TheWashCycle

Bixi bankruptcy delays Capital Bikeshare expansion to College Park

So the Post reports. 

College Park and the university said in October they were negotiating a one-year contract with Alta Bicycle Share, the company that runs Capital Bikeshare, to install bike stations, supply bicycles and operate the system. The plan was to have Capital Bikeshare running by Feb. 1.

Terry A. Schum, director of planning for College Park, said the city was very close to signing the agreement with Alta, but it is now on hold due to Public Bike System Co.’sfiling for bankruptcy protection last month. Public Bike System is one of Alta’s main equipment and technology suppliers.

$600 million for 6th Round of TIGER funding

This sounds good for cyclists and pedestrians

The TIGER 2014 grant program will place an emphasis on projects that support reliable, safe and affordable transportation options that improve connections for both urban and rural communities, making it easier for their residents to reach work, school and other ladders of opportunity, the DOT said in a news release.

While continuing to support projects of all types, DOT will prioritize applications for capital projects that better connect people to jobs, training and other opportunities, promote neighborhood redevelopment and reconnect neighborhoods divided by physical barriers, such as highways and railroads.

Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office to support bills to revise Maryland’s Criminal Negligence Law

From this lengthy post. 

This afternoon, representatives from the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office will testify before the House and Senate Committees in support of bills to revise Maryland’s Criminal Negligence Law.

Senate Bill 565 and House Bill 835 both seek to create a more appropriate standard to prosecute drivers and boaters whose actions result in the death of other persons. The bills would amend the current law so that anyone driving a motor vehicle or operating a vessel would face up to 3 years of incarceration for any death caused when their actions create “a substantial and unjustifiable risk” that such a result would occur.

“It is clear to me that the current law is insufficient,” said State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess. “Every year I see pedestrian, bicycle and motor vehicle fatalities that I would like to prosecute in the criminal court, but the law stands in our way. This proposal will go a long way to enable us to address fatalities that result from more than mere negligence, and make roads safer for the citizens of Anne Arundel County.”

Green Streets Policy Adopted by Transportation Planning Board

From a press release. This is not a direct bike benefit, but it will probably be easier to get bike lanes onto a green street.

At its February meeting, the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) adopted a Green Streets Policy for the National Capital Region, which encourages local jurisdictions to improve environmental quality in a cost-effective manner using a host of road improvements. Adding green features like rain gardens to the medians and sides of streets along with planting trees and introducing permeable pavement reduces the harmful effects of wastewater. These features can capture pollutants, from chemicals to silt to bacteria, before they enter sewers or degrade natural waterways like the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, and eventually, the Chesapeake Bay.

These trees and plants cool and beautify the street, encouraging walking and bicycling. In addition to making the roads more pleasant, green streets tools can be a more cost-effective way to capture wastewater than traditional sewer upgrades.

Jurisdictions in the Washington area have already begun to incorporate green streets elements. Prince George’s County, Maryland requires many road, sidewalk, trail and transit related construction projects to include environmental site design and the District of Columbia’s Green Streets Policy establishes waste water retention of up to 100 percent of storm water under its new regulations, established in 2013.  Alexandria City Councilman and TPB Vice-Chair, Tim Lovain, is exploring a green streets initiative for his jurisdiction which would include permeable pavement and rain gardens.

TPB began studying the creation of a regional Green Streets policy in December 2012 in response to a request from the Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership. The work follows the TPB’s approval in May 2012 of a regional Complete Streets Policyencouraging local jurisdictions to promote the safe accommodation of multiple transportation modes when designing new roadways and making major improvements to existing ones.

Click here for the most a presentation on the Green Streets Policy.

Alexandria Traffic and Parking Board voted 5-2 to delay King Street bike lanes

WABA has the play-by-play.

Winter Trail Maintenance Discussed at County Board Meeting

At the February Arlington County Board Meeting, WABA President Mark Blacknell testified on the issue of clearing snow from trails.

County Staff responded that they cleared 18 miles of trails including the W&OD, the Custis Trail and the Four Mile Run Trail among others. Jay Fisette asks if there is a more systemic set of changes that can be carried out to deal with the issue. Another councilmember talks about the communication aspect of this, and how to let people know which trails are cleared. Walter Tejada congratulates the county on their trail clearin during the last storm. 

 

 

Search for Hit and Run Driver continues

Below is an account of the recent hit-and-run crash in AA County, written by by Maile Neel, one of the two people hit.

With the blessing of Gordon and the Anne Arundel County Police Officer who is investigating the crash, I am writing to tell you firsthand what actually happened last Saturday. I also want to convey that the best way to help right now is to spread the word about the search for the suspect who hit Lynn Kristianson and I with such horrible consequences for Lynn. I give the description below because I know everyone has been curious and there has been a lot of misinformation in the news reports that has been perpetuated on blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, and list serves. The main need though is to catch the driver.

On Saturday February 22 Lynn and I were riding a 200k permanent. We were heading back to College Park from Deale with about 30 miles to go. It was just after 5 p.m. We were riding west on Central Ave between Patuxent River  Road and Queen Anne's Bridge Road. We were approaching Queen Anne's Bridge to cross the Patuxent. I was riding right behind Lynn and we were single file. We had been riding on the shoulder to the right of the white line, but as you approach the bridge the shoulder goes away. Still we were right on the line, far to the right side of the road. We were both wearing reflective ankle bands Lynn had on a reflective vest and I had on a bright red jacket with a reflective Amphipod over it.

I heard a very loud vehicle approaching from the rear - that is not unusual as vehicles are on every road and one typically hears them as they approach. It was unusual when I felt the vehicle hit my left hip and leg. I went straight down hard on my left side on the road -- I did not slide along the road. I could not move at all once I landed. I did not see the car nor did I see what happened to Lynn. After everything came to a rest, I remember looking over and seeing Lynn ~20 or so feet further up the road from me. I could see no details. But she was not far from me.

Citizens arrived right away and were tending to us, controlling traffic, calling 911, and getting key phone numbers off my phone to call and to give to the police. Very soon the paramedics, EMTs and police arrived and immobilized me and also blocked (I think intentionally so) my view of Lynn. They would then not say anything to me about her condition except that she was in much worse shape than I was in, and the she would be transported via helicopter to Baltimore. I was transported via PG County ambulance to Shock Trauma at Washington Hospital Center. I was thoroughly tested and x-rayed. I was released just after 2 a.m. I am bruised up and down my left side and am not very mobile due to lower back and pelvic issues but it is all muscular. I am in pain, but there are no broken bones and no immediately apparent internal or head injuries. My helmet was cracked on the left side but my head has only a slight bruise. This all is in stark and horrifying contrast to Lynn's condition. 

What the investigators know is that we were both hit by a silver/white Honda CRV driven by a white male between 50 and 60 years old. The man had a mustache and dark glasses. An eye witness saw him hit both of us and flee the scene by continuing to drive westbound across the bridge from Anne Arundel County into Prince George's County. The side view mirror from the vehicle remained at the scene and that has allowed the police to narrow down the year-range of the vehicle to 1995-2001. In addition to missing a passenger side mirror, the vehicle will likely be dented and scraped on the right side and perhaps on the front. Lynn and I were both on unpainted titanium bikes.

A second vehicle that was headed westbound immediately after the initial collision ran over Lynn's bike. Witnesses state that the second car did NOT run over Lynn. She did not remain clipped to the bike. The car swerved left to avoid everything but could not avoid the bike. The damage from the bike being run over makes it difficult to piece together the original impact. Seeing the Honda CRV would help fill in some but not all the details, but it still may never be clear what exactly happened to cause such severe injuries.

The fact that the person who hit us left the scene changes the nature of this case dramatically. Nothing will ever change or compensate for what has happened to Lynn but there is at least hope of some consequence for the driver beyond a moving violation . And it is encouraging that there is so much evidence. The investigating officer is doing an outstanding and thorough job. He and his colleagues are pursuing many avenues and leads. They are taking this very seriously. But he stressed to me that it is still far from a sure bet that they will be able to find the person. 

There is then a call about the need for people to be on the lookout for a vehicle and driver matching the description above.

Will DC's 2014 bike lanes get built? Probably not in 2014

Today, as noted earlier, DDOT announced their 2014 Proposal for bike lanes. Benjamin Freed at the Washingtonian asks if they will actually get built? If history is any indication the answer is probably not, at least, not in 2014. 

If you look at previous announcements you can see many lanes carried over from one year to the next. For example, Piney Branch from Missouri to Georgia shows up in 2011 and then in 2012, and then in 2013 and then again in 2014. So, yes, they put more in their plan than they actually get done. Part of this is because of the way bike lanes usually get added. Often it is part of a road repair project. The group at DDOT that repairs roads lets the group at DDOT that does bike lanes know about what work they're going to do. So then the bike lane group puts that stretch of bike lanes on the list. If, then, the road repair does not occur, then the bike lanes do not go in. But that is only some of the times. There are probably several reasons, some better than others, why bike lanes are proposed in the winter and then not installed for years. 

A couple of other notes from the Washingtonian article.

Another project listed as “ready to go” is a two-block protected lane on First St., NE, connecting the Metropolitan Branch Trail to street level. (Currently, cyclists must haul their bikes up a staircase to access the trail’s southern end.) 

This project will not change the connections to the Met Branch Trail. It's still either the stairs at L Street or the ramp at M Street. In fact, I heard that DDOT may have to postpone the L Street ramp for now. Bristol Property, the owner, is concerned that there's a hazmat issue with the land where and does not want DDOT to take any soil borings which would indefinitely stall the project. 

GGW's Jim Graham interview on transportation

The interview is here, last interview starting around 9:40. Since David Alpert doesn't bring it up, I have my ntoes below.

Alpert asks about how to make things safer and better for cyclists and pedestrians and Graham notes that its complicated asks back "should cyclists be subject to traffic controls." He states that in practice they are not, but that everyone else is. He then talks briefly about the Idaho stop and the vortex that such a discussion leads to. {He asks if it is law anywhere else, and the answer is no, but stop-as-yield laws are in place in parts of Colorado]. He seems to regret that the city doesn't have a motor vehicle ticketing division of MPD and then starts talking about how drivers and pedestrians also don't have to follow traffic control laws. To his credit, Alpert calls him out on this, noting the contradiction between his original statement about how only cyclists could break the law without fear of enforcement, but Graham manages to dodge Apler's question by making it seem like it was his point all along - "it's complicated." He states support for dedicated bicycle lanes and bike sharing, and streets dedicated to bicyclists. He's going to do a Ward 1 forum on bicycles. When Alpert explained it to him, he was interested in the idea that increasing cycling numbers decreases violations per cyclist. Mentions couriers and how everyone used to complain about them. 

DDOT releases 2014 Bike Lane plan

WABA has all the details. 

At the top of the list are several 2013 projects, such as the M Street cycletrack and contraflow bike lanes on G and I streets NE. The 1st Street cycletrack between M and K Street will ostensibly be finished this spring