South Bay Bicycle Conditions and Infrastructure

A tool to guide bike facilities planning across South Bay municipalities for an interconnected network of safe and protected bikeways

South Bay Bicycle Coalition+

Types of Bicycle Facilities

Examples of the four classifications of bicycle facilities are shown below.

From left to right: Class I, II, III and IV bikeways

Class I

Class II

Class III

Class IV

Description

Shared-use path

Bike lane

Bike route

Separated bikeway

Physically separated from car traffic?

Yes

No

No

Yes (except intersections)

On-street?

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Features

Dedicated of-street path

Painted lane May be buffered

Sharrows Signs

On-street lane/path with curb, barriers, planters, or other physical separators.

Class I and Class IV facilities offer the highest level of protection and encourage people " interested but concerned " about biking to ride their bike for their commute, next errand, or recreational activity. Class IV separated bikeways were introduced in California in 2018. This was after the South Bay Bicycle Master Plan was adopted in 2011. To learn more, see the  section below  on Class IV bikeways. The advent of Class IV bikeways provides an opportunity to introduce a higher level of protection and safety for bicycle riders with physical separation.

Data from the  South Bay Cities COG  shows that 70% of local trips are under 3 miles. With the rapid adoption of e-bikes, biking for transportation has become a viable and popular option for residents of all ages. However, people who ride bicycles are considered “vulnerable road users” due to the vast differences in speed, size, and protection compared to motor vehicles. Building a network of safe and connected bikeways with protection from vehicle traffic can increase bicycle mode share, reduce traffic and emissions, and improve safety and mobility for South Bay residents.

StoryMap

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Existing Class 1, 2 and 4 bicycle facilities in the South Bay are shown to the right.

  • Class I: bike path (off street)
  • Class II: painted bike lane (on-street)
  • Class III: bike route (sharrows) - not shown
  • Class IV: protected bikeway (on-street)

In 2011, the South Bay Bicycle Master Plan proposed the network of Class I and Class II bike paths/lanes shown in the dotted lines. In 2013, Carson adopted a similar plan.

LA County and LA Metro have more recently proposed a network of Class IV protected bike lanes that extends throughout the South Bay (pink dashed lines).

Since the South Bay Bicycle Master Plan was conceived in 2011 prior to the designation of Class IV protected bikeways in California (2018), the plan did not originally contain Class IV bikeways.

Due to the higher level of protection offered and greater ability to attract riders of all ages and abilities, the SBBC+ has updated the master plan network to call for Class IV in lieu of Class II when any of the following road conditions are present:

  • Motor vehicle speeds are 30 mph or greater
  • Roadway is multi-lane
  • On-street parking is present

This aligns with recent guidance from CalTrans ( DIB 89- 02) as well as with regional bike network plans from LA Metro and LA County which intersect and compliment the South Bay Bicycle Master Plan.

For more details on Class IV bikeways, see  below .

The proposed network compliments and increases the utility of the LA Metro rail and busway system by providing first/last-mile connections to stations. This expands the reach of bike network within and beyond the South Bay.

The proposed network also aims to provide safe routes to school. Class III bike routes (not shown) can supplement with wayfinding along smaller local roads for the beginning/end of a trip, though dedicated bike lanes on busy but direct streets are nonetheless needed to cover longer distances efficiently.

Considering the current bicycle infrastructure, there are many gaps, deserts, and lack of connectivity throughout and within cities.

Bicycle collisions in the South Bay cities and LA County unincorporated areas from 2018-2022 reported via SWITRS are shown in red dots.

Unsafe street conditions and lack of protected bicycle infrastructure make biking dangerous and deterred.

Many of the proposed routes from the various plans target high-injury corridors, and fill in gaps in the existing infrastructure.

Zoom in to explore specific regions on the map.

Collision data can also be visualized as a heatmap to identify hot spots that are particularly dangerous with concentrations of repeated collisions.

Examples of fatal collisions in the news:

City-specific collision data reports can be found  here  for further detail and trends.

Master Plan Update

As described above, the Class II lanes proposed in the  2011 South Bay Bicycle Master Plan  are now proposed to be Class IV protected bike lanes. This map supersedes the 2011 Plan and serves to provide a living Master Plan that:

  • Continually tracks progress and collects community input
  • Drives infrastructure improvements with policymakers
  • Aligns with regional bike network plans

Interactive Map

Browse the map in further detail below.

  • To add any suggestions, ideas, or feedback:
    • Click "Edit" in the sidebar below
    • Click "New Feature" to provide location-specific feedback by dropping a point, or "New Route" to draw a preferred bike lane route
    • Fill out the form and click "Create" to log your input.
    • Repeat as many times as desired.
  • Click the "Layers" tab to turn on/off visibility of different data
  • Click  here  to open the map in a new window.

The status and estimated completion attributes of each proposed infrastructure improvement will be updated in collaboration with local municipalities in the effort to track the build-out of a connected bike network throughout the South Bay.

SBBC Map Input

If you have other feedback that does not fit into the interactive map above, feel free to provide it in the form below.

SBBC+ Map Feedback

Class IV Bikeways

Class IV separated bikeways, also known as protected bike lanes, were introduced in California in 2018. These can be either two-way (on one side of the street) or one-way (on both sides).

Physical separation provides an increased level of safety by separating different-speed modes of transport (walking, biking/rolling, driving). This in turn increases bicycle mode share as a greater portion of the population feels safe riding their bike, and reduces collisions. See resources below.

Examples of physical separation include but are not limited to curbs, K-rail / Jersey barriers, bollards, planters, or parking.

Examples of Class IV bikeways

Resources:

Photo references:

Content compiled by Liam Walsh and Brianna Egan.