Collective Mobility: LA Cycling Advocate Shares Road with Parents in a Waymo
One of Eli Akira Kaufman’s earliest memories is from the back of his parents’ bicycles. As he got older, cycling remained an important vehicle for Eli; it’s how he took in the world, and commuted to work. He’s since become the executive director of LA’s largest cycling and road safety advocacy nonprofit BikeLA – formerly the LA Bicycle Coalition. In addition to focusing his career on cycling advocacy, Eli loves sharing this passion with his family; he bikes regularly with his own children, but his aging parents are no longer able to safely ride a bike due to long-term health challenges. Normally, Eli is the one driving his parents from place to place. But they decided to try out a new kind of ride together: with Eli on his bicycle, and his parents in a Waymo.
“I am excited about how this will open things up for my parents, and for me as their primary caregiver,” Eli said. “It allows me to navigate the city by bicycle, and live my values, while not having to exclude them from joining me out in the world when I can’t drive for some reason.”
Since Waymo brought its autonomous ride-hailing service to LA in 2022, Waymo and BikeLA have partnered on road safety initiatives from Spanish-language bicycle safety training and free bike light distribution to fundraising at the organization’s annual BikeFest.
This multi-modal, multi-generational group ride with Eli, his parents, and Waymo was Eli’s idea, and part of his larger vision of a future where all road users feel safe and respected.
“We need to make sure anyone feels like the streets protect their lives and are designed to support their individual needs,” Eli said. “As a bike advocate, I recognize that we all need to work more collaboratively to fine tune our approach to how we get around - whether by scooter, bike, foot, transit, or even in a car.”
After taking a Waymo ride with Eli close by, she said that enjoyed seeing how Waymo kept her son and other cyclists in sight and displayed their locations on her in-car passenger display screen.
Eli’s parents enjoying their ride in a Waymo autonomous vehicle.
“I was surprised at how aware the car was to where Eli was because sometimes he would jump ahead of us and I couldn't even see him, but the car saw him,” she shared. “I was so impressed that the car knew where bicyclists were before I did and could track them before I did.”
Waymo’s technology is designed to be constantly vigilant, obey road rules like speed limits, and drive with safety of all road users in mind, including cyclists. It also broadcasts a signal on its lidar dome atop the vehicle when a passenger is expected to be boarding or exiting the vehicle.
Eli’s father, Michael Kaufman, said he was excited about how Waymo presents another option for people with mobility challenges; and how they can travel around independently, without depending on anyone else.
“The most serious handicap we have is not being able to drive someplace,” said Michael, who has Parkinson’s and uses assistive mobility devices when walking. “The lack of spontaneity is what drives me crazy.”
Tayeko, who also uses an assistive mobility device after having a stroke, said she appreciates how Waymo offers v a promising new way for aging Angelenos to get around and connect with others.
“This is going to put spontaneity back into our lives, which is going to make seniors like us feel more like we are part of society without having to wait,” she said.
With safety for all road users at the very foundation of its design, Eli said that Waymo provides not only a mobility option for his parents, but a step towards a more bikeable LA; a goal he says is both bold and urgent.
“Right now the way that our culture is and even our infrastructure is set up, it pits people against each other, competing to get to their destination,” Eli said. “Our goal at BikeLA is to change the culture and infrastructure to support collective mobility where everyone, no matter if they are walking, biking, rolling, driving or being driven, is working together to get to where they need to go safely and with dignity.
LA's fast superhighways and lack of bike lanes create a deadly gauntlet for those that choose to cycle. According to BikeLA’s 2023 Bicycle Safety Report, 77% of LA cyclist fatalities took place on multi-lane roads with three or more lanes in each direction, and 85% of bicycle fatalities occurred on roads without dedicated bike lanes.
“The thing that is different about this car [Waymo] is the way it approaches the street itself,” Eli said. “There is thinking and design in the system that is making it more aware of the environments that it is traveling through.”
Eli showing his parents how the Waymo app works.
As a cyclist, Eli said he feels safer cycling near a Waymo vehicle than around most other drivers.
“When I’m assessing risks, and I see the Waymo, I’ll think it seems like less of a risk than this other driver that is probably distracted or angry or late or tired, or in some cases maybe under the influence,” Eli said. “I don’t have to worry about any of that when I ride near Waymo.”
Although he has biked thousands of miles in LA and is a certified League Cycling Instructor, Eli said that Waymo’s technology could help to make more people feel comfortable biking in LA.
“You shouldn’t have to be an elite cycling instructor with years of advocacy experience to feel like you can get on a bike and ride,” Eli said. “It should be for everyone from 8 to 88.”
Cycling is a joy that Eli embraces in his daily life – he tries to bike anywhere within six miles of his home in Mid-City or from a public transit point - and wants to share with others.
“When I ride a bike, my endorphins are kicking, I am able to focus, I feel present in my own body, and when I get to my destination, I feel more available to the people I am talking to,” Eli shared. “It is a huge difference to move under your own power.”
In addition to the immediate physical benefits, Eli said cycling also makes him feel like he’s part of every community he rides through.
“The second I leave my place in the street and the wind in my face, it connects me to the things that matter most with me, and I see neighbors and friends and it grounds me where I am,” Eli said. “Any chance I get to ride, I am going to choose that.”
Although he chooses to cycle and Waymo is a technology company with a fleet of cars, Eli said BikeLA and Waymo share a similar goal: making LA a place where all Angelenos feel like they can get to where they want to go, by bicycle, by foot or by transit, with dignity.
“The more we can think of our mobility as collective, that we are all in it together, the better our experience is going to be, the safer we are going to be, the more joyful we are going to be when we are on the road.”
