The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition held a spirited, enlightening and well-attended press conference Thursday at The Used Bike Co. (535 W. 27th St. near Adams and Figueroa), owned by Charles Lee, which has benefited from the MTA strike.

“Business is booming!” the bike shop owner beamed.

But new bike commuters face more than just the task of propelling themselves to and from work--they face a veritable minefield of obstacles. Chris McCarthy, bus-commuter turned bike-commuter, explained, “I’ve had a difficult time finding bike lanes and connecting routes to school!”

If there’s any confusion over whether the MTA or the union is to blame for forcing him off the bus, it’s the MTA alone that’s responsible for the lack of interconnected bike routes that make his new commute a lot more unpleasant and dangerous than it ought to be.

Just as the MTA shortchanges bus-riders and bus-drivers for the sake of far more expensive, less transit-efficient, but politically-connected rail projects, so too, it shortchanges bike-riders. Traditionally, the MTA allocates just 1% of their budget to bicycle projects, despite the fact that more than 1% of trips are made by bikes, even in today’s fairly bike-hostile environment.

Bicycles are healthy, non-polluting and extremely cost-effective--all of which points to an incredible growth potential if the MTA would do its part to make bike commuting more feasible, as Ron Milam, Executive Director of the LA County Bicycle Coalition, called on it to do: “The MTA must do a better job of funding a network of interconnected bike lanes and paths to make bicycling a viable commuting option countywide.”

Bicycles also have what economists call “positive externalities”: combined with a well-run transit system, more people bicycling means less congestion, better air quality and a better quality of life for everyone.

The Bicycle Coalition called on the MTA to increase bicycle funding to $25 million per year, but there’s much more to their agenda than just increased funding. Specifically, the Coalition has a 6-point “Action Agenda” for the MTA and SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments):

1. Accommodate bicycles on all roadway projects.

2. Require maximum integration of bicycles into all transit facilities.

3. Make bicycles a policy priority in the MTA Long Range Transportation Plan and the SCAG Regional Transportation Plan.

4. Develop pervasive, well-promoted cycling skills training programs.

5. Develop strategies for promoting cycling as transportation.

6. Include cycling transportation experts on all relevant MTA and SCAG committees and sub-committees.

As the transit strike grinds on, and Chris McCarthy dodges traffic biking to and from school, Mayor Riordan remains AWOL on a bike trip through Southern France, his second European vacation in a month. Perhaps if the LA County Bicyle Coalition gets its way, in 20 years the mayors of Marsailles and Nice will spend their vactions bicycling around Los Angeles just to get away from it all.

But for now, the press conference was followed by a demonstration bike ride through two major congested streets (Figueroa and Adams) without bike lanes, over the gridlocked 110 freeway, and then onto Hoover St., a great--and too rare--example of a street with bike lanes.

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The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is a membership-based non-profit organization working to improve the cycling environment in LA County. Individuals interested in helping with this work are encouraged to contact the group.