BTWD in Fairfax County

The Post has an article on Bike to Work Day that focuses on Fairfax County.

"The first time I did Bike to Work Day as a biker, we had about 12 people" at the Fairfax County Government Center pit stop, said Charles Strunk, Fairfax County's bicycle program coordinator. "Now we get over 200 people."

[WABA] hopes to attract 8,500 participants this year, up from about 8,000 in 2009, Billing said. Since 2005, participation has been growing at a rate of about 1,000 people a year, according to the association. Because of the increasing popularity of Bike to Work Day, organizers added three pit stops in Fairfax County this year, for a total of eight sites

While things have been improving Fairfax has a long way to go as they're share of bike commuting is below the national average of 1%.

But major new investments might be on hold for the time being, as county supervisors eliminated $213,641 in funding for the bike program -- most of the agency's operating budget -- when they approved the fiscal 2011 budget. "Somehow Arlington was able to find $1 million a year for their bike program," Wright said. If Fairfax County supervisors "really think it's a viable form of transportation, they would find the money to fund it."

Strunk said he still has a small amount of money to work with, which he will try to supplement with federal congestion mitigation grants. His main focus in the next year is to improve bike facilities at park-and-ride lots, in hopes of encouraging more people to bike, rather than drive, to catch the bus.

Comments

[Froggie]

To bottom-line that second part, Fairfax County supervisors don't think bicycling is viable form of transportation.

[Richard Layman]

My only problem with Bike to Work day is that for many of the organizers (at least in the Baltimore region) it's seen as an end in itself, rather than as a means to build up bicycle-based tripmaking and commuting throughout the year.