CommuterPageBlog

150 Miles In A Dress And Heels

A colleague of mine, who happens to be a casual bike commuter and cycling enthusiast, sent me this CNN story about an unlikely hero.  An 84-year old woman has been riding New Jersey's MS City to Shore charity ride for the past 26 years, and does so in a dress and heels!

She is a symbol of hope for so many and has a great reason to ride, but let's not forget that you don't need a large scale charity event to get out on your bike.  Biking around the neighbor to run errands, commuting to work, or even just getting out and enjoying some fresh autumn air are all great reason to go for a ride.

 Tim Kelley is one of the newest members of the Arlington Transportation Partners team working on the Bike Arlington program. He enjoys cycling as a form of commuting and exercise, and is hooked on triathlons.

Warm Up for Trick or Treating with a WALKArlington Walkabout

 

WALKArlington invites you to celebrate Halloween in Arlington's wickedly walkable Westover neighborhood with a Halloween Day walking tour! Costumes optional!

 

Part of the day-long Reed School/Westover Branch Library Community Celebration,  WALKArlington's Westover Walkabout kicks off shortly after doors open at the new school/library facility on Halloween morning. Walkabout guides will share anecdotes (and maybe some ghost stories) about Westover’s unique history, community spirit, and walkable lifestyle at ten stops along the way. Don’t be afraid! The 90-minute Walkabout ends where it began, just in time for lunch at one of Westover’s fabulous restaurants and with plenty of Community Celebration and Halloween festivities still in store.

 

THE FACTS

WHAT:   WALKArlington's Westover Walkabout

 

WHEN:  Saturday, October 31, 2009, 10:30 a.m. -12 noon (RAIN OR SHINE)

Walkers are asked to arrive by 10:25 a.m.!

WHERE:  The Walkabout will begin and end at the Reed School/Westover Branch Library, 1644 N. McKinley Street at Washington Boulevard, Arlington.

Meet at the flagpole in the courtyard in front of the school/library.

 

Click here to see a map of the Westover Walkabout route.

 

WHO:   Open to the public. All ages.

 

FEE?  None; the Walkabout is free of charge. Registration is not required.

 

GETTING THERE:  Westover is accessible by Metro, bus, and bicycle. Click here for information on all your transit options

 

QUESTIONS:  Contact Lauren Hassel of WALKArlington at 703-228-0072 or lhassel@arlingtonva.us; or visit the Walkabout Calendar Listing.

 

WALKArlington thanks the Civic Associations of Westover Village, Highland Park-Overlee Knolls, and Tara-Leeway Heights and the Westover Village Shop Merchants for their help in putting together the Westover Walkabout! 
 

BOO!

Lauren Hassel

WALKArlington Outreach and Promotions Manager 

Building Bike Culture

Arlington is a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community as designated by the League of American Bicyclists. We're one of only two Silver (or higher) communities on the entire Eastern Seaboard. Arlington reached Silver status by building over 100 miles of trails and bike lanes over the years, placing over 500 bike racks, teaching child and adult bicycle safety classes, hosting Bike to Work Day and Bike DC, etc., and most importantly, YOU riding your bike. Silver is great and we're just one of 23 communities nationwide to have achieved this. But come on, we're Arlington - we can work to be Gold... and then Platinum.

The County has hosted a series of Building Arlington Bike Culture workshops over the past year to create connections both within the County amongst various departments to work more closely together and also with the private sector and community as bike culture must happen collectively to succeed. Bike culture happens when people ride their bikes. It becomes a bond of people from different walks of life who chose to ride their bike not just for recreation purposes, but for going to visit with friends and family, going shopping, going out. Bike culture is reaching for the bike lock key rather than the car key. A strong bike culture is reached when people of all ages and backgrounds are out on their bike.

At our third Building Arlington Bike Culture meeting yesterday, Dennis Leach, Director of Transportation for the County, spoke to a group interested in making Arlington even more bike-friendly. Leach highlighted that the County government working with the business community and residents will create a more bike-friendly community. Here he is.

by Paul DeMaio, MetroBike, LLC, a consultant to Arlington County Commuter Services.

BikeArlington's Lights For Bikes Giveaway

Fall is here, lower temperatures mean a jacket and gloves for the bike commute in the morning, and the sun is setting noticeably earlier and earlier each night. With the upcoming change in clocks that means evening commuters will have even less sunlight for the ride home.

On Monday, November 2nd BikeArlington will be handing out FREE light sets to anyone on their bike who doesn't have lights. The time and location are a secret because we want to keep you on your toes!  

So if you see the BikeArlington team out and about, stop by to get a light set and we'll even help you put them on!  And don't feel left out if you already have a set of lights, you can stop by to say "Hi" and register for chance to win a $100 Gift Card from Revolution Cycles.

A special thanks goes to Planet Bike for generously providing lights to BikeArlington at a discount. Click the logo to visit their website and check out their selection of useful cycling accessories.

Tim Kelley is one of the newest members of the Arlington Transportation Partners team working on the Bike Arlington program. He enjoys cycling as a form of commuting and exercise, and is hooked on triathlons.

Today's Bicycle-Friendly City Inspiration: Rush Hour in La Rochelle, France

Bicycle Rush Hour in La Rochelle, France from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.

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

Better Bike Parking Opportunity

Not long ago I took my "toodler" bike over to Falls Church to meet someone for lunch at Panera Bread.  It was overcast and threatening rain, so I didn't want to leave my bike out in the open.  There's a newly constructed parking garage, so I went in looking for the bike parking.  I didn't find any, but as I came out I saw the rack pictured to the left.

As you can see, although it has a nice little nook location, it is located under the open sky, so it was going to be rained on.  Putting car parking under the open sky is not a problem except for convertibles.  But all bikes are "convertibles," so we cyclists really appreciate having parking that is out of the elements if at all possible.

In this case, it is possible.  This is where I parked my bike instead, so it would be out of the rain.  I locked it to a pipe. This is in "dead space" that is too small or the wrong size or shape to be used for automobile parking.  All garages have dead space, and a lot of it could be used for bike parking.  This seems like a natural spot for placing some racks: it's inside--out of the elements, there's plenty of room, it's near the entrance, easy to find and well lit.
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Steve Offutt, Arlington resident and cyclist

 

Today's Bicycle-Friendly City Inspiration: La Rochelle, France

La Rochelle - Ville Cyclable/Cycling City from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.

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

Hope for DC's Transportation Future

Our good friends at the always thought-provoking Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space pointed us in the direction of this great story on D.C.'s Transportation Director Gabe Klein (Industry Insight: Gabe Klein, October 16, 2009 by Shaun) on the DC Mud (DCRealEsate.com) blog. In January we wrote about how pleased we were that Mayor Fenty had picked Mr. Klein (Torch Passed To New Generation ss Mayor Taps Former Zipcar Leader for Top DDOT Post, January 3, 2009) to direct the District's Transportation Department and this lengthy, wide-ranging interview shows that nine months into his tenure he's hitting his stride and starting to make changes towards a better more walk, bike and transit friendly transportation system. DC Mud talks with the DDOT Director about carsharing, bikesharing, parking, new development, street cars, TDM and much more. The new direction and energy at DDOT reminds us of the transformation that NYC Mayor Bloomberg's pick of Janette Sadik-Kahn as Transportation Commissioner (Why NYC is Taking the Lead in Taking Back Streets for Pedestrians and Bikes, September 26, 2009) is having in New York. A fun read for all that want to see the District's transportation system succeed.

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

Inspiration from Boulder on How the DC Region Can Become More Bike Friendly

Boulder Bike Story from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

The Boulder Bike Story - How any town can become bicycle friendly is a fantastic 13-minute video chronicling how Boulder, Colorado became one of only 3 U.S. cities to attain a Bicycle Friendly Community Platinum-level statusfrom the League of American Bicyclists. The city says it is committed to bicycling because it is gaining the benefits of less congestion, more jobs, healthier people, stronger real estate and cleaner air. How can you argue with that? Policy makers, planners, and advocates alike should watch this video. And then turn that into action here in our region. We can do better and Boulder provides some good inspiration.

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

Making the Bus Go Slower

I was recently in Las Vegas to attend the wedding of my niece.  The wedding location was about 10 blocks from my hotel, which I could have walked in about 20 minutes, but it was 100 degrees and I was wearing a suit.  So I took the bus.  Buses run along the strip every 7 minutes or so during most of the day, so there is never a long wait for one.

The buses had this excellent information screen inside that shows the current stop and the three upcoming ones.

However, my bus took f.o.r.e.v.e.r to actually go anywhere.  Partly this was due to heavy traffic, but more importantly it was due to the fact that most riders were visitors paying cash.  One-way fare is $3, so every passenger had to push three singles into the fare collection box, which was balky.  This took an aggravatingly long time.  We sat at one stop for three complete cycles of the traffic light to board the 10-12 passengers who were getting on at that stop.  Las Vegas Transit is even smart enough to not have stops at every block, only about every 1/4 mile.  I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if we had stopped at every block.

I can envisage two solutions to this problem, which really only matters for this bus route, called the Deuce, that services the Strip.  Since there are a limited number of stops, they could install machines at each shelter that dispenses a token or other payment form that would speed boarding.  People could buy the token while they wait for the bus.

Another solution would be to use some sort of honor system/proof of payment.  Similarly, riders would purchase their fares outside the bus, but then could board at any door without having to show anything.  Enforcement officers would occasionally check for proof of payment, and those without get fined.  Greater Greater Washington recently had a post on this idea. (Tongue in cheek alert - In Las Vegas perhaps we'll find more people attempting to evade the fare, given their gambler's instinct.)

Here in Washington the amount of time it takes to load the bus can also be long due to fare collection.  SmarTrip cards help, but a lot of passengers still pay cash.  Finding solutions that speed up boarding times can help improve the performance of buses and help bring more people onto transit.
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Steve Offutt, Arlington resident and uncle of new bride