TheWashCycle

2009: Looking Ahead

2008 is almost behind us. And here is a list of things we can look forward to in 2009.

Winter
Start of the Bicycle Commuter Benefit on January 1st
Montgomery County Planning Board vote on the Purple Line/LRT/CCT Jan 8 with other votes to follow

Spring
Construction begins on a connection between the Bladensburg Riverfront Park and the Cheverly section of the Anacostia Trail.
Wilson Bridge pedestrian/bike path opens
Shirlington Underpass opens in March
Union Station Bike Station opens
Nationals Stadium will host a second DC Pit Stop on Bike To Work Day in May
Arlington Bike Sharing program (maybe)
Federal Employee bike commuter summit

Summer
Met Branch Trail section from New York Avenue to Franklin Street in July
Construction begins on Phase V of the Three Notch Trail
Construction begins on Phase I of the South Shore Trail

Fall
Diamond Teague Park, part of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail opens
Start of the Rock Creek Park Trail rehabilitation

There is probably more I left out, including some legislative efforts.

DC Bike Bait program update

The Washington Post's Rend Smith writes about the MPD's bike bait program and unlocked bikes.

Though District cyclists might think a dude like Martin, naive enough to leave his bike unprotected while he runs an errand, got what he deserved, Sgt. Christopher Micciche of the D.C. Police Department’s Crime Reduction Team doesn’t see it that way: “If you leave your car unlocked while you pump your gas, you probably do not want someone coming along and stealing your laptop out the passenger side door. And if you run into 7-11, it would be nice if you didn’t have to worry about someone coming along and riding off on your bike.”

That's an excellent point. Leaving your bike unlocked is ill-advised, but it doesn't mean you deserve to have your bike stolen.

That’s one of the reasons he and the CRT plant bait bikes on D.C. streets. Almost every person who stole a bike “could not understand the concept of not taking property that didn’t belong to them,” Micciche says. “If a bike is unlocked,” he says, “how’s that stealing? It can’t be stealing–you just found a bike.”

Oh man, just try pulling that line on my Grandma; she'd have you wishing the cops would arrest you.

Last summer, some people thought the DC Bike Bait program was entrapment, and even I felt uncomfortable with it. But Sgt. Micciche has me seeing it otherwise. I mean, even the Dutch don't see it that way. When I was a kid, you could leave your bike everywhere unlocked - even in the front yard for days - maybe that's not possible, but a person should be able to leave it in their front yard, behind a gate, for a couple of minutes.

The stings have produced 13 arrests so far, and have yielded some odd moments: Micciche remembers how two bike thieves were warned by officers to not take the bike, but then moments later “did so anyway” and how another “waited until his Metro bus arrived, then hustled over and grabbed the bike, placing it into the bus bike rack and boarding the bus.”

Good for MPD. This is a serious crime, and there's a broken windows element to this.

Update: On the same subject, DCist has a link to the MPD's recovered property display.

both trash and treasure will be put on display at the Armory for personal inspection Monday through Wednesday of next week. Police say that claimants will need to present proof of ownership to take home their stuff, though the report suggests that the bar may be set low for more common objects. You might at least get a look at the goods before they go on to auction earlier in 2009.

As you can imagine there are a few bikes (and a ton of power tools).

Photo by RodBegbie

Bicycle Signage Survey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bdmAJQR4_2f7OrJANA0wbg2Q_3d_3d

This survey will provide preliminary data that will help the East Coast Greenway Alliance to get a proper hearing from the national committee now considering changes to our bicycle-route, roadway, and trail signage. If you can spare 12 minutes to fill it out, you will have done much to help this important process.

Thanks and a Happy Greenway 2009!

Wells on Committee on Public Works and Transportation

The District Council is going through its usual post-election shuffling and Tommy Wells is moving to the Transportation Committee. David Alpert writes:

Cheh will also give up her seat on the Public Works committee ...as will Yvette Alexander. Replacing the two are Phil Mendelson and, most excitingly, Tommy Wells. At the last two committee hearings I attended, on bicycle safety and parking rates, none of the other committee members were present save Chairman Graham, but Wells was. Putting him on the committee makes a lot of sense; he already had staff devoted to these issues even without a seat on the committee. And, of course, Wells has always been a strong ally of everything this blog advocates.

Ditto for what this blog advocates.

More news on Inaugural Bike Valet

Details continue to trickle out.

The local group won financial support from America Bikes, a national cycling advocacy group in Washington. Minneapolis company Dero Bike Racks plans to lend its bike racks. Most significantly, the District’s transportation officials also gave their approval.

Yet the biking advocacy group still needs to get final approval of the two sites where it hopes to offer the bike parking service, said WABA’s executive director, Eric Gilliland. One site is proposed for McPherson Square and the other would be just south of the Jefferson Memorial.

Photo by mooniker

MoCo may pay for new $14M section of CCT

So reports the Examiner

In October, Montgomery County Council Vice President Roger Berliner wrote Maryland Transportation Secretary John Porcari asking him to ensure the trail is built along with the Purple Line and “constructed in keeping with the needs and expectations of the many residents whose homes abut the trail and the thousands of recreational users who have come to rely on this extraordinary local resource.”

Porcari told Berliner that “all parties agree” that the trail will be a part of any Purple Line construction, but that state officials have “the hopeful anticipation that some other funding source, such as Montgomery County or community enhancement funds, could be found to pay for that portion of the project cost.”

Donna Bigler, a Montgomery County spokeswoman, said Friday that trail construction efforts could run $14 million, and Montgomery County officials are considering picking up the tab.

UPS Uses Bikes for Christmas Rush

In 2007 UPS ran a pilot program using bicycle carriers around Christmas time.

The company first began experimenting with bikes last year in New Hampshire and Maine.

It must've been a success because they did it again this year.

This year the company expanded its bike delivery services to Washington, California, Tennessee and Oregon.

According to Norman Black, a company spokesman, the bikes simply make sense at this time of year.

They see it as a cheap way to expand  their fleet for peak demand.

Each U.P.S. bike delivery system (typically a $350 mountain bike pulling a custom trailer) can haul only 15 to 20 packages a trip — a mere fraction of what a truck can deliver. Nonetheless, the company estimates that for every three bikes deployed during peak season on the West Coast, it will save around 17 gallons of fuel a day and about $38,000 in vehicle maintenance costs.

It would be great to see this expand both in regions served and time of year. I'd think the city is the ideal place for bicycle carriers. Then they could stop parking in the bike lane.

Helmet tip to Eric

Fisher, et. al. on the Purple Line/CCT Georgetown Branch

Marc Fisher writes more about the Purple Line debate. I agree with his conclusion

The trail is unique, precious and popular. The need for transit is palpable and using the trail's route makes the most sense.

The greater good lies in sharing the trail between transit and pedestrians. The greater joy lies in leaving the trail as an oasis of green. The alternative routes, by skirting major population and work centers, simply don't provide as great a service. There is no good answer; the least-bad solution is to build the light rail line along the trail route, creating as much buffer space as possible between pedestrians and trains and hoping that over time, the green and the Purple will survive a marriage of convenience.

It disturbs me, though, that the guy who said this

First of all, this is 2009 and biking or walking to work is not a valid option. Only the idiots advocate this approach.

and I are on the same side.
DCist weighs in with the same opinion as Fisher, even if fellow Longhorn Kriston Capps seem to want to talk about the present CCT and not the future CCT, and has some incorrect facts.

Note that the trail is already located alongside a trains[sic] track, albeit an inactive one.

Bikes Point the Way to a Sustainable Future

It's a long article

A funny thing happened during the last decade of the 20th century. Paralleling events that transpired a century earlier, a social movement emerged based on the bicycle. This "movement" is far from a unified force, and unlike the late 19th century bicyclists, this generation does not have to rally around the demand for "good roads." Instead, "chopper" bike clubs, nonprofit do-it-yourself repair shops, monthly Critical Mass rides, organized recreational and quasi-political rides and events, and an explosion of small zines covering every imaginable angle of bicycling and its surrounding culture, have proliferated in most metropolitan areas. Month-long "Bikesummer" festivals have occurred in cities around North America since 1999, galvanizing bicyclists across the spectrum into action and cooperation. 

Excerpted from the book Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists, and Vacant-Lot Gardeners Are Inventing the Future Today! by Chris Carlsson, published by AK Press, 2008.

Ray LaHood, your new SecDOT Nominee

I don't know much about him. But the League of Illinois Bicyclists seem to like him.

Please pardon the length of this post, but I want to provide information on our incoming USDOT Secretary, Ray LaHood, a moderate Republican Congressman from central Illinois who was retiring from his seat this year. In summary, he’s been great for us! He is an active supporter of bicycling and trails, and he has very visibly gone against the wishes of his party leaders on our issues:

In a letter dated April 28, 1997, LaHood joined 5 other Republican Transportation & Infrastructure Committee members in expressing support for both Enhancements and CMAQ to the committee chair, Bud Schuster. He also spoke to the Illinois Valley Wheelm'n bicycle club about his support of both of these funding sources, which he said "have provided many benefits to the environment and local communities (e.g., bicycle and recreational trails). I believe in the importance and value of these programs." Congressman LaHood's leadership was pivotal in ensuring that Enhancements would continue in TEA-21 (1998).

There is much more at this link. And more at FABB too. And still more.