It’s Green on the Ground Week, and we’re featuring green bike lanes and infrastructure across L.A. County. Today Kayla Kaiser, Founder and Board Member of Bikecar101, writes about the protected bike lanes as part of the L.A. Great Streets project along Reseda Blvd. in Northridge.
Kayla Kaiser
I’ve had an eco-friendly lifestyle during my Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD studies. I have lived less than 2 miles from school along bike lanes that connect my residence to campus, carefully considering transit corridors (campus shuttle or public bus routes) for rainy days. In Summer 2011, my husband started working at CSUN and I was hired at Claremont. We moved to Glendale so that the 60-mile distance was split 20/40.
The heartbreaking drives to Claremont and Northridge lasted two years. I started teaching at CSUN in Summer 2013 to resume a bike-centered commute. We took advantage of the Metrolink Ventura County line connecting Glendale to Northridge. We bring our bicycles on the train, then bike 2 miles on either end of the train commutes. We started a nonprofit organization called Bikecar101, which helped secure a bicycle car for every Metrolink train.
In Summer 2015 the green bike lanes opened along Reseda. We adjusted our route to take advantage of them. We see more happy cyclists now. When I buy groceries at Von’s on Reseda, I use bicycle panniers to haul the food to campus. The bike lane also connects us to Domestique Cycles and Cycle World Bicycles for repairs, in cases where the Matador Bike Shop is not open.
We’re finally moving to Northridge this month! We found a condominium just off Reseda, less than 1 mile from CSUN campus. We will take the green bike lanes to work every day and ride with San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club on weekends. This means everything! I will once again have a more eco-friendly lifestyle by eliminating the need for car, bus, and train.