By Geoff Page
Usually, people judge politicians by the big picture stuff like convention centers and ball parks that they claim to have delivered. But, it is the little things that tell the real story. While they are dazzling everyone with the “big” accomplishments, they are quietly picking our pockets. Like $155,000 to count bicycles.
Former Assemblymember Lori Saldaña alerted this writer to the existence of a bike counter at the intersection of Pacific Highway and Beech Street. After having written about the bike counter disaster on 30th in some detail, the existence of another one was a surprise.
A visit to the site confirmed that a new counter was in place. It was a smaller, less impressive version of the one on 30th. The new one is so unobtrusive that Saldaña at first thought it was one of the new downtown digital advertising signs. It is doubtful that anyone has noticed the device because there is no obvious signage saying what it is.
The graffiti is pretty clear though.
Usually, equipment has a plate of some sort with information on it such as model number or serial number. The only information on this equipment was this small plate at the bottom.
Only info on the device
This equipment comes from France so it is possible they do not have the same labeling protocols as equipment here in the States.
The only other obvious physical installation, besides the cabinet, is traffic loops in the pavement.
Pavement loops
Small conduits underground connect the equipment to the city’s traffic signal power grid.
That’s it. A skinny cabinet and some wiring. $140,103. To count bicycle traffic.
The person who orchestrated the purchase and installation of the device, and the one on 30th, is Everett Hauser, Program Director for the Transportation Department, Todd Gloria’s hand-picked man to get bike lanes built, regardless of what the public actually wants. It’s not just the mayor draining our pond, it is a bunch of like-minded minions as well.
The figure above was just the equipment cost from the manufacturer. It cost an additional $15,510 to place the equipment. This work was added to an existing city street project by way of a change order. That figure seemed very high to this writer, a former construction estimator, for setting a pedestal, saw-cutting in pavement loops, and very little underground conduit.
The money to pay for this came from existing funds. $100,000 came from the TransNet fund and $40,103 came from the Infrastructure fund.
Despite a detailed Public Records Request, no information was provided detailing the justification for spending $155,000 on this counter or an explanation why this company was chosen and how. There are a multitude of companies that supply this kind of thing, some of which appear to be considerably less expensive.
The bike counter installations are either permanent or temporary. Guess which one is the most expensive, then guess what we have on Beech Street. Temporary installations, much like the ones that count traffic for short periods of time, are less expensive and do not require on-going maintenance.
The permanent installation does require maintenance to avoid the fate of some city-installed electric charging stations in Ocean Beach.
OB Charging Stations
Keeping graffiti off of city property is a maintenance issue. What happens if the cabinet is hit by a car? There are no bollards to protect some very expensive equipment that is exposed to traffic.
What is the purpose of an expensive bike counter? There is only one logical purpose, the city wants to defend its bike lane installation program. The city has touted the figures from the 30th St. counter to justify what it did there.
The 30th St. counter was a beta test by the manufacturer for a device that was supposed to count bikes and scooters. It proved unable to do so and the actual results have been proven unreliable. The French company that sold it to the city does not make a device that will do what that one was supposed to do. That has not stopped Hauser and the city trumpeting the figures from that machine to show what they did to 30th was a good thing.
In other words, the city is spending a lot of taxpayer money in an attempt to justify its own actions. It is not just the mayor that needs clearing out, it is also his collection of foot soldiers that needs to go.
This is the bike counter I go by on the days I bike to work.
Channel 8’s Bryan White and I stood by the counter on 30th. by the Union Bank, and watched the counter count 3 bikes when an armored vehicle pulled up to do their business with the bank. And that was early on. I told Everett about it, and his reply was, “we didn’t expect it to be perfect”, to which I replied if it’s not accurate numbers, then don’t quote them. Additionally, there were two businesses that had video cameras pointed towards 30th. and those numbers were very low for a count during the commuter time frame in a weekday morning. Plus three people sat in what is now Swami’s and physically counted them and those numbers are way less than the counter too. Actually, the most activity is summer evenings after people get off work, and the weekends. Point made is there is NOT a lot of cyclists/commuters using the bike lanes on 30th. to help the Climate Action Plan numbers. And whatever help the cyclists provide to lower those numbers is overwhelmed by the huge traffic jams on 30th., of idling traffic, which create more toxins in the air than vehicles traveling. If the City had done a CEQA like they were supposed to do, would be the only scientific way to prove the air quality was better or worse on 30th. and surrounding residential neighborhoods, but the City didn’t do one, per Everett Hauser, and none was produced in the lawsuit against the City. What the bike lanes did create is loss of 32 businesses on 30th., and I have pictures of them, which some have new tenents now, but there are still empty buildings. Larry Turner, mayoral candidate has said, he will do whatever he can, to relocate the bike lanes to a nearby quiet, wide, residential street, where no parking needs to be removed, and return the parking to 30th. St businesses. Larry Turner for Mayor!!!!
Great comment.
Good ol Stevo Cushman running a PAC for Toad TV money. Will they film some bike lanes and sexy streets?
From tackling the housing crisis to revitalizing infrastructure and supporting small businesses, Mayor Gloria has delivered real results for our City,” said Cushman.
As an example of Gloria’s leadership, Cushman cited an 82% reduction in homeless encampments downtown after passage of the Unsafe Camping Ordinance.
A question for those who know the politics of our bike lanes: When I drive Pershing Dr there are the brand new “one each direction” bike lanes on the east side of Pershing and one legacy bike lane on the west side of Pershing.
Question: Why didn’t the city eliminate the legacy bike lane and make Pershing wider for auto traffic? Pershing is so narrow for car traffic that they have cut the speed down from 45 mph to 25 mph.
I assume the reason the City has multiple bike lanes on Pershing, and Friars Rd, and on 6th Ave right next to the protected ones on 4th and 5th Ave is to be able to count them all to promote all the new bike lanes they built. They want to have the largest number of miles of bike lanes regardless of if it makes any sense or makes bike riding safer. The insanity is that they promote the need for protected bike lanes but then built unprotected ones right next to the protected ones.
I don’t know about the “politics” of the Pershing bike lanes, but from my understanding (from talking to others) is that the west side bike lane was kept in place for two reasons. One, those heading south if they want to ride downhill faster than they would on the protected two way lane on the east side can opt to do so. The 2nd reason is that’s the better way to go if they are going to turn right on Florida. To me that makes sense, but again that’s just what I was told from talking to people (I don’t have a link to back that up).
There is an added safety factor to narrow lanes for cars as a traffic calming measure. People drive slower when the road is not as wide. This makes it safer for pedestrians as well and is more pleasant than speed bumps or stop signs that work against fuel efficiency and/ or degrade steering alignments.
I wonder comparatively how much we spend on automotive infrastructure. There is no contest with space and resources dedicated to automobiles vs bikes. Many thoughtful bike lanes do not connect in order to maintain so much room for cars. W. Pt. Loma Blvd west of the slough is a perfect example: 7 lanes dedicated to cars while the bike lanes disappears for a few hundred dangerous feet making this route essentially useless due to safety concerns.
Kickbacks ?
Or just plain dumb ?
Ojos Azul, Pershing is a SANDAG project. Their mobility guy Kris K??? lived/lives in North Park and Everett Hauser who at the time, lived in North Park, plus Colin Parent the bike guru in LaMesa, also Prez. of the Bike Coalition, now running for a state political seat, has had his hands in the bike lanes big time. It seems to me, those pushing the removing of parking to install way underused bike lanes convinced the powers that be, it would be a good thing… build it and they will come mentality, but it hasn’t. Side note; In 2019 when I was gathering petitions, some of the bar owners said the bike crowd comes in during football season, watches games all day and drinks 2 beers. I totally understand, several people like to ride bikes, and more do on the weekends, but they didn’t have to take away the business parking to install some very expensive bike lanes, with a pricey grade of asphalt to make their ride “softer”, per a City traffic engineer.
Frank F. The reason cyclists don’t have to ride in the bike lanes on 30th. per Everette Hauser is because the bike lanes are too slow and to ride in the traffic, so long as a cyclist can travel the speed limit it’s ok for them to ride in traffic lanes. I assume the same would be for Pershing. The cyclists that like to ride fast, in the southbound lane, can do so, without having to dodge joggers, skateboarders, slower cyclists, walkers. I predict a serious accident at the bottom of the Pershing hill with a fast cyclist and vehicle. That’s one steep hill….
Thanks Pats….that explanation could only come from a bureaucrat. Let’s build an expensive two way bike lane, but narrow the auto lanes down to accommodate another bike lane for the boys who like to speed on two wheels.
BTW I just noticed the same configuration on Friars Road just east of the Mission Valley YMCA.
From now on when the city says they want a two direction bike lane in your neighborhood, watch out, what that really means is they are going to make a bonus lane for the fast guys.
And ya, at the bottom of Pershing the fast boys aren’t going to cross diagonally and use the new bike bridge, they’l blow through the Florida intersection and get t-boned by navy traffic leaving the hospital. Oye vey.
Hauser come to Clairemont Planning Group pre Covid.
He plans to install more bike lanes on Clairemont Drive when Pure Water is done.
Check out the broken delineators on Balboa which have been replaced three times.
Clowncil member could care less about this and infestation of ADUs in her district.
Toadville grows.
I take particular exception to relocating blue placard parking.
It will be impossible to do this with four spots on Clairemont Drive.
I find the high handed, arrogant dismissal of an accessible path of travel to be legally questionable.
But when did Toad and his henchmen care ?
The city places traffic counters all over the city on a regular basis. Traffic counts are not needed 24/7 forever.
Why not just count the bike like cars with a rubber counter across the lane for a week or two? What a waste of money. Todd claims he’s gotten $1 billion in grants, but still wants another $400 million annually for streets that will be spent however he wants. Toss this guy.
Also toss the vast number of Todd Squad payroll leeches whom he has added.
Is it true that TG actually took a junket to escort pandas ?
And has missed most Sandag meetings which he is supposed to attend ?
Mayor Gloria’s insistence on the installation of bike lanes on 30th street, in the Convoy district, on Gold Coast drive, and elsewhere despite public opposition, ought to tell any potential voter exactly what he thinks about your opinion. Gloria is not interesting in helping the average citizen of San Diego reduce their cost of living, improve road conditions to ease traffic congestion, or anything else that would improve the overall experience of living in San Diego. Instead, he supports big money developers, special interest groups and party localists. Why would he support those people? They are the ones supporting him. It’s time for change at City Hall. Be sure to vote this November!
What is the purpose of an expensive bike counter? There is only one logical purpose, the city wants to defend its bike lane installation program. The city has touted the figures from the 30th St. counter to justify what it did there.
The pandas arrived about two months prior to Gloria going to China. I LOL when I read the two stories. In my opinion it was all about getting his name in the news twice.