Michael Schneider

Title: 
Founder
Organization: 
Streets For All
Biography: 

A native Angeleno, it was built into Michael’s brain from birth that the only way to get around Los Angeles is by driving a car. And starting on his 16th birthday at 8am at the DMV, that’s how he got around. Until the financial crisis in 2008. With his day job as a tech entrepreneur getting rocky along with the economy, Michael had to make some lifestyle changes – including getting rid of his expensive car lease. After a couple years of borrowing his Grandfather’s classic car – which was in the shop more than it was usable – Michael started to experiment with getting around town using a bicycle, something that seemed “crazy” and “impossible” to his native LA brain. For the past ten years, Michael has gone all in, just getting around town on his bicycle – even to and from LAX, including with his wife and 3 kids. And despite his ability to now afford a car, he thinks it would be crazy to get one. From never being late to look for parking to never having to worry about traffic to eating whatever you want and staying in shape to doing your part to not contribute to climate change – Michael truly believes that more people riding bicycles can save the planet and make our cities a more enjoyable place to live. Michael founded Streets For All (streetsforall.org) in 2019 as Los Angeles’ only transportation-focused PAC, a highly political organization that supports candidates and laws to promote freedom of choice around transportation in Southern California. Over the past three years, Streets For All has been successful in helping to unseat three regressive incumbents at Los Angeles City Council, and has successfully written, sponsored, or supported more than a dozen pieces of legislation at the state level, and has qualified a ballot measure called Healthy Streets LA. Michael is also an elected member of the Mid City West Neighborhood Council, where he chairs the Transportation and Sustainability Committee, is a board member of the Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee, and sits on Metro’s Sustainability Council.

Category: 
Speaker
Conference: