This change in granting funding prompted Horvath\u2019s motion, after 700 emails were sent to LA Metro board members from residents objecting to the tight time frame that will cause blackouts of the free street-ride events in L.A. County for 34 of the next 36 months starting in January.<\/p>\n
Normally, L.A. County for the past 12 years has had about one such event a month. In fact, a CicLAvia was held on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles on Sunday. Active San Gabriel Valley, which has put on nine such events, held its last one in El Monte and South El Monte on Nov. 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Metro partnership has created a civic tradition, offering a new way for people to experience this space and reflect on L.A.\u2019s diversity. That legacy is now at risk,\u201d said Romel Pascual, executive director of CicLAvia, in his comments to the board committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cMetro must restore year-round \u2018open streets\u2019 funding in 2026, 2027 and 2028 by allowing these \u2018open streets\u2019 events we are used to. Sustainable support is crucial,\u201d said Tafarai Bayne, CicLAvia chief strategist.<\/p>\n
And Christopher Mathers, of Active SGV, told the committee cutting off these events except for during a few weeks in 2026 and 2028 will deny children, fathers and mothers the kind of joy that these events brought through Metro-funded \u201copen streets\u201d in the last dozen or so years.<\/a><\/p>\n Mathers also said that their events have introduced millions of people to the LA Metro bus, rail and bike-rental systems, since many of Active SGV events are run along rail lines, such as the A Line in the San Gabriel Valley. When the group, with funds from Metro, shut down a portion of the 110 Parkway in Pasadena, South Pasadena and Northeast LA on Oct. 29, 2023,<\/a> 45,000 people<\/a> rode bikes, skates or just walked on the freeway closed to automobiles, glimpsing the A Line as it passed. Many rode the A Line to the event which started in South Pasadena near the train station.<\/p>\n Horvath said LA Metro focused too narrowly on the World Cub and the Olympics, creating a kind of tunnel vision.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we are trying to accomplish is to have consistency in a program that has tremendous community support,\u201d she said at the meeting. \u201cSupporting regular, ongoing open streets is my intent and should be our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n She wanted the agency to fund more of the events that didn\u2019t fit that narrow window and is asking Metro to find $1 million to do so.<\/p>\n When Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins was asked if Metro can find the money in the adopted amendment for extra events, she said: \u201c$1 million. It is tough. We have limited resources.\u201d<\/p>\n Horvath called the process by which applications were scored confusing and said she had concerns about the way the staff picked projects for grant awards. Eligibility should not have been based on holding all \u201copen streets\u201d at the same time the World Cup soccer games and Olympic and Paralympic games are being played.<\/p>\n For example, one \u201copen street\u201d event submitted for funding by Active SGV in South Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel would have featured demonstrations of Olympic sports to be held nearby, namely: cricket (in Fairplex in Pomona); mountain biking (City of Industry), equestrian (Santa Anita in Arcadia) and soccer (Rose Bowl in Pasadena). This \u201copen streets\u201d event was to be held a few months before the games, so that people could sign up as volunteers or perhaps buy tickets in advance.<\/p>\n Horvath said the Metro application said the \u201copen streets\u201d events must celebrate the Olympics. \u201cThis one was proposed to align with the Olympics. This is a missed opportunity,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is value in building support and energy around these events. The recommendations and scoring used here is too narrow a view.\u201d<\/p>\n She was particularly upset about LA Metro not recommending for funding a Pride House LA open streets event set for West Hollywood to celebrate the Olympics coming to Southern California. \u201cThis was the only event for LGBTQ athletes,\u201d Horvath said. \u201cI am extremely disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n An event that was funded during the Olympic Games \u2014 \u201cExperience the Sepulveda Basin: A Car Free Journey Through Parks and Open Space\u201d in the San Fernando Valley was one that provided direct access to five Olympic events and is scheduled to receive $500,000. But that amount is only receiving partial funding, Horvath said.<\/p>\n Wesley Reutimann, deputy director of Active SGV, said his group partnered with the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments. He said Active SGV and the COG usually had all their events approved until now. Smaller cities need Metro funding to pay for police, security, traffic control and liability insurance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will see if they find the money. Then, maybe we will get an event in the San Gabriel Valley,\u201d he said. \u201cThis (the committee\u2019s amendment) is a good step in the right direction. We would love to see a commitment to hosting events regularly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six of the 13 LA Metro board members joined a motion that asks the transit agency to do…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28088,5095,29201,7,1647,23282,7606,3172,7607,610,48,52,9087,51,131,47,137,50,49,23283,100,7609,7610,4065,7611,5760,200,7612],"class_list":["post-68670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-alhambra","tag-arcadia","tag-bell","tag-california","tag-downtown-los-angeles","tag-duarte","tag-foothill-cities","tag-harbor-area","tag-high-desert","tag-inland-empire","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-metro","tag-la-news","tag-long-beach","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-monrovia","tag-news","tag-north-beaches","tag-northwest","tag-palos-verdes-peninsula","tag-san-fernando-valley","tag-san-gabriel-valley","tag-south-bay","tag-south-beaches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PAS-L-ARROYO-FEST-1030-007.jpg\")
People on foot and bicycles enjoy Arroyo Fest and the use of the 110 Freeway looking towards downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)<\/p>\n![\"CicLAvia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/LDN-L-CICLAVIA24-0216-3.jpg\")
CicLAvia launches its 2024 season on Feb. 25 along Melrose Avenue. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker, contributing photographer)<\/p>\n