SEPARATED BIKE LANES ON BROAD ST.
Decades of urban planning, heavily influenced by the fossil fuel and automobile lobbies, have transformed our streets into thoroughfares of profit. And at what cost? The destruction of the environment, enforced individualism, traffic violence, and the financial burden of automobile insurance and maintenance.
Through relentless advertising and commercial messaging, they trained the public to believe that commuting by car is the only legitimate way to travel in a city. The fossil fuel and automobile lobbies even codified this mindset into law with jaywalking statutes. In the mid-20th century, they worked to dismantle streetcar systems across the country—most infamously through the National City Lines case—so cities would become dependent on cars and oil. Today, they continue to pressure city and state officials to block or remove bike lanes that provide safety for cyclists.
This is trickle-down economics in action. The system is rigged to deliver tax cuts to billionaires, while the money they should be paying in taxes largely stays in their pockets. A fraction of that wealth is then used to buy political influence and ensure policy serves their interests.
Just yesterday, Louisiana’s Public Service Commission approved Entergy’s plan to build three new natural gas plants to power Meta’s $10 billion data center. This is not about meeting public needs—it is the state serving oligarchs, locking us into decades of fossil fuel dependence so one of the world’s richest corporations can expand its empire, while the working class bears the cost in pollution, rising rates, and lost democratic control.
Meanwhile, our income tax dollars are redirected to fund their priorities—without our consent. This is not democracy; it is oligarchy. The only way to see our tax dollars used as we intend is to organize the masses and turn the tide. That is one of our aims at Critical Mass NOLA.
We currently have a petition circulating to address safety concerns on St. Claude Avenue. In addition, we’ve written an open letter calling for improvements on Broad Street for extended crosswalks, protected and separated bike lanes, and floating bus stops to prevent buses from swerving into bike lanes and endangering cyclists.
Ride with us every last Friday of the month to demand our right to the road. We meet at 6 p.m. on the Barracks Street side of the French Market and roll out at 6:30 p.m.
*Critical Mass Nola is a volunteer-led, informal community ride. All participants ride at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety.