TheWashCycle

Special Election candidates on reallocating road space

Silverman, for the bike vote

Would you support a new bicycle lane on Connecticut Avenue NW, even if it resulted in fewer on-street parking spots or altered traffic patterns?

Frumin and Zukerberg would need more information about the lane’s design before giving an opinion. Bonds, Redd and Mara are inclined to oppose it, worried about a loss of on-street parking. Silverman is inclined to support it. “If we are to promote cycling, we need to promote cycling on our major thoroughfares,” she said.

Also, Zuckerburg apparantly used pedicabs to get voters to the polls.

Tuesday Morning Commute - SXSW

Good morning

• DC Bike party - tomorrow night. 
• Mayor Gray rides one of Austin's 2nd Class trailer-style pedicabs. I prefer DC's, but I'm a snob.
• Maryland has agreed to take responsibility for the portion of Maryland Route 410 in Takoma Park. "Before the council’s Feb. 19 vote to authorize the agreement, public comments included both support from residents who were glad to see responsibility for the road clarified, as well as concerns that if bike lanes were added — as allowed by the agreement — they could turn into a different type of lane, Acting City Manager Suzanne Ludlow said."

Yo Yo and DeAndre Windom see DC by Pedicab

She's a rapper and he's the Mayor of Highland Park, Michigan. I smell a wacky sitcom.

Monday Morning Commute - Argo

Good morning

• WABA's annual meeting is tomorrow night.
• The last of the Silver Spring Transit Center's section of the Metropolitan Branch Trail opened. So now I can stop following the whole weak concrete/transit center delay drama. The Metropolitan Branch Trail now extends from the Silver Spring Metro station to Ripley Street.
• "During the 2013 National Bike Summit, March 4-6, Capital Bikeshare will have additional corrals at its regular station at H and 8th  Streets (just two blocks from the Summit hotel). That means you can pick up a CaBi at any location in the city and ride it to the Summit — without having to worry about the bike docks being full. Capitol Bikeshare will have valets there ready to take your bike and point you in the right direction."
• There were some losses in the Virginia legislature this year, including a bill that allows localities to put stop signs or lights on trails where the intersect roads, but there was one win with a bill that will make texting while driving a primary offense and raise the penalty. Both those bills now go before the Governor.  
• A letter writer to Dr. Gridlock warns other pedestrians about speeding cyclists on the sidewalk. Dr. G adds "Conditions aren’t as bad for pedestrians as they were in the heyday of the bicycle messenger, but walkers still need to be very aware of their surroundings. As Wahl points out, it’s not paranoid to look behind you."
• Bicycling advocate and Montgomery County Planning Board member Casey Anderson is also the spokesman for Marylanders Against Gun Violence. But has he watched every episode of Smallville?
• "In fact, Marylanders enjoy bicycling for many reasons and at many levels of expertise, and some, including me, even do so on occasion simply to feel the joy of the wind in their hair."
• DDOT is rolling out more Leading Pedestrian Interval intersections. "Leading pedestrian intervals are already in place at 14th Street and U Street N.W., which had nine crashes involving a cyclist and seven more involving pedestrians between 2010 and March 2012, " If the Bicycle Safety Amendment Act of 2013 passes, they would become Leading Pedestrian (and Bicyclist) Intervals.  
• Do you like drinking wine while riding around in a pedicab? Well, not only is it a new Olympic sport but also a groupon.
• "The Catonsville Short Line Trail between Maiden Choice Lane and Paradise Ave. will be resurfaced with a crush and run (CR6) gravel surface beginning on February 25, 2013."

Is that JT?

Pedicab Ride by M.V. Jantzen

From Inauguration Day.

Pedicab on a closed road

2013 01 21 - 2026 - DC - Penn Ave from 21st St NW by thisisbossi

Thursday Afternoon Commute - Coldest Day

Good afternoon

• MTA has begun more public input meetings on the Purple Line/CCT (image at right shows latest Rock Creek Bridge design). The new design has several changes since last presented. But still, all this will be in vain if money isn't found for the Purple Line. There will almost surely be no CCT extension without the Purple Line.
• The Coldest Day of the Year Ride is coming up. 
• Pedicabs were ready to clean up at the inauguration.

Pedicab driver getting a ticket

Photo by by M.V. Jantzen

Wednesday Afternoon Commute - 30 Rock

Good afternoon. I saw one of my coworkers who is hearing impaired using his iPhone to have a sign language conversation with someone today. Not bike related, but I found that to be a pretty cool use of that feature. Ah, the future.

• Others are criticizing the Reason piece on CaBi including Mike DeBonis [Who notes that CaBi users aren't actually rich and that all transportation is subsidized] and Will Sommer [Who includes a quote from Reason editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie about the JARC grant that makes up the heart of the criticism even though it hasn't kicked in yet  "You may think it's dissembling to include that grant,"]
• Washington Life on Bike the Sites. 
• Biking is a great way to get around during the London Olympics. But because the road race is only a week after the end of the Tour, some worry that it will distort the final results.  The same article discusses the changes in cycling in this Olympics and gives medal projections. 
• Alec Baldwin has a tough bike ride, but at least no one is attacking him with sausages. 

Friday Afternoon Commute - Big pumping

Good afternoon

• It's hard out here for a messenger. "the bike messenger is not dead yet. Shawn Blumenfeld, a local cycling racer and past courier, tells me he estimates that there are still about 100 to 150 bike messengers today in the District because many messengers he knew from a couple years ago are still at work in the industry today — although he emphasizes that this is just a guess."
• It's hard out here for a pedicabber. " Two days ago, one Park Police officer issued Mosco four citations that "appear to be retaliatory in nature for my shooting this footage of his interaction with another pedicab operator," he told me."
• It's hard out here for a bike rebalancer - "Accommodating the increasing number of users is a delicate balancing act. Lisle points to areas such as Columbia Heights, where many cyclists use the network to cycle downhill to get to work. Fleets of Capital Bikeshare vans gather up the bikes at central docks downtown 25 at a time, and truck them back up to these kinds of neighborhoods so another wave of riders can use them within the same rush hour."
• I've saved far less than $4.6 billion. I must be doing it wrong. 
• A record number of people biked to work today (I'm not surprised) and exceeded WABA's goal of 12,500. Photos from BTWD in Rosslyn and Bethesda. "It turns out that people not only want to be reassured that bicycling is safe—they may also want to be convinced that it’s normal. "
• NYC to start a new bicycle crash reporting system. "Prior to the new initiative, police only filled out a brief card describing any accident involving a bicycle. Now, police must fill out a complete accident report, just as they would for an accident between motor vehicles. This change in policy demonstrates the seriousness with which the NYPD now aims to treat bicycle accidents."