New L.A. Bike Plan: DOT, WTF?!

I found out recently that the City of Los Angeles is going to get a new Bicycle Master Plan, but something about the process seemed strange to me. I think I have figured out what was bothering me: why does the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (the "LADOT") get to create this urban planning document?

The LADOT is a big bunch of engineers! Don't get me wrong, engineers are usually very clever folks - but I have learned not to expect much from them when it comes to understanding the human condition.

Let me put it this way: who asks a structural engineer to design their entire house? Nobody does that unless they want to live in windowless cargo container with only a toilet and a flourescent bulb. Granted, it is very "efficient" to build that way - it's just not what most people want.

When people want their home designed, they hire specialists in building design. They hire architects. The engineers get called in afterward to sort out the details.

Homes on private property (even the mansions of Beverly Hills) are tiny and unimportant when compared to the massive amount of public property represented by our roads (the public right-of-way). Nobody leaves the design of their home solely up to engineers - so why are we leaving the design of our roads up to the engineers at the DOT?

We have a new planning director, Gail Goldberg, who has promised to "Do Real Planning". This should include planning for the largest and most significant public lands in the region - our roadways. We need urban planners leading the way on the Bicycle Master Plan!

Planners are trained to use public hearings to design for the needs of people. Engineers at the DOT only understand automobiles. Planners understand urban environments. DOT engineers only understand turning radii and "Average Daily Trips". We need planning in our roadways - not just "engineering".

Just like in construction projects, call in the engineers when we've decided how we want our streets to look and what we want our streets to do.

Engineers are very clever people - they were able to accommodate architect Frank Gehry's bold design of Disney Concert Hall downtown. I am sure the DOT's engineers will be able to accommodate our needs, after we've decided what we want our streets to look like. Anyway, most of the people I know are at least as approachable as a star architect.

When it comes to the Bicycle Plan my response is now: DOT, WTF?! We need planners!