I've been biking to work in Los Angeles for ten years and it's surely been one of my best life hacks ever (to the point where access to biking infrastructure has been a primary consideration when buying my house).
I've been biking to work in Los Angeles for ten years and it's surely been one of my best life hacks ever (to the point where access to biking infrastructure has been a primary consideration when buying my house).
I know a bike mechanic who commutes by bicycle (of course) in a city. I brought up bike infrastructure and they said they don't need much: side streets that are too slow for cars going any distance are perfect 'bike lanes' - either there are no cars or it's one lane of slow cars and the bike fits in fine. All they need to do is figure out a route, but usually they can find their way the first time without a map.
LA is notoriously car-oriented, but is it different in that respect?
Side streets are often designed specifically to make thru traffic difficult. They have dead ends, weird routes, etc.
But yeah, when you can find an empty/slow side street it’s hundreds of times better than a bike lane right next to high speed traffic and cars cutting you off.