TheWashCycle

Wednesday Evening Commute- Unhappy Grover

Good evening

• A woman in NE DC was sexually assaulted by a man riding a bicycle. 
• Brian McEntee of Tales from the Sharrows writes the definitive argument for why the Near SE section of the ART though the Navy Yard and Yards Park should be open to biking. In the interim, I say just ignore the rules and ride it when you want to. No one enforces it because no one really cares. 
• Virginia Senate votes to raise the gas tax and tie it to inflation. In addition "The plan would impose a statewide 1 percent sales tax on wholesale fuel and allow the state to raise that sales tax by 1 percent if Congress fails to pass legislation allowing Virginia to collect sales taxes on Internet sales....the Senate bill would increase the vehicle registration fee by $15." Not only would the plan make driving more expensive, but it would also provide more money for transportation. 

Thursday Morning Commute - incessant desire

Good morning

• Numbers are out for CaBi usage in November. While the numbers are down ~25% in both miles and trips from October, that's pretty normal. But the year-to-year numbers are up 48% and 53% respectively. Oddly in 2011, the busiest month was June but in 2012 it was September.
• WABA wants cyclists to turn out for MoveDC and the update to Maryland's Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. "Both plans present significant opportunities to alter how people get around, and in subsequent posts we’ll provide more detailed information on each. What matters most right now is that both processes are being designed to maximally integrate public input into the planning of our transportation future. While WABA will be actively involved as an organization, it’s also critical that people—like you!—who value biking as a way of getting around and want to see it encouraged in the future participate."
• WABA is also looking for bike ambassadors.
• Who's blocking the L Street bike lane today?
• More new bike parking.
• Traffic fatalities in DC were lower than they've been since at least the 1920's and there were no bicycle fatalities. In fact, there was only one - Diane Whitman in Maryland - were two in the whole DC area. (There was also a fatality involving a pedestrian hit by a cyclist on a bike trail). That's the lowest number of DC area bike fatalities since 2006 (and my numbers are probably incomplete that year).
• Construction-related changes to the CCT crossing of Bethesda Avenue have made the crossing less safe argues one letter writer. 
• The flier for the Little Paint Branch Trail extension.
• To the long list of projects that Maryland has identified but can't afford, add the Gov. Thomas Johnson Memorial Bridge, which would include a walking and bike path on both sides. Don't expect gas taxes to go up in Maryland to pay for it any time soon either. “Everybody’s taxes just increased,” said [House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-Calvert, St. Mary’s)], adding that a gas tax would implement effects, including higher prices, across the board. He said there is an “incessant desire” to raise taxes to create more revenue. “It’s unbelievable,” he said as he pushed the microphone away at the podium and walked back to his seat...[Del. Mark Fisher (R-Calvert)] said in a testimony made to the Ways and Means Committee, they were told “Maryland has enough money to take care of its roads,” without increasing the gas tax....Fisher said, during his concluding remarks, that there are ways to raise money for transportation, such as privatizing some roads, toll roads and rest centers, selling welcome centers and naming rights to roads, “instead of going into pockets of citizens.”  WC: Doesn't money for tolls come out of the pockets of citizens? Look, I think toll roads can be useful, but let't not pretend that it isn't just a different tax. 
• Meanwhile, in Virginia, some people are focusing on the drop in gas tax and ignoring the increase in sales tax, but not bike store owners (aka Small Business owners, aka Job Creators).
• Sapphire.
• New West Virginia rail trail built on a short spur would cross the Potomac at Hancock and connect to the Western Maryland Rail Trail and the C&O Canal.