California Bike Commute Week is an annual project of the California Bicycle Coalition a non-profit organization that advocates increased bicycle use, access, safety, and education by promoting the bicycle as an everyday means of transportation and recreation.

Various special activities are organized locally by employers, ride share agencies, cities, counties, bicycle advocacy groups, bike shops and others who support bicycle transportation in California communities.

California Bike Commute Week is typically the third week in May, please check the official site for specific dates. In the Los Angeles area "Bike to Work Day" is usually the 3rd Thursday in May.

For more information visit Bike to Work Day's Official website or write to them at:

Bike to Work Day
P.O. Box 1446
Poway, CA 92074
Or call 619-679-1027

SEC. 26.01. BICYCLES - LICENSES. (Amended by Ord. No. 148,990, Eff. 12/17/76.)

(a) Definitions:
1. Bicycle Defined. For purposes of this section "bicycle" shall mean any device upon which a person may ride, which is propelled in whole or in part by human power through a system of belts, chains or gears and which has either two or three wheels (one of which is at least 20 inches in diameter, in tandem or tricycle arrangement) or a frame size of at least 14 inches.
2. Motorized Bicycle Defined. Any two-wheeled or three-wheeled device having fully operative pedals for propulsion by human power or having no pedals if powered solely by electrical energy, and an automatic transmission and a motor which produces less than 2 gross brake horsepower and is capable of propelling the device a maximum speed of not more than 30 miles per hour on level ground.

(b) Licenses:
1. Requirement. No person shall operate or use a bicycle upon any street or public highway of the City unless such bicycle has been duly licensed as provided herein. For the purposes of this section, the term "bicycle" shall also include "motorized bicycle."
2. Acquisition and Distribution: (Amended by Ord. No. 154,686, Eff. 1/1/81.)

1. The City Clerk shall procure from the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of California the necessary bicycle license and license renewal indicia as well as registration certificates or other forms required by State law for the licensing of bicycles and distribute these to duly authorized agents upon written application and payment therefor by said agents. Upon receipt of such application and payment by mail, the City Clerk shall mail the requested material to the applicant at applicant's address.
2. For purposes herein "duly authorized agent" shall mean: (1) Any person who holds a valid business, professional or occupational tax registration certificate to engage in the business of buying or selling bicycles or bicycle frames within the City of Los Angeles; or (2) The Los Angeles Police Department.
3. The Police Department shall pay for each license indicia received from the City Clerk a sum equal to the fee prescribed in Subsection (g) hereof. Other duly authorized agents may receive such license indicia upon payment of a sum equal to 65% of said prescribed fee.
4. The City Clerk shall determine the unit quantities in which bicycle and bicycle renewal licenses and registration forms or certificates shall be distributed to duly authorized agents.

3. Issuance.

1. No bicycle shall be sold by a duly authorized agent unless a valid bicycle license or bicycle license renewal indicia has been attached thereto prior to sale or unless a bicycle license or license renewal indicia is sold and issued to the purchaser and attached to the bicycle at the time of sale. Such license or license renewal indicia shall be sold only upon full payment of the required fee set forth in Subsection (g) hereof and no other sum. (Amended by Ord. No. 154,686, Eff. 1/1/81.)
2. Upon receipt of the required bicycle license fee, the agent shall attach the license indicia to the frame of each bicycle so licensed. The license indicia shall remain permanently attached to the bicycle. In addition thereto, the agent shall issue to the bicycle owner a registration card which bears the same number as shown on the license indicia, if any, and shall forward a duplicate copy of the registration card to the Board of Police Commissioners within 24 hours of the date of such issuance. The registration card shall include the bicycle owner's name and address, the number, if any, of the bicycle license as shown on the license indicia, the date such bicycle license was issued, the name and address of the bicycle retailer, the serial number of the bicycle, the make and type of the bicycle, and such other information deemed to be necessary by the Board. The Board of Police Commissioners shall maintain a record of each bicycle license issued.
3. Licenses heretofore issued and in effect on September 20, 1974 shall remain valid until their expiration dates but in no case any later than July 1, 1979. Upon expiration thereof, a new license indicia must be obtained by the licensee.

4. Term and Renewal. Each new license indicia or license renewal indicia issued pursuant to provisions of this section shall be renewed on January 1 of the third year following the year of registration. Renewal of a bicycle license shall be indicated by the presence of a supplementary adhesive device affixed by a duly authorized agent to the bicycle or bicycle frame on or near the indicia already appearing on said bicycle or bicycle frame. (Amended by Ord. No. 154,686, Eff. 1/1/81.)

(c) Dealers and Junk Dealers:
1. Report of Purchases. Each person who in the regular course of business buys secondhand bicycles or bicycle frames and every junk dealer who purchases or otherwise acquires any bicycle or bicycle frame as junk, or otherwise, shall report such acquisition to the Board in writing within 24 hours thereafter and specify:

1. The name and address of the person from whom each such bicycle or bicycle frame was purchased or otherwise acquired;
2. The make and description of such bicycle or bicycle frame purchased or otherwise acquired;
3. The bicycle frame number; and
4. The number, if any, and other identifying details of any license indicia and any license renewal indicia on the bicycle or bicycle frame affixed or attached in any manner thereto.

2. Report of Sales. In addition to any other reports required by the provisions of this Code, each person who in the regular course of business sells new or secondhand bicycles, or bicycle frames, shall report to the Board concerning all such bicycles or bicycle frames sold for which a bicycle license is not issued at the time of sale. Such report shall be made in writing within 24 hours of the date of sale and shall specify:

1. The name and address of the person to whom each such bicycle, or bicycle frame, was sold or otherwise disposed of;
2. The make and description of such bicycle or bicycle frame sold or otherwise disposed of;
3. The bicycle frame number;
4. The number, if any, and all other identifying details of any license or license renewal indicia or any previously issued decal or plate found affixed or attached in any manner to the bicycle or bicycle frame.

3. Period of Time to Elapse Before Sale. No pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or junk dealer shall sell or otherwise dispose of any bicycle or bicycle frame within twenty-one (21) days after such article has been purchased or received by such pawnbroker, secondhand dealer or junk dealer.

(d) Transfer-Report Required:
1. Seller or Transferor. It shall be the duty of every person who sells or otherwise disposes of any bicycle or bicycle frame to endorse upon the registration certificate previously issued for such bicycle or bicycle frame a written transfer thereof setting forth the name, address and telephone number of the transferee, the date of transfer, and the signature of the transferor, and to report such sale or transfer of ownership by delivery of the registration certificate so endorsed to the Board within 10 days of the date of said sale or disposition.
2. Buyer or Transferee. It shall be the duty of any person who purchases or otherwise acquires possession of a bicycle to apply for a transfer of license to his own name within 10 days of such purchase or acquisition.

(e) Change of Address:
Whenever the owner of a bicycle licensed pursuant to this section changes his or her address, that person shall, within 10 days, notify the Board of Police Commissioners of both the old and new address in writing.

(f) Destruction of Bicycle License Indicia:
No person shall tamper with, remove, destroy, mutilate or alter any bicycle license or license renewal indicia or registration form or certificate or remove, alter or mutilate the serial number or the identifying marks of the licensing agent's identifying symbol on any bicycle or bicycle frame licensed under the provisions hereof except as otherwise provided by law. In the event any license or license renewal indicia or registration certificate or form issued pursuant to this section is lost, stolen, or mutilated, the licensee of the bicycle shall immediately notify a licensing agency, and within 10 days after such notification shall apply to a licensing agency for a duplicate license or license renewal indicia or registration certificate or form. The licensing agency shall, upon receipt of payment of the appropriate fee, thereupon issue to the licensee a replacement indicia or registration certificate or form. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the Board from causing numbers to be stamped on the fr ames of bicycles on which no serial number can be found or on which the serial number is illegible or insufficient for identification purposes.

(g) Cost To License:
For each license indicia and each license renewal indicia issued pursuant to this section, the sum of $3.00 shall be paid by the licensee to the duly authorized agent. There shall be no charge for registration of change of address, or for a certificate of replacement of indicia required pursuant to Subsection (f) hereof. (Amended by Ord. No. 160,557, Eff. 1/9/86, Oper. 1/1/86.)

(h) Bicycle License Fee:
There is hereby established a special fund in the City Treasury entitled the "Bicycle License Fund". Fees collected pursuant to this section by the City Clerk shall be deposited into said fund and the City Clerk is hereby authorized to make the necessary disbursements therefrom as herein provided. Disbursements shall be made up to the limits of said fund for all costs of administering the bicycle licensing program provided for herein. Monies in said fund which are not thereby encumbered or expended in support of the bicycle licensing program shall be expended as designated by the City Council, to the extent that monies are available in said fund, for the improvement of bicycle safety programs and for the establishment of bicycle facilities, including bicycle paths and lanes within the City limits. In authorizing expenditures for such additional programs over and above the licensing program itself, the City Council shall also designate the department responsible for implementation thereof.

(i) Compliance With Motor Vehicle Code:
In addition to all other requirements of licensing herein set forth, each bicycle retailer, dealer or purchaser shall comply with the requirements and provisions of Division 16.7 of the Vehicle Code of the State of California. SECS. 26.02-26.30. (None)

For short trips the bicycle is unsurpassed for air quality and efficiency. The City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), Bureau of Parking Enforcement seeks to implement its programs in the most efficient manner possible. As a part of attaining that goal the department sought funds from the Mobil Source Resource Committee to develop a program in which trips by vehicle would be replaced by trips by bicycle. To that end in 1984 the LADOT developed the Traffic Officers on Bicycles Program, which included the purchase of bicycles, development of a program manual of policies and procedures, and trained officers in the use of the bicycle to perform their duties. Today bicycles continue to be purchased and added to the program through funds from the Mobil Source Resource Committee. To date 49 bicycles are used on Bicycle Patrol in Hollywood, Downtown and the Westside areas throughout the city. Officers on bicycles are used for parking enforcement, traffic control, impounding vehicles and assist with LAPD crowd control.