The anger towards implementing bike lanes is misdirected and unfounded. Why must it be car vs. bike? Like it or not, City Council has been “urbanizing” Santa Monica for years with no plans on curbing their current direction. With urbanization ultimately comes more and more traffic. The City is and continues to be built-out and we can understand the frustration of automobile congestion, but it seems to be a way of life in our “small” beach community these days. Our “local” community college now has a student enrollment of over 30,000 with most of their student population traveling to Santa Monica via car and bus – which are loud! Have you ever seen the intersections around SMC’s main campus (17th/20th & Pearl) during the first few weeks of a semester? So what is SMC’s antiquated and short-sighted answer to their uncapped student population: build more parking structures furthering their encroachment into the surrounding neighborhood. The frustration that people feel when sitting in traffic or paying hefty parking fees should be directed to the people who are in charge of planning the cityscape – not bicyclists. We should be welcoming bike lanes as an alternative method of transportation. Santa Monicans should be an example and exercise tolerance towards the people who have made the choice of getting around this congested beach community on bike rather than taking up space, natural resources, and adding to air and noise pollution, i.e., compounding the problem. Yes, we are a car culture, but our attitudes of transportation need to change. City Council needs to concentrate on expanding bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure now. It is a sign of our times. We are long-time residents that welcome the addition of more bike lanes and pedestrian friendly streets. We are tired of looking and listening at hurried angry traffic. City Council talks the talk of “greening” Santa Monica; now lets see if they can walk the walk.

Christopher and Laura Thixton
Santa Monica

cc: City Council