Does Fenty's Cycling Matter?

In the comments g brought up a good point

Jaffe's article also puts too much emphasis on Fenty being a triathlete, or on the personal bike connections of 2 people in his administration.

I tire of hearing about how this bike facility or that is happening because Fenty is a triathlete. I'm training for a triathlon right now, and I don't do my training rides on roads with bike lanes. If DC were building a velodrome or closing off Hain's Point to cars to allow for bike training that would be one thing, but building cycletracks and a bike station are not things a triathlete would really care about. If Fenty were a bike commuter, or someone who rode his bike to the store (in other words if Wells were Mayor) that would be different, but he isn't.

And the fact is, as g points out as well, that this push for cycling pre-dates Fenty. When I moved here there was no one in DDOT (which I don't even think was DDOT then) assigned to biking or walking. It was under Williams that the bike coordinator was hired and the bike plan created. Since then a team of bike/ped oriented people at DDOT has expanded to at least six people (that I can think of).

I do think that having pro-cycling and pro-walking administrators in Harriet Tregoning and Gabe Klein helps. Gabe Klein appears to encourage the bike team to do projects instead of fighting them on them. But I think it's just lazy journalism to say that Fenty occasionally rides a bike and DDOT is doing more projects for cyclists, thus the one caused the other. Bloomberg is not a triathlete and yet NYC is doing plenty for cyclists. So is Philadelphia. So, in fact, are many large cities. In a sense this is really more about Fenty being the Mayor of a dense urban city than him being a triathlete. And there is more federal money for cycling. There is more support for cycling - both in the community and on the council. There are more cyclists. There is more concern about pollution, CO2, obesity and foreign oil. Gas is more expensive. All of these things play a bigger role than Fenty's hobbies.

Which is not to say that Fenty doesn't support cycling. It appears that he does. But it isn't like he's this cycling juggernaut pushing cycletracks through against wide-spread opposition. It's more like DDOT employees are pushing it and he trusts them to do their jobs well. Which isn't at all a bad thing.

Aside: Since I'm training for my first tri in 10 years I have to go out on training rides where sustained high speeds* are the goal. And that just doesn't work on my commute. Previously I would go out to Hain's Point like a lot of other people. But lately I've been using the 2 mile stretch of Anacostia Drive SE between the railroad and Douglas Bridge. There's little traffic, it's closer to my house and I get to watch progress on several projects including the new 11th Street Bridge, the Anacostia trail bridges, the Park at the Yards and - with a slight detour - the streetcar along S. Capitol. FYI for those looking for another option.

It's weird to try an go fast again. I'm so used to focusing on operating in traffic I have to keep reminding myself to pedal hard - I have to figure out how to get my Garmin to warn me when I'm going too slow.

* by which I mean faster than 14mph.

Comments

[Richard Layman]

ahh, but it's also lazy of commenters (I am not referring to you) in Washcycle and GGW in particular to believe that these things are happening because Mayor Fenty is a triathlete.

Ironically, I believe his interest in cycling is comparable to President Bush's--it's personal, and doesn't really translate to policy. E.g., he can get a heater installed in an outdoor swimming pool, but the city doesn't have a master plan for parks and recreation services and facilities.

Most of the changes that are being done in the biking realm have been in the works for many years. After all, the DC Bicycle Master Plan was created in 2004. And the bus shelter contract was signed in 2005 (this included a provision for bicycle sharing).

The only thing happening now that is outside of the original planning framework is cycletracks. Cycletracks have been being pursued since at least 2007 (I know that Councilmember Wells was promoting them for M Street SE/SW starting back then. But that was only one such thing). And they were raised in the context of the Pennsylvania Avenue SE Great Streets planning too--I think in 2006. It's arguable that Mayor Fenty had anything to do with it.

[Early Man]

Sustained high speeds are one goal for training, but other goals to make you faster are interval and sprint workouts. These can be integrated into a commute a lot easier--the Swedes call it 'fartlek' or speed play. An all-out sprint should leave little left after only 30 revolutions, which doesn't take that much road. For sustained high speed training, I'd check out the National Arboretum.

[SJE]

I'd add that the city is still spending a far larger share of transportation on car related things.

So Fenty rides a bike. Well Fenty DOES drive too, so should we all whine that all this money is going to roads?

[g]

Apart from the Jaffe article weirdness, and whether it's "Under Fenty" or not, or whether cycletracks on Penn Ave really mean that "D.C. could become the cycling capital city of the country," my answer is YES! I'm SO ready!

(and I do agree that the bike-friendliness of Gabe Klein & Harriet Tregoning certainly helps)

[Casey Anderson]

I think you are correct that Fenty's cycling has had little if anything to do with the city's initiatives to improve bicycling infrastructure under his administration -- at least not directly. But we should still give him credit for hiring progressive transportation and planning officials (and backing them up in the face of opposition). In fact, I would argue that his reelection is critical to the prospects for sustaining the progress on bicycling facilities. A lot of people I respect (e.g. Richard Layman) have criticized Fenty harshly (and in some cases, persuasively). The question, though, is whether someone like Vincent Grey would hire people like Gabe Klein and give them free rein. I seriously doubt it. Likewise, people who have complaints about Fenty on other grounds (giving contracts to his fraternity buddies, etc.) should ask themselves whether the alternatives to Fenty would be an improvement.

[washcycle]

Yeah, despite my occasional grumbling, DDOT is pretty responsive to cyclists right now. It's easy to imagine that a new administration/director would be a step back for cyclists.

[Richard Layman]

Casey Anderson does make a good point. Would other candidates likely hire people like Harriet Tregoning and ideally Janette Sadik-Khan or, surprisingly, Gabe Klein, to run those key agencies?

Probably not.

But sadly these appointments are outliers in terms of the other appointments that Mayor Fenty has made, e.g., attorney general, city administrator, deputy mayor, schools, etc.

I guess we should be thankful for what we have. (Then again, as a critic, my "job" is to criticize. It's the "job" of people like Mayor Fenty to be cheerleaders. At least the way they define the job.)

And even though DDOT is allowed to do a decent job, DC's executive branch approach to WMATA is pretty pi** poor (mostly they care about who has the top job and getting WMATA to move their headquarters from downtown).

We're damned if we do, damned if we don't.

But note the posts I had last weekend about a set of questions by advocates, concerning sustainable transportation issues, that I wish that the advocacy groups would produce and use for the 2010 election cycle.

[Casey Anderson]

Richard: The election materials were very helpful. I have been thinking about this but had yet to get my act together to draft anything, so your post came at just the right time. I have talked to ACT about adding some bike questions to their candidate survey this year, and I think it is quite likely that WABA will do a candidate questionnaire.

[Richard Layman]

I had talked to Eric G. about this a few weeks ago, when I was at the WABA office.

For weeks I had been avoiding doing those entries, because I am a "govt. employee" if only with a term appointment.

But not seeing anything, and the issue's growing importance, I decided to do the post anyway.

[Chris]

Was the previous Williams administration anti-cycling?

[Washcycle]

No. Williams was fine. It's been no change in my opinion. The bigger factor has been the DDOT director. Tangherlini, Moneme and Klein have all been pro-bike, but Klein has been willing and able to do more (and has the advantages of the groundwork the others laid).

[Philip]

I'm training for some distance cycling, as well. Is there any reason not to bike on Hain's Point? (So far I've only been riding indoors or on the Mt. Vernon trail.)

[Washcycle]

No. Hain's Point is great. I was just giving an alternative.