CommuterPageBlog

May Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting on Monday

As I pointed out last month, Arlington's Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) meets on the first Monday of every month at 7:00 PM.  So the next one is Monday, May 3.  The meetings are open to any interested parties, so feel free to join us. 

The meeting will take place in one of the conference rooms on the first floor of the county building at 2100 Clarendon Blvd.  Just look for the conference room with all the bikes parked by it.

Hope to see you there!
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Steve Offutt is a cyclist and member of the BAC

(photo by M. V. Jantzen)

One more reason why VRE is a terrific transit provider

VRE has just published that they will be adding an additional morning Express train on the Fredericksburg line beginning July 19, 2010, departing Fredericksburg station at 5:05 AM.  This seems like a normal thing for a transit provider to do, add more service when the need arises.  It is the way that VRE came up with the solution for the additional train that was so impressive.

VRE's staff had came up with what they thought would be a good solution, adding a train that made a final stop at L'Enfant Plaza station, not Union Station (this was an operational issue due to the potential storage of the train during the mid-day).  After submitting their recommendation to their riders, it seemed that the riders felt the need to have the train travel all the way to Union Station, thus altering the original idea that the VRE staff had started with.  VRE's management studied the survey results, listened to their riders and made the necessary adjustments to satisfy the people that actually use their service.  The key word here is that VRE "listened" to their riders.  The original option would have worked as well, but the final decision was made after VRE listened to the people using their service.  What a nice idea, listen to your customers and provide a quality product.

Great Job VRE!!

Jay Freschi is the Project Manager for the Arlington County Commuter Services Bureau

It's Official--May 2010 is Bike Month in Arlington!

And we've got the signature on the document to prove it:

(Click the photo in enlarge)

And here is BikeArlington's very own Chris Eatough accepting the proclamation from the Chairman of the Arlington County Board, Jay Fisette, at the April 27th County Board meeting:

 
To view the action in glorious streaming video, click here. (Fast forward to 49:00 for the BikeArlington section)

BikeArlington is an initiative of Arlington County, Virginia to encourage and enable more people to go by bike more often. To stay up to date on biking in Arlington, follow BikeArlington on Twitter.

Using Google Bicycle Directions

 Last week I had a couple of opportunities to try out Google's bicycling directions to travel to places I had never gone before.  My experience with the directions was mostly positive, guiding me along routes that for the most part worked well.  The problem of poor trail signage (not Google's fault), however, could have caused a cyclist to become temporarily lost.  Here's the story.

I wanted to travel to a friend's house who lives just off Braddock Road in Springfield about one mile west of the Beltway.  I live in Arlington not far from Seven Corners.  I had never been to my friend's house before, so I asked Google to give me cycling directions there.  What I look for in the directions is how it overcomes the major obstacles, in this case, Route 50 and the Beltway were two major roads I had to cross.  Google did not have me cross Route 50 at the new pedestrian overpass at Seven Corners, which I think is a better option than what it showed me.  It did, however, have me cross the beltway at the pedestrian overpass that is north of Braddock Road about 1/2 mile, which is definitely the best option.  All in all, the directions were not bad.  A less experienced cyclist might have found some of the roads--particularly Braddock Road--a bit daunting to ride on.  However, the directions worked for getting me there.

My second trip was to travel from this same friend's house in Springfield to the Whole Foods in Vienna.  Unlike the first trip above, in which I was familiar with the first part of the route (and could adjust based on my knowledge), in this case I was completely dependent on the Google directions.  I had never ridden in this area before.

In this case, the directions proved to be excellent, with one exception.  The implementation of the directions presented some problems, but the actual route worked almost perfectly--taking me along mostly back streets and some trail connectors right to my destination.  The major obstacles in this case were Route 50 and I-66.  The crossing at Route 50 actually turned out to be better than expected, because there was a trail connector that Google Maps was unaware of that I noticed when I reached the intersection of Pickett Road and Arlington Blvd.  I-66 was crossed on Vaden Drive, a back street that crosses the Interstate with no interchange. 

The biggest problem presented by Google biking directions is that trail signage is typically so poor--or not designed the way street signage is--so it presents challenges for giving and following directions.  At every single intersection of two streets, there is a street sign.  It was simple to follow the directions: Turn right at XXYZ St. or left at ABBC St.  At each of these points, I was virtually 100% confident that I was following the directions as indicated.  However, each time I had to travel on a trail, I lost confidence, because the trails did not have signs like the streets.  On this trip, even the trails with signs had different names than what Google indicated them as.  The most disconcerting part was when I was traveling along a trail and would encounter an intersection or fork in the trail.  Google does its best, but without any signage, it just states "Turn left toward Vaden Dr." or the like.  If the cyclists doesn't know where the named street is, then there is no way of knowing what those directions mean.  Thankfully it was a sunny day, so I could at least tell what direction I was going and could correlate that with the line on my map.

Google biking directions is a good tool for cyclists.  If jurisdictions would now please put up signage that will help cyclists navigate those directions, it would make the tool work much better.

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Steve Offutt is a cyclist and can tell direction by the position of the sun.

CarFreeTodd Bike Commutes to Work!

As part of the Car-Free Diet Skeptics campaign, BikeArlington tagged along with Todd on one of his morning bike commutes. You can view the rest of the pictures on the Car-Free Diet Facebook page.

BikeArlington is an initiative of Arlington County, Virginia to encourage and enable more people to go by bike more often. To stay up to date on biking in Arlington, follow BikeArlington on Twitter.

 

Touch the Earth on April 25, Rain or Shine

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the Arlington Children And Nature Network (CANN), Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE), Potomac Overlook Regional Park, and WalkArlington invite kids of all ages to walk, bike or carpool to Arlington's Touch the Earth Celebration this Sunday, April 25 at Potomac Overlook Regional Park, 2845 Marcey Road in Arlington. The Celebration runs from 1:30-3:30 p.m. with plenty of opportunities to get outdoors and re-connect with nature. 

WalkArlington will offer visitors the chance to touch the earth with their feet on a kid-sized Walkabout of Potomac Overlook (mapa), led by Arlington School Board Chair Sally Baird. The customized mini-Walkabout will take kids and their families on a short, three-stop hike of one of the Park's main trails.

A variety of structured and unstructured kid-friendly outdoor activities are planned throughout the afternoon, from tours of the Potomac Overlook Nature Center and Energerium to interactive and interpretive activities led by staff naturalists and volunteers.

The event is free of charge and no registration is required.

Given the weather forecast for Sunday, keep in mind that the Touch the Earth Celebration will take place RAIN OR SHINE. Remember, there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, so break out your rain gear and join WalkArlington and the Children And Nature Network on Sunday as we touch the earth, mud, puddles and all!

(Whether or not you can make it to Potomac Overlook on Sunday, let us know if you support re-connecting children to nature, by clicking here to add your name to a growing list of more than 1,000 organizations, agencies, schools, businesses and individuals committed to getting kids outside. This is not a monetary commitment!)

Happy Earth Day!

Lauren Hassel,
WalkArlington Outreach and Promotions Manager

Revolution Cycles City Hub: Hub Spin Pictures

 

Revolution Cycles has added a gallery of photos to their Facebook page from the weekend's inaugural group ride through Crystal City.  Check out the pictures here.  They will be doing relaxed rides throughout the summer, and we'll be sure to let you know (via twitter) when they are coming up!

BikeArlington is an initiative of Arlington County, Virginia to encourage and enable more people to go by bike more often.  To stay up to date on biking in Arlington, follow BikeArlington on Twitter. 

The Car-Free Diet Challenge Begins April 22 for Ross & Todd

The two Car-Free Skeptics challengers will begin their 30-day car-free adventure on April 22. Challengers Ross and Todd met this week to get their bikes, SmarTrip cards and other "stuff" to help them during their car free days. They went to the Crystal City Commuter Store and met with a Commuter Specialist to learn more about their transit options and how to use a SmarTrip card. Then it was on to the Revolution Cycles City Hub Central to pick up their new bikes, courtesy of Revolution Cycles. Ross and Todd are getting ready to go car free for 30 days and you can follow their experiences online at carfreediet.com as they blog, Tweet and use Facebook and YouTube. Feel free to cheer them on and give them tips to make their 30 days without a car easy.

  Let the Skeptics Challenge begin!

  

   Ross and Todd go to the Commuter Store.

Ross and Todd meet Jay to get transit info, SmarTrip cards and backpacks.

  Todd and Ross with their new bikes from Revolution Cycles.

ART, ACCS make data available to developers

ART has published schedule and route data in Google's General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS), an open format used by Google to combine schedule and route data from transit agencies with geographic data for use in applications, like Google Transit. The data is freely available for use by application developers.

So does this mean ART routes will soon appear on Google Maps as part of Google Transit? Well... maybe. We've signed up to be placed on the waiting list for Google's Transit Partner Program. Google's website states:

"Due to overwhelming interest in the Transit Partner Program, we are currently experiencing a significant volume of partner requests. Although we are unable to accept new partners at this time, we encourage you to sign-up in order to be placed on the waiting list."

We don't know how long it might take to get to the top of the list. When we do, there's still a process to go through, which usually involves signing an agreement with Google. The terms of the agreement have been a sticking point for some transit agencies. 

Meanwhile, the data will be available to anyone who wants to use it.

Other tools for developers are available from Arlington County Commuter Services (ACCS). These are "web services," tools that allow developers access to data for Northern Virginia transit schedules and CommuterPage.com news. Developers can use this data to present schedule information or news on their websites or in new web or mobile applications. 

Links to these developer tools will be available on ART's new website, expected to be launched in a few weeks, in a new section "Rider Tools." Application developers who are anxious to get their hands on this data before then should contact me (email link below).

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Joe Chapline is Web Manager for Arlington County Commuter Services

Upcoming Group Bike Rides!

Now that the sun is setting later in the evening, many of the local bikes shops are starting up their after-work spring/summer group rides. These are great opportunities to get out and meet other cyclists in the area and get some fresh air and exercise while you're at it.

Two local Arlington Bikes Shops, Revolution Cycles and Conte's of Arlington are having events this month:

Revolution Cycles City Hub: HUB SPIN

Stacey Moses, one of the many great people over at Revolution Cycles, posted a thread on the BikeArlington Forum inviting bikers to come out to Crystal City on the evening of Saturday, April 17th to take part in a relaxed group ride and check out their brand new bike rental store, the City Hub. They are even having a raffle giveaway too!  If you haven't been, this is a great excuse to see the City Hub.  Visit the BikeArlington Forum for more information.

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Conte's Bike Shop: TUESDAY NIGHT RIDES

DATES: April 27, 2010 - September 14, 2010, every Tuesday night (unless cancelled for unexpected reasons)

TIME: 6:30pm - 7:30pm

WHERE: Mosaic Park behind Conte's of Arlington. Park is located at 544 N. Pollard Street, Arlington, VA.

WHO: EVERYONE! There will be an A, B, and C group - and ride leaders for each group. Regardless of your ability, experience, or bike, come ride! You must wear a helmet and you must obey the "rules of the road".

Parking is limited at Conte's of Arlington. Please park in one of the local neighborhoods and ride over the park (if further away). Do NOT park in the Gold's Gym parking lot - you will be towed at your own expense.

Conte's will be holding a few charity events around the rides throughout the summer, please check the website regularly for updates. To kick off the season, Conte's will be collecting slightly used cycling gear to be donated to cyclists racing in the Special Olympics. Please bring your gear to any of the rides in May (or the first ride on April 27).

Conte's Bike Shop: WOMEN'S ONLY RIDES!

Come out to Conte's of Arlington every third Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm for the LUNA Chix ride. The ride accommodates various levels (beginners to advanced). Beginners route follows the Custis and W&OD trails. Advanced routes will include established road routes in Arlington to include hill climbs. 

Bring your water and the LUNA Chix will provide nutrition LUNA Style! Rides will conclude with a short Q&A session. For more information on the Conte's rides, please visit their website.

BikeArlington is an initiative of Arlington County, Virginia to encourage and enable more people to go by bike more often.  To stay up to date on biking in Arlington, follow BikeArlington on Twitter.