TheWashCycle

Wednesday Morning Commute - a polite toot of the horn

Good morning

• CaBi set a new 1 day record on Saturday with 8717 trips in one day. The weather and the new stations in Alexandria probably played a part in that. 
• Responses to Ashley Halsey's bike article include someone suggesting that cyclists be ticketed for running stop signs "oblivious to oncoming cars"; someone defending sidewalk cycling and someone complaining that a group of cyclists wouldn't move out of her way after she politely honked at them. She also complains about them obeying the law, but then I think it's illegal to honk your horn if it isn't an emergency.
• Alexandria has completed on-road bike facilities on Old Dominion and Commonwealth roads, and will start work soon on the Chambliss Crossing and Charles Barrett Elementary School Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements.
• VDOT 're-installed" rumble strips on the W&OD Trail in Vienna. Presumably to slow cyclists before they reach a stop sign. It should cause a lot of roller-bladers to crash, which probably is not a goal.

Tuesday Afternoon Commute - Basement

So am I the only one who had to evacuate to the basement at work due to tornadoes? The funny thing is we're doing a launch rehersal focused on anomalies and so now we can check that contingency off the list. Lots of "how did you pull that off" jokes directed at the simulation director.

• "I don't harbor any illusion that they changed the policy because of me," says Tregoning.
• The optimal M Street (and Eye Street) design probably isn't even one of the options here. As oboe might point out, there is some extra space (scraps) and they're letting transit, bikes and peds fight over it. Instead, they should accept that maximizing transportation through there might mean taking some space from autos. 
• An interview with Bethesda native Rich Roll (not to be confused with a rickroll) one of only two people to complete five Ironman triathlons on five Hawaiian islands in under a week. He's also one of the 25 fittest men in the world (Paul Ryan is the other 24). 
• Counter-intuitively, Philadelphia has more cyclists and fewer crashes. We could probably argue over which caused the other (did safety lead to more cyclists, or more cyclists to safety), but really, why fight?
• MAP-21, the new federal transportation bill, may have less money for biking and peds, but it is targeted more at cities. 

 

Tuesday Morning Commute - Indicator Species

Good morning.

• Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner did pretty well in the recent Nation's Triathlon, but he clearly needs to work on his biking. He finished 9th overall in his division, but in the high 40's on the bike leg. Looks like he's really a swimmer.
• This is what you see when biking is safe.

If one ridiculous sign isn't working, then clearly you need two

Dismount Bike Ahead by M.V. Jantzen

He adds "Cyclists on the Mt Vernon Trail, by National Airport. The crosswalk by a road connecting to the Mt Vernon Parkway has long had a stop sign and another sign saying "dismount before crossing," which I find ridiculous. Dismount??? So, I was shocked to see a pair of new signs added a few yards before the existing signs, saying "dismount bike ahead." .... Notice there are no signs for automobile traffic, even though the painted crosswalk means they have a requirement to yield, not the other way around. Arlington, VA."

I like how the new one is about the dismount ahead, like the reason why people weren't complying is that they were caught off guard by it.

Monday Afternoon Commute - Tunnels

Good afternoon. I had the experience the other day of riding my own bike home from an errand and then riding to my usual CaBi station instead of going home.

• DDOT and the FHWA will host another public meeting as part of the NEPA process for the Virginia Avenue Tunnel project. The meeting will be on Thursday, September 27, 2012, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Capitol Skyline Hotel, 10 I Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. This project could include a bikeway along the rebuilt Virginia Ave. 
• One candidate in the awkward ANC 2A01 race will focus on additional bike racks and a Foggy Bottom "heritage trail."
• GGW describes the issues in the M St SE/SW cycle-tracks vs. transit decision. 
• People in DC do lose their license. [But how bad a driver does one have to be?]
• A trip along the Great Allegheny Passage. 
• Older drivers aren't the problem, it's unhealthy drivers that are. 

MSM confused about what is actually changing

There are a few news sites reporting this story wrong.

WUSA9's headline reads "Folding Bikes Allowed On Metro At Any Time, Officials Say." Which is true, but the policy in place for years and years. And it's not just the headline, the whole story keeps emphasizing that folding bikes are allowed on at all times.

Folding bikes are now allowed on the metro but must remained folded during rush hour, officials said.

The new policy will now allow folding bikes on at any time but need to remain "folded and securely fastened," the press release stated.

ABC7 makes the same mistake "Metro now allows folding bikes during rush hour", which again, was always true.

Metro says it is allowing folding bicycles on its subway trains during rush hour.

Examiner gets it right, and implies that the policy may have changed due to a push from Office of Planning Director Harriet Tregoning (which may be true - and there would be nothing wrong with that). 

Kudos to DCist for their reading comprehension skills. 

Metro amends policy on folding bicycles

This is good news, though I find the rule lightly, if ever, enforced so it probably won't have an enormous impact.

Metro has amended its policy on folding bicycles, eliminating the requirement that the bicycles be encased before being allowed into the Metrorail system during rush hours.

Folding bicycles are now permitted on Metrorail at any time, but must remain folded and securely fastened when in the system during rush hours to ensure that they do not spring open.

“We have eliminated the requirement for carrying cases as designs of folding bikes have improved over the past 20 years. Today's folding bikes are more compact and less hazardous with features such as chain guards that protect customers from accidental or unwanted contact with grease and grime,” said Lynn Bowersox, Metro Assistant General Manager for Customer Service, Communications and Marketing.

Metro encourages customers to travel to Metrorail by bike and is working to reach a goal of tripling the number of people who bike to a Metrorail station by 2020. Bicycling is a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly and sustainable way to access Metro.

Standard bicycles are allowed on Metrorail anytime except on weekdays between 7 and 10 a.m., and 4 and 7 p.m., and during special events when the system is crowded. Metro has more than 4,000 bicycle parking spaces at 85 of 86 Metrorail stations. All Metrobuses have racks attached at the front with space for two bicycles.

 

Monday Morning Commute - Golden Temple Restaurant

Good morning

• Before there was Tommy Wells, there was Tedsun Meyers. "While I was on the City Council I tried to find ways to affect the legislation of the city to ensure more bike paths and pedestrian safety....My term ended in ’75 on the City Council, and home rule came. David Clark beat me in the election for my seat...The unfinished business of bikes and safety and the streets got me thinking, and I called together the crew that was helping me before—Katie Moran, Bill Wilkinson, Noel Grove—and said I’m ready to back this but we need an Executive Director, and they suggested Dan Burden, who’d just lead the Bike Centennial ride from the Pacific to the Atlantic. We met at the Golden Temple Restaurant on Connecticut Avenue in DC, and there was born the Bicycle Federation of America." Though Meyers has the more impressive resume. 
• Several US Government agencies are already CaBi partners, but I'm actually surprised it's not more. I'd probably put Earl Blumenauer's office on this list too - as that is government funding. 
• There are some things to quibble with here, but in general it has a lot of good advice and, at the very least, brings up things one should think about (quibbles below). I couldn't get to the comments, but that's probably a good thing.
  
  • I wish he'd mentioned that drivers turning right need to turn from the bike lane.
  • It's rare that a driver who brushes a cyclist gets a ticket, let alone loses their license.
  • No one gets charged with a three-foot violation - even when they crash.
  • I find this claim "But inconsistent risk-taking as you zip through traffic puts more-mortal riders at peril, because it makes drivers jittery and annoyed whenever they see someone on two wheels." hard to believe. But you should ride in a safe manner. I don't know why he didn't just say that. [And isn't consistent risk-taking worse than inconsistent risk-taking?]
  • I do think sidewalk cycling is occasionally appropriate.
  • I don't think you're foolish if you don't wear a helmet - but you are probably making yourself safer if you do. Wearing a motorcycle helmet to walk to the Metro probably makes you safer too, but I don't think you're foolish if you don't.
• Jones Point Park is nice. And we now know more about the parking situation "Security considerations also prohibit parking directly under the bridge. The parking lot there is strictly for employees of VDOT, the National Park Service, local law enforcement and the like."
• PG County police are trying to solve a cold case from 11 years ago. It involves a 16-year old who was shot on his bicycle near the intersection of Audrey Lane and Maury Avenue in Oxon Hill
• This video doesn't change my mind about the Purple Line, but it's pretty cool in parts.
• B-cycle is getting more recipricocity between city systems. "Annual subscribers to the Madison, Wisconsin, Boulder, Colorado and Denver, Colorado can use their membership card to take bikes in each other cities. The overage time charges, if any, are at the renting location rates." Rather than regret the choice of Bixi - which I so far give a solid A - I hope that bike share systems that use Bixi can do the same. And add GPS devices.

Breach in MBT fence

I can't say I'm surprised. The desire line across the railroad tracks and to the Metro station is pretty strong, and one justification for the unbuilt Rhode Island Ave Metro bridge is to allow people a way to do this without having to cross the tracks at grade. Still, I'm not sure that's what's happening here. This is actually a ways away from the old crossing point and I don't see a clear place for getting through on the other side. Still it was clear this was a recurring problem, because some kind of extra wire holds the removed section (visible on the left) in place. There is probably little reason to try and fight this until the connecting bridge is in place.

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