Could LA become a new Amsterdam for bikes?

If you’ve ever been to Los Angeles, you’ll know it’s all about the car. “It is the perfect community for runners and cycling and outdoors, yet as a generality we are hooked on our vehicles, we are hooked on the need to have speed,” Damian Kevitt, the executive director of Streets Are For Everyone Safe told the BBC.

And despite the warm weather, only a few per cent actually use their bikes to commute–and 7 per cent use transit. The sprawl and gridlock in LA is legendary, and it’s no wonder.

However, with the 2028 Olympics coming to the City of Angels, politicians are hoping to change that.

The rush to change by 2028

The Twenty-eight by ’28 initiative, launched by former Mayor Eric Garcetti, aims for the City of Los Angeles to complete 28 transportation infrastructure projects before the start of the 2028 Summer Olympics on July 14, 2028, followed by the 2028 Summer Paralympics right after. The projects, which were voted in by the majority of those in LA, include both added transit–and bike lanes. The goal is to radically alter Angelenos’ and visitors’ reliance on cars to get around the city. This is not the first time that a host city has implemented more bike lanes before a Games. Both London and Paris added miles of lanes–and were for the most part, well received. The French capital, notably, saw a sharp increase: a whopping 50 per cent from 2002 to 2022.

But not everyone who lives in the city thinks it’s feasible. “That’s a wonderful dream,” Shivon Ozinga, who lives in Burbank and disagrees with the added infrastructure, said. “I can’t imagine it happening in that short amount of time given our car culture here.”

How the Danes and the Dutch did it

When you think of some of the bike lane utopias in the world, cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen may come to mind. But both places weren’t always cycling havens. In Amsterdam, for example, every household owns almost two bikes per household, and the city is full of almost endless bike paths, parking garages for bikes, and infrastructure. In Copenhagen, more than half its residents commute by bike, a staggering figure.

But both cities weren’t always like this. It took initiatives and public and political will to affect change. Amsterdam’s transformation into a cycling haven is the result of deliberate urban planning and public advocacy.

Citizens made demands for better safety

In the mid-20th century, the city experienced a surge in car ownership, leading to increased traffic congestion and safety concerns. This prompted citizens to demand safer streets, culminating in the “Stop de Kindermoord” (“Stop the Child Murder”) movement in the 1970s, which advocated for safer streets for children. Deaths by driver collision peaked at over 3,200 annually during a time when The Netherlands was recovering from World War II. The surge in cars, trucks, mopeds, and scooters led to crashes, often killing cyclists, pedestrians, and children. Despite this, politicians and planners, with public support or indifference, pushed for even more vehicles on the road.

The 2028 LA Olympics are conflicting with the Tour de France

After much public outcry, in response, the city implemented policies to restrict car access and prioritize bicycles, including the creation of dedicated bike lanes and traffic-calmed streets. These measures, combined with a flat terrain and compact city layout, made cycling an attractive and practical mode of transportation.

The roads were rotten in Denmark

A similar situation occurred in Copenhagen, but for different reasons. In the 1960s, as car ownership grew in Denmark, bicycles faced the threat of being displaced, especially in cities like Copenhagen. However, the oil crisis, environmental concerns, and public protests against controversial urban projects in the 1970s helped reverse this trend. Bicycles, which had become symbols of freedom and mobility in the late 1800s, were re-embraced as part of a cultural movement to combat traffic congestion and pollution. By the 1980s, urban planning began prioritizing bicycles alongside cars and public transport, leading to the development of extensive cycle lanes and infrastructure. Today, cycling in Denmark is a lifestyle choice tied to health, sustainability, and positive social values. Cities like Copenhagen, Århus, and Odense have continued to promote cycling through branding campaigns, making it an integral part of daily life.

California dreamin’?

It may sound like a pipe dream, then, but imagine if Angelenos took a similar approach? The weather in both cities compared to La La Land is hardly favourable. Denmark, notably, can have some rainy winters (or summers) and Amsterdam is known for some blustery days on the bike. And yet, cycling culture has thrived there. In fact, given the reputation of those in LA to be big on health, more locals commuting to and from work would fit in well with its fitness culture.

Two key projects in LA as part of the program are aimed at enhancing cycling and transportation in the city. The LA River Path will create a new corridor for walking, biking, and rolling, improving access to community destinations and opportunities. Additionally, the Rail to Rail Pedestrian/Bike Path is underway, linking South LA and Inglewood to transit, jobs, schools, and more. This new network will connect the K Line Fairview Heights Station and A Line Slauson Station with bike and walking paths.

All in all, there are over 160 km of bike lanes planned. Many are still concerned that the goals have been too ambitious. Originally, both the transit companies and Mayor Bass touted the games as “car-free,” only to walk it back as “transit-first” after receiving flak from locals. Old habits die hard, so it may be a fanciful notion for LA to become as transit and bike-friendly as Copenhagen and Amsterdam–but any sort of improvements to infrastructure would be a massive improvement. With the increasing levels of pollution and relentless gridlock, something is better than nothing.