SGV Connect

This week, SGV Connect looks at Bike SGV's Bike Friendly Business Program with a two-part interview.

First, we talk with Danielle Zamora, outreach coordinator for Bike SGV, who oversees the Bike Friendly Business program. Zamora outlines how business corridors are selected for this program, how outreach is done to businesses, what must be done by a business to qualify, and what the benefits of joining the program are.

Then we interview Michelle Hammond, the owner of The Munch Company (Instagram, Facebook) in South Pasadena. The Munch Company is a gourmet sandwich shop with vegan and vegetarian options. The Munch Company was an early member of the Bike Friendly Business Program, and Bike SGV promoted a ride to their shop last week.

A programming note, this is the last podcast I'll be doing solo. We did a couple of joint podcasts with Kris before he went on vacation and I followed in June. Now we're back at full strength and looking forward to the second half of the year.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

With Kris Fortin still touring Japan, last week Damien spoke with Lisa Grater, the Transportation and Parking manager for the City of La Verne. The University of La Verne is a “Silver” level bike-friendly campus for its efforts to support student and staff bicyclists with traditional and some out-of-the-box thinking.

One program that has enjoyed success is the campus’ bike library program. Students can check out bicycles from the university’s transportation department for short-term borrowing at no cost. The library program, which now has nearly two dozen bicycles, has grown at the same time that the campus launched a bike share program. Different systems for different user needs, Grater explains.

Grater also credits the relationship between the University and the City of La Verne for the campus’ success creating a bike-friendly atmosphere. For example, the two worked together on creating and manning ‘pit stops’ on Bike to Work Day earlier this month and city officials and Councilmembers visited the one on La Verne’s campus.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

o you have strong feelings about the re-opening of the Walnut Creek Wash bike and pedestrian trail? Are you concerned about providing safe passage to school for West Covina’s children?

Tonight, the West Covina City Council will meet to discuss the city’s proposed active transportation plan. At a meeting earlier this month, the Council voted to postpone the discussion and vote on the plan after public comment tilted against the plan’s road diet proposals and concern about safety along a currently-closed bike trail along the Walnut Creek Wash. For coverage of that meeting, read this story in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

SGV Connect talks to long-time resident and public health expert Claudia Goytia. Goytia assures that the Council is not anti-bike and has a history of doing long deliberations before approving or opposing staff recommendations. However, she believes that the Council should hear from residents and other stakeholders who support improving the city’s transportation infrastructure. You can email the city manager at [email protected].

If you want to attend and testify, the meeting will be tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the West Covina City Council Chambers, 1444 W. Garvey Avenue. You can read the full agenda for the meeting, here.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

This week on SGV Connect, we go back to Pasadena to check-in with Greg Gunther. A lot has happened since we last talked, just a couple of weeks ago as anti-road diet forces rallying behind the banner of Keep Pasadena Moving stormed a community meeting on a proposed road diet for Orange Grove Boulevard.

Gunther explains how the Union Street Protected Bike Lane Project is different than the propose Orange Grove Blvd. project. Gunther also urges everyone to attend next Wednesday's meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. For more information, visit the city's website, or listen to our podcast.

In addition to the road diets and protected bike lane stories, we also discuss Metro's bike share system in Pasadena. Metro is considering moving some of the Metro Bike stations in Pasadena to be more effective and is looking for community feedback. You can answer their online survey, by clicking here.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

As we inch closer to "Bike Month," Bike SGV has some fun ways you can connect with local advocates in a laid back and educational format. Throughout May, Bike SGV will be hosting a series of fun events such as the Bike-In Movie Night (May 3) and the Birds and Bikes of SGV Ride (May 12).

But before one can join a group ride, they have to know how to actually ride a bike. Kris Fortin and Andrew Yip discuss the new Bicycle Education Safety Training (BEST) classes being offered in conjunction with Metro. The classes run from basic classes for new cyclists to experienced bicyclists who just want a refresher. A list of all the classes being offered throughout LA County, including those by Bike SGV, can be found here.

We'll be back next week with a look at the politics surrounding road diets and progressive street design in Pasadena. Talk to you then.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

I am very excited to introduce the new co-host of SGV Connect, Kris Fortin! If Kris' name seems familiar to you and you're not sure why, it's because he has a long history with Streetsblog as the former reporter for Boyle Heights on Streetsblog Los Angeles and the current reporter for Orange County for Streetsblog California. In between, he served as a reporter based in Santa Ana for the Orange County Register.

For those of you that don't know Kris, this is a great "get to know you" podcast that talks a little about his personal and his professional opinion. Now that you know what he looks like, and know he'll be at CicLAvia this Sunday. If you see him, say "hi."

If you want more Kris, you can find all his stories for Streetsblog here, his super-popular story on the Ovarian Psycos Bicycle Brigade here, and a profile on Kris that appeared on Bike SGV's Tumblr earlier this week here.

On a personal note, I think regular listeners to this podcast know the tragic reasons we're looking for a new co-host, and may have noticed our output dropped a little at the end of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. When I heard Kris had moved back to Alhambra, I was excited to know I might have the chance to work with a co-host that I knew, trusted and liked. I love doing this podcast and love hearing from everyone that listens, but it's been hard these past six months and I'll never forget Brian. But I'm excited to start our next chapter, and I know that Kris and I will be able to build on the work that Brian and I started.

This week, SGV Connect talks with Scott Chan, the program director for the Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement, and a longtime advocate for safe streets in Alhambra.

Our conversation starts with discussing the state of bike planning in Alhambra, a city that commissioned but never approved a bike plan a decade ago. However, given the lack of strong planning in the document, Chan believes the city did the right thing. There's no time like the present for the city to consider changing course and creating and packing a new bike plan in the near future.

We also discuss the state of "710 corridor planning" for the city now that the 710 tunnel project in the San Gabriel Valley is likely never going to happen. However, the city has some funds, and access to more through regional specific grants, to improve mobility in the area. Some outside the box thinking could lead to big changes in a short time.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

It's been a couple of years since we last checked in with Greg Gunther, a safe streets advocate in Pasadena. While progress on installing the Playhouse District parklets has stalled, Pasadena is moving forward on some other projects.

Most notably is the Orange Grove Boulevard Road Diet (official website, here) a plan to turn one of Pasadena's most historic streets into one that best serves the community instead of cut-through traffic looking for an alternative to the 210. The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition is encouraging the city to approve a road diet plan for the street. You can get involved by emailing the City Council, by clicking here.

We also discussed a plan to improve the Rose Bowl Loop to improve conditions for all users. One of my first big stories was covering a wonderful car-free evening in the Rose Bowl loop in the pre-CicLAvia era. It was a wonderful night, and I've always wondered why more wasn't done to make the loop a more safe and attractive place to ride a bicycle or push a stroller.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

Monterey Park is a hillside suburban city in the San Gabriel Valley, 7 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. The city boasts a population of 60,269 people and will soon also be home to a protected bike lane for 1.6 miles on Monterey Park Pass as part of a complete street project. We talk about the project in the podcast, but if you want to read more about it, check out Joe Linton's coverage from January.

Today SGV Connect speaks with Thomas Wong, a resident and activist in Monterey Park who served on the city's environmental commission and currently sits on the Board of the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District. Our discussion covers the road diet, other bicycle and pedestrian planning, what the city might do with Metro funds from the 710 Corridor congestion alleviation plan, and the state of transit in the City of Monterey Park.

This episode marks the first in a series that we will be producing that takes a deeper look into the cities of the San Gabriel Valley. A second edition will be coming in early March.

SBLA San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

In just about two hours, the Metro Board of Directors Parking Committee will meet to discuss a major update to the agency's parking policies. This policy, if passed in committee and the full Board of Directors next Thursday, would dictate how parking, both car and bicycle, would be allocated at future Gold Line Foothill Stations.

Today, we talk with Wes Reutimann about the need to increase bike parking at the future stations and some of the politics around parking policy. At most of the Foothill stations that opened in 2016, bike parking remains oversubscribed; leading Bike SGV and others to call for more parking at future stations.

The meeting begins today at 2 p.m. in Metro HQ in Downtown Los Angeles. We'll post an update after the meeting's over and details on next week's meeting.

#SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

Catch past episodes of SGV Connect and #DamienTalks on LibSyn, iTunes, Google Play, or Overcast.