Three Years Later, is SM's Bike Action Plan Working?

In November 2011, the Santa Monica City Council unanimously - and enthusiastically - adopted the Bike Action Plan (BAP), an ambitious 300-page document that seeks to transform the bayside city into one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country.

The BAP, the culmination of years of work by City Planning staff, local bike advocates, and residents, contains in its pages a 20 year vision to bring Santa Monica to the forefront of active transportation. While the BAP contains plans for dozens of miles of bike lanes, sharerows, and other road improvements, it also lays out a robust strategy to increase bike visibility and safety through education.

"People want a little bit of Copenhagen here by the sea," Lucy Dyke, the City's deputy director of special projects, told the crowd gathered in November at Santa Monica Spoke's celebration of the third anniversary of the BAP's approval.

The goal: to get more people out of their cars and on to bikes - the BAP sets a target of getting Santa Monicans to take 14 to 35 percent of all their trips on bicycles by 2030 – by making active transportation a safe, comfortable, and convenient option in the bayside city.

So, three years later, is the BAP working? The short answer is, yes, but there is more work to be done.