TheWashCycle

PGC's "Adequate Public Pedestrian and Bikeway Facilities in Centers and Corridors” Act

Prince George's County Council Members Eric Olson (District 3) and Mel Franklin (District 9) have introduced a new bill in that would ensure

that new development in urban centers creates safe connections for people to transit, schools, parks, stores and other destinations by building missing links in essential walking and bicycling facilities

Think of it as complete streets for county planning. 

Currently, new developments are only obligated to contribute to road capacity for car traffic in off-site transportation improvements. This means that a developer may be required to pay millions of dollars in road capacity expansions far from the development site but make no investment in missing sidewalks, hazardous crossings, or other basic pedestrian or bicycle infrastructure connecting the property to nearby destinations. This bill helps new developments fill in missing links and ensure that new residents can safely walk or bicycle to the nearest bus stop, Metro station, school, store, library or park. By investing in relatively low-cost sidewalks, crossing improvements, bike lanes, trail connections or other walk/bike facilities, residents will have true alternatives to driving for every trip and can take better advantage of transit and nearby amenities. This builds higher quality communities and takes cars off the road, relieving overall traffic impacts of new developments.By filling in the missing links in sidewalks, bikeways, and pathways, this bill helps build “complete streets,” by designing streets that work for everyone, an important goal of the Countywide Master Plan of Transportation

Act Now county residents (Seriously the vote is later today)

Contact your Prince George’s County Council Member, or the Council Chair, the Honorable Andrea Harrison, and urge them to support this bill. This bill increases safety, broadens transportation choices, reduces traffic and enhances the quality of new development. Let them know that the old way of doing things – only building bigger roads for more cars, while ignoring the opportunity to make walking and bicycling safer and easier – needs to change. Creatingmore walkable communities and better connecting people to transit, stores, schools and jobs makes for safer, healthier and more attractive places to live and work.

The bill will be considered by the Planning, Zoning, Economic Development Committee (PZED) February 15 at 1:30 pm, and if it wins a majority of committee votes, will advance to the full county council for a public hearing and vote

Monday Morning Commute - Sorry Vegas

I was rooting for the Giants, primarily because of a story that the odds-makers missed the mark (and the futures market too) and so way more people were betting on the Giants than the Patriots. That means that a win by the Giants = a loss for Vegas, and who roots for the house? I wonder who Trump, both a New Yorker and a casino owner, rooted for? He was probably hoping that somehow he would win.

• WABA calls on cyclists to support Met Branch Trail funding in Montgomery County. "This year, the budget proposed by the Montgomery County Executive cuts design and construction funding for the county’s portion of the MBT for the next six years. We need the County Council to ensure that these years of effort are not wasted and that the County’s commitments to prioritize the completion of the trail are kept." Silver Spring Trails adds "the ongoing disagreement with the owners of the station museum does not prevent MCDOT from designing and building the MetBranch from the new Sarbanes Silver Spring Transit Station south through the Ripley District to the station museum."
• It looks like preliminary work has started on Washington Gateway, the property that will fill the triangle shaped property between New York Avenue, Florida Avenue and the Met Branch Trail, or as I like to call it Triabfla (also the name of my infomercial ab machine). The current renderings still appear to show a set of properties that block out, rather than connect to, the trail, which would be too bad. I've tried to contact people involved with the project several times, but had no luck. 
• Speaking of trail adjacent development, the Florida Rock property - which includes a section of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail - has submitted a new design. While the buildings change, it doesn't appear that the trail does.
• Lydia DePillis notes that, despite talking a good game about greening embassies, none have purchased a CaBi station. Not even the Canadians (which would seem a good way to support a Canadian company, n'est pas?)
• Arlington County is expected to authorize spending $3.44 million for six projects in the latest round of Neighborhood Conservation grant funding. That includes adding bike lanes to Patrick Henry Drive from 16th Street North to Washington Boulevard and to North Sycamore Street from 26th Street North to Williamsburg Boulevard. Also, Arlington is removing unnecessary bollards from area trails.
• How to trigger a traffic light with detector loops. 
• VASA ride is March 4th.
• Chat with Dr. Gridlock today. 
• Nice photo. 
• Why complete streets matters "Anne Gerlach, 43, of Glenmont, said she would like to be able to bike near her home, but can’t because there are no pedestrian or bike paths and traffic is heavy."

Slowing down traffic in neighborhoods

Not much new out there, so my only link today is from this Economist article that I failed to link to before and is nearly three months old. The article is about how America is unsafe for cyclists - when compared to certain European cities, and the reason is that safety is taken less seriously.

Had Mr Wang been commuting on a busy bike route in Amsterdam, Copenhagen or Berlin, his unprotected exposure to instruments of death—namely, any vehicle moving at 20mph or more—would be nearly nil. These cities have knitted together networks for everyday travel by bike. To start with, motor vehicles allowed near cyclists are subject to “traffic calming”. They must slow down to about 19mph, a speed that, in case of collision, kills less than 5%. Police strictly enforce these speed limits with hefty fines. Repeat offenders lose their licenses.

This is different than the situation in DC. The speed limit here is higher, especially outside the city. We have a less extensive bike network. The speed limit is not strictly enforced. And no one loses their license.

Recently Muriel Bowser and Tommy Wells introduced a bill to lower the speed limit to 15mph on neighborhood streets in DC. AAA Mid-Atlantic's John Townsend called this speed "not humanly possible", which is ridiculous, but it is true that cars that have automatic transmission have difficulty managing that speed. Emissions go up and wear increases. And since most people in America drive automatic transmission, that is something to consider. I addition, speed limits are already ignored and mostly unenforced. In such an environment a lower limit will have little effect.

Perhaps a better solution can be found.

What if there were a law that allowed neighborhoods to formally request a livable street (aka road diet) - as they now do for speed humps. Once a request is approved, the road would be "re-zoned" as a "slow neighborhood street." The next time DDOT did a major repair or repainting it would include a combination of narrowed travel lanes, bike lanes, bumpouts, etc... that would make the design speed of the road less than 25mph.

Bowser and Wells should be credited for their proposal, but I think it can be made better - even if the changes will be slower.

Going back to the Economist article, the other thing we need are more cycletracks.

In much of northern Europe, cyclists commute on lanes that are protected from cars by concrete buffers, rows of trees or parked cars. At busy crossroads, bicycle-activated traffic lights let cyclists cross first. Traffic laws discriminate in favour of people on bikes.

November 2011 BAC meeting notes

Safety, Educationa and Enforcement Committee:

At this month's BAC meeting the most noticeable change was the presence of an MPD representative. I did not get his name, but he is a senior officer, seems completely well-informed and was active in participating.

He's from the Traffic, Safety and Specialized Enforcement unit - among other things he works with the NHTSA budget for enforcement, which is primarily for alcohol enforcement but also bike/ped enforcement. His unit manages initiatives at branches that deal with specific enforcement (seatbelts, speeding etc...) and makes decisions on where enforcement should happen (based on traffic information). He seems like a good fit.

Facilties Committee:

Oxon Run Trail rebuild is maybe 2 years away, with 1 year to design and 1 to build.

The Suitland Parkway Trail is not in the works, but it is on the list. DDOT wants to work with MD on this upgrade and are waiting on them, but they won't wait forever. In the meantime, DDOT is going to put up more signs to help cyclist get from the South Capital Street Bridge to the Suitland Parkway Trail.

There is some bad news on the 11th Street bridges. Unfortunately, there will be no bike lanes on the local bridge, as was once planned, so that will mean biking on the 16 foot wide sidewalk or in the traffic lanes. I hadn't noticed this in last year's design, but on the east side, the sidewalk doesn't connect directly to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. Instead users will have to go all the way to the MLK Ave & Good Hope Road intersection before turning back to the river. (see poorly drawn red line below). It's a design/build contract, so DDOT is hoping to they can still get a more direct link.

The Facilities committee sent a letter to DDOT about bike racks that were removed during streetscape work, but then not replaced. They're considering another letter to DCRA to complaint that many new buildings are getting a certificate of occupancy without the 5% bike parking that is required by law. Even after the certificate is given they still need to meet the requirements, but it is easier to get it done in the beginning. 

Legislative Committee:

Discussed the existing DDOT Director's order for Complete Streets and whether a law was necessary. The order is only within DDOT and could be changed by any director. But a law would apply to other agencies, even though they don't have much to do with roads. It would also be more difficult to ignore or change.

The also mentioned modifing the anti-assault bill to remove the "attempt to distract" as an offense.

Other:

Mike Goodno and James Cheeks attended a one-week study tour of bicycling design best practices in the Netherlands. Some interesting facts include

• everytime the Dutch rebuild a road, they remove parking from one side of the road and put in a bike lane. People complain, but it's done anyway. But there is more off-street parking there than here.
• Car ownership is expensive - parking, license, cars, gas - all expensive.
• There is no in-school driver training. But there is bike training - every child, every year - and certification in "traffic village" - fake cities where kids can bike safely under real conditions.
• Lots of pedicabs, especially in Amsterdam.
• They met a self-described car advocate. He still bikes more than 50% of the time. But he wants to grade separate roads so that he can drive faster.

Thursday Morning Commute - Hostess with the Mostest

Happy Car Free Day, and it's the last day of summer. So soak it up. Also, CaBi's birthday bash is this evening at Yards Park.

• This Saturday at 10am, ANC 5C will be discussing the proposed R Street Bike lanes. "Resident’s will have the opportunity to see what a sharrow looks like, learn how contra flow bicycle lanes and sharrows work and how they will be implemented on R Street."
• Capital Bikeshare will be studied as possible therapy for the mentally ill. "Moghimi said he hopes the year-long study will prove that enhanced mobility and physical activity improve the patients’ mental health....The 20 people selected for the study group range from the chronically schizophrenic to those beset by depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress. The only patients excluded from the program are those with cognitive disorders who might not be able to negotiate the bike."
• The Frederick Bicycling Coalition is having a bike swap on October 2nd. 
• AAA is concerned with the large number of hit-and-run crashes lately. Several of them have involved cyclists including this one "A driver fled after severely injuring a 47-year-old Port Tobacco bicyclist Sept. 2, authorities said. The Charles County Sheriff’s Department said the incident occurred on Chapel Point Road near Taurus Lane in Port Tobacco between Thursday at 10 p.m. and Friday at 3 a.m." and this one "A Bulgarian college student who was working as a lifeguard in Maryland this summer was struck by a hit-and-run driver Aug. 23 on Forest Drive in Anne Arundel County. The 20-year-old victim was riding a bicycle when the driver knocked him off his bicycle. He was hospitalized with a broken clavicle." and this one "A teenage cyclist was severely injured by a hit-and-run driver in Southeast Washington on July 10"
• Speaking of which, there was a memorial ride in honor of hit-and-run (though the driver later called in the crash) victim Natasha Pettigrew. "The most Littleford [the driver] could face is a charge for leaving the scene of the crash, but Henry said she doesn't know what penalty she could face. Littleford will not face wrongful death charges because there were no witnesses, Henry said."
• The Transportation Planning Board is launching a study to find out how drivers want to be charged for roads. Of the three options, the congestion charge would likely do the most to increase cycling (In my unstudied opinion). Other options is GPS-based VMT or tolls on major highways. 
• A proposed Silver Spring apartment building on the site of the old Post Office building would include "a surrounding plaza that would include a bike share station and a trail connection to the planned Capital Crescent Trail." The building will back up to the trail.
• The Examiner is very worried about the lack of bike facilities in Tyson's Corner. I share their concern. "And the ballyhooed bike paths,... are still nothing but pipe dreams"
• The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission is trying to educate people about complete streets.
• Oh yeah, that Port Tabacco cyclist mentioned above who was hit by a hit-and-run driver on September 10th, he passed away from his injuries. Police have since located the driver, a 21-year-old Pomfret woman.
• Congratulations to Richmond, VA, host of the 2015 World Cycling Championships. It's the first time they've been in the States in 30 years. "USA Cycling expects more than half a million people to watch in person in the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with a global television audience of more than 300 million."
• Chicago launches plans for a new 3,000 bike bike-sharing system. "The enterprise is billed as the city's "first large-scale bike-sharing program.'' A small existing program, called "Chicago B-cycle,'' began last year with about a half-dozen bike rental stations along the lakefront and in the downtown. Chicago B-cycle (chicago.bcycle.com) offers memberships and temporary passes. It attracts mostly tourists and is modeled after bike-sharing programs in Paris and Denver."

Friday Morning Commute - Anti-Flirt Club

Good Morning

• When DDOT said the Final Metropolitan Branch Trail Environmental Assessment would be available any day now, I guess they meant "tomorrow, by lunch." This is a big step in the process to getting the next section built. After glancing at it, I don't see much that has changed, for the things that matter to cyclists, since the draft was released in November.
• The Broad Branch EA meeting material is supposedly online, but most of the links are dead. And I think the dates are wrong on the schedule. So an auspicious start.
• Not many NIH bike commuters (of which there are quite a lot) are willing to give up their parking space or transit benefit for the $20 a month bike commuter benefit. "Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), who sponsored the legislation, has introduced to Congress a bill that would allow commuters to combine the biking subsidy with other transit benefits." Which is a good solution, but I'd prefer one that simply mandates a tax-free cash payout for those who give up parking. That encourages walking too. 
• Bike crashes are up 44% over last year in Fairfax county. Cyclists were found to be at fault in 27 out 46 crashes (with one of those being "both" at fault) or 58.7% of those reported. Not much information is given about the crashes. Found at fault by whom? The police? Or a judge? How many children were involved? Any bike-bike crashes (obviously a cyclist would be at fault there)? A likely cause in the increase is more cyclists. Bike counts in Arlington are up ~30% in Arlington from 2009 to 2010.
• The Georgetown Dish on Mary Cheh. "Cheh told the Post: “[Livable, walkable], that’s a slogan. ...Where’s the record?... I’ve passed major legislation. I’ll say ‘livable, walkable.’ If I say it enough, will that be OK?”). Let it be said: the two-term councilmember does have a smart growth track-record pro-bike track record.  Indeed, she is often seen tooling around on her bike." [Aside: the author needs to know that, by contract, UT east of the Mississippi is Tennessee, not Texas]
• The Dandies and Quaintrelles are having a Moonlight ride tonight.
• There's a mysterious bicycle-inspired mural off N. Custis Road.
• There were a few questions about cycling on Kojo's show yesterday, including one about a bicycle tax. To which David Alpert replied "that's definitely not necessary. The bicycle projects actually are some of the least expensive. I mean, that 15th Street bike lane we talked about at the beginning costs virtually nothing compared to building a new road or even widening one."
• Quite a few photos of cycling in DC in the 20's here. Also, don't fall for the slick, dandified cake eater. Another rule of the Anti-Flirt Club, no one talks about Anti-Flirt Club.
• The Express reviews the book "The Urban Biking Handbook" written by a former City Bikes mechanic.
• A proposed expansion of the Gov. Thomas Johnson Memorial Bridge bridge over the Patuxent in St.Mary's will include a 10 foot wide bike/ped lane.