Thursday Morning Commute - compartmentalization

Good Morning. There was a lot of bike related articles yesterday. Hang in there.

• Congresswoman Norton tries to get funding for a study to see if NPS can manage parks in individual ways - ways that would allow Capital Bikeshare on NPS land.[It was shot down as an earmark.
• Reportedly a driver in a green sports car drove the Capital Crescent Trail from Fletcher's Boathouse to Chevy Chase yesterday. No one was hurt. Park Police were called but it doesn't appear they showed up in time. He was going less than 10mph and the USPP pursued at slow speed as well, making for the most boring installment of Smokey and the Bandit to date. Bad GPS directions, or new shortcut?
• Robbing cyclists (bikejacking?) seems to be the new thing."Kenilworth Ave. and Polk St., 5:40 p.m. July 14. Three male teenagers attacked a bicyclist and robbed him of property. The bicyclist was treated for injuries at Howard University Hospital."
• In response to letters received about last week's crash along GW Parkway at the MVT, NPS replies that they "are conducting a trail study and also have asked the Federal Highway Administration to make recommendations on how we can improve safety in this area.  However, the ultimate solution is grade separation, which will be very expensive."
• Maryland to adopt "Bicycles May Use Full Lane" sign. But shape and color under debate.
• The Ballston Patch (which ran the "I hate cyclists" story earlier this month) had someone (?) go on a bike ride with BikeArlington.
• Capital Bikeshare in Alexandria is still not a done deal. Contact the City Council to voice your support.
• A letter writer to the Gazette asks that the MBT run along its original route by the train station. "If MPI succeeds in diverting or obstructing the MBT at this location, then no “transportation enhancement” will have ever occurred and the issuance of this grant should be rescinded."
• While another letter writer reminds one driver that cyclist have a right to be on MacArthur Blvd. "the notion that no cyclists deserve "respect" because some break the law requires some very tight compartmentalization."
• Via Richard Layman comes this Spokes Magazine article about bike commuting at the University of Maryland (on page 20). "Among respondents who lived within five miles of campus, about 20 percent reported riding their bicycles to school. Yet about 70 percent of the non-bicyclists said they would consider riding if the school provided a more bike-friendly environment."
• A community garden might be built along the W&OD trail in Vienna.
• TBD has an old magazine article from 1994 on the rise of bike commuting. "in 1994, 3.4% of Americans rode to their jobs "occasionally," compared to 1.5% in 1983." 1.5% is almost the number who primarily bike to work now.

Comments

[John]

On the one hand the sports car thing is dangerous, annoying, disrespectful - all that. But it'd be a great dare to accept, wouldn't it? "I bet you can't drive all the way from Fletcher's to Chevy Chase on the bike trail!" Makes me long for the days when I was adventuresome and willing to risk arrest -

I'll take one sports car every ten years against an electric bike 4x a month.

[Crickey7]

Really great letters (2 of 'em) in the Gazette about MacArthur Blvd.

[antibozo]

Re the sports car--I'm a little surprised he made it over the bridge at Dalecarlia.

[antibozo]

Crickey7: links?

[MB]

That's the editor of the Ballston Patch (I took the photo). I expect we'll be seeing a piece from her sometime soon. Much credit to Bike Arlington for reaching out and making it happen.

[Katie S.]

Re the green sports car. Man was arrested, he was driving much faster than 10 mph (25-30mph), I had to dive into the trees while clipped in to avoid being hit(he was swirving vigorously along the path). when arrested he turned out to be completely drunk and almost killed several people...one of the scariest things I've ever come across on a ride.

[Katie S.]

I don't appreciate the feeling of the author downplaying the severity of the situation, I feared for my life.

[washcycle]

The author was unaware of the severity of the situation and I hope that you'll view his commentary in that light. The description he got was different than what you remember, which would explain why that happened. Obviously if he'd known of the severity he would have written something different.

This event happened almost a year ago, so I don't really remember the details.