LAist.com has a short feature recounting some of the trials associated with the recently repealed Bicycle Licensing Law, and says the Los Angeles City Council will revisit the subject at next week’s meeting.
One such incident involved a commuter that got a ticket for not having a license on his way home from trying to get a license where he was told they were out of licenses at the moment.  Aaaaahhh, bureaucracy.
You may recall we covered the repeal earlier, and the current arguments still cite moving the licensing system to a private company (which I agree with so long as some of…the majority of…the proceeds goes toward improving bicycle infrastructure).  A new point brought up is to make the licensing system voluntary, with the incentive being that licensed bikes may be more easily recovered if stolen.
The counter point comes from Aurisha Smolarski, outreach coordinator for the LA County Bicycle Coalition.  She says “A bicycle license is not the answer” to address safety and the city needs to be better at “working with LAPD to inform them of how to support cyclists as opposed to antagonizing them.”  Since there’s no supporting context, one’s left to assume that the incident cited above is a common occurence.
