Candidate Questionnaire 2026

West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition Candidate Questionnaire
West Hollywood City Council Election — Tuesday, November 3, 2026

On Tuesday, November 3^rd, West Hollywood voters will head to the polls to decide two of the City Council’s five seats. The seats are “at large”, meaning each council member represents the entire city.

The West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition crafted a questionnaire and sent it to 12 candidates for whom we have contact information. The completed questionnaires are linked to below, in alphabetical order.

As a chapter of a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, we cannot endorse candidates, but we hope you find this information helpful as you educate yourselves about the candidates.

For information about voting, please visit the City’s Election Information page.

Completed questionnaires:

Larry Block
Kyle Brazeal
Chelsea Byers
Jonathan Cottrell
Helen Krieger
Stephen Post

We have not yet received responses from the following candidates:

Kody Christiansen
Tom Demille
John Duran
Kevin L. Ligon
Tatyana Tsikanovsky
Jöel Zaldívar

Larry Block Responses

1. What mode(s) of transportation do you use, and why?

I drive an electric golf cart that is street legal and can get up to 25 mph on a good day. The transition from an automobile – this is classified under insurance as an electric motorcycle – was due to my vision impairment. I’m blind in one eye, and have imperfect vision in the other.

2. Would (or do) you feel safe biking and/or using an e-scooter as a primary mode of transportation for short and medium-length trips? Why or why not?

In many ways my cart is similar to an electric bike and fits in the bike lane. Yes, I feel safe in my cart, and I’m toe to toe with each biker, at every light, and subject to the elements of the road. Generally, I would feel safe, – do feel safe – on the road for short or medium trips. My boundaries are 95% within the limits of West Hollywood and it feels safer in WeHo than when I travel outside of WeHo on Los Angeles streets and roads.

3. What do you think the city should do to improve safety and convenience of bicycling (and other micromobility) in West Hollywood? Is there anywhere you feel the city should add bike lanes, greenways (streets with traffic calming features such as traffic circles), and/or protections (physical separations from cars, such as bollards or concrete curbs) to existing or new bike lanes?

At this point I think the city is very attentive to bicycle safety and all micromobility. At times it feels like the city has embraced all the newer modes leaving behind the old fashioned pedestrian who might need to use the sidewalk, or a person with disabilities facing new sidewalk challenges. I favor traffic calming measures where appropriate. The city plan is a patchwork of bike lanes rather than a clear thoughtful plan to get from the east side to the west side of WeHo on one clear route.

4. What are your thoughts on West Hollywood’s Target Vision Zero Plan, which aims to create complete streets to reduce collisions between vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, scooter riders, and other road users?

Years ago, after the death of Clint Bounds on Santa Monica Blvd., I founded a group called CrossSafe WeHo which led to the re-design of Santa Monica Blvd from San Vicente to La Cienega, and Target Vision Zero was founded. It is an aspiration. We can get there.

5. What do you think the city should do to promote and/or incentivize alternatives to driving, such as bikes, scooters, and walking, in West Hollywood?

It is very difficult for a city to change the behavior of individuals who are living their lives, doing their jobs, bringing up kids. The only thing the city can do is provide safe streets, easy places to park bikes or scooters, and as we do, offer incentives. Keeping our streets safe from homeless and mentally ill may encourage some to take longer walks. Filling vacant storefronts might also give walkers something to look or shop at. I think the city needs to learn how to manage all the competing micro-mobility issues before they incentivize a program that does not solve the problem of how a person with disabilities can walk down the street.

6. What changes or improvements, if any, would you like to see in the city’s policy on shared scooters, bike-share, and other micromobility devices?

At this point it does not feel like the city has missed any opportunities to maximize energy-saving bikes, e-scooters and other micro-mobility devices. I’d like to circle back to this in six months to a year with detailed counts of traffic. Are there more bikes on the road than delivery robots? The WeHo Pedals program failed, but we still keep pushing. At this point it is calling all bikers, come out and use your bikes. We should be able to see ten bikes and hour driving down the bike lanes at peak hours at a minimum.

7. What are your thoughts on bringing Metro Rail to West Hollywood, and for first-mile, last-mile access to and from subway stations?

I prefer the Disneyland approach. Have the stops on San Vicente/Beverly – Cedars, Fairfax/Beverly – The Grove, and La Brea/Beverly. Save all those billions of dollars and provide shuttles. Protect the city, both financially, and with regards to destroying Santa Monica Blvd. In ten years of construction and uprooting long term residents and businesses. At Disneyland you take the shuttle to the Magic Kingdom. We are risking billions.

8. Given the recent discussion of a “car free” Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, how might West Hollywood help to facilitate and promote alternative modes of transportation during the Olympic Games?

To be honest, people need to wake up to the possibility that with Donald Trump in office the Olympics might not live up to projections. The idea of a ‘car free’ Olympics seems counterintuitive to filing parking lots or businesses. There are not enough busses for every person to go everywhere they want. A ‘car free’ Los Angeles is a bad dream of how LA City Official will hurt small businesses who are gearing up and depending on traffic. I am for peak hour bus lanes and for additional flex lanes as needed. West Hollywood as a city can expand its offering of bus rides to and from various locations.

Kyle Brazeal Responses

1. What mode(s) of transportation do you use, and why?

My primary mode of transportation lately has been the use of Lime devices. While campaigning, the vast majority of my time has been spent within the City of West Hollywood, so most trips are less than two miles. Since May, I have taken over 230 rides and traveled more than 327 miles on Lime devices, using them to get around the city between campaign activities.

Before running for City Council, over the last few years I have primarily traveled by car. However, while living in Hollywood, I spent a year using the B-Line for my daily work commute to downtown Los Angeles. And before moving to LA, I lived car-free in Chicago and relied exclusively on buses and the rail system.

My transportation choices have changed based on my location, existing transit systems and services, my destinations, and my personal circumstances. I have relied on walking, cycling, driving, and public transit at different points in my life, depending on what best met my personal needs.

2. Would (or do) you feel safe biking and/or using an e-scooter as a primary mode of transportation for short and medium-length trips? Why or why not?

I currently use Lime bikes to get around, but my sense of safety depends largely on the route. I feel safest on streets with lower traffic volumes, such as Romaine, Willoughby, Norton, or De Longpre, and choose similar paths whenever possible.

On busier roads, such as Santa Monica Boulevard or Fairfax Avenue, painted bike lanes improve my comfort by providing a clearly designated space to ride. For me, the route matters as much as the distance. Having a quieter street available or a designated bike lane makes me more comfortable choosing a bike for everyday trips.

Another factor that impacts my comfort while riding is the speed of the device. Depending on the length of the trip, I sometimes ride into Los Angeles where Lime devices are capped at 15 mph instead of the 12 mph cap applied in West Hollywood. Three miles per hour may sound like a small difference, but it has a meaningful impact on how safe I feel, particularly when riding next to cars traveling 30+ mph on a busy road.

I would like to see an east-west bike path that runs between La Cienega and La Brea. I would like the city to examine the potential installation of bike lanes on Willoughby, or if more space is required, studying the potential conversion of a pair of streets (e.g., Romaine/Willoughby, or Willoughby/Waring) to one-way streets in opposite directions with corresponding bike lanes on each street. Many parts of these streets are already too narrow to accommodate vehicles traveling in opposite directions and are only parked on one side of the street, so there’s likely an opportunity to mitigate some of the traditional tradeoffs associated with the installation of bike lanes.

For north-south connections, I would support adding protective barriers to bike lanes on San Vicente and Fairfax where space allows without the need to eliminate traffic lanes. I would also like to see La Brea examined in partnership with the City of Los Angeles, with the goal of connecting routes across city boundaries into a usable bike network.

I would also support county mobility programs in West Hollywood as a replacement for the existing Lime system. A reliable, station-based program could make shared bikes and scooters more predictable and accessible, while helping integrate micro-mobility into the city’s broader transportation network.

The city should consider incentives that encourage residents to try these programs, because the biggest challenge is often getting people to take their first few trips. Introductory discounts, free trial rides, or other targeted outreach could help residents become comfortable using shared mobility for short everyday trips.

We know that Santa Monica Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, and Fountain Avenue remain our most dangerous streets and require additional traffic calming measures to enhance safety. That is particularly true at crosswalks and at intersections where turning vehicles create conflicts. I would support curb extensions designed to slow turning vehicles and improve crossing safety, with designs that also account for bicycle movements and emergency access. These improvements should be shaped by the conditions at each intersection and the experiences of people who use the street.

I support Target Vision Zero’s goal of eliminating traffic deaths and severe injuries, and I believe achieving it should be a priority. I support safer crossings, curb extensions, and protected bike lanes where feasible, alongside speed management, education, and enforcement. My priority would be physical improvements that make safer behavior part of the street’s design, with education and enforcement reinforcing those changes.

Our investments should be guided by where serious collisions occur and what contributes to them. The city’s analysis of 2017 through 2021 collisions found that 93% of fatal and severe-injury crashes occurred at intersections. That makes turning conflicts and crossing safety essential considerations when prioritizing upgrades. We should examine the conditions at individual locations and use updated collision data to guide improvements, including measures to address speeding and impaired driving.

Making progress will require coordination among city staff, law enforcement, and the community, with clear responsibility for implementation and ongoing evaluation. We should measure whether improvements reduce dangerous speeds and serious collisions, address unintended impacts, and adjust our approach when results fall short. Our collective objective is safer streets for everyone who uses them.

5. What do you think the city should do to promote and/or incentivize alternatives to driving, such as bikes, scooters, and walking, in West Hollywood?

I support the e-bike incentive program, but I would prioritize incentives for shared mobility programs such as Lime or other services that allow people to participate without purchasing and storing their own device. Introductory discounts or free trial rides could make it easier for residents to try these options for everyday trips and overcome misconceptions about the ability to use alternative modes for their transportation needs.

I believe those first few trips are especially important. I would not have the number of Lime trips to date had a friend not convinced me to take a ride with him. Connecting people with community rides, neighborhood walks, or other shared activities can help people build confidence and relationships while discovering practical alternatives to driving. That social connection can give people a reason to keep participating and help an unfamiliar mode of transportation become part of their routine.

The same approach should extend to buses and Metro’s D-Line. The city should explore incentives, partnerships, and improve connections that encourage residents to try those services and become comfortable making connections between walking, shared mobility, and transit. West Hollywood should be well-connected to the regional transportation network, with programs that help residents understand and use the options available to them.

6. What changes or improvements, if any, would you like to see in the city’s policy on shared scooters, bike-share, and other micromobility devices?

I support keeping shared e-bikes and scooters on the road and in bike lanes, while ensuring sidewalks remain safe and accessible for pedestrians.

We need stronger accountability for parking devices in designated areas and keeping sidewalks clear for pedestrians, particular those with mobility challenges. Improperly parked devices can create serious barriers for people with disabilities. Clear parking requirements and consistent enforcement should preserve ADA accessibility, with users responsible for where they leave devices and operators responsive when obstructions are reported.

I also support raising the Lime speed cap from 12 mph to 15 mph for street riding. Based on my own experience using Lime, that difference meaningfully improves my sense of safety, particularly on busier roads. If we expect people to ride on the street, our policies should support their ability to do so comfortably and responsibly.

7. What are your thoughts on bringing Metro Rail to West Hollywood, and for first-mile, last-mile access to and from subway stations?

I support bringing Metro Rail to West Hollywood and connecting our city more fully to the regional transportation network. I attended and spoke in favor of adopting the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment as the Locally Preferred Alternative at the Metro board meeting. First-mile and last-mile access should be part of that planning from the beginning, so reaching a station is a convenient part of the trip. Stations should also be destinations – they should be inviting with seating, shade, green space, and stands. First and last-mile access also means safe and accessible walking routes, bicycle and shared-mobility connections, and reliable connecting bus service. I believe Metro Rail is a true game-changer as to the ability to reduce car dependency.

In the near-term, we should prioritize making the D-Line easier to reach from West Hollywood. Improving those connections would give residents an opportunity to build transit into their daily routines while we continue pursuing direct rail service here.

The sequence matters. We should establish practical, reliable alternatives, help people become comfortable using them, and then support a shift toward less car-dependent travel. The entire journey needs to work, from someone’s front door to their destination. Convenient connections are essential to making transit a realistic choice for more everyday trips.

Metro’s stated goal is to let spectators reach competition venues by transit, walking, or cycling, supported by temporary additional bus service during the games.

West Hollywood could evaluate three practical contributions:

• Connections to regional transit: Coordinate local buses or shuttles with Metro, particularly connections to the D-Line, with service hours that accommodate events and return trips

• Convenient local travel: Work with shared-mobility providers on device availability and designated parking, alongside clear, accessible walking routes between hotels, businesses, and transit stops

• Help for unfamiliar riders: Partner with hotels and local businesses to provide straightforward route information and explore introductory transit or shared-mobility offers

Planning would need to preserve everyday access for residents, workers, and emergency services. Evaluating which improvements remain useful after the Olympics could help distinguish between temporary event needs versus investments that could support long-term enhancements to West Hollywood’s transportation options.

Chelsea Byers Responses

1. What mode(s) of transportation do you use, and why?

I primarily walk, ride the bus, or rent an e-bike or scooter to get around. I gave up having a personal vehicle more than 12 years ago and have really enjoyed relying on public transit. Riding the bus gave me time to read a book or get work done on my laptop during my commute, while also saving me the significant expense of maintaining a personal vehicle. Now that I work from home, I primarily walk to get groceries, run errands, and get around my neighborhood.

2. Would (or do) you feel safe biking and/or using an e-scooter as a primary mode of transportation for short and medium-length trips? Why or why not?

It tends to feel like I am taking my own life into my own hands when I choose to scooter or e-bike through the city. Without a network of protected bike lanes and proper investment in our transit infrastructure, we do not incentivize individuals to leave their personal vehicles behind.

People should be able to choose a bike or e-scooter for a short trip without feeling like they are putting themselves at risk. If we want biking or scootering to be genuine options for people when moving around our city, we have to build infrastructure that makes those choices safe, convenient, and accessible.

I believe we need to create physical protections for bike lanes to protect cyclists from cars, such as concrete curbs or bollards. A network of protected bike lanes should be built across the whole city, with neighborhoods that experience a high incidence of bicycle injuries or fatalities prioritized. Doing so will bring new opportunities for green space, safety, artwork, community, business vitality, and connection.

As a councilmember, I co-authored a policy ensuring that any new bike lanes proposed would be proposed as protected bike lanes. I support advancing protected bike infrastructure along major corridors like Santa Monica Boulevard, Fountain Avenue, Beverly Boulevard, Melrose Avenue, even Sunset Boulevard – anywhere where it makes sense, while also looking at neighborhood greenways and traﬃc-calming measures on residential streets. We should design these improvements for the full range of people using them, including people on e-bikes, scooters, and other forms of micromobility, and make intersections safer through measures like better visibility and street designs that slow turning vehicles.

Alongside my work on City Council, I have served on the Transportation Policy Committee as Vice Chair for both the National League of Cities and the California League of Cities where I’ve also advocated for more support for bike lanes in our local communities. We know that both state and federal dollars are essential to catalyzing the infrastructure transformations we need to make at the local level and I’ve elevated protected cycling infrastructure and more local funding as key priorities in both these arenas.

The reality is, unless we as a Council are prioritizing funding and project delivery – this plan will not be implemented. In order to ensure that West Hollywood remains a safe, diverse, and family-friendly city, I will continue to fight for the safety improvements identified in the Target Vision Zero Action Plan and ensure they are funded priorities of the city, and I will work to ensure that West Hollywood meets its goal of zero transportation-related deaths and serious injuries by 2040. These safety improvements include more visible crosswalks, traﬃc-calming measures, ADA-compliant sidewalks, protected bike infrastructure, and other improvements that make streets more comfortable and accessible for everyone.

I believe in a holistic approach to street safety that expands transit equity, allows more residents to walk and bike in their community, and improves safety outcomes for everyone, including pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike, while also reducing West Hollywood’s carbon footprint. Children, in particular, shouldn’t have to be kept inside their homes in order to be safe from traﬃc accidents.

If we want West Hollywood to be a truly inclusive and family-friendly city, our streets should also give children the freedom to safely move around their own community. Kids should be able to bike to a friend’s house, walk with their families to a neighborhood park, or get around their neighborhood without parents having to fear for their safety. Creating streets where children can safely walk and bike helps make West Hollywood a more welcoming place for families to live, grow, and build community.

5. What do you think the city should do to promote and/or incentivize alternatives to driving, such as bikes, scooters, and walking, in West Hollywood?

West Hollywood is one of the most walkable cities in our region, and we should build on that strength by making walking, biking, scooting, and public transit safe, convenient, and aﬀordable options for getting around.

If we want to reduce traffic and the number of vehicles on our roads, we need to make alternative modes of transportation easier to choose. Understandably, there are concerns about bicyclists and scooter riders sharing sidewalk space with pedestrians, particularly seniors and people with disabilities. At the same time, riders often turn to sidewalks because they do not feel safe riding alongside vehicle traﬃc when protected infrastructure is unavailable. We should address the underlying safety issue by rapidly expanding our network of protected bike lanes and creating safer, clearly designated spaces for every mode of transportation.

We should also make these options more accessible and aﬀordable. That includes supporting bike cooperatives and repair programs, subsidizing bike-share and other shared-mobility programs, expanding secure bicycle and scooter parking, and ensuring that people can easily connect between these modes and public transit. We successfully pivoted the city’s bike giveaway program to an e-bike rebate program and I hope to see this budget replenished and another round of vouchers issued year after year. We can learn from the way Metro is financially incentivizing people to leave their cars at home and try Metro — I’d be interested in seeing how the City can launch similar programs with a goal to transition more people from car dependency. We also need to continue investments that help address the first-mile/last-mile gaps in our regional transit system, particularly as we work toward bringing the K Line Northern Extension to West Hollywood.

6. What changes or improvements, if any, would you like to see in the city’s policy on shared scooters, bike-share, and other micromobility devices?

I would like to see Metro Bike Share expanded into West Hollywood. The city has previously supported bringing the regional bike-share system into WeHo, and I believe we should continue working with Metro to make that happen. A connected regional bike-share network would give residents, workers, and visitors another aﬀordable option for getting around without a car and would ultimately complement the future K Line stations. Metro Bike Share also utilizes a docked system that would better serve the limited shared public space in West Hollywood.

Additionally, one of my priorities is moving forward with implementation of the city’s award-winning First/Last Mile Plan. We should begin building out the safe pedestrian, bicycle, and micromobility connections identified in that plan now, rather than waiting for Metro K-Line extension to arrive such as improving crossings, and creating safe and convenient places for people to park shared bikes and scooters near transit stops, commercial corridors, and other major destinations. More dedicated cycling infrastructure would make whatever micro mobility program we use work better.

7. What are your thoughts on bringing Metro Rail to West Hollywood, and for first-mile, last-mile access to and from subway stations?

I have fully supported the San Vicente-Fairfax route and was thrilled when it was selected by Metro. As a Councilmember, I supported the resolution that was the first step in launching the EIFD and will continue to work with my West Hollywood and LA County colleagues to support its creation. I have also supported the ability to create more transit oriented housing and understand this to be an important facet of creating successful transit infrastructure— we want more people to live within proximity and use the system regularly. In the meantime, we must start implementing our award-winning first mile/last mile plan, which we can use to find ways to get West Hollywood residents and visitors to and from the D line quickly. I will also continue to support the implementation of 24/7 bus lanes because that’s the sort of infrastructure we need to ensure that these transportation projects work for our community.

West Hollywood can play an important role in making a car-free or car-light Olympics work by helping create a connected regional transportation system that lasts beyond the games rather than treating the Games as a temporary transportation challenge. I have been advocating for expanded Metro service and bus frequency, stronger connections between West Hollywood and Olympic venues, increased bike-sharing programs, protected bike infrastructure, safer sidewalks and pedestrian routes, and reliable first- and last-mile connections.

West Hollywood should continue to work with Los Angeles, Metro, and neighboring jurisdictions to ensure Olympic transportation investments accelerate permanent improvements to our regional transit, pedestrian, and bicycle networks. As the host City for the Pride House and a place where much activity will happen because of the hotels and nightlife activity, we need to be prepared to utilize our own local transportation systems meaningful to engage our City as a whole. The measure of success should not just be whether visitors can get to Olympic events without a car in 2028, but whether residents can get to work, school, parks, and their neighborhoods more safely and aﬀordably without a car for decades afterward.

Jonathan Cottrell Responses

1. What mode(s) of transportation do you use, and why?

I use a mix: my own e-scooter for many trips inside West Hollywood, walking in the Rainbow District where I own a business, and a car for regional trips, Dodger games, and now hauling a newborn to doctor’s visits. The scooter wins for anything under a few miles because it is faster than parking and cheaper than driving. I wear a helmet and follow the rules of the road every time, because that is how you make the case for micromobility to skeptics.

2. Would (or do) you feel safe biking and/or using an e-scooter as a primary mode of transportation for short and medium-length trips? Why or why not?

I’m supportive of evidence-backed safety improvements for all modes, and the measures you describe, physical separation, traffic calming, greenways, are exactly the ones the data supports. We have excellent weather and a largely flat city; the geography is begging for it. Rather than name my favorite streets in a questionnaire, I’ll commit to the method: hire the best minds, pair experienced planners with the residents who know these streets best, prioritize the corridors where the collision data says risk is highest, and build connected routes rather than orphan segments. I’m an engineer; I want results we can measure, not gestures we can announce.

Very supportive. Vision Zero’s premise, that traffic deaths are preventable, not inevitable, matches how I think about every city system: define success, follow the evidence, measure the results. I’d add that we should learn shamelessly from the cities here and abroad that have made the biggest strides, because the playbook exists and West Hollywood’s size makes us the perfect city to execute it well.

5. What do you think the city should do to promote and/or incentivize alternatives to driving, such as bikes, scooters, and walking, in West Hollywood?

Make the alternatives genuinely safe and pleasant, and people will choose them. That means protected bike infrastructure, not just painted lines, continuous, shaded, well-lit sidewalks, since walking is West Hollywood’s original transit, and secure bike parking at businesses and city facilities. I’d pair experienced planners with the residents who know these streets best, and I’d measure what works: ridership, safety data, and where people actually walk and ride, so we invest where the evidence points.

6. What changes or improvements, if any, would you like to see in the city’s policy on shared scooters, bike-share, and other micromobility devices?

Two things. First, accountability: clear device-parking zones, geofenced slow and no-ride areas where the technology supports it, and real consequences for operators whose devices consistently block sidewalks, because older adults and people with reduced mobility shouldn’t bear the cost of a company’s sloppiness. Second, regional partnership: I’d like us to work across city borders so riders get one connected experience instead of programs that end at an invisible line. We don’t exist in isolation, and micromobility only works as a network.

7. What are your thoughts on bringing Metro Rail to West Hollywood, and for first-mile, last-mile access to and from subway stations?

I’m very supportive of bringing the K Line extension to West Hollywood, funded fairly, and first-mile, last-mile planning is a key part of what will make it a success. A station only works if people can get to it safely and easily, so the walking, biking, and micromobility investments above aren’t separate projects; they’re the K Line’s on-ramps. I’d plan them together, with the community in the room early.

I’d like West Hollywood to treat 2028 as an opportunity, not just an event: the moment our transit, bike, pedestrian, and micromobility connections need to actually work as one system. Concretely: coordinate with Metro and neighboring cities on enhanced transit service and shuttle connections during the Games, use temporary street reconfigurations as real-world pilots for what could become permanent, and showcase our city as the most walkable two square miles of the Olympics. Let’s make sure we build infrastructure and collect data that has long term benefit.

Helen Krieger Responses

1. What mode(s) of transportation do you use, and why?

I mainly get around by e-bike, but I ride the buses a couple times a month – usually when it’s raining or if I have to go further than normal on roads where there aren’t good bike lane connections, like going downtown from WeHo.

Because my e-bike weighs about 35 lbs and I usually have panniers on the back loaded up with things, I usually don’t ride my bike to the bus and then put my bike on the bus, but I recognize that this is a great option for a lot of people who have lighter set ups than me, and we should continue to make this option easy and safe for people.

I take a bike/metro combination a lot and find it very useful. In fact, my first experience bike commuting was from WeHo to the Disney lot, so I’d ride to Hollywood and Highland, then go one stop to Universal Studios, and ride the rest of the way to the Disney lot on Riverside. This kind of multimodal transportation allows much greater flexibility with commutes.

I also drive a couple times a month, usually when I’m traveling with someone who’s not comfortable riding a bike in LA traffic.

2. Would (or do) you feel safe biking and/or using an e-scooter as a primary mode of transportation for short and medium-length trips? Why or why not?

I ride my bike around as my primary mode of transportation, though I wouldn’t say I always feel safe. We can do a lot more to make cyclists and scooters feel safe by making our mobility lanes protected and connected.

Also, we need to change some of the rules with our Lime Scooter and bike program to make those feel more safe. We currently have a speed regulator of 12mph on our Lime bikes when you go through WeHo. This is ridiculously slow for bikes and scooters that we expect to ride in LA County traffic. Also, I think it’s the height of hypocrisy that we refuse to allow speed regulators on 5,000lb cars that are responsible for 99.9% of injuries and 100% of fatalities on streets, but yet we feel it’s necessary to put regulators on 35lb scooters.

We need to get rid of this limit, and also build more parking spaces for the Lime bikes and scooters in WeHo. I think at least one parking space in every block should be reserved for Lime and Scooter parking. If we want them off the sidewalks, we need to give them safe, secure, and easy places to ride and to park.

We need to look at doing something like LA did where every time we redo a major street – like when we redid Melrose or Santa Monica (we recently repaved most of the eastern stretch), we need to mandate putting in the bike and pedestrian improvements that are on our WeHo Bike and Pedestrian Mobility Plan. Otherwise these improvements will never get done. Out of our 2017 Weho Bike and Pedestrian Mobility Plan we’ve only implemented 3 out of the 40 recommendations. Meanwhile we’ve been planning on making Fountain safer for literally 23 years. We need an accountability and timing metric that ties real progress on these actions to changes on these streets.

We need to create bike lanes on Fountain Avenue and widen the sidewalks to make them ADA accessible. Otherwise there are many more lawsuits waiting to happen. We have funding for Phase 1, and I’m committed to finding funding for Phase 2 – the phase where we will widen the sidewalk.

I also fully support the greenway project along Willoughby Avenue, and I’ve advocated for doing this at the same time or soon after the Fountain Avenue project so that traffic from Fountain doesn’t try to go on Willoughby. This is also a residential street, and it’s narrow, and it has schools and a park on it. I’m in favor of the project that calls for traffic circles, enhanced pedestrian crossings, and studying a traffic diverter at Fairfax to further prohibit cut-through traffic.

I would support protected bike lanes on Beverly Blvd. even if it means the removal of parking or a travel lane. There aren’t many blocks of Beverly Blvd going through West Hollywood, but it’s important that we not strand cyclists and scooters in traffic for the stretch of this street that goes through our city.

On Santa Monica Blvd. (SMB), we may have some important opportunities because of the K-Line Northern Extension. If we end up doing some cut and cover construction for the K Line in West Hollywood, which they’re going to study potentially doing, then they’d rip up the street and redo it from scratch, so we should have a plan for how we’d reallocate space if we were starting from a clean slate.

The first thing we need is a protected bike lane on the western portion of the street from Kings Road west through the Rainbow District. These bike lanes are some of the most used in West Hollywood but we routinely have cyclists hit on these streets, mainly from cars turning right and left into cyclists. The bike lanes are also routinely blocked by cars, buses and trucks using the bike lanes as a loading zone, so cyclists have to navigate out into traffic. Paint is not infrastructure, and the SMB bike lanes are a perfect example of this. There’s more than enough room for protected bike lanes, we just need to reallocate the median space as well as the curb cuts and parking.

The big question is what to do on the portion of SMB east of Kings Road. The boulevard gets considerably more narrow here, and an earlier study (I believe around 2022) didn’t find enough space to create protected bike lanes here without cutting into some on-street parking, and some turn lanes. There was talk of narrowing the lanes here to make room for a protected bike lane, but because SMB is a truck route and a bus route (4) with significant ridership, that’s not recommended.

But the significant ridership on the 4 brings up the question – could we do a dedicated bus/bike lane along the eastern portion of SMB from Kings Road to La Brea? Or even along all of the WeHo portion of SMB? This would provide much better service for the many people who take this bus daily, and it would provide a continuous protected bike lane. I would want to study:
• A dedicated bike/bus lane that preserves parking and takes through traffic down to one lane
• A dedicated bike/bus lane that removes parking and preserves through traffic at two lanes
• A protected bike lane that removes some parking, curb cuts, and turn lanes but preserves the two through lanes. This might be possible along the eastside and is certainly possible along the westside.
I’d have to wait to see the study, but I’m putting the least importance on parking here.

According to our Vision Zero dashboard, since 2017 more than 6 people have died and 182 have been severely injured in West Hollywood and that doesn’t fully go through all of last year (2025). We have the talent, the funds, and the ability to implement proven strategies that have worked around the world. We just haven’t done it.

What are these strategies? Complete streets architecture. We have to design roads so that 99%+ of every road isn’t just used for private car movement and storage. We have to design roads so that it’s almost impossible to speed on them.

We need to implement our daylighting laws at intersections (something we haven’t done yet, despite a year of the law being in place.) We need to look at red light cameras and banning all right turns on red. We also need to implement the safety features we’ve talked about in our 2017 bike and pedestrian mobility plan. We need to look at some of our most dangerous corridors – that’s Sunset, Fountain and Santa Monica – and take safety as the most important factor.

In the past ten years we’ve only built five blocks of painted bike lanes in West Hollywood, so neighbors are not used to change in our city. So of course they’ll be fearful of it. We need to implement pilot programs that keep people safer, iterate on those programs and then make those changes permanent. We need to mandate safety infrastructure whenever we redo a major street. We need to make safety the default, and not a luxurious add on. If I’m on council, this is how I’ll vote, and I’ll always use the data of safety to redirect the public conversation. It’s the right thing to do and it’s the fiscally responsible thing to do as we face, with the Fountain Avenue lawsuit, the first of what could become many lawsuits based on our unsafe streets.

5. What do you think the city should do to promote and/or incentivize alternatives to driving, such as bikes, scooters, and walking, in West Hollywood?

I think there’s a real opportunity for more street closures on SMB during the weekends to activate this street on a regular basis. Not only would you incentivize walking and other micromobility options, but as business owners see the benefit that car-free foot traffic brings to their shops we can get more buy-in for more car free options along this boulevard.

Also, as a member of the Transportation and Mobility Commission I’ve voted in favor of programs like our e-bike incentive program (that’s just starting now where 50 residents have been given free e-bikes so long as they attend a training), and I’ve supported a bike locker pilot program that would give the public access to enclosed bike parking at Plummer Park, City Hall, and West Hollywood West Park.

Making cycling and taking a scooter faster, safer, and more convenient will mean that more people will choose to travel this way which cuts down on pollution, traffic, and dangerous collisions.

6. What changes or improvements, if any, would you like to see in the city’s policy on shared scooters, bike-share, and other micromobility devices?

In addition to what I mentioned about speed regulators on Lime e-bikes and scooters and increased parking for them, I would also advocate for Metro Bike Share on council and I think it should extend to West Hollywood. My understanding is that council has been advocating for it, but that Metro has just not been expanding it to our city yet. I would continue to advocate for it, especially now that we have the D line so close. In the meantime, I think we also need to make sure we’re giving other options for WeHo residents. That’s why I voted in favor of the West Hollywood e-bike incentive program when it came in front of the WeHo Transportation and Mobility Commission, and that’s why I’m in favor of making our Lime Bike program more useful for residents.

7. What are your thoughts on bringing Metro Rail to West Hollywood, and for first-mile, last-mile access to and from subway stations?

I fully support this extension and the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) funding mechanism that will allow these stops in WeHo and that will hopefully get them done sooner. The people that we elect over the next four years are going to be crucial, because this is when we’re setting up the EIFD that will fund this work. We can either set it up to be successful, or we can set it up to fail. We also need to communicate clearly with the public about what it is and how it will work.

Over the next four years our city councilmembers will set up the boundaries for the district as well as the increment that will go into the fund, and we’ll work with the county that we share property taxes with to determine what share of taxes go in different funds. So your next councilmembers could make or break this extension because we need to make sure we’re properly setting up this district and working with the county on the tax increments to make sure the K-line extension is funded and can happen as soon as possible. I have good relationships with the county (I’m endorsed by Supervisor Horvath), and I’m committed to the safest, fastest, rail we can get into West Hollywood.

All three stops in WeHo will be on SMB. We need to make sure that first, all these stops have lots of bathrooms, because you’re going to be bringing people in areas with lots of bars, and it’s great that these people aren’t going to be driving after they get out of the bars, but we do wanna make sure all the metro stops are going to be clean, so lots of accessible bathrooms are a must. Second, we need to think about how we’ll get people to and from these three stops (first/last mile).

Our Transportation and Mobility Department staff member David Fenn won an award from the American Planning Association for our preliminary first mile/last mile plan, so we need to start with that plan and make sure we’re taking regular steps to implement it. The first step is our Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility plan which includes ways to make it easier and safer to get everywhere in WeHo and we can update it to specifically include safe routes to our new metro stops.

But some residents will not be able to use bikes or walking. Think about someone who’s elderly or has mobility challenges. All the metro stops are going to be on SMB so for folks who live on or near Sunset, that’s a steep hill in many places. So we need to have a non walking, non biking/scooter way to get people uphill who will need it. Services like our Cityline buses could help people get up and down that hill safely. The Transportation and Mobility Department is currently evaluating all our transportation options, and we should include first mile/last mile planning for a future K line extension as part of that planning.

WeHo is going to have Pride House for the Olympics, so we should make sure it’s easy to get to our city through public transit, bikes, and scooters.

West Hollywood has voiced our support for dedicated bus/bike lanes on La Cienega. This would allow the 105 bus to run faster and more consistently during rush hours, and it would also give micro mobility users a safe north/south path to the D line and to cities to our south like LA and Culver City. Unfortunately other jurisdictions are delaying that project, but there could be more cross-jurisdictional cooperation to prep for the Olympics. We should use the Olympics as a way to jump start more complete streets programs.

Stephen Post Responses

1. What mode(s) of transportation do you use, and why?

I use a mix of transportation, including walking, biking, public transit, and driving depending on where I’m going and what I’m carrying. I am more likely to ride a Lime e-bike for short trips or to get to the B or D line train for my office downtown. I also walk frequently, and I use the bus when it is the most convenient way to get somewhere specific. I use, the troll, Cityline and Metro, including the 4, depending on the destination.

I think that mix of options is important because multimodal transportation is not about eliminating cars. It is about giving people real choices. Someone should be able to walk to a restaurant, ride a Lime to the Metro, take the bus to work, or drive when that’s what works for them. But we must prioritizes the safety of life and pedestrians and cyclists are most vulnerable. I have worked on transportation and infrastructure projects in the public sector, and that experience has reinforced for me that good mobility requires building a network rather than treating individual bike lanes, sidewalks, and transit projects as isolated improvements.

2. Would (or do) you feel safe biking and/or using an e-scooter as a primary mode of transportation for short and medium-length trips? Why or why not?

I feel safe, particularly for short trips to the B line from the eastside, but safety depends on the infrastructure around you. I am a regular Lime rider and have to ride down to West Adams (about a 25 min ride) for work; I would feel safer if we had a more complete network of protected facilities, especially to Metro stops. We should design streets so that people do not have to choose between convenience and safety. Protected bike lanes, safer intersections, traffic calming, better lighting, accessible sidewalks, and clear connections to transit can make biking and micromobility much more practical. The basic principle should be simple: build it and they will come. When people feel safe, they will use these options more often.

West Hollywood should move from piecemeal bike infrastructure toward a connected, protected network. That means protected bike lanes, safer intersections and crossings, traffic calming, and physical separation from vehicles where appropriate. I support protected bike lanes along Fountain Avenue, including safer crossings, ADA access, and traffic calming. On Santa Monica Boulevard, I would protect and improve the existing bike lanes and work toward a safer, more continuous protected connection. I also support protected lanes on streets such as Beverly and Melrose, even where that requires reconsidering parking or travel lanes. On Willoughby, Vista, and Gardner, traffic calming and diverters can help create safer neighborhood connections. The city should use data and community input to identify the highest-risk locations, but we should also be willing to test, evaluate, and improve projects rather than allowing safety improvements to be delayed indefinitely. New street infrastructure should also prioritize urban greening, especially for separating barriers from cars.

I strongly support Vision Zero and the goal of eliminating traffic deaths. No death is an acceptable traffic outcome. For me, Vision Zero means following the data and using the city’s Vision Zero dashboard to identify where the greatest risks are, while coordinating that information with other transportation and public safety initiatives. If we know an intersection is dangerous, we shouldn’t wait for another serious crash before we act.

Enforcement can be one part of Vision Zero, and I appreciate the work our Sheriff’s deputies do to address dangerous driving. But infrastructure has to make the safe choice the easy choice. That means safer crossings, protected bicycle infrastructure, traffic calming, better lighting, accessible sidewalks, and street designs that prioritize pedestrians and cyclists while still allowing vehicles to move safely. West Hollywood has experienced deaths and hundreds of collisions, and we should treat those as preventable public safety problems, not simply statistics. Vision Zero should apply to everyone who uses our streets: pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, people using mobility devices, and drivers.

5. What do you think the city should do to promote and/or incentivize alternatives to driving, such as bikes, scooters, and walking, in West Hollywood?

We need to make alternatives to driving genuinely convenient. That means building protected bike infrastructure, improving sidewalks and crossings, expanding transit priority, supporting micromobility, and making first- and last-mile connections to Metro much easier. Bus lanes are particularly important. We need to move people, not just cars. If a bus is sitting in the same traffic as everyone else, it is difficult for transit to compete with driving. Dedicated or peak-hour bus lanes can move dozens of people in the space that would otherwise be occupied by individual cars. In the meantime, shared bus/bike lanes can help us improve transit priority while we build more protected infrastructure.

We should also improve the experience of taking transit by building better shelters, shade, seating, lighting, and wayfinding. Metro’s STAP program and West Hollywood’s existing smart-shelter work give us a foundation to build on. Transportation policy has to be connected to housing policy too. Supporting unbundled parking, for example, can give renters more choice and make it easier for younger and lower- and middle-income residents who do not want or need a parking space to avoid paying for one.

6. What changes or improvements, if any, would you like to see in the city’s policy on shared scooters, bike-share, and other micromobility devices?

I support making it easier for people to use shared micromobility while making sure devices are operated and parked responsibly. As a Lime rider I know firsthand that these devices can be an important part of West Hollywood’s transportation network. I would like to see the city continue evaluating whether current restrictions are actually helping people use micromobility safely and conveniently. We should use community feedback to determine appropriate speeds, parking locations, and other rules rather than assuming one policy works everywhere. At the same time, we need to protect pedestrians and ADA access. Devices should never block sidewalks, curb ramps, transit stops, or building entrances and the corporations operating the contracts must be held responsible for enacting a solution. The city’s new virtual parking system is one tool for accomplishing that, but we should continue evaluating where additional parking locations are needed as it has become less convenient with recent restrictions.

7. What are your thoughts on bringing Metro Rail to West Hollywood, and for first-mile, last-mile access to and from subway stations?

Finish the K Line and don’t wait to ride the D and B! The K Line Northern Extension is one of the biggest opportunities we have to fundamentally change how people move through West Hollywood. Metro selected the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment as the Locally Preferred Alternative and I was down at the Metro Board meeting that day and was proud to stand alongside regional leaders at the press conference before the vote. Now we need to make sure we actually get the K Line to West Hollywood as soon as possible. Measure M funding allocated to the project is not available until 2041 under the current schedule, which is why I support aggressively identifying additional state, federal, regional, and local sources of revenue to accelerate construction. West Hollywood needs to be a leader in bringing regional partners together to close that funding gap. An EIFD can help us leverage future growth in property-tax revenue alongside our regional partners to bring those resources forward. As I mentioned, trains cannot exist in isolation. We need to build the multimodal infrastructure around it now: safe walking routes, protected bike connections, better bus connections, accessible stations, and convenient micromobility. We should also make it easier for people to get to the existing D Line and B Line train as well as other regional transit while we wait for the K Line.

We should use the Olympics as a deadline and an opportunity to build permanent transportation infrastructure that benefits West Hollywood long after the Games are over. That means coordinating with LA28 and Metro to create specific routes for spectators and workers, improving bus service and transit priority, expanding protected bicycle connections, improving sidewalks and crossings, and making first- and last-mile connections to Metro as easy as possible. I have already helped support sidewalk repairs in the communities around the Olympic venues. Metro’s own 2028 plan emphasizes getting spectators to venues by public transit, walking, or cycling and specifically identifies permanent transportation improvements as part of the Games’ legacy. West Hollywood should think about how we can connect our own streetscape projects to that regional strategy. The San Vicente Streetscape Plaza is a good example: North San Vicente already experiences many days of partial or full street closures each year. Rather than treating those closures as exceptions, we can create a street that works as a civic space at default and transportation corridor when the community needs it.