TheWashCycle

Tuesday Morning Commute - Pink Bike

Good morning

• 750 Bicycle Rides visualized around DC. 
• Ralph Buehler to speak tonight in MoCo. 
• One Metro commuter gave up, started biking the 30 miles to work and he's now an Ironman competitor and filmmaker. So, Metro delays aren't all bad.
• More on Colbert's bike ride in the halls of Congress. 

Wednesday Morning Commute - Strut

Good morning

• WABA now has crash apps for iphone and android.
• A look at CaBi's 4th quarter 2012 data. Ridership is up 54% over 2011. The Lincoln Memorial station, which only opened in October, is already the 17th busiest.
• The Obamas make the Pennsylvania Avenue Cycle-track Strut. OMG, I have biked in that exact spot!!!
• "The Mount Vernon Trail just south of Ford's Landing is closed due to damage to a small wooden bridge. Both sides of the bridge were damaged and is unsafe. Trail users are advised to use Royal Street is the alternate route for the Mount Vernon Trail."
• Montgomery County votes to spend planning money on BRT, instead of planning for "creating pedestrian and bike improvements and Park and Ride studies connected to the rapid transit"
• Frederick, MD may be going from an ad hoc bicycle advisory committee to a formal Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee after a vote on Feb 7. "Projects slated for 2013 include designing a path under U.S. 15, connecting existing bike paths and supporting the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government's efforts in the Complete Streets project, which encourages shared-access roads for pedestrians, bicycles and cars. The mayor and Board of Aldermen appeared pleased to hear that the committee would sponsor another penny-farthing race."
• So far, LaHood is planning to stay on as SecTrans. He's enthusiastically supported bicycling, and outside of Oberstar or Blumenauer, it's hard to imagine an alternative that would be more supportive.
• A study done in Portland using GPS-equipped cyclists found that
  • Separated bike paths are equivalent to reducing trip distance by 26 percent, bike boulevards by 17.9 percent.
  • Cyclists are willing to detour 16.2 percent of their trip distance to avoid a left turn at a busy intersection without a traffic light.
  • Each additional turn is equal to adding 7.4 percent of the trip distance.

Thursday Morning Commute - Unearthed

Good morning

• DDOT will be holding its third and final meeting on the M Street Southeast/Southwest Transportation Study TONIGHT. The study is evaluating proposed alternatives for multi-modal transportation improvements to the M St SW/SE corridor. WABA is pushing for a cycle track, but cycle tracks on both M St SE/SW and on M ST NW are going to confuse me like crazy. Still, I'm all for it.  
• Biking in DC? There's an app for that. 
• In WABA's full letter on automated enforcement, they actually support LOWER fines. "If lowering of fines so that they not seem punitive is necessary to the expansion of the program, we support such lowering up to the point the deterrent effects begin to erode." So another deception by Milloy. 
• Police promise to step up enforcement on U-turning cars on the Pennsylvania Ave cycle track. 
• “A lot of our team members take public transportation, and from the Bethesda Metro it makes much more sense to come down the bike path — it’s only a mile and a half down to the building — than having to take a 45-minute route on the bus,” Joanna Bragg, a marketing team leader for the store, told Patch last year. “We also have a lot of customers who are health-conscious and eco-conscious, and the trail runs directly behind our building — it just seems like such a no-brainer.” A public hearing on bike sharing in Montgomery County has been scheduled for Oct 23 - "As the county nears the launch of the program, he said it will look at safety and education initiatives for cyclists as well as motorists and pedestrians and at where the county can engineer roads with features such as bike lanes to aid in safety."
• With construction underway next to the Capital Cresecent Trail, workers have started discovery remnants of Bethesda's industrial past, including old rail spurs. Of course, the region has made good use of the old Gerogetown Branch rail line that those spurs used to connect to. 
• A $32,000 bike might seem expensive, but, to put that in perspective, Victoria's Secret has a $2,500,000 bra. I suppose the two can only properly be used together. 

Thursday Morning Commute - There's an app for that

I apologize for the weirdly timed and light blogging. I've been working the 1am to 1pm shift this week, so my day is all out of whack. 

• Bike thieves in Damascas caught on video. [Also, theft is not vandalism]
• A phone app will help guide you through all the steps you should follow after a bike crash. It's New York specific, so the race is on for a law firm to modify it for DC, VA and MD. 
• Tyler Hamilton's tell-all book about Lance Armstrong and doping in pro cycling hits the shelves
• This gruesome story isn't really a bike story. I guess you could stretch it by saying that cyclists provide greater "eyes on the street" because they're moving slower, but I'm not sure that's what this is. 

Wednesday Evening Commute - Beijing Bicycle Crowdsourcing

I finally got a locker at the New Carrollton Metro station. But when I went to open the door, the whole thing fell off. To their credit, WMATA is sending me a key for a new locker today. In the absence of perfection, good customer service is the best you can hope for. 

• One would hope that the proposed overhaul of Union Station would lead to an improved Met Branch Trail south of L Street. I'd love to see it stay up above L and K with connections to both the H Street Bridge and 1st Street. The new building at K is something of an obstacle though. 
• The war on cars could also be cast as a war on moving things by car, with the war being launched by those who like to drive around in their cars by themselves. 
• One of the victims of the Aurora Shooting was a cross-country cyclist taking a break to catch a movie. 
• A new crowdsourcing website seeks to tap into the wisdom of Chinese pedestrians and cyclists to identify areas in need of repair or improvement in Beijing.

Friday Morning Commute - DOMA

Glad to see so many people out bike commuting this morning. It's a nice counterpoint to the people who say "no one's going to bike when it's hot." Looking at CaBi tracker, and usage is down some today compared to last week, but not by more than 10-15% I'd guess.  

• Jill DeMauro, owner of Proteus Bikes in College Park for the last decade, sold the store and is moving so that she can stay with her partner. Her partner is not American and her visa is expiring. Even though they're married, DeMauro can't sponser her partner because of DOMA, so thanks to all the intolerant, homophobic members of Congress for driving away a great bike shop operator, small business owner and job creator - you're truly making our country stronger. “I’ve never made a loss. I’ve never had to fire someone. I’ve never cut hours. I’ve never cut pay,”...“She’s a very community-oriented business owner. It’s a real loss.” Sounds exactly like the kind of person who we need to defend marriage from.
• Photo of the new northbound bike lane on George Mason Dr. between the Custis Trail & Washington Blvd.
• Roads to be resurfaced in MoCo, which means an opportunity to add bike lanes. 
• If you want a flying bicycle, all you have to do is befriend an adorable alien. 
• Yelling the word "left" when you want someone to stay right can be confusing to some.

 

Wednesday Morning Commute - point-to-point

Good morning

• From ARLnow "A developer, Open Plans, is working with Arlington and Washington, D.C. to devise the free bike map web and smartphone app. When finished, it will provide point-to-point directions like other trip planning apps do, but will be specifically catered to bike routes instead of motor vehicle routes."
• A section of the Custis Trail will be closed for three days for repaving.
• John Kelly has a twofer. A cyclist spotted texting while biking leads to a reader suggesting it be made illegal. Kelly thinks it's a stupid idea to take your eyes and mind off the road while biking, and I agree. It probably should be made illegal - though it is something very unusual he notes. Also he has a story about some people setting up lawnchairs on a path. 
• At an "Envision Cheverly" forum on Saturday, one of the suggestions was "creating bike paths to the Anacostia Tributary Trails System."
• FOX has coverage of the CaBi survey results (below)

Saturday Evening Ride - Tunnel Testimony

Good evening

• DDOT is considering testing new technology.  It is a sensor that can detect bicyclists when necessary at traffic signals.  Most of the signals in the District are ‘pre-timed,’ meaning the different phases come up automatically.  This is generally a good thing for pedestrians and bicyclists and reduces the need for detection.  However, DC has some signal that bring up certain phases (i.e., turn green or ‘walk’) only when a car is present or a pedestrian pushes a button.  These signal usually do not detect bikes. If you know of an ‘actuated’ signal intersection where you and your bike are not detected, let DDOT know (jim.sebastian@dc.gov).  They may be able to test a new device there.
• Bike lanes going in on Columbia Road, NW. from 16th to Connecticut?
• The presentation on bike sharing in Tysons Corner is actually on Tuesday.
• The renovation of the Springfield Mall "includes improved pedestrian and bicycle connections to the Franconia-Springfield Metro and Virginia Railway Express stations"
• Charles County wants to make Leonardtown Road and Old Washington Road more amenable to pedestrians, bicyclists and mass transit.
• Using the GAP, you can now bike to the Pittsburgh airport.
• The CCCT's take on the Air Rights Tunnel/Trail issue:

The Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, the Town of Chevy Chase, and "Save the Trail" gave strong testimony at the T&E Committee hearing on the importance of keeping the Trail in the tunnel for the safety of the many trail users and for the integrity of this important regional trail. CCCT Chair Ron Tripp spoke for the CCCT to challenge the study assumptions used by MTA to find that the single-track options would not support the required Purple Line headway, see CCCT Tunnel Testimony. The MTA also had not included the single-track alternative the CCCT has proposed in its study. For these and other reasons Ron Tripp concluded:

"It's clear that MTA does not want the trail sharing the tunnel. It's equally clear that it is too early to close that door."

Saturday Morning Ride - How does Lex Luther not take the blame

Good Morning

• How bike lanes, bike sharing and a living social deal turned one man into a regular bike commuter.
• More on the Maryland Ave SW Plan. It has three options of which the third "proposes a smaller, pedestrian- and bike-friendly center roadway with an adjacent public square." They're accepting comments until February 3rd.
• An app that helps cities figure out where bike lanes are needed comes in 2nd Place in a Chicago areas app contest. "The app anonymously records the paths taken by the users (who can review the routes they've taken), giving Chicago city planners the data needed to decide where to construct the new trails. The app also features a handy dashboard that allows users to see their speed, distance traveled, and location."
• 2 time Oscar winner Gene Hackman was bumped from behind by a driver as he rode his bicycle in the Florida Keys. He was treated and released with a few bumps and bruises, so can we have a moment of muffled conversation for him.

Excellent piece on the value of public involvement. People really do support trails.

So why did the commissioners who ordered a stop to the design and engineering work last month change their minds?

Because the supporters of the Three Notch Trail organized. They wrote letters, and most tellingly, they showed up in force at an open forum the commissioners held last week. Many of the more than 80 people who showed up at the forum traveled from the north county down to Valley Lee to push the commissioners to restart work on the trail.

Sunday Video - Microwave Bike Detectors