CommuterPageBlog

BikeArlington Bike-sharing Presentation & Happy Hour

Learn about the bike-sharing revolution at BikeArlington’s next event on October 22. International bike-sharing expert Paul DeMaio will give a talk about this European bike transit concept which will soon be coming to our shores - the shores of the Potomac! After the presentation, BikeArlington invites everyone across the street for a happy hour at Ireland’s Four Courts to mingle with other bicycle enthusiasts. Snacks will be provided at the presentation, which is free.

The presentation will be from 6:30 - 7:30pm at the Arlington County Government Center, 2100 Clarendon Blvd., in the lobby's Azalea Room. The happy hour starts at 7:30pm at 2051 Wilson Blvd. Space is limited, so RSVP by October 21 to pdemaio@arlingtonva.us for the presentation, happy hour, or both.

BikeArlington

Navigating Barcelona Online

Before going to Barcelona last week, I did some quick research on what to do and how to get around.  I was amazed at what I found and the ease of such discovery.  Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona's website has information on various picturesque city routes complete with detailed maps as well as relevant transit and site details.  For instance, the Gaudi route page has a map of all relevant historical sites and links directly to information on nearby transit options. Having the information together in one place encourages people, especially visitors, to take advantage of the ease of transit as opposed to driving.

TMB's website also offers a comprehensive trip planner.  In addition to any transfers, the trip planner lists the number of stops on each relevant line or route as well as the waiting time and estimated walking time between places and transit.  Also, and even more impressively, you can select not only to view the transit route via 2D and also 3D! 

While I didn't chose to take the metro from the airport to downtown (sleepless for 36 hours and a very heavy bag deterred my efforts), it was nice to know that I had options and could easily navigate the city.  Web technology can definitely take trip planning to another level. 

When planning a trip, whether here in the DC region or somewhere else, what information would/do you find most helpful? 

Carly Nider, Arlington Transportation Partners

Image Credit: Travel DK

Tune In To See How Much Fun You Could Have Carpooling

Visited any of the local transportation web sites recently? If so, you may have seen this ad for Carpoolers, ABC's new half-hour comedy debuting on October 2. You might have wondered why are these agencies promoting a network sitcom? The answer is because we hope viewers may try carpooling as a result.

ABC's web site describes the show thusly:

"Four guys who carpool to work every day come to savor their commute as the only safe time to commiserate about jobs, families - and secrets. Even though "what happens in the carpool stays in the carpool," they'll go beyond the boundaries of this fast-moving commuter confessional to get involved in each other's lives and develop friendships."

At the recent Association for Commuter Transportation Conference in Seattle many of us got see a bunch of trailers as well as a sneak preview of the pilot for the show. The image that I remember most is that in all of the scenes showing the vehicle from afar you see our four carpoolers in the HOV lane whizzing by everybody else gridlocked in the regular lanes. I believe that kind of image can be a very powerful reinforcement of one of the major advantages of carpooling - being able to use the HOV lanes. Andy maybe people will see that carpooling can save money and be fun too.

Let's hope some people watch the show and as a result next time they are stuck in traffic resolve to start carpooling. And let's hope they realize that there are many fine services to help them find a carpool such as Commuter Connections ridematching service, GoLoco or NuRide.

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a biking/Metro commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.

Consider This for the Smart SmarTrip

As Metro is considering a price hike, maybe there's a better way to do it than what General Manager John Catoe is proposing. I was in Britain over the summer and learned about London's Oyster card for my trip. The Oyster card is Transport for London's farecard, similar to the SmarTrip card. Customers with an Oyster card are offered cheaper fares than for individuals with paper tickets. For example, a trip in Zone 1 of London (the downtown) costs £1.50 whereas a similar trip with a paper ticket costs £4. (The Oyster fare schedule is here .) This is a huge incentive for Londoners and those who travel in London to cease using paper tickets and get an Oyster card. Wikipedia notes, "By March 2007, over 10 million Oyster cards had been issued and more than 80% of all journeys on services run by Transport for London used the Oyster card." Second, pricing as noted is a way to discourage paper tickets. Third, from a political perspective, voters aren't burdened with higher rates, while non-frequent users, such as tourists and out-of-town businesspeople, are.

 

This may be a good concept for WMATA to follow. I know that WMATA has been attempting to move away from paper tickets, however, there hasn't been much incentive to do so with the SmarTrip card. Additionally, there is public discontent with the large fare hike Mr. Catoe is proposing, so maybe putting the price increase on non-frequent users without SmarTrip cards would be more politically feasible. I'm not proposing a difference in pricing as great as London's because I'm sure there is a better balance.

 

I've heard it said that Metro is "the peoples' transit system", referring to the large number of tourists from around the country that use the system. This may be true, but the system isn't Gray Line Tours and hasn't become successful because of tourists' use. Rather the system is successful from the ridership of daily customers and it would make sense then to reward them.

Paul DeMaio, BikeArlington

Velib' Video'

As noted in The Bike-sharing Blog,

"There's a great video about Velib' from New Zealand's TV3 titled 'Bikes hoped to lessen Paris traffic woes'. The video shows the bikes being used, a close-up of the locking mechanism, and the Paris transportation department's bike-sharing program manager, Celine Lepault, speaks about the program. Parisians are fortunate to have Celine running the municipal aspects of Velib'. Having met with Celine in June, she was excited to practice her English with me in a discussion about the yet-to-be-launch service. Soon, with all of the interviews she has been giving, she'll be speaking English better than me."

Paul DeMaio, BikeArlington

NYC to Get a Cycle Track

As reported in Streetsblog, New York City is to get its first "cycle track" on a segment of 9th Avenue in Manhattan. A cycle track is a physically separated bike lane that provides additional protection to cyclists by offering a buffer from motorized traffic. The cycle track will be a nice wide 10' lane to accommodate street sweeping and emergency vehicles. The buffer will be planted with trees and flowers.

Cycle tracks don't allow motor vehicles to mix with bike traffic in the track itself due to the separation, however, there will be a mixing of traffic in intersections. To create a safe environment for cyclists at intersections, motorists will have signalized left turn lane to prevent them from turning into cyclists as they proceed forward. The cycle track will be on the left side of the street and created from the removal of one travel lane. The parking lane is being maintained with the construction of the cycle track.

While new to the U.S., this concept is common in the bike-friendly cities of Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands.

Paul DeMaio, BikeArlington

More DC area Commuter Stories

The new Sunday column in the Washington Post on page B2, Commuter, today featured two real people and their actual commutes.  I could relate to the first one almost exactly.  He lives in Arlington near the East Falls Church Metro (I live in Arlington near the East Falls Church metro) and he works in Reston off Sunrise Valley Drive (I worked in a building about 100 yards from his for about 6-7 months in 2006).  Pretty much identical commutes.  He drives every day.  I drove 2-3 times total in the time I worked there.

As in my post from earlier this month about why people don't use transit more, it appears that this commuter has not been able to get good information.  He claims in the article that it would require 3 bus transfers to get from his house to his work.  Not true--there is an express bus from the West Falls Church metro that goes directly to his office.  It would take a bit longer than his drive (at least in the morning), but certainly a viable option if he's trying to avoid traffic coming home.  I'm not sure how he compiled the information about the bus, but clearly he was unable to find good information easily.

However, his better option yet is to bike.  The ride is virtually entirely on the W&OD trail.  From the article:
    "What would you rather be doing?
       'I'd rather spend time with my friends, go out into nature, do some biking.' "

Why not do both at the same time?  That was my way to and from work for the half-a-year I had the same commute.  Biking and out in nature.  I saw deer, fox, turtles, bats, groundhogs, birds, joggers, other bikers, and other flora and fauna.  Sounds like the perfect solution for him.  He's spending $50/week on gas (presumably not all just for his commute, though).  He could certainly save some of that by leaving the car at home.

The other commuter lives in Waldorf and works in DC.  I don't have any similar experiences to relate for him.

Perhaps most telling about why our traffic is so intractable was their replies to this question: "If you could change one thing about your commute, what would it be?"
Both of them replied that they wished everyone else would get off the road or use transit.  This seems like a common sentiment (see my most recent post). . . if all those other people would just quit driving, then it would be so much better for me.      Rokas Reipa
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Steve Offutt, Arlington resident and Director - Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE), Transportation Projects

We're #2. Do we do it to ourselves?

Today's Washington Post reported on the annual congestion rankings put out by the Texas Transportation Institute, and the DC area tied for 2nd with an average of 60 hours of congestion for peak period commuters.

What caught my eye, though was this tidbit:

"You feel helpless," an Arlington resident was quoted, who drives between Rosslyn and his job in downtown Washington.

Huh?  Helpless?!? He DRIVES from Rosslyn to his office on 15th St. NW!  I guess that's his prerogative (maybe), but then he has no right to whine about the traffic and claim that he's "helpless."  He could freaking WALK to his office in 45 minutes or less.  It's at most a 15-minute bike ride--maybe less.  He could squeeze on a metro train for 6-7 minutes from Rosslyn to McPherson Square.  He could also get a Metrobus to Farragut Square and walk a couple of blocks.

He complains, but he is also actually part of the problem.  Remember, when you are sitting in traffic, you ARE the traffic, too.  He's doing both himself and everyone else a disservice by not figuring out all his choices, which are many.

What more can we do?  Here's a guy with half a dozen options who still chooses to sit in traffic for a 3-mile commute.  No one's going to build a new bridge between Rosslyn and DC, nor add any more roads between the river and his office.  Widening I-66 won't make any difference to him.  The only thing that would improve his drive is if fewer people were driving.  But if he's unwilling to get out of his own car, how can he expect everyone else to stop driving, too?  He's his own enemy.
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Steve Offutt, Arlington resident and Director - Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE), Transportation Projects

Bikes and Road Capacity

About a month ago VDOT repaved a section of North Glebe Rd. in Arlington.  According to Charlie Denney, Arlington's bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, VDOT's guidelines require them to make accommodations for bicycles when doing work like this on state highways.  For this project that meant that they should restripe the road to allow for bike lanes--or at least narrow the inside lane and widen the outside lane to make more space for cars and bikes to share.

Charlie was in touch with VDOT on the day they were doing the lane painting to remind them of their own guidelines.  However, he was unsuccessful in getting them to make any bike-friendly changes to the standard lane widths--a missed opportunity.

According to Charlie, one VDOT official said that before they could make any changes to the plan there would have to be a new road capacity engineering study undertaken.  This is, of course, ridiculous, since there would be no actual changes to the lane configurations, intersections or anything--the paint on the road would be moved over a foot or two: no change in capacity.  When I hear things like that I often wonder if VDOT includes in their job postings the statement, "Common sense not required," or "Do not expect to be empowered to make intelligent decisions on your own."

Coincidentally, I ride my bike on that section of Glebe Road 2-3 times per week, and I have been paying attention to how the cars and I interact.  My experience is that by not narrowing the inside lane to make the outside lane wider, VDOT has actually REDUCED the capacity of the road.  Here's why: I have observed that cars in the outside lane do not feel comfortable passing me in the space provided, so they move over into the middle lane.  If there are cars traveling in that lane, then they need to slow and wait for an opening.  My presence makes the road effectively one lane (for cars) in my direction rather than two--decreasing the capacity.  If there were a bike lane, both the cars and the bike rider (me) would have a defined space to travel in, and both safety  and capacity would be improved.

So here's a case where the attitude that roads are for cars only has created a disservice for all road users--a lose-lose.
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Steve Offutt, Arlington resident and Director - Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions (AIRE), Transportation Projects

How to Build a Place for People, Not for Cars

NYC-based Streetsblog points readers to a good essay from noted Danish architect and urban planner, Jan Gehl of Gehl Architects. The essay, titled "How to build a place for people, not for cars", appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald and discusses efforts Sydney could take to reinvent itself as a more pedestrian-friendly and welcoming city. While the article is specific about Sydney's streets and downtown, Gehl's same comments apply to most North American cities. Some of his suggestions are:

- "ignoring the advice of generations of traffic engineers and car makers and oil companies in favour of the rights of citizens to clean air and a healthy life,
- give pedestrians priority [at traffic signals], instead of forcing them to push a button so that they can safely cross the street,
- [create] a civilised city [that] welcomes all, and provides access for baby strollers and wheelchairs; it lets vulnerable people feel safe. A city for children also provides delight and surprise in creative public space and art."

Blasphemous, eh? He's right though. If you visit modern-day Copenhagen, Denmark, you could see how his ideas have shaped the city, turning it from a once auto-dominated downtown into a thriving pedestrian wonderland. His and the Copenhagen government's efforts are chronicled in a book Gehl co-authored, titled New City Spaces, showing how and when they converted streets from auto-dominated to pedestrianized. And the same could happen in Arlington and around North America too. The only reason it wouldn't happen is if we say "it'll never happen here".

The essay is thought-provoking and might have you thinking differently by the end of the read.

Paul DeMaio, BikeArlington

photo credit: PuzzleHouse