TheWashCycle

Spring 2007 Rails to Trails Magazine

There are several Items of interest to DC area cyclists in the Spring 2007 issue of Rails to Trails magazine.

There's an article on trails that cross state lines which features the Great Allegheny Passage. This 135 mile long trail - or group of trails - connects to the C&O on one end, and Pittsburgh on the other allowing for an (almost) all-trail connection between D.C. and Pittsburgh. Unfortunately the article isn't online yet. It talks about how originally there were just a bunch of little sections  built by towns and counties, but in 1995 they rallied around one mission and eventually one name. It reminded me - on a much larger scale - of the "Prince George's Trolley Trail" (I'm calling it that until an official name is chosen). In addition they mention the Greenway Sojourn, an eight day supported ride from Pittsburgh to D.C.

There's a blurb about a GIS mapping project for the Grand History Loop, a network of trails connecting visitor attractions in D.C. Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Contact Heather Deutsch heather@railstotrails.org to volunteer.

As someone pointed out to me, there's a stat about rails with trails - 119 such trails exist in the U.S making up 878.4 miles.

The "Destination" feature covers Delaware's Junction and Breakwater Trail. It's a really nice trail just north of Rehobeth Beach, but at 3.6 miles its not a day of riding by itself. You can rent bikes, there are plenty of other places nearby to pick up miles (including the start of the American Discovery Trail) and the area is easy to navigate with Delaware's great bike map.   

Snow

Since we've had so much snow recently (and I now bike every day) it has annoyed me how badly the snow is cleared. It's not even an issue of snow piling up on the side of the street making the lanes narrower (I actually feel drivers have been more considerate in this situation, so it's probably a wash). It's more the impact on sidewalks* and bike trails that makes it such an issue. I've gotten use to road debris, but snow and ice are significantly more difficult and dangerous. Metro seems capable - remarkably so - of clearing their pedestrian areas, why can't anyone else? Steve Eldridge is bothered by it too.

The only thing that’s clearing the ice in many areas is the sun and not the highway and local road crews. It’s been a week since the big snow/ice event and the only clearing that many curb lanes and ramps [WC: and bike lanes/trails/sidewalks] are getting is because of the heat generated from above.

Part of this is law enforcement. Many sidewalks are supposed to be cleared by the property owners, but no one seems to be getting tickets.

I wonder where all of the local ticket writers are who have been charged with enforcing local sidewalk clearing laws. Even some of the sidewalks around schools are still just sheets of ice.

I don't think the authorities should have to clear every trail in the area. But the key commuter routes (CCT, MVT, Custis, W&OD) should have to be cleared at least as a secondary street would. Bike commuting is becoming a year round activity - if local officials want people to commute by bike, then they need to treat bike commuter routes like any other. Take one of your tree clearing employees and get her to pull one of these around.

Boulder, CO actually treats bikes like cars.

Paths begin being plowed at the same time as streets as soon as snow starts to accumulate. The Broadway Path, beginning at Eben Fine Park running to 55th Street is plowed first, followed by the Foothills Parkway Path and other paths. On-street bike lanes are cleared during street snow removal operations. The Boulder Creek Path is cleared by the city Parks Department. All other pathways are maintained by Transportation Maintenance.

* There are a few places on my commute where sidewalks make more sense than the roads - probably a total of 150 feet

Addendum: There was more on this on Dr. Gridlock this week.

Reader 1: Is any agency responsible for clearing the area's bike trails?

Dr. Gridlock : This is a good question, and I have no idea what the answer is, about who is responsible for clearing bike trails and how well, generally speaking, they do the job.

I would think that in the modern era, bike trails deserve that sort of attention -- not that they should be cleared first after a storm, but certainly a week's delay is too long.

Reader 2: I don't know about the Virginia trails, but the Capitol Crescent in D.C. is usually plowed by the National Park Service. The Maryland side, however, is not; so you can be riding along a nice open trail and then suddenly hit an unrideable packed mess. It's too bad because it just means that some of us end commuting up on the roads slowing cars down for the 2-3 weeks that it will probably take for the trail to finally melt.

Great Streets DC

The Great Streets DC initiative "is a multidisciplinary approach to corridor improvement, comprised of public realm investments, strategic land use plans, public safety strategies, and economic development assistance."  The idea is to improve neighborhoods by focusing on streets in the hope that great cities come from great neighborhoods.  There are six corridors that the city is focusing on:

• Georgia Avenue NW and 7th Street NW from Eastern Avenue to Mt. Vernon Square
• H Street NE and Benning Road NE from North Capitol Street to Southern Avenue
• Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue NE from Kenilworth Avenue to Eastern Avenue
• Minnesota Avenue NE/SE from Sheriff Road NE to Good Hope Road SE
• Pennsylvania Avenue SE from the Sousa Bridge to Southern Avenue
• Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE and South Capitol Street from Good Hope Road to Southern Avenue.

The Great Streets Initiative has five principles of which one is Move, which includes:

Continuous and unobstructed pedestrian/bicycle access on sidewalks and roadways

as part of its vision (I read that as pedestrians on sidewalks and bikes on roadways, but it should be clearer). Each Corridor has a transportation corridor concept plan as shown below for Pennsylvania Avenue SE. For some reason, the transportation maps on the Corridor Concept plans is different from that in the reports. That's annoying, I'm not sure which is "correct."

Bike facilities planned include:

Bike lanes and signed routes on

1.Benning Road NE from Minnesota Avenue to Maryland.

2. 7th Street NW from Mt. Vernon Square to Florida Avenue

3. Pennsylvania SE from 295 to Maryland

4.On Piney Branch to 13th NW, 13th to Harvard & Columbia, Harvard & Columbia to 4th and 4th to Mt Vernon Square

5.On Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue from Alabama Avenue to Atlantic Avenue

Additional signed bike route on Branch Avenue

Bike parking

including "artistic" bike parking

I hope they do better than they did with Barracks Row. While the street has really been reborn, the diagonal parking has made the street a little too narrow in my opinion (I think adding parking to an area with a metro station and frequent bus service in a walkable and bikeable neighborhood was a mistake).

ABC 7 Shocked, Shocked to find illegal driving downtown

This is more of a dog bites man story, and one that touches on what's wrong with local TV news, but if it results in safer driving it would be nice...

AND WHEN HE CAME THROUGH AGAIN. THAT'S HIM TAKING NOTES WHILE DRIVING A BUS LOAD OF PEOPLE.

I doubt you'll get a total crackdown. But like I've said, if drivers want to go all enforcement all the time, I'm OK with that, because I think cyclists will be the winners.

Environmental Film Festival

The 15th Annual Environmental Film Festival starts on March 15th.  There are more good movies than any normal person can see. Here are four that are (somewhat) relevant to cycling.

Addicted to Oil: Thomas L. Friedman Reporting -Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, author of the recent best-seller, "The World Is Flat," examines the dynamics of petro-politics, investigating the relationship between America's energy consumption, world oil prices and geopolitical power. 3/16/07 7:00 p.m. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Elihu Root Auditorium Free

An Inconvenient Truth - Former Vice President Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide is presented in this inspiring Academy Award winning documentary. 3/17/07 7:00 p.m. George Washington University and 3/20/07 12:00 noon National Geographic Society Free

Edens Lost & Found–Chicago: City of the Big Shoulders - America's "second city," the brawling metropolis of Chicago, is the focus of the first episode of "Edens Lost & Found" showcasing extraordinary stories of environmental rebirth in American cities. 3/19/07 7:00 p.m. National Building Museum Tickets Required

A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash - The news, according to this well-made, frightening documentary, is by no means good: not only are Western economies bound inextricably to a rapidly diminishing global oil supply–but those very suppliers might have seriously overestimated their own reserves. 3/20/07 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm Embassy of Switzerland FREE                                                    & Reservations Required

Union Station Bicycle Transit Center

I went to the December meeting on the Bicycle Transit Center at Union Station. I took some notes, and saw a comment on the get there blog that had some good info too so I'll excerpt that first.

there were several people presenting but they appeared to be mostly answering questions. and the questions being asked appeared to mostly come from people who were interested in managing this facility. many of the questions dealt with costs, overhead, ownership, subsidies, real estate, and regulations.

i think that some money to build something has come through. this money is (federal?) pollution abatement money and someone has decided that a bike parking facility is the best way to spend it. the money will be spent. and it's very, very probable that it will be spent on this product.

the stated purpose of the meeting was to get input. but they already have plans, technicals, scale art models, traffic flow ideas and what not. it looks like most of the decisions are made. what i find troubling is that i think this particular idea is a solution in search of a problem. when general interest questions were asked, there were really no answers. what happens if this thing fills up? there will be more street parking nearby. what will happen to the existing bike parking? unclear, it will probably be lost or moved. is this supposed to be a service for existing commuters or is it meant to be something to convince non-cycling commuters to give it a try? no answer. with the prohibition of bikes on marc and metro during rush hour, is union station the best place for this? no answer. will there be showers and changing places in the facility? no, there will be no running water. so there will be no toilets? correct. what happens when the "attendant" needs to go the bathroom? does she/he just lock the place up and go into union station. awkward silence. no answer. giggles from bikers.

To a large extent the commenter is right. The meeting was very slanted toward possible operators. It's also true that this money and this land came through and now the city is going to build it. If you ask almost anyone they'll tell you this is not the ideal spot for it, but it is the spot that DDOT got for free.

The facility is not really a "solution in search of a problem." I think bike parking of this type will have a positive long-term impact. We're not the only city working on this either.

My first thought was that renting a store front made more sense than building an odd-shaped facility from scratch next to a historical building. DDOT admitted that the space was "unfortunate and limiting" but that this is what they were offered. This may be a case of satisficing, but sometimes you have to compromise. The location also makes it impossible to provide water. Which means no showers, no bathroom and no water fountain. It would be nice to have showers but only one bike station in the U.S. does so it can probably be a success without it. Still, a bathroom and water fountain would be useful.

Due to its proximity, this project is dependent on the redevelopment of Columbus Circle which will close 1st Street down to one lane. The access ramp will go away but the bike station will still sit on an island with bus lanes (only occasionally used) on either side - in the picture above, buses will pass between Union Station and the bollards in the center.

The facility will cost $2 million. $407K will be for the plaza itself. Construction should begin in August, complete next February and open in March 2008. The Met Branch should be open to Brookland (we were told) by the end of this year.

The station will have 150 spaces inside and 30 outside. An additional 30 can be added in on a third level if needed. They'll be a changing room and 40 storage lockers for which you'll need your own lock. The bike storage part will not be climate controlled (although passive control will be used), but the store portion (1/3 of the facility) will be. The facility will have solar panels to provide power and micro-louvered glass to keep out sun in the summer time. DDOT hopes to sell about 300-450 memberships. Members will have preferential parking rights (parking over night, special RFID keys, etc..) This will be the 3rd largest bike station in the U.S. and the largest run by BikeStation.

The facility has approval from Fine Arts, Historical Preservation and NCPA.

The store will sell accessories and give free air and information. Prices will be something like $1/day, $96/year with a $20 membership fee. Open 7-7 M-F and 9-5 on weekends. In the winter it can close on the weekend. These are the minimum hours. The operator is free to open longer.

I suppose I'm more excited about this than worried - though there is the potential that this could be a failure. If the Met Branch opens it will help immensely.

Someone asked Jim Sebastian to put the presentation up on DDOT's site, but I couldn't find it. I was directed to this article by Richard Layman though.

“People don’t park there because they’re worried about security,” Sebastian said of Union Station’s current bicycle racks, which hold the chained remains of bicycles that have been vandalized, ripped up for parts and abandoned.

“It looks like a graveyard of bicycle parts,” said Southeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commissioner Neil Glick. “We think [the Bike Center is] a great idea.” Glick heads Shaw Eco Village, a sustainability-focused organization with a bicycle-refurbishing program.

The Bike Center will hold 150 bicycles inside and 30 outside, Sebastian said. Currently, Union Station’s racks can accommodate 50 bicycles. Security cameras will watch over the garage.

Bicycle Movies

With the Oscars airing tonight, I've decided to put together my list of the top ten bicycle movies. Your list may differ. Some movies - like Quicksilver - aren't included, because I haven't seen them.

10. (tie) Better Off Dead and The Man With One Red Shoe. Neither of these is really a movie about bikes or cycling, but both feature bikes prominently (the second in DC). TMWORS is the movie that made me want to learn how to balance on my bike when not moving. Better Off Dead made me want to learn how to make French food.

9. The Straight Story - David Lynch's least David Lynch-like film is this quiet road/travel movie that takes place in Iowa. One scene takes place during RAGBRAI. It's a great shot when he's riding his lawnmower and suddenly there are hundreds of cyclists passing him

8. Life is Beautiful (La Vita e Bella) - It seems the whole first half of the movie takes place on bikes.

7. American Flyers - Tons of bike race scenes, archaic Cold War subplot, cheesy 80's rock and Kevin Costner with a mustache. What more can you ask for?

6. BMX Bandits - The single greatest Australian movie about bank robber-foiling, BMX bike-riding teens ever. Nicole Kidman can win as many Oscars as she likes, but she'll always be Judy - on whom I had a very strong pre-teen crush - from BMX bandits to me. [My own personal innocence ended when I saw her topless in Dead Calm - a pretty good movie even if there are no bikes, no bank robbers and no walkie talkies]

5. Les Triplettes de Belleville - Guy is kidnapped during the Tour de France. The song and the dog are the reasons to see this movie.

4. ET: the Extra-Terrestrial - Climactic Nicole Kidman-less BMX bike chase, ends with iconic shot of bicycle passing, spaceship-like, in front of the moon.

3. Pee Wee's Big Adventure - The story of a rebel and his bike. Still includes best method for proving one is in Texas. Possibly derivative of the next film on the list...

2. The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di bicicletta) - Brilliant, powerful film in which it's easy to hate the bad guys (I hoped after the Cold War that "bicycle thieves" would be the new film heavy. Instead they went with terrorists. Stupid Hollywood).

1. Breaking Away - Way better than Kramer vs. Kramer this should have won the best movie Oscar. If you have not seen this, bike out and rent it right now. Seriously.

So yes, three foreign films, several that only tangentially involve bikes and a heavy dose of late 70s early 80s films. Let the complaining begin...now.

Raise the Hammer

Raise the Hammer is a Hamilton, Ontario based website with a great deal of bike related info. Warning: it skews left (for those who care). Some of it's post include this one about the relationship between speed in an accident and how fatal it is and this one on Can Bicycles Save Civilization. For the speed thing, it's just as you'd expect.

The British Department of Transport issued a shocking report in 1997 titled Killing Speed and Saving Lives.

It found that the rate of pedestrian fatality on being hit by a vehicle rises from five percent at 32 km/h to 45 percent at 48 km/h to a devastating 85 percent at 64 km/h (the fast edge of the so-called "green wave" of timed lights).

So while it's possible to be hit and killed by a cyclists (as we saw recently) it is significantly less likely. And this chart below doesn't even account for vehicle weight. Which is why when headlines read "Pedestrian hit by bicycle" it seems less accurate than "Pedestrian hit by car." Since the bicycle was probably lighter than the cyclist, they were really hit by a person on a bike.

Streetsblog

Streetsblog is a nice little NYC based blog about creating a more walkable, bikeable New York. It has a good post about the different views of the MSM in London and New York toward bikes.

And here's more about London in the Post. It's about the expansion of the congestion zone. Conservatives are blaming bikes (and buses) for clogging the streets.

Livingstone counters that traffic in central London has dropped by 20 percent. But congestion has risen in the zone, which Livingstone blamed on construction crews clogging streets. Conservatives on the London council say new bus and bicycle lanes are the reason.

The Congestion charge

The once-a-day charge operates between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. Residents inside the zone get a 90 percent discount, something Taylor's group complains will encourage more traffic between the two zones and add to congestion.

is not so popular:

nearly 40 percent of who described themselves as "very dissatisfied" gave this reason: the congestion charge.

Bike-to-work thief?

It seems that their have been a series of burglaries at homes along bike trails in North Arlington. The article doesn't mention which trails but I suspect the Custis Trail is one.

Arlington County police are investigating a series of daytime burglaries of homes that are located close to bike trails.

There have been 23 break-ins since Aug. 24, mostly in North Arlington, and most recently on North Kensington and North Quincy streets, Arlington County police spokesman John Lisle said. Most of the burglaries occurred during the daylight hours, between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., leading police to believe that the burglars are targeting houses after watching the residents leave, or they could be knocking on doors to determine whether anyone is inside.

If it turns out the thief is using the bike trails, that could look bad. NIMBYs always argue that bike trails will bring crime and I always find that assertion to be fear-based not fact-based. I still think it is. In fact I suspect that bike trails probably reduce overall crime - eyes on the street bring safety - bu this could be a case that people hold up. It's hard to prove crime was averted without an exhaustive study.

WaPo covered the story as well with some added details...

Recently, Estes said, many of the break-ins have occurred near bike trails, which might provide a getaway route. One neighborhood that has been hit in recent weeks is Arlington Forest, a cluster of about 850 houses off Carlin Springs Road and near the W & OD Trail.

At least I know that I'm free of suspicion.

the thieves are sophisticated, Estes said