A software entrepreneur turned bike advocate, Michael Schneider doesn’t deny he’s all the things his critics claim: brash, privileged and unapologetic about forcing Los Angeles to build more bike lanes.
Schneider, 43, heads Streets for All — the advocacy group behind the successful March ballot measure that aims to level the paved playing field somewhat in the David and Goliath story that is bike riding on the streets in car-loving Los Angeles.
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The ballot measure dubbed Healthy Streets L.A. compels the city to implement its own plans to rework some of its most storied boulevards and streets to make space for bicyclists and pedestrians, who die at a rate of about one every three days.
The measure has forced Los Angeles officials to rethink their transportation policies. Schneider has taken the biking-first mentality to local neighborhood councils, where his group has endorsed slates of candidates and become proxy advocates.
Inside City Hall, he’s helped raise money for council candidates and is well known among transportation deputies, along with the heads of departments who decide which streets get paved.
But his tactics have rattled and divided some would-be allies.
Coming from the largely white, wealthy tech world, Schneider’s focus on data-driven solutions and ways to scale his ideas often runs counter to the efforts of some biking advocates who have been working tirelessly on the ground for years to build consensus and support, often in low-income communities.
The ballot measure allows residents to file lawsuits against the city if roads aren’t repaved, favoring wealthier people who can afford to hire attorneys. Some say it’s one example of how his thinking had pivoted.
Schneider is unabashed in his approach. He’s a moving evangelist, always biking to the store, political events, even the airport. He started a bike caravan at his children’s school and he says the biggest family argument between him and his chief executive wife is whether or not to bike.
Schneider, who grew up on the Westside and has been involved in several tech startups, gave up the lease on his customized BMW in 2015 and bought a bike after one of his ventures cratered. It was a revelation — one he says he wants his kids to be able to experience safely.
“Whether you like me or not, or like Streets for All or not, or agree with our tactics or not,” he said, with the passage of the ballot measure, “the city will be safer.”
