Monday Afternoon Commute - BTWW 2013

Good afternoon

• Bike For Blue, a bike ride honoring fallen police officers, arrives in DC today. 
• For BTWW Revolution Cycles is sponsoring a photo contest. Details here. 
• Mt Rainier, MD has new bike parking. Some at parking meters and some inverted U's.
• Hagerstown, Howard County, MD and Takoma Park are Honorable Mention Bicycle Friendly Communities the LAB announced today. 
• A month after being recognized by LAB as a Bicycle Friendly University, Virginia Tech issues a press release announcing it.
• NYC to ban e-bikes. '“E-bikes are a danger to New Yorkers because they’re faster and heavier than regular bikes. They also have very quiet motors. So, you don’t always hear them coming,” Quinn said Thursday.' Y'know what else is faster and heavier than regular bikes?
• More on the Schwinn Stingray including the Wham-O wheelie bar.

Comments

[SJE]

Can we get that as a poster or something to print out for BTWW

[RDHD]

Looks like a cyclist was hit on the Penn Ave bike lanes this pm around 5pm. It looked that way; I didn't actually see the accident, if any. All the EMTs and cops were there already.

Just after I passed that, some guy nearly turned left into me and then I watched a minivan driver make a u-turn across the bike lanes.

Hmm, a connection? Can they not enforce any damn laws there?

[SJE]

RDHD: of course, its the cyclists who disobey the laws

[contrarian]

The link for the Stingray goes to the AARP blog. You really know how to hurt a guy.

[washcycle]

SJE, contact Stephanie Averkamp at stephanieaverkampgmailcom

[T]

I saw the police ride coming up GWP last night. At first I thought it was a motorcade, but then I realized the motorcycles were going way too slow. Looked like 150-200 folks or so. I did feel bad for those behind them.

[Crickey7]

I think the operating expense comparision is misleading--it is almost certainly averages. It would be more accurate if the cyclist did not own a car, but we know many do. And if a person really did not own a car, the figure for cyclists would be too low. Not including a sinking fund for bike replacement, I estimate my annual operating expenses at probably triple that figure.

[Jonathan Krall]

@Crickey, The operating expense info appears to be useful an accurate information. It tells you how much car ownership costs compared to bike ownership. What you do with that info is up to you. It also says biking to work saves money. Neither of the messages are misleading.

[Crickey7]

My point is that they are averaging for one form of transportation that is used heavily and primarily for that purpose against another that, on average, is neither used heavily nor primarily used for transportation. One might therefore be misled into thinking that even a modest amount of riding translates into large savings. That would not be accurate.

And in general, I think this bias gets repeated in many modal comparisons. Bicycling does save money, but I think the savings are often overstated--in this instances, wildly so.

[Jonathan Krall]

I still don't get your point, unless you think readers are morons. The cost comparison is clearly labelled cost of ownership, not cost of operation.

The small carrot that is being dangled is the cost savings of driving less. Yes, I agree that cost savings is small. The big carrot is the cost reduction from selling a car or not buying a replacement car when one wears out. That savings is arguably most easily available to multi-car families. I keep meeting people from such families who have taken advantage of it.

[LMB]

Re: savings, I save at least $100 month that I used to spend on metro fare when I bike to work. I don't own a car, so that cost doesn't mean anything to me one way or the other. It's definitely accurate that biking saves you money, regardless of it means you are just using less gas, putting less miles on your car, or in my instance, not paying for public transportation. And, this year my only operating costs are a bottle of chain lube, a $20 tune up at the store, and a new headlight.