TheWashCycle

It's been almost 2 years, and Vincent Orange still hasn't appointed a BAC rep

Just saying. Contact info. There are many highly qualified people out there.

Addressing Electric Bicycles

Earlier this week Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) held a hearing on a newly proposed law that would try to straighten out the confusing rules defining various kinds of non-traditional vehicles like scooters, mopeds and segways and the laws that apply to them.

Part of the law would redefine what is and is not a motorized bicycle

While currently a motorized bicycle is anything that can't go over 35 miles per hour, Gray's bill would make the definition more specific: two or three 16-inch wheels, fully functional pedals and not be able to exceed 20 miles per hour. And in a big change, owners wouldn't have to register them, get licensed to use them or purchase insurance for them. And as provided for in the current regulations, they'd be able to use bike lanes, park on the sidewalk and their users wouldn't have to wear a helmet.

Those who ride mopeds and motor scooters - anything that can not be human powered - would be required to buy insurance, register with the Department of Motor Vehicles and—in some cases—obtain motorcycle licenses. It would also prohibit scooters from parking on the sidewalk. 

The Bicycle Advisory Council has been considering this change in law, and most agree that some clearer definitions are needed in light of ever-evolving technology. And most agree on the issues as they relate to bicycling, but the specifics are harder to agree on. The issues are:

Parking: The current law actually goes farther than the council thought it had to. The general thought was we didn't mind sharing bike parking with scooters, but there needs to be a lot more parking available. Maybe part of the registration fee for scooters could be dedicated to installing bike parking. That might be a better solution than segregating the parking facilities because it would be more flexible. If there is a lot of parking that bikes and scooters can use, that's better than some for bikes and some for scooters with neither being able to use the other for spillover parking. 

Bike lanes: There was strong agreement that vehicles that can't be pedaled do not belong in the bike lane, but there was some question about using the motor power of an electric bike while in the bike lane. The easier bright line is to say that bike lanes are for pedalling. If you want to use your motor, get in the all-traffic lanes. But what about electric-assist, which uses a battery to help you while pedalling? Should that be allowed in the bike lane? Or what about using a motor to go up a steep hill? Since the concern is really about excessive speed in the bike lane could we best achieve that goal by setting a lower speed limit for bike lanes? Related ly, all seem to agree that motor use is inappropriate on sidewalks. 

MUPs: This issue largely mimics the bike lane issue but, because trails also have pedestrians, they may require more limitations. Maybe no motors at all. Maybe no motor use (so you can bring an electric-assist bike, but you can use the motor). Maybe a lower speed limit is needed. 

There is a need to balance concerns about safety, encouraging active transportation - even when it's less active, enabling transportation options and yet protecting the limited space that cyclists and pedestrians have. 

I have my thoughts on all these issues, but the BAC is considering testimony for the October 30th deadline and it would be instructive to hear what the wider bicycling community thinks. 

Tuesday Afternoon Commute - Elvira

Nice days for biking, hope you're enjoying it.

• Tomorrow night, DDOT will host the second meeting on the proposed bus/bike lanes on Georgia Avenue between Barry Place and Florida Avenue. Unlike the bus/bike lanes downtown, these would have a buffer between the exclusive lanes and other traffic. 
• DC BAC's facility committee will have a ride of M and Eye street SE/SW on Oct 27. All are invited. "The purpose of this ride is to review the current conditions and develop options for bicycle and pedestrian consideration in this area as suggested by the District Department of Transportation September meeting regarding the M Street SE-SW Transportation Study."
• Lot's of people biked to the National's Playoff games. And here's a visualization of what that looked like for CaBi users. 
• Another ANC candidate puts expanded CaBi in his platform. 
• DC Councilmembers have proposed making changes to the traffic camera enforcement program. Most relevant is the expansion of the program - which should make roads safer for all - and the dedication of half the money to safety programs. It's not unreasonable to think that some of that money will find its way to bike safety - and I'm hoping they will finally dedicate some of the money to funding the Bicycle Safety Enhancement Act. Passed in 2008, the law has never been fully funded so trucks do not include "Side-underrun guards to prevent bicyclists, other vehicles, or pedestrians from sliding under rear wheels." 
• Falls Church Police are ticketing cyclists who run stop signs on the W&OD Trail. "There is at least one instance in which a similar ticket was thrown out because the cited law does not apply to a bicyclist on a trail."
• FABB held a ribbon cutting at the Oak Street Bridge over the Beltway. That bridge has been open for some time, but the new bridges ( Route 7, Westpark Dr, and Lee Hwy) they were celebrating weren't really safe for such a ceremony. 
• "Baltimore City’s efforts to implement a bike-sharing program in the city by this fall suffered a set back this summer when an exclusive negotiating agreement with B-Cycle — a bike-sharing company operating in 15 cities — expired without a deal. Any future bike-sharing program in Baltimore is now at least another year away, according to the Department of Transportation." B-Cycle was unable to find enough corporate sponsors to fund the program. DC and Baltimore are so close - I'm sure there are members of CaBi who live in Baltimore - it might make sense to bring them into the fold. 
• Bike commuting is growing faster in bicycle friendly communities. 
• Gas is expensive - $3.60 edition. [But...]
• Boston launches a controversial helmet safety ad campaign. 
• Another section of Atlanta's Beltline Trail opens. 

The new bike facility on Westpark Drive Bridge (photo via FABB)

Thursday Afternoon Commute - Gravel

Good afternoon

• BAC testimony at Wednesday's hearing.
• VDOT has new biking maps. Some static and a dynamic one. 
• Gravel on Lee Drive inside Fredericksburg National Battlefield Park is none too popular with cyclists. 

Friday Morning Commute - Hubbard

Good morning

• Ward 5 D.C. Council candidate Drew Hubbard, running in the May 15 special election: "Our residents should be able to walk or to bike to wherever they want to go in the ward."
• Tommy Wells wonders if Mayor Gray's sustainability program will get the funding it needs since a program to fight bike theft can't get $50,000 transferred from DDOT to MPD. "The executive branch has been unable to give $50,000 from DDOT to MPD, so there is no bait bike program starting this spring because they can't do it," Wells says. 
• A cyclist was hit in the Pennsylvania Avenue cycletrack yesterday by a car making an illegal U-turn. The cyclist was taken to the hospital and the driver was ticketed. 
• The CaBi station at 16th & U St NW has been relocated 1 block south to New Hampshire & T St NW & expanded by 8 docks. 
• DDOT is starting the process of replacing the 60 year old 27th Street Bridge over Broad Branch. The new bridge will have a sidewalk and maybe a bike lane. There was a meeting last night (sorry) about it. 
• More images of the new bridge across Four Mile Run near East Falls Church. 
• FABB is organizing a ride to Udvar-Hazy to see Space Shuttel Discovery. 
• A study aims to answer the question Why don't more women serve on Bicycle Advisory Committees. "several aspects related to these particular committees might be unappealing to women, including the steep learning curve for new members, the high proportion of male members, and male members' unsupportive behavior, their tendency to dominate the floor, and their likelihood of having a technical background...the top five barriers identified by the women included lack of time, lack of qualifications, lack of specific information about the committee, family and household responsibilities, and lack of interest in politics. A number of survey respondents explicitly named the male-dominated nature of their local committee as a barrier to their involvement."
• Recollections on John Edward's bike ride with Lance Armstrong at the 2008 RAGBRAI. "Eventually, Armstrong dropped Edwards, apparently frustrated by the slow pace..."

Tuesday Morning Commute - Speeding alone will not produce criminality

Good morning

• The BAC's Safety, Education and Enforcement Committee is meeting tonight. And the Facilities Committee is having a ride/meeting on Saturday along Rhode Island Avenue.
• I haven't mapped it out, but I wonder if bringing a bike along on the "ride the whole metro" race might help you. Ride out to the end of one line, then bike to the end of the next and ride in? It could help you avoid doubling back, but the connections aren't that good. Maybe if you ride faster than me it would help. Also, not sure if it would be considered cheating.
• I too would advise against wrong-way cycling in almost every case, but something about how this writer frames it bothers me. Dr. Gridlock's response is fine.
• "Last year, 21 cyclists were struck and killed but only two drivers were arrested. And about 40 percent of the time a driver is involved in a fatality – a pedestrian, cyclist, other motorist or themselves – not even a ticket is issued....In order to make an arrest, the NYPD said a motorist must break two traffic laws for the crash to rise to the level of criminal."
• National Bike Challenge to launch in May. "the 2012 Get Up & Ride National Bike Challenge aims to encourage people to bike for transportation and recreation, and to catalog exactly how many miles they're logging every day of the challenge. The program runs from May 1 to August 1, with the goal of uniting 50,000 people to pedal 10 million miles."
• Meh

Wednesday Noon Ride - Employment

Happy lunchtime

• WABA is hiring a program manager for their East of the Anacostia 2012 Bicycle Outreach initiative.
• And The Daily Rider, the new bike shop on H Street NE, is hiring too.
• Maryland has announced the 2012 winners of the state's inaugural Bikeways Grants. Some of the nearby projects include
  • The largest award of $1 million was announced by Governor O’Malley in November for the missing trail link connecting Maryland’s Anacostia Tributary Trail to Washington, D.C.’s Riverwalk Trail.  The current plan is to break ground in 2012 on this final missing link.
  • the signed, on-road bike route connecting Bowie Town Center and local parks in Prince George’s County;
  • the signed bike route connecting Montgomery Mall and Naval Medical Center and Bethesda Metro stations to support new BRAC jobs in Montgomery County
  • the signed on-road bike route and striping from Columbia to Fort Meade to support new BRAC jobs in Howard and Anne Arundel counties;
  • the design of the north extension of the BWI Trail to the Nursery Road Light Rail Station;
• Take the Shirlington bike parking survey.
• DC BAC meeting is tonight at a new location. See video of the oversight hearing here.
• Don't just bike to work, bike at work.

Wednesday Afternoon Commute - New Transport Plane

Good evening

• On Friday, the DC Committee for the Environment, Public Works and Transportation will have its public oversight hearing for the Bicycle Advisory Committee.
• New Bikey Stuff, like the Stanton Park CaBi station and bike lanes on 3rd NE and R NE.
• The SW waterfront will have as many bike parking spaces as car parking spaces. "A second Capital Bikeshare station will be installed at 9th Street and Maine Avenue to join the one already at 7th Street (which will move slightly from its present location to be closer to Maine Avenue)."
• Two tandem bicycles crashed on H Street - in 1896.(sorry for the late reporting)
• Dandies & Quaintrelles River Ride this Saturday
• NJ Bike advocates push for access to transit at more stations. 
• Bicycle Safety pamphlet from the 40's.

Monday Morning Commute - Come with me (to a LAB certified class) if you want to live

Good morning

• Rack Attack bike parking cost about $300 a rack.
• The DC BAC is looking for comments on the Metropolitan Police Department's report on bicycle interactions.
• Maryland to begin installing 'Bicycles May Use Full Lane' signs
• "Premium Rush," the action flick about a NYC bike messenger, comes out just as the culture is disappearing. "Currently there are about 700 bike messengers in the city, not including food delivery cyclists, said William Goodman, the director of the New York State Messenger and Courier Association. A decade ago, he said, there were several thousand." How long before we see the article about the last full time bike messenger? And will historical preservation activists get involved?
• My thought: NYC needs more bike parking.
• Fancy road bikes are replacing expensive sports cars as the mid-life crisis vehicle of choice, leading to MAMILS - Middle Aged Men in Lycra. 
• Arnold Schwarzenegger needs to take a Safe Cycling class

Friday Morning Commute - 6th Birthday

I switched internet providers this month and it is looking like a mistake. I was without internet all last night. Sorry for the late posts. On a happier note, it's the 6 year anniversary of the blog's first post.

• The DC BAC's Safety, Education, and Enforcement committee is meeting Oct 4th. They'll be discussing the MPD's report, among other items.
• Maryland's negligent driving and no-texting while driving laws take effect tomorrow.
• Herndon is considering a two-way “cycle track,” in lieu of on-street bike lanes, between the lanes of car traffic and new, wider sidewalks on the Herndon Parkway.
• Ask Sec. Lahood a question.
• Fixed gear bikes are becoming popular in Paris