UCLA Bicycle Academy: December 2013

Monday, December 9, 2013

Letter by Professor Olga Yokoyama

After our recent conversation with Vice Chancellor Parker, Professor Yokohama, a long-time bicycle commuter, added her own voice to the concerns raised last month. Her letter encourages the University to address the many challenges and barriers faced by cyclists approaching the campus. With the Expo Line coming in 2015, the Chancellor for Government and Community Relations appreciates hearing from the campus community and to learn that bicycle infrastructure surrounding the campus is fast moving up the agenda. Please add your own voice and share your letters with us.

Dear Director Brannon and Vice Chancellor Parker:

I write to you in support of the bicyclers among the UCLA community. I daily ride a bicycle to work and daily I think how nice it would be if bicycle riding culture spread in the US. It is healthy, it is “green”, it saves money and, often, it even saves time. I hope the university supports it in deed, not just in word, just as the university has finally embraced a no smoking policy. Please consider doing the right thing!

This past summer, I found a picture of a lovely graying cyclist couple on the cover of one of UCLA Health Care pamphlets and called the editors of this publication to tell them that those idyllic pictures are very nice but the whole campus, including the Medical plaza, has insufficient bike parking spots. It took me several calls and many pushed buttons to get to talk to people who were willing to listen. But it still didn’t get me anywhere, because the brochure turned out to be outsourced. The obvious incongruence (not to say hypocrisy) of such pictures does not ring a bell with those nice folks who design promotional brochures and posters. So the university’s one hand does not know what the other hand is doing: championing healthy bike riding, on the one hand, and making bike riding dangerous and uninviting, on the other, are two contradictory stances that the university’s administration routinely takes, not realizing that they are contradictory. Please give some consideration in your busy schedule to the ways in which bicycling culture can be supported at UCLA, and find a place in your admittedly tight budgets to support bike riding.

Sincerely,

Olga T. Yokoyama

Distinguished Professor

Department of Applied Linguistics

University of California, Los Angeles

Tel. (310) 825-7694

Fax (310) 206-4118

http://www.appling.ucla.edu

Our Board

Phillip Bonacich (President) is emeritus professor of sociology with an interest in the economy of power in groups. He is a long time bicycle commuter and his daughter, Cory Caletti, is a senior transportation planner and bicycle program manager for the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission. Phillip cycles from Mar Vista.
Michael Cahn (Secretary) has "invented" the Bicycle Academy in 2008. He occasionally teaches a class on the history of transportation for the history department. He is a former board member of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and previously served as secretary of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign. He runs a secondhand bookshop in Cambridge (UK). He cycles from Santa Monica.
Jack Katz (Director) is professor of sociology with an interest in video documentation of the interactions of cycling in urban traffic. He would like to work with others to evaluate local candidates for political office for their track record on cycling issues. He picked up a 20$ bike at a garage sale on the way back from the car repair place 15 years ago, and would never be without one since. In the morning, he puts the bike on the 20 / 720 bus near Koreatown, and enjoys the ride back from campus.
Michael Manville (Director) is a professor of Urban Planning at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. He rides to campus from West Hollywood. Lucky him, he says he has been able to avoid for car commute for most of the positions he has held in the past. He is an active participant in regional planning issues and contributes to legislative initiatives on housing and transport.
Suzanne Paulson (Director) is a professor of Atmospheric & Oceanic Science and at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. She rides to campus from Sunset Park in Santa Monica on a quality steel bike. She has cycling company on her commute because her son Ry attends Geffen Academy on campus. He likes to use her panniers to transport his books to school.
Alex Purves (Director) is an Associate Professor of Classics at UCLA. She bicycles to campus from Santa Monica and also cycles with son to his elementary school. She is currently writing a book on Homer, who knew neither bicycles nor cars, but who did sing of the odd collision between chariots and pedestrians.
David Williams (Director) is a professor of Ophthalmology and Neurobiology at UCLA. He does research and teaches on the retina, and would like to see more motorists using their retina to view the road rather than their smart phones. He cycles in Westwood, but prefers places where there are fewer motor vehicles.

Purpose and Membership

The purpose of the UCLA Bicycle Academy is to improve conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians at UCLA. The Academy will
* Advocate for bicyclists’ and pedestrians’ interest on UCLA facilities
* Work with the campus and agencies and communities surrounding the campus in order to improve bicycle and pedestrian access to campus.
* Host social and educational events with a focus on bicycle/pedestrian issues related to UCLA.
Membership is open to current or former staff or faculty or visiting scholars of UCLA. Partners and family members of the above are also eligible as members. Students are welcome to all our functions.

UCLA Bicycle Academy

Monday, December 9, 2013

Letter by Professor Olga Yokoyama

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