LA Bike Plan - Feedback

This video contains our feedback on one part of the Los Angeles Bike Plan (draft version). Turn on CAPTIONS (CC) to see the text.

Our youth group planned to give this presentation at a City of Los Angeles public forum, but the city organizers decided not to allow people to speak at these forums. The link to this video was submitted 11-4-09 at the official Bike Plan website, http://LABikePlan.org

The basic feedback is that the LA Bike Plan should give much more attention to bikes on trains, particularly bikes on commuter rail. The plan's introduction states there are "important opportunities" in Los Angeles to combine bikes with trains, but the 212-page plan contains just one action (one sentence) on this subject.

The presentation is 6 minutes long, followed by about 4 minutes of comments or questions that the group was prepared to answer. All material was researched and written by the team members, ages 9 to 12.

This group Westside participates in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a worldwide youth organization that combines robotics and research. This year's theme is called Smart Move, challenging teams to improve local transportation.

The Westside team researched Los Angeles transportation and decided to propose and design an inexpensive Bike Car to be added to MetroLink trains, allowing long distance commuting without using a car at all. This feedback and presentation to the City of Los Angeles Bike Plan is one of the ways the team has shared its research project with experts, policy makers and the general public.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• LA Bike Plan

[lakersalex]

Excellent Feedback! Our future is brighter and greener in your hands!

[darthpellet]

You guys are awesome. What a great idea. I love that you found a way to get you idea out there even though they wouldn't let you present at the public meetings. I was wondering if there might be a problem with the trains getting too long for the stations?

[jodieanne83]

This is a fantastic video. Thank you for sharing your ideas. With your continued passion, we can all make LA a more livable city!

[rondurgin]

Nice work! I like the idea of repurposing unused cargo rail cars and putting them back into service as Bike Cars. If a group of kids can figure this out why can't our transportation planners? Keep working on this Westside. - BikeMore! LA

[maxberson]

I think this is the best video I have ever seen on youTube. As a car-free resident of LA for almost my entire life, and I just recently began examining the LA Bike Plan and the other ways that local politics are influencing my cyclist lifestyle. Seeing such a young group making a serious case for a more bike-friendly city makes me quite happy. ^_^

[RebelWithoutACarProd]

Fantastic work! Great job, keep it up!