One of the more delightful Carmageddon-related discoveries in Los Angeles this past weekend was from artist Lauren Horowitz, who set up a Road Rage Rest Stop art installation on Venice Boulevard, right outside the Eat Real Fest in Culver City. Participants could choose the sign of their freeway of choice to hit on a punching bag and could shout at traffic images in the screaming box (that’s Lauren at the box).
The exhibit for expressing rage at traffic in LA was playful, but we all know that traffic and transportation woes in LA (and across the country) are very real; we have a serious need to reduce carbon emissions and for better public transit. Now that the 405 freeway is open again (until next year’s closure for work on the other side), the buzz on Facebook and Twitter and at water coolers in offices around the city is about how great it was that so many people kept their cars off the roads–either staying close to home or choosing alternative means of transportation. Those transportation alternatives happen to be cleaner, greener ways of getting around–good news and hopefully something Angelenos will consider even without warnings of a Carmageddon.
For those in Los Angeles interested in alternative transportation: we’re co-hosting an open forum on biking sharing with the city of Santa Monica, to discuss the possibility of starting a program here and to test-ride bikes from a bike share operator this Wednesday, July 20, from 6-9 PM, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
After weeks of hype, it’s upon us: the weekend the 405 freeway closes in Los Angeles. Gulp, it’s Carmageddon time. National news outlets became captivated with a road closure and public officials sent out warnings to Angelenos, suggesting we explore alternative means of transportation–or stay at home. (Could Michael Bay be working on a movie about this? Maybe with a plot about the group of 
You know your city has an unhealthy dependency on automobiles when a road closure is referred to as “Carmageddon,” yet that’s just what the media and Los Angeles residents have nicknamed the 405 closure set to take place this weekend, from July 16-17. A quick look online shows more than 400 blog posts and articles have been written on the subject–including articles in international papers–and celebrities have even jumped in to help the city get the word out by tweeting the information (even if some celebs, ahem, tweeted the wrong date). From the way the media and the city has marketed the closure, you would think that Los Angeles is literally going to shut down as people take shelter in their homes and wait for some sort of post-apocalyptic nuclear winter.