TheWashCycle

Virginia Senate ‘Dooring’ Bill In Committee Wed., Needs Your Support Now

Cut and paste:

SB736, the Senate’s anti-dooring bill, is on the docket for Wed. afternoon’s meeting of the Senate Transportation Committee. If your senator is on the committee, please contact them tonight, or first thing in the morning, and ask them to support SB736, “opening motor vehicle doors.”

Senate Transportation Committee Members

• Sen. Stephen D. Newman (R-Forest) Chair
• Sen. Harry Blevins (R-Chesapeake)
• Sen. Bill Carrico (R-Grayson)
• Sen. Chuck Colgan (D-Manassas)
• Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath)
• Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington)
• Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Burke)
• Sen. Henry Marsh (D-Richmond)
• Sen. Ryan McDougle (R-Mechanicsville)
• Sen. Jeff McWaters (R-Virginia Beach)
• Sen. Phil Puckett (D-Tazewell)
• Del. Jim Scott (D-Merrifield)
• Sen. Ralph Smith (R-Roanoke)
• Sen. Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach)
• Sen. John Watkins (R-Midlothian)

Again, if you live in any of these senators’ districts, please write or call your senator.

Everyone else can email the whole committee.  Richmond Sunlight’scommittee page has a list of email addresses to simply copy and paste into your email program.

Let’s not get doored anymore!

Norfolk columnist bashes anti-dooring law

Tom Jackman brings this to our attention at the Post. 

A state legislator from Fairfax, Sen. Chap Petersen (D), has a bill pending to remedy this oversight. For this he was roundly trashed Sunday by Virginian-Pilot columnist Kerry Dougherty

The bill reads, in part

No person shall open the door of a motor vehicle on the side adjacent to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so. Nor shall the person keep the vehicle door open for longer than is reasonably necessary to load or unload passengers.

A VIOLATION of this section shall constitute a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of no more than $100..."

Dougherty goes after it, without really understanding it.

Meet SB736, brought to us by Sen. Chap Petersen of Fairfax, which is dubbed "Opening and closing motor vehicle doors."

What do you suppose Jefferson would have to say about such inanity?

"OMD, you guys invented motor vehicles! In which seat do you rape your slaves?"

Supposing what people who have been dead for almost 200 years would think about legislation probably isn't the best standard, but I suspect that any wise legislator would be for laws that protect citizens from the carelessness of others.

The title alone justifies a "no" vote.

I guess you can judge a book by its cover (or a bill by its title)

Does anyone seriously believe we need this law?

Yes. Perhaps you should talk to some of them.

Does any sane Virginian believe that larding this onto the already bloated state code will do one thing to prevent drivers from unsafely opening their car doors into traffic?

Probably. There's always someone on the margin, right. But if you don't think that passing laws changes behavior then why have laws at all? I would note that 45 other states have a similar law on the books. If it's insane, then most of the country has gone crazy.

How anyone could be opposed to this law is beyond me.

Wednesday Morning Commute - Not Fearing the Turtle

Good morning

• "WABA will not be providing a staffed bike valet this year, as we have done in the past. The 2008[sic] valet was enabled by significant sponsor support and donations of bike racks and equipment that are not available to us this year without substantial cost."
• Bicycle Action Day in Richmond to lobby the state legislature is January 29.
• One person's rides mapped out over four years (it includes a couple of WAGBRADs even)
• As another defenseless road user, I find this a little disturbing "Weaver put a realistic rubber turtle in the middle of a lane on a busy road near campus. Then he got out of the way and watched over the next hour as seven drivers swerved and deliberately ran over the animal. Several more apparently tried to hit it but missed."
• Lance Armstrong will sit down with Oprah for 90 minutes. So, I'm betting this is the confession.

Monday Afternoon Commute - Tax Dodging

Good afternoon

• Washington/NoVa bike-sharing system is still the country's largest (of 18).
• Metropolitan Branch Trail lighting improves and work is ongoing to create a permanent maintenance solution. 
• More MSM coverage of the Virginia dooring bill. 
• Profile of local professional cyclist Joe Dombrowski.
• To the "cyclists don't pay for roads" argument, neither do drivers (in state at least). "He said he is working on legislation that he thinks all sides might agree to. It would increase the gas tax but reduce income taxes, effectively only raising taxes on drivers passing through the state. To make up for the general fund money that would be lost with the income tax reduction, Albo’s legislation would include corporate income tax changes that would raise taxes for out-of-state entities that make money in Virginia, he said."
• From the comments - "they hate us for our freedom". "The motorist is born free, but everywhere he is in queues. The courier burning through a red light, even the quiet law-abiding cyclist like me who only rides very slowly through red lights, demonstrates the freedom that car drivers have traded for comfort."
• Touching story that ends sadly due to a bicycle accident. 

Friday Evening Commute - Quirky

I was watching Superman II last night. When Supe and Lois are at the Fortress of Solitude and he gives up all of his powers, how do they get back to Metropolis? Does he really have the gear needed - or both of them the strength - for a cross-arctic hike? And even if they did, would there first stop really be at a diner? When did they go to the hospital to deal with their mal-nutrition and frostbite? I've had girlfriends before and if I stranded mine in the Arctic with me and forced her to hike across half a continent on foot (on our first date no less) I don't suspect there would be a second date, And making that second date a meal at a diner would only dig the hole deeper.

• DDOT replies to questions about the Douglass Bridge: "As preliminary design has progressed, we are also making sure that there are continuous connections for bicycle and pedestrian travel. The new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge will have shared use paths on both sides of the bridge that connect to bicycle and pedestrian facilities on either side of the Anacostia. We have also extended the joint use path on the east side of Suitland Parkway from Pomeroy Road SE to Firth Sterling Ave SE." And WABA points out it still has the same concerns and disappointments that it had after the FEIS process completed, along with some new ones and concerns with design-build: "When large transportation contractors make time- and budget-based decisions without community input, they do get the obvious tasks right. No one ever forgets to put in high-speed vehicle lanes. But contractors can make changes that impact bicyclist and pedestrian facilities by redesigning them in ways that are impractical or inefficient. Sometimes, components are eliminated entirely. Community input from cyclists is critical in elucidating why changes might not make sense, but in a design-build process, outside involvement is minimal."
• GGW also has a roundup of bike issues in Virginia that have been covered here recently, with a link to the Post article calling the dooring law "quirky" without even mentioning bicycles or dooring. Also, here's more on Route 1 widening.
• An effort to create a shared street or woonerf in Alexandria comes with skepticism, but I would be surprised if it didn't. After telling them it works in places in Europe, the only option is to treat them as though they're from Missouri. "City Council members last week gave the green light to moving forward with the concept, although a final design would need separate approval."

Friday Morning Commute - New, but Old

Good morning. I was down at Canal Park for the first time in a few weeks. They recently added bike parking and I'm not kidding when I say that there is probably parking for 120 bikes at bike racks there. It sounds crazy to say this, but it actually might be too much bike parking. I can't imagine when it would all be used. Still, a nice problem to have.

• New bike parking in Adams Morgan.
• Once again, Metro will be banning bikes on Metrorail all of Inauguration weekend. 
• State and local efforts to improve cycling in Maryland are paying off. "At the state level, transportation and parks officials have recruited volunteer and community groups to enhance off-road trails and create new ones. Maps and online services are being upgraded to supply more real-time information to mobile devices. 'We're getting close to producing a map of every single trail in Maryland,' said Steve Carr, a planner for the Department of Natural Resources." But communities remain underserved. And "the 20-mile Western Maryland Rail Trail will be extended another 4.7 miles from Pearre in Washington County to Little Orleans."
• The 16^th Annual Bicycle Symposium, hosted by Bike Maryland, has been scheduled for Feb. 27 in Annapolis.
• Virginia Bill would make it illegal to open a door on the traffic side of a car unless it is safe to do so. If Del. Barbara Comstock is your delegate, ask her to not stand in the way of crucial bike safety legislation. 
• Ask VDOT to to ensure that safe bicycling accommodations are included in the widening of Route 1 through Fort Belvoir. We won't get a second bite at this apple in our lifetimes.
• The Old Bike Shop in Arlington has opened. So it's actually new.
• South African Olympic cyclist Burry Stander was killed while training Thursday when his bike collided with a taxi.
• "They'll drive their car home, and they'll wash the blood off, cover the car up and act like nothing happened," says Laurino. "It's incredible the lack of conscience some people have."
• "Mayor A. C. Wharton Jr., elected in 2009, assumed office a year after Bicycling magazine named Memphis one of the worst cities in America for cyclists, not the first time the city had received such a biking dishonor. But Mr. Wharton spied an opportunity."

Thursday Morning Commute - As close to a CWL post as you'll get this year. Blame Tandem.

Good morning

• Yesterday the DC Council passed the Access to Justice for Bicyclists Act of 2012 and, I think, the Motorized Bicycle Amendment Act of 2012. ABC7 covered the former. 
• WABA is creating three new positions and hiring two new staff. 
• The DC BAC points out that the upcoming (and some are in the past) zoning meetings are a great chance to advocate for cycling. The zoning regs will define how much bike parking buildings must provide as well as rules about showers and changing rooms for bike commuters. 
• Tour de Fat 2013 takes a step forward. 
• Christmas Wish List Alert!! WMATA is testing 3-bike bus racks.
• Staff with DC-based LAB write about their favorite 2 mile rides, most of which are in DC. 
• Why Minneapolis plows their trails “We see the trails as highways,” said  Donald Pflaum, a transportation planner from the Minneapolis Public Works Department. Still the city is looking at narrowing a 20 foot wide trail to 16 or 12 feet to make way for a light rail line. 

Wednesday Afternoon Commute - You don't get even, you take them to court

Good afternoon

• The Penn Avenue cycle-track gets marginally better. And LAB on the L Street cycletrack.  Meanwhile the number of green lanes in the United States doubled last year.
• A vision of Chinatown with a two-way cycle-track on 9th protected by a 4-foot "physical separation filled with plants, not just paint and bollards," 
• Friend of the blog, Micah Dammeyer is suing the passenger, taxi-cab driver and passenger's employer for $70,000 in his dooring incident that was chronicled on this blog. 
• A community group wants to turn the North RFK parking lot into a park with green space, sports fields and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. Offtopic a bit, I've long wanted to see the whole RFK property turned into Robert Kennedy (or Kennedy Brothers) National Recreation area, with many more sports fields,a velodrome, canoe docks, a smaller stadium for soccer, playgrounds, unprogrammed space etc...But that is an awful lot to ask for. This is probably less pie-in-the-sky). 
• Custis Trail closed at Ft. Myer Drive. Was anyone alerted beforehand?
• "George Mason University, the City of Fairfax and Fairfax County have been working together since 2010 to study bicycle improvements between Mason and the Vienna-Fairfax-GMU Metro station. "
• Interesting plots based on the DDOT bicycle counts: Gender breakdown, helmet usage and the ratio of cyclists to bike lane miles. 
• "Virginia Bicycling Federation recently created two new safety posters that can be downloaded and printed. "Light up the night-Be Safe Be Seen" encourages cyclists to use front and rear lights and to wear visible clothing....The second poster has a more subtle message, "Don't be color blind-Same Rights, Same Responsibilities." It took a minute to figure out that "color blind" was referring to the red light signal in the image."
• Virginia bill would make texting while driving reckless driving."Del. Ben Cline (R-Rockbridge) and Del. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) announced Wednesday that they had submitted a bill to make it a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by as much as a year in jail and a $2,5000 fine, to use cellphones while driving for anything other than a call." Sigh...it's progress. Another bill would require drivers to use "due care" to avoid hitting pedestrians and cyclists. No seriously, that isn't the law now. 
• DC has the 12th highest "Bike Score" in the US with a score high enough to be considered "bikeable".

Tuesday Afternoon Commute - Ribbon Cutting

Good afternoon. I went to today's ribbon cutting on a downright balmy December morning and I'll have some video on the Green Lanes blog at some point in the future, after I learn how to edit and splice video. (Photo by WABA)

• In the meantime there is plenty of video and photos on the internets. WUSA9 has both. DCist has coverage, as does FOXdc. I take this line from a WaPo story as a sign of progress 'He said that “not all cyclists, but some cyclists” disregard traffic signals and the rules of the road.'
• Two laws had their first readings before the District Council today. The Motorized Bicycle Amendment Act of 2012, which would govern things like electric-assist pedal bikes (motorized bicycles) which it would separate from faster motor scooter-type vehicles called "motor-driven cycles". "The third category would be that for motorized bicycles as determined by pedals, a post mounted seat and not capable of traveling more than 20 mph.  It is recommended that motorized bicycles have no DMV related requirements and would be able to park on the sidewalk.  This is a change from the current requirements for these cycles to be licensed, registered, titled, insured and inspected.  However, operationally, very few of these cycles currently meet these requirements, so this recommendation will not negatively impact current motorized bicycle owners." The other law to get a reading today was the Access to Justice for Bicyclists Act of 2012
• Making a city that's easier to bike and walk in is good for low-income citizens argues one person. This in response to Courtland Milloy's article asking that we get as serious about creating jobs as we are about making bike lanes. So, assigning one overworked DC employee to handle the whole jobs program (while also handling other responsibilities) is his solution? I'm not saying that DC isn't serious about bike lanes, but I'll agree that it isn't something we spend a lot of money on. 
• Rockville has plans to redesign Rockville Pike but that isn't the only reason they were named a Bicycle Friendly Community. 
• I don't know if I linked to this story about bike messengers before. 
• The Virginia Bicycling Federation will pursue the following legislative goals this year
  • Following too close — banning motorists from tailgating/intimidating cyclists
  • Three feet to pass cyclists (current law is two feet)
  • Vulnerable road user protection, and/or due care
• Will the fiscal cliff deal give us a better bike commuter benefit? Personally, I'd like to see the whole thing modified to just be a parking cash out. Employers who offer free parking have to offer a tax free parking cash-out of identical value to those who don't drive. That's it. Then let the market decide. Ideally there would be some way to encourage people to bike or walk or take transit some days instead of making it an all or nothing.

Monday Afternoon Commute - I've now won the Tour de France as many times as Lance Armstrong did

Good afternoon.

• The Phillips wants you to "See D.C. Danish style". That would be by bike. 
• After complaints about drivers making illegal U-turns across the Penn Ave bike lanes, DC put up giant signs telling drivers not to do that. But they took those down when cyclists pointed out it blocked their view. 
• Bethesda and Rockville are new Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Communities. [Rockville was a BFC in the past, but didn't renew it] and being a bike-friendly city can be good for business.
• Prince George's County is considering a law that would "instruct the county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation to include lanes for bicyclist and space for walkers on all new roadways or when existing roadways go under repair." 
• "The governing body of cycling will not appeal the United State Anti-Doping Agency’s findings that Lance Armstrong led a massive doping program, concurring with the USADA decision that he should be banned for life and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles." Still, all in all, it was probably worth it.
• Jill Stein for President? "Her platform includes ... a “Green New Deal” that she says would cost less than the first stimulus package and put millions of Americans to work weatherizing homes and businesses, installing solar panels, building bike paths, upgrading public transit systems and constructing safe sidewalks. The only benefits, of course, would be lowering unemployment as well as our dependence on fossil fuels and making us healthier. Cuh-razy, right?"
• The rise of anthropological bicycle studies. “More and more of the research is pointing to the fact that also people’s attitudes, social norms and things like that have an influence over their decisions to bike or walk or take public transit.....In Portland, installing a cycle track – where the bike lane is moved from the actual street alongside drivers to the other side of a row of parked cars – resulted in bikers breathing less of some pollutants."
• More on the new "Forester was wrong" study out of Canada.