UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies

In 2016, the City of Los Angeles Planning Commission produced the Mobility Plan 2035, an element of the General Plan, which includes bicycle path projects. The city of Los Angeles has struggled to implement the Green Network (Class I Bicycle Path Network) included in the Mobility Plan 2035 and disproportionately distributes cycling infrastructure and green space to more affluent, White neighborhoods. This project aims to answer two research questions: What is the state of existing bicycle path infrastructure in the city of Los Angeles? Given the city’s goals and plans related to bicycle path infrastructure, how should the agency prioritize projects? To answer these questions, I draw on other infrastructure prioritization models and the goals of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) to develop a model for prioritizing projects. The model most heavily weights the Equity, Safety, and Network Expansion aspects of projects. It also prioritizes bicycle path segments that would score well on competitive state grants such as the Caltrans Active Transportation Program. The final weighted model better prioritized bicycle path segments crossing through census tracts with high Equity Index scores. Even with this priority, the bicycle path segments with priority scores in the top quintile are still evenly distributed across the city of Los Angeles.This modeling effort highlights the importance of translating the city’s goals into quantifiable measures that provide LADOT with the information necessary to strategically prioritize its infrastructure investments. To improve future prioritization models, I recommend that LADOT focus on collaborating with other departments and community stakeholders to better understand each path segment, including cost-benefit analyses as part of the planning process, and expanding this modeling effort to other assets included in LADOT’s Capital Infrastructure Plan.