Monday Afternoon Commute - One million miles

I didn't make it to the BicycleSpace ride on Friday because my wife surprised me with dinner reservations and baby sitters but I bet it was a good ride with good ice cream.

• The DC area bicycle heat map, based on data from cycling GPS devices. With this and the existing bike counters in Arlington County, you could almost extrapolate counts elsewhere (though it would skew to places where those who have (read:can afford and care to buy) such devices ride). 
• Trail Rangers will patrol the MBT, ART and Suitland Parkway Trail. And WABA is hiring more rangers, if you're interested. 
• The DowntownDC BID and DDOT plan to double the number of bike racks downtown over the next three years. "the BID is focused on providing short-term parking in public space for visitors to buildings, shoppers, and restaurant patrons, while continuing to work with buildings to provide secure, commuter bike parking inside for their tenants. The first installation phase will begin in mid-July and will target the blocks between 6th and 11th streets because of the high level of use in this area.  About 200 racks are planned for installation during this first phase, and the majority of work will take place overnight, except where adjacent to residential buildings or hotels."
• Montgomery County Councilmember Robert Berliner is concerned that the MCDOT design for Old Georgetown Road between the current Executive Boulevard alignment and Rockville Pike does not include bike lanes or a sidepath as called for in the Sector Plan. "In order to meet the Plan's mode share goals, we should implement multi-modal, complete streets on the front end, not at the end stages of the Plan"
• There was a meeting of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority on June 20th to get input on how to spend $190 million for transportation. "Perhaps the most scrutinized debate will be how many funds are devoted to transit projects, pedestrian or bicycle projects, and how much will simply be devoted to increasing capacity on the roads network....The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority will hold another public hearing July 24 at the Fairfax City Hall before adopting the final fiscal 2014 funding list."
• Fairfax County dedicates bike signs in the McLean area. 
• "A plurality of MT readers (33 percent) picked the road lobby as the most effective in the transportation world. Public transit snagged 17 percent and the railroads took 16 percent. Don’t tell Dorothy Rabinowitz, but only 2 percent said the bike/ped lobby was the best."
• "People using New York City’s new bike-sharing program have logged more than a million miles in less than a month." At this rate, they'll have had more total miles than CaBi by the end of year 1.

Comments

[DaveS]

The heatmap link is broken. If it's the one I think it is (like one I tweeted recently) the data is even more skewed. The source is riders with GPS who use Strava and wish to see pacing detail relative to other riders.

It's VERY heavy on climbs and loops where racers train, almost completely ignoring anything else - including "junk mile" sections people would have to ride just to get to the virtual competition.

[washcycle]

I fixed the first link. Thanks to everyone who contacted me about it.

[Greenbelt]

The heat map is great, but it makes you wish more commuters and everyday riders recorded their rides too!

[Greenbelt]

In order to get your rides into the heatmap you have to submit segments in the main website.

[Crickey7]

NY and Citibike were such an obvious fit. Once the concept was proven in other lower density cities (like DC) and some of the technical aspects worked out, it was really a no-brainer. Although certainly other politicians than Bloomberg might not have had the patience and forward vision that he did.

In many respects, the success of CaBi here proved the concept was not only viable, but a real asset in the transportation mix.

[dbb]

Agree with Greenbelt. Data are skewed (as we were warned). Note how the route of the recent Air Force Classic in Crystal City is heavily traveled. I don't think most cyclists would ride Route 110 under normal conditions.

[ACyclistInTheSuburbs]

yeah, the heat map not only appears light on every day riders (though it COULD be that there more people doing Hains point loopss than riding in Logan Circle, and more doing the mountain bike trails in Wakefield Park than riding in Old Town and Del Ray) but some of the routes appear to clearly be a single rider - the routes in Annandale for example are somewhat idiosyncratic.

[oboe]

Love the heat map mashup, particularly the lines out in western montgomery county & the ag preserve. Will have to try some of these routes.