Friday Morning Commute - 3 million

Good morning

• Admittedly, I recently had a post about CaBi that was riddled with errors, but the Augest CaBi data is out, and I think the system had it's 3 millionth mile in August.
• "The Montgomery County Police Department's Second District police station (which covers Bethesda and Chevy Chase) and the Bethesda Urban Partnership "has increased surveillance in [the Capital Crescent Trail's Air Rights Tunnel] in hopes of preventing further incidents," according to an email blast from the Town of Chevy Chase office.
• Sign up for the Audi Best Buddies Challenge here.
• Commutes are getting darker. Make sure you're visible. 

Comments

[charlie]

Query: Does the CABI "membership" include renewing members?

CABI becoming a toursit attraction? real opportunity to better wayfinding on the signs. I realize they are keeping one side empty for future ads but there are opportuniteies to upsell here.

I wonder when the street vendors will start offering "Capital Bikeshare" sweatshirts to go with the "FBI" and "Air Force One."

[Chris Eatough]

Answer to query: It depends what you are looking at. If you are looking at the dashboard data for membership, there are two drop down options. Total number of users and new members. Total number of users is the cumulative memberships sold for each membership category. So that includes renewals. Of course, some had an annual membership and did not renew. Current annual membership is around 18,000. New members is those that joined just in that month.

[T]

Why doesn't the MCPD have an officer riding a bike along the various trails? They could go from CCT, Sligo, RCP, etc. DC even has some cops on bike beats, particularly in the non-downtown areas. I've seen them riding through back alleys and everything. Granted their record is so bizarrely either great (probably the cyclist cops) or horrendously horrible.

[charlie]

@Chris; thanks. I downloaded the data, so perhaps that is part of the confusion.

When I look at the CABI dashboard, under total annual members I see about 26,000, not 18?

[Chris Eatough]

@ Charlie: 26k is total annual memberships sold. Some of them have expired and not renewed. Current annual membership is 18k.

[oboe]

Commutes are getting darker. Make sure you're visible.

Also, if you're going to put three 2200 lumen light cannons on your handlebars, please consider not pointing them directly into the faces of oncoming bike riders.

Thank you for your consideration.

[aaa]

Yes, please make sure you're visible, but there's a special place in hell reserved for cyclists who overdo the lighting to such a degree that they temporarily blind everyone else on the trail.

[SJE]

I think we need a PSA on staying visible, targeted at both cyclists and peds.

Of course, sometimes I am "that guy": my new 500 lumen lamp worked fine 2 days ago, then was like a feeble night light last night.

[SJE]

Worlds most powerful flashlight: 4100 lumen. Watch it smoke an iPhone 5.

http://www.wickedlasers.com/torch.

With the recent assaults in the Air Rights tunnel maybe this is a good back up light.

[Chris Eatough]

RE: SJE. BikeArlington will be out and about when the clocks go back, proving free blinky lights to bikers and pedestrians that are lacking in visibility. We will also be distributing small flyers with helpful info on the how and why. WABA does similar outreach, mostly in November.

[SBG]

It seems to me like overkill if you have the white blinker on the handlebars why do you also need another on your helmet? I do see people with this set up. I guess the more the better?

[SJE]

Chris: WABA and Bike Arlington are doing great work. They seem to be particularly good reaching out to regular riders. IMO, the problems with lights are not the regular bike commuters, its
(1) pedestrians
(2) occasional riders
(3) racers who don't want to mess up their bikes with the extra weight (e.g. CCT, RCP)

These 3 groups are not as effectively targeted by bike groups, nor should WABA or BA feel any responsibility. However, they are a problem for the rest of us who do use lights.

[washcycle]

The blinker on your helmet lets you turn your head and look at a driver coming at a 90 deg angle and lets them see the light. Basically, when you look at someone, they can see you. The light on the bike lights up the road and keeps a steady light for cars coming at you.

[Ryan B]

Also SBG, having two lights makes it easier for those you're approaching to gauge your speed. I don't remember exactly why this is but remember it from my motorcycle license class. I think it's because it's easier to notice two lights seeming to grow farther apart than one light growing larger.

[Ryan B]

I don't really have anything else to add to this point, but I too wanted to take the opportunity to express how much I hate walkers/joggers who dress like ninjas and don't have any lights. Those people scare me more than a 16 year-old driving an escalade while updating twitter with both hands.

[MM]

@SBG

The more the better, yes. Although your comment specifically talks to the double blinky crowd, I think using a blinky and a solid light is absolutely necessary for a lot of year-round riders...my opinion is that a non-blinky light alone is inadequate, as solid lights tend to mix in with other light sources, particularly in the city, and a blinky helps provide contrast. What blinkies don't do is help you see better, so in places without lots of overhead lighting, using both becomes necessary to see and be seen.

[Kirk]

MCPD does have officers on bikes, I see them in Bethesda all the time. The police I see on the CCT are park Police though.

[Crikey7]

On behalf of the safety weenie community, I'd suggest using at least some flashing lights in almost all lighting conditions. Using them at night almost goes without saying, except somehow I see plenty who don't.

[washcycle]

On the way to dinner last night, I saw a gaggle of MPD bike cops riding down Wisconsin Ave, at night, no lights.

[MM]

@washcycle

In my experience, none of the bike cops (MPD, USSS, USCP) use lights...they also wear dark uniforms with no reflective strips. Maybe when WABA does light giveaways, they can offer a few to the local LEOs...