The double decker bike trains of LA

For various work reasons I've been in LA for a few weeks a number of times over the past 6 months. I lived there about 10 years ago, but have only been through for the briefest of visits in the intervening years.

While we like to demonise it as being the car capital of the world (which it probably still is), there is a surprising amount of cycling infrastructure now available across the city. As a bonus - and perhaps because motorists are so paranoid about being sued - riding a bike there is a pretty pleasurable experience. I certainly felt like cars noticed that I was on the road, and behaved appropriately. Or perhaps that is just the perspective I have coming from Sydney?

That is not to say that LA is without its own bike-detractors – including the well-publicised removal of green bike lanes in Downtown LA, because Hollywood doesn't like the hue (although as far as I understand, the bike lanes aren't going, just the green paint). It isn't all smooth sailing, I'm sure.

However, one thing which really caught my attention was what the train authority (Metrolink) is doing with older double-decker carriages: they are converting the bottom level of one carriage into a bike storage area. The carriage itself is painted in fairly obvious way that, well, screams bike carriage. 

Undoubtedly, the double-decker train carriage is a familiar form for Sydney-siders. While the very thought of converting one for bike storage might have BoF suffering heart palpitations and Alan Jones swallowing his microphone, it is interesting to note how seriously the car capital of the world takes their bikes.

And they don't even speak Dutch.