Measure HLA Wins in Huge Victory for Los Angeles Safe Streets

The best bike plan on paper is worth nothing unless it’s implemented. Los Angeles has put in only 5% of the bike improvements in the plan it adopted in 2015. “Since 2019, when I started Streets for All, we have been asking, pleading, and demanding that the city adhere to its bike plan,” Streets for All founder Michael Schneider told CalBike. 

So Streets for All turned that frustration into action, which culminated in putting Measure HLA on the ballot. The measure will require LA to add improvements for people biking and walking when it repaves a street. 

Victory for HLA wasn’t a given, especially in a large city like Los Angeles. Streets for All raised $1 million to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot and another $3 million in the campaign to pass it in the March vote. Streets for All is going to make its template for winning this measure public, so groups in other cities can pass similar measures. The Complete Streets Bill, SB 960, which CalBike and our allies, including Streets for All, are campaigning for this year, would require similar changes on Caltrans-controlled roadways.

Schneider has written a detailed and informative account of everything Streets for All did to win this campaign on Medium. 

The result was a resounding victory for Complete Streets and active transportation in LA, as the measure passed by a wide margin with about two-thirds of the vote. “It’s so heartwarming. I don’t feel alone anymore,” Schneider said. “It’s kind of corny, but I feel endeared to my fellow citizens, who aren’t as car-brained as everyone assumed they would be.”

When asked if he thinks this vote represents a sea change in how Angelenos and their elected leaders view mobility in their city, Schneider noted that it remained to be seen whether people will support changes to street configurations in their neighborhoods as opposed to the city in general. 

But, he noted, “In the places where these kinds of measures have been put to a vote, they are always really popular.” The loud voice at the community meeting complaining about a new bikeway doesn’t represent the majority view. 

And while LA isn’t about to become a biking utopia, Schneider notes that neighboring cities like Santa Monica and Culver City are showing that it’s possible to create bikeable, walkable neighborhoods in the LA region. “I think what this vote shows is when people go to more walkable, bikeable areas, they really like it,” he said.

Schneider hopes the success of HLA inspires advocates in other cities. Someone on Nextdoor — the place he went to eavesdrop on the opposition — expressed a concern that HLA would be “contagious.” “We hope it becomes contagious,” he said.

Bike champions will be on the ballot in November

Electing bike-friendly leaders in local and state government is one of the best ways to ensure more victories like HLA. Five of the eight Assembly and Senate candidates CalBike endorsed will make it to the runoff, and a sixth is currently in second place by a small margin, which is a huge win for bike champions in Sacramento.

In California’s nonpartisan primary, the two candidates with the top vote tallies advance to the November ballot, regardless of party affiliation. Two of CalBike’s endorsed candidates didn’t get enough votes to make the top two for the November ballot: Jed Leano in Assembly District (AD) 41 and Javier Hernandez in AD 53. 

In AD 58, Clarissa Cervantes is in second place, less than 100 votes ahead of the third-place candidate. Second place hasn’t been called in that race.

We’re happy to report that the six other candidates we endorsed are either leading their districts or comfortably in second place and headed for the November ballot.

AD 50: Robert Garcia 

AD 52: Jessica Caloza 

AD 57: Sade Elhawary 

AD 79: Colin Parent 

SD 25: Sasha Rénee Pérez

Thank you to everyone who biked the vote!