damned intriguing. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-starts-moving-from-cars-to-bicycles/727628/4 "2015-08-13T03:47:35Z")
From the OP’s cite: > [@](#): > > Over the decades, Los Angeles has bulldozed homes, paved through tranquil canyons, toppled countless trees and even flattened some hillsides, all in the name of keeping automobile traffic flowing as fast as possible. Well, yeah, they did all that just to build a baseball stadium! ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-starts-moving-from-cars-to-bicycles/727628/5 "2015-08-13T04:13:31Z")
\ Today Los Angeles, tomorrow the world! (What can I say? I just never have been a fan of car cultures.) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-starts-moving-from-cars-to-bicycles/727628/6 "2015-08-13T04:31:11Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Weird. This seems very strange to me as I have always associated Los Angeles with a very car-oriented culture. This isn’t some overnight thing. The bicycle component of the plan has been brewing for a long time. We’ve been having two or three ciclovias (here called “CicLAvias”) for the past five years. L.A. has a pretty strong bicycle culture, with a strong lobby at City Hall. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-starts-moving-from-cars-to-bicycles/727628/7 "2015-08-13T13:03:04Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Hmm, could [this movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaFYcai1vK0) be more prophetic than we realize? > ETA: And for those who are unfamiliar with it, tell me those credits aren’t damned intriguing. I saw that movie in the theater and the opening always stuck with me. I thought and still think it would be great to switch it with what we currently have. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-starts-moving-from-cars-to-bicycles/727628/8 "2015-08-13T13:43:17Z")
Judge Doom: Eight lanes of shimmering cement running from here to Pasadena. Smooth, safe, fast. Traffic jams will be a thing of the past.