Tuesday Afternoon Commute - Phase 4

Good morning

• A WABA Board member, Martin Moulton, is running for the ANC 6E02 seat. 
• During game 3 of the NL playoffs, about 9% of all the bikes went to the baseball stadium at least once, in part because they had a bike corral. 
• Last week, College Park's City Council selected a contractor to complete the fourth phase of the College Park Trolley Trail. That section is a roughly seven-block stretch of off-road pavement between Calvert Road and Paint Branch Parkway. Construction for phase four will begin in the spring and be completed by mid-summer. Phase 5 will add another 2 block section in the Lakeland area.
• Another bridge over the Beltway - this time Route 7 - is rebuilt with facilities for cyclists and pedestrians thanks to the HOT lanes project. 
• "On Saturday, October 20, fans of the Western Maryland Rail Trail have organized their own fall foliage bike ride and picnic. When the colors start to turn and blaze, there are few better seats in the house than a rail-trail. Here's a few rail-trails famous for their fall colors."
• An Australian study finds that both helmet use (in the case a mandatory helmet law) and cycling infrastructure reduces the rate of injuries. 
• "For the first time since the end of the Second World War the number of bicycles sold in Italy has overtaken the number of cars"

Comments

[Purple Eagle]

So where is the Lakeland area of College Park?

[charlie]

10% of bikes is about 140 bikes, which means 140 people. That is what -- about .5% of attendees. Two buses? One train car?

I really like the bike valet and it is a great option. However, CABI is not (and should not) be a way to move people for mass events.

[SJE]

Charlie: I agree with your conclusion. But I think that it shows that there is demand for bike facilities and, if they were more available and if there was a safe route there, we might see far more people riding. I for one would be hesitant to ride my own bike to a game, fearing it would be stolen.

[Kathy]

Yes, but some of them may have driven without the bike option.

More importantly, they arrived via a physically active mode as opposed to just sitting in a bus/train/car. I think we can all agree that the majority of Americans need more daily exercise.

Lastly, they travelled in an almost non-polluting manner. I say "almost" since the redistributing van may have been used at some point.

Plus it's a start! Go to some major European cities and you will see hundreds and even a 1K+ bikes parked outside train stations and big events.

[SJE]

Kathy: I am curious. How do Europeans manage bike theft?

[UrbanEngineer]

http://bikepedantic.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/biking-natitude/

http://bikepedantic.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/changes-in-natitude-changes-in-rackitude/

The above linked articles do a solid job of illustrating the bike parking at Nats Stadium.

Based on the author's numbers, Bikeshare riders accounted for about 30% of the total number of cyclists.

[charlie]

@Kathy; look, almost everyone who came (70%?) came via transit, which, we all agree involves some work. Hell, probably more work than biking 12 blocks.

@UrbanEnginner; so that would take the mode share up to around 1% of attendees?

Yes, we need more bike racks down there. Easy call. Expand the valet -- who is going to pay? More bikeshare to the stadium -- absolutely not.

[Jan in Baltimore]

Lakeland is that small stretch between Pierce Avenue and Berwyn Heights, just above Paint Branch Park. It's the connector between the two largest segments of the trail

[Purple Eagle]

@Jan, thanks for the explanation. IMO, it does not make much difference that there is no official trail there, since Rhode Island is a low-traffic street that directly connects the existing trail segements (same is true of the "phase 4" that is planned for contruction. What's really needed is a connection south from College Park to Riverdale)

[Wayne Phyillaier]

@Kathy: "More importantly, they arrived via a physically active mode as opposed to just sitting in a bus/train/car. I think we can all agree that the majority of Americans need more daily exercise."

A recent study of Charlotte's new LYNX Light Rail showed that the new transit riders has a very significant weight loss when they started riding the Light Rail.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100628203756.htm

The CDC is recommending better transit infrastructure, for the health benefits from more physical activity that comes with transit use.

This ties into the false argument "Save the Trail" makes that the Interim CCT must be kept unchanged in part to maintain the health benefits of current trail users. Their argument ignores the health benefit to all the many new transit users and also the new trail users that would come with a new Light Rail line and a more complete CCT.

[ACyclistInTheSuburbs]

transit users aside from sometimes standing, tend to walk at one or both ends. So naturally there will be some health benefit. I doubt as much as for cycling the entire distance. Comparing a ten mile transit ride to a one mile bike ride is silly of course. I also dont see how something being small argues for a negative cost benefit. The number of people who got on at any one metro stop isnt that big - is that an argument against that particular metro stop being used? Bikes moved few people, at a tiny cost. net postive, for sure.