Do you know how, when you hear a word for the first time all of a sudden you hear it all over the place? That’s exactly what happened to me with the word Ciclovia. What a great word. With Colombian origins it has morphed into a word to describe the closing of a street to automobiles and designating a bicycle route. It is an event, perhaps in right minds a way of life!
Wikikpedia describes it in this way:
Each Sunday and holiday the main streets of Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, and other municipalities, …

A lot of  LA commuters spend 2 to 3 hours a day more or less sitting in traffic. It’s no wonder we all don’t have road rage. Road rage comes from a kernel of truth. A feeling that a violation has been done to you, and that there is no justice. Plus that person that just cut you off  has the nerve to drive off with his arm sticking out of the window, and displaying a rude hand gesture. And to top it off, this guy actually has a big smile on …

A new traffic help line has launched, and if it plays out as good as it is described to be -it will be great new way to check the traffic and then some.
A new telephone and web service, which will debut in a “test mode” on Monday, will include an automated 511 telephone number and a website, Go511.com, said Jose Ubaldo of Metro.
During testing, users can give feedback to improve the system. Both the telephone and the Internet connections have prompts for feedback, …

What a treat! KCRW’s  David Kleinbart got much more that he bargained for when he and his wife went to Santa Anita for the horse races! David writes…

Fab Fairlanes… boss Bel-Airs… magnificent Mercs…
As I write this, Weekend Edition Sunday’s Liane Hansen is playing a clip from Commander Cody’s “Hot Rod Lincoln.”  How fitting!
Connie and I joined some friends at Santa Anita last Sunday, unaware that all the usual horse power would be augmented by a show featuring horsepower of a different kind.  I brought my …

One of my favorite things about working at KCRW are the people. The listening audience and the people I work with. Everyday I learn something new. I was talking with Anil, he’s our web master extraordinaire! He is a cyclist, and he’s very talented. We were talking about the blog, and how much traffic impacts our lives. He turned me onto essayist D.J.Waldie. Very cool. Anil used to work at KCET, while there, he worked on a short video production that is OUTSTANDING. A beautiful piece, and right up my alley! …

Take, for example, how it can nurture comradery at work – water cooler chat if you will.   “Were you on the 405 today? Wasn’t it the worst!?” Bam! With that one question people have something in common, and within seconds, people are sharing their recent traffic woes. Also, traffic can give you a great excuse. “Sorry I’m late, babe, traffic was a nightmare.” You weren’t even in traffic. Admit it, you stayed at the sports bar until the game was over. Here’s the thing though, you must be careful …

Pledge drive over and finally we can get back to normal? Wait a minute, what’s up with all this weather? Have you noticed? There is a lot less news. Even NPR contacted their affiliate stations to say that, due to the winter snow storms on the east coast…”there is a lot less news.”
What do the winter snow storms on the east coast  have to do with the rain storms in California other than the El Nino connection? From the inability for trucks to drive up and deliver fuel and food to Big …

Ah yes, the very inspiration for this blog. I started worrying about the west side commuter the very first moment that I heard about the “Sepulveda Pass Project”.
All I thought about was how will they get through this massive  3-year construction for the 405? I knew about the typical alternates, Sepulveda Blvd…forget about that one, it too will be bummer to bummer. There’s Beverly Glen, a scenic but already a slow drive. I mostly take PCH, but one accident in either direction and both sides are at a standstill for …