I hope everyone got a ride in on Saturday (from the looks of where I rode everyone did).
- The Southwest Waterfront and it's section of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail took another tiny step forward.
- The 11th Street Bridge also had a big weekend. I rode across it yesterday (the outbound bridge is still open to cyclists and pedestrians) and it was so weirdly quiet. NBC got this a little wrong "pedestrians will be able to enjoy a wide bike path." It's not a bike path, it's a sidewalk. And on the local bridge cyclists can use the roadway.
- I-66 spot improvements are done, and they had no impact on the Custis Trail.
- A study of who bikes for transporation and why in Davis, CA has a lot of interesting factoids and conclusions. (thanks to Richard Layman)
- 47% of people who live and work in Davis bike to work once a week. That's amazing.
- Children with parents who bike commute often, tend to bike to soccer games more (no surprise really)
- "while good infrastructure is necessary to get many people bicycling, it is not sufficient for getting most people bicycling."
- I would go on a bike ride with Ron Paul. Hell, if Paul is interested, I would put one together before the DC Primary. But he'd have to agree to ride the Metro (Which in a recent article he claimed he's never ridden despite being in Washington for decades).
Wharf Street? Sounds kind of Klingon to me.
Posted by: Michael H. | January 09, 2012 at 07:41 AM
Davis has been bike paradise for over 30 years. I was there in 1979 and could not believe it. What a contrast to the madness of Boston and Providence where I had been riding. It helps a lot that it is sunny and flat.
Posted by: Rootchopper | January 09, 2012 at 09:44 AM
"But he'd have to agree to ride the Metro."
Seriously? If he is interested, take what you can get and score big with people not usually following bike opportunities.
Posted by: Arl | January 09, 2012 at 10:05 AM
Thanks for the pointer to the Davis article--very interesting. I like their emphasis on how attitudes about bicycling correlate with actual riding.
Posted by: Jonathan Krall | January 09, 2012 at 11:26 AM
Arl, no not seriously. I would not require him to ride the Metro.
Posted by: washcycle | January 09, 2012 at 12:04 PM
"while good infrastructure is necessary to get many people bicycling, it is not sufficient for getting most people bicycling."
Short of Carmageddon, nothing will get most people in the US bicycling. That's okay, because it should be about having viable choices.
Posted by: Crickey7 | January 09, 2012 at 03:39 PM
It depends on how you define "most people bicycling". Can you get most people to bike like me (in the 30-50% of trips range)? Probably not. Can you get most people to bike like my wife (2-3% of trips)? Probably.
Posted by: washcycle | January 09, 2012 at 05:37 PM
Also, as US society becomes more urban over the coming decades--and as trip distances get shorter--it becomes more feasible to provide bike infrastructure, which means more people will bike.
Posted by: oboe | January 10, 2012 at 10:55 AM
The point of the Davis article isn't that we need "carmageddon," it's that we need a serious effort to encourage bicycling. European cities have cycling rates that put Davis to shame because the leadership and employees of those cities measure cycling rates and constantly update infrastructure, education, and marketing in order to increase those numbers.
I, for one, am tired of hearing about how Americans can't or won't bicycle more. When did we become a nation of pathetic wimps?
Posted by: Jonathan Krall | January 10, 2012 at 12:45 PM
@JK,
1980?
Posted by: oboe | January 10, 2012 at 01:53 PM
Do we need a serious effort to encourage bicycling? Is our goal to proselytize?
We should make it easier and safer. And if lots of people using their own free will, with good choices and information, stay in their cars, that's okay, too.
Posted by: Crickey7 | January 10, 2012 at 01:54 PM
I will fight for my right to be a wimp, dammit!
Posted by: Crickey7 | January 10, 2012 at 01:57 PM
@Crickey7,
You gotta fight for your right to parking?
Posted by: Ron Alford | January 10, 2012 at 02:11 PM
You mean like this?
http://www.break.com/index/fight_over_parking_spot.html
Posted by: Crickey7 | January 10, 2012 at 02:57 PM