Saturday Night Ride - Direct Competition

Finally some rain.

• While some have criticized DDOT buying 500 bike helmets for CaBi members, NYC gives free bike helmets to anyone who asks for one.
• Meanwhile, GGW asks DDOT to spend a little more on maintenance, especially when it comes to paint.
• Joining Kwame Brown in next month's Nation's Triathlon is Arlington County Board member Jay Fisette. Now taking bets.
• Architecture writer Roger K. Lewis likes the design of the Bikestation. "But some all-glass buildings make great sense. An outstanding example is the Union Station Bikestation, a small pavilion located on the plaza on the west side of Union Station, a few steps from the Union Station Metro entrance."
• We have a new cycling pro basketball player - Alana Beard.  "The other thing I will take up after season is bike riding. I’ve bought a bike and haven’t had a chance to get on it. So as soon as the season is over I’ll jump on that." Someone needs to show her how easy it would be to bike to work, especially since she's active in anti-diabetes work.
• "50 percent of households [in Arlington] own [one bicycle] or more, a rate slightly lower than the region’s but higher than that for the District or Alexandria."
• Md Sentator Brian Frosh on Bethesda bike sharing "There are lots of people on bikes in Bethesda, and if more people had cheap, easy access, you'd get more people [on bikes]. You'd be taking people off the road and reducing pollution — it'd be a big win across the board." The story adds that state funding isn't the only option. "Companies could sponsor a bike station in exchange for advertising on the station or bikes. Money also could come from some of the developers seeking to build in Bethesda."
• Charles County's bicycle and pedestrian master plan went before the Planning Commission last week. No one showed up to testify for or against it, but they voted to keep comments open for 45 days. It sounds like it is not popular with all the commissioners, so if you live in Charles, you might want to take time to read about it and comment. Unfortunately I can't find a link to the report or how to comment, but there is this "For further information, contact Beth Groth, Planner II at (301) 645-0684 or by e-mail at [email protected]."  Commission Vice Chairman Joe Richard seemed particularly hostile to it. He complained about "a policy recommendation to review subdivision regulations to ensure that developers are required to pay for missing bicycle and pedestrian links as part of the development process or pay a fee in lieu of the paths" and about widening roads to make room for bike facilities. “I believe this is in direct competition with our vehicle road network so we have to be very cautious." I don't really understand the rest of his concern, except that he seems to think a complete streets policy will hurt development "When you begin to quantify our current ordinances, that has an impact on development and I think we must proceed very cautiously with something that is countywide.  Also, I was concerned that St. Charles may not be considered as a primary player in this road network.”

Comments

[Michael H.]

I want to beat both Kwame Brown and Jay Fisette at the triathlon. For bragging rights. And just because.

[Greenbelt]

I support the idea of advertising supported bike share stations and programs. Blue cross sponsors Minneapolis bike share, and a variety of companies have ads on the Montreal Bixis. To me, business support makes it seem more permanent, less like an experiment. I'd also like to see improved lane paint (all-green lanes for example in spots) and I would be happy to have them paid for by Blue Cross, or Microsoft or whoever, and I would mind riding over the sponsors logos on the lanes.

I don't know if I'd go all the way to sponsored trail sections or bridges, but I wouldn't discard the idea automatically.