Sustainable & Connected: Celebrate Bike Month with activities in May
May 1, 2024 11:33 AM
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (May 1, 2024) — The city of Santa Monica celebrates Bike Month this May with a slate of fun community events and educational activities to raise awareness about safety and important infrastructure.
Bike Month activities advance the city’s key strategic priority of Sustainable & Connected and support the city’s goals in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.
According to the 2022 Greenhouse Gas Inventory, transportation emissions account for 69 percent of citywide emissions. Every bicycle trip is another step towards meeting the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan goal of reducing emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.
Bike-centered activities are planned in various locations in the city throughout May, including:
- Need-to-know bicycle safety workshop Bike Safety 101, May 4 from 11 a.m. to noon at the Santa Monica College Sustainability Center
- Bike It! Walk It! Bus It! Week for teachers and students, May 6-10 at various participating schools
- Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway (MANGo) Milestone Community Ride, May 11 from 10 a.m. to noon beginning at the 17th Street/SMC Metro E Line station
- Bike Anywhere Day, May 16 from 8-10 a.m. at various locations, including the annual pit stop at City Hall
- East Pico Safety Study Kit of Parts Demonstration May 18, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 3301 Pico Blvd.
- Join the fun-filled family-friendly Kidical Mass Bike Ride + Mental Health & Wellness Fair May 19, 9 a.m. to noon at Clover Park
- Adult Learn to Ride Classes w/Sustainable Streets – Sundays (May 5, 12 and 19) at Beach Bike Campus (where Ocean Park Boulevard meets the Marvin Braude Beach Bike Path)
- Bicycle Maintenance Classes with Santa Monica College – Spring (April 29 – June 10) non-credit classes providing a basic understanding of bicycle maintenance (Level 1) and a foundation for those wishing to pursue a career in the bike industry (Level 2)
- Celebrate beyond Bike Month with the AIDS/LifeCycle Finish Line Festival on June 8 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2030 Ocean Ave. to help welcome the thousands of cyclists as they complete their 7-day ride from San Francisco to Santa Monica
To ensure that biking in Santa Monica is safe and fun for riders of all ages and abilities, the city has installed over 120 lane-miles of bike facilities and made huge strides in creating a core network of protected bikeways since the adoption of the Bike Action Plan in 2011 and Bike Action Plan Amendment in 2020.
Recent safety upgrades include:
- Expanding the Beach Bike Trail to add separate space for cyclists and pedestrians (Completed March 2020).
- Adding protected bike lanes on 23rd Street between Ashland and Airport avenues (Completed December 2021).
- Adding protected bike lanes to Pico Boulevard between 16th and 17th streets (Completed June 2023).
- Protecting the Ocean Avenue bikeway with concrete medians between California and Colorado avenues (Completed December 2023).
- Adding protected bike lanes to 17th Street between Wilshire and Pico boulevards (Completed December 2023).
In addition, several more protected bikeways will finish or begin construction in the coming year, including:
- Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway (MANGo) 20th Street connection that connects Michigan Avenue across the I-10 on the 20th Street Bridge
- Bergamot First/Last Mile Improvements that include protected bike lanes on Stewart Street between Colorado and Kansas avenues and 26th Street between Broadway and Olympic Boulevard
- Colorado Protected Bike Lanes westbound between 5th and 17th streets
- Broadway Protected Bike Lanes between 5th and 26th streets.
“Santa Monica’s growing network of protected bike lanes provides the foundation to build a healthier, more sustainable city by reducing emissions,” said Department of Transportation Director Anuj Gupta. “We are known for our strong biking community, and I’m looking forward to seeing cyclists of all ages exploring our city this Bike Month.”
Utilizing the city’s bike lanes also means being vigilant about roadway safety. The city reminds cyclists to follow the rules of the road for their own safety and the safety of all roadway users. Being predictable is important. Be sure to ride in bike lanes or with traffic, and do not ride on the sidewalk or against traffic. It is helpful to use turn signals when turning or merging to communicate your intentions. In California, helmets are required for minors and strongly recommended for all users.
To drivers, be sure to look out for cyclists in Santa Monica all year long, especially during Bike Month, when you should expect to see even more cyclists than usual, including youth and others who may be new to cycling. Ensuring the safety of all starts with each of us and the best way to do that is to slow down, eliminate distractions and be predictable.
For more information about Bike Month, click here.
For more information about Santa Monica’s bicycle network, click here.
Media Contact
Tati Simonian
Public Information Officer
Tati.Simonian@santamonica.gov
Categories
Getting Around, Programs, Sustainable and Connected, Ways to Get Around
