LADOT's Commitment to the COVID-19 Recovery
With Memorial Day around the corner — and with it the unofficial start of summer — LADOT remains committed to ensuring the health and safety of all city residents and visitors as they travel around our beautiful city during the summer months. As Los Angeles continues to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, LADOT will continue its support of public health measures, programs that promote transit accessibility, and projects that facilitate safe street environments.
Supporting the city’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts, LADOT continues to administer traffic management and provide traffic officers at city vaccination sites, ensuring proper vehicle ingress and egress for visitors. Since deploying last year, LADOT traffic officers have provided nearly 19,000 hours of assistance at public COVID-19 testing facilities, and approximately 8,400 hours of assistance at vaccination sites.
To celebrate National Bike Month — and to provide Angelenos with additional active transportation options as we head into the summer — LADOT joined L.A. Metro earlier this month to mark the relaunch of the Metro Bike Share program in west Los Angeles. With the reinstallation of 54 Bike Share stations across Los Angeles’ Westside region, the program resumes after a temporary cessation to allow for the reconfiguration of which bicycle types are available for public use. In addition to the 54 reopened stations, 13 new Bike Share locations are slated for installation in the near future. Combined, the 67 stations will help improve the coverage area for Westside bike share customers, and will improve connectivity between the Westside, downtown L.A. and Central L.A. bike share service areas moving forward. Currently, the Metro Bike Share program includes 209 stations and a fleet of 1,500 bicycles.
To support new and innovative mobility options, LADOT joined City Council District 11 Councilmember Mike Bonin, Jamie Keeton of the West LA-Sawtelle Neighborhood Council, and others in the Sawtelle neighborhood last month to mark the commencement of a new free-floating carshare service now available in west Los Angeles. Operated by Mocean, a Hyundai sponsored mobility startup, the new low-emission hybrid-electric carshare fleet in west L.A. joins the already extant fleets that the company operates in downtown Los Angeles, Highland Park, and Eagle Rock. Currently, Mocean is the only free-floating carshare service in Los Angeles, and aims to provide an affordable and accessible transportation option for Angelenos.
To help local businesses as they navigate the health precautions necessitated by COVID-19, LADOT continues to support L.A. Al Fresco, an outdoor dining program that allows businesses to expand dining areas into parking lanes, driving lanes, and adjacent private lots to encourage safe physical distancing for customers. Since the launch of L.A. Al Fresco, the program has enrolled 2,534 restaurants as participants, including 1,528 approvals for sidewalk dining zones, 1,775 approvals for private property dining zones, 133 curbside dining installations, and 70 participating restaurants operating in 17 street lane closures.
To encourage safe outdoor recreational areas, LADOT continues to support Safe Streets L.A., a program that allows for neighborhood streets to be closed to non-local traffic while increasing safety for those who walk, jog, bike, and roll. Since May 2020, LADOT has administered more than 50 miles of slow streets in 30 neighborhoods.
For more information about LADOT's COVID-19 response, please visit ladot.lacity.org/coronavirus.
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LADOT Hosts Exposition Bike Path Webinar
LADOT is currently working to construct a new bikeway north of I-10 between Motor Avenue and Overland Avenue. This project aims to close the existing gap in the Expo Bike Path, completing a continuous bikeway that runs roughly parallel to the Metro E (Expo) Line from Culver City to Santa Monica. Earlier this month, to inform members of the public about this project, LADOT hosted an online informational session, the video of which is now available on the department’s YouTube channel and may be accessed by clicking here.
For additional information about the Northvale segment of the Exposition Bike Path, click here to visit the LADOT Livable Streets project page.
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Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
During the month of May, LADOT is commemorating Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month each week by highlighting the neighborhoods across Los Angeles that mark and celebrate the cultural heritage of AAPI Angelenos in our city.
Little Tokyo
One of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Little Tokyo represents a 136-year-old community where Angelenos may celebrate the contributions of many generations of Japanese Americans. One of the city's most vibrant cultural hubs, Little Tokyo endures as an exciting and entertaining destination in downtown Los Angeles for residents and visitors alike.
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LADOT Wants to Hear From You!
Following a review of crash data, Lincoln Blvd. was ranked 11th for severe and fatal traffic collisions in the City of Los Angeles. The city has plans to make it safer, focusing on the portion between Venice Blvd. and the Santa Monica border, and we want to hear from you. Please click here to take the Lincoln Fast Forward project survey, which runs through the end of this week.
For more information about Lincoln Fast Forward, click here.
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This Week in Photos:
LADOT crews installed new red thermoplastic bus lane markers on Wilshire Boulevard this past week to test the effectiveness of this feature in alerting motorists about the placement of bus lanes. If successful, the thermoplastic markings will represent a more cost effective safety feature while also being easier to install than comprehensive lane painting.
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Recent LADOT retiree Ray Lau describes the final project he worked on before embarking on life's next chapter. Thank you for a lifetime of service. Ride on, Ray!
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The LADOT Weekly Brief Newsletter
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