CommuterPageBlog

NextBus Takes Away Mystery for Bus Riders

Metro Board Member Chris Zimmerman announces WMATA's introduction of NextBus on 1,500 buses and 12,000 bus stops. Will Nextbus entice more riders to the bus by taking away the mystery of when the next bus will arrive? Let's hope it provides for a better riding experience for existing customers and lures new ones too. Congrats to Metro.

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

Fun for the Day: Arlington The Rap - Living the Car-Free Diet

It's cute because it shows our rappers living Arlington's Car-Free Diet lifestyle.'s Enjoy.

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

Well Done Transit Pays Off. Can Alexandria Do It?

Two of our favorite local bloggers have articles worth a read. Matthew Yglesias at ThinkProgress.org says there's no way around the high cost of well-done mass transit (TOD Pays, June 3, 2009). He's says its expensive but worth it. Says Matt:

"In the DC area, we have a great example of the difference as the Orange Line goes out in Virginia. In distant Fairfax County they built Metro on the cheap, in the I-66 median, and wound up with what amount to park-and-ride venues for a commuter rail network. That’s a useful asset for the county, but it’s nothing compared to what they got in Arlington County where they buried Metro beneath Wilson Boulevard and built a series of relatively close-packed stations, creating an extended corridor of walkable neighborhoods."

Hey cites Greater Greater Washington blogger Dave Alpert saying: “Arlington’s Rosslyn-Ballston corridor covers only 7.6% of the county’s land area, but generated 33% of its tax revenue.” Thus worth the investment in many different ways.

Alpert informs us that Alexandria is considering alternatives for potential locations of a new Potomac Yard Metrorail station between National Airport and Braddock Road (Alexandria Weighing Metro Station Alternatives, June 3, 2009). The alternatives range from building the Station along the existing track where it would serve less people and generate less development to building more costly options that would actually move the track to the center of the new community where it would generate more development and serve more people. Alexandria made the mistake 30 years ago, like Fairfax County, of taking the path of least resistance for it's Metrorail stations. It will be interesting to see if they've got the political will to do the more costly but more worthwhile option of moving the tracks. Let's hope they do.

If Alexandria officials need some inspiration they need look no further than this video documentary about "Arlington's Smart Growth Journey."

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

Events Highlight Walkable Rosslyn, Shirlington

Two events later this week highlight two great walkable neighborhoods in Rosslyn and Shirlington. 

Rosslyn Walkabout

On Friday, June 5 at 6:00 pm the Rosslyn BID and WALKArlington join forces to host the newest Walkabout (there are now 16 in all) - a one-mile walking tour of Arlington's gateway community. This one-hour guided tour takes walkers above, below, and through Rosslyn, returning in time to kick off the second month of Rosslyn's free Outdoor Film Festival"I Love the 80s" with a screening of "Weird Science." County Board Member Jay Fisette and BID Executive Director Cecilia Cassidy will lead the tour.

Attractions highlighted along the ten-stop Walkabout route include the green space of Gateway Park, head-turning public art, some of the region's tallest buildings, the world's third steepest elevator, and other superlatives at street level! The Rosslyn Walkabout is open to the public (all ages) and will take place rain or shine!  If you'd like to join the Walkabout, come to Gateway Park, between the east- and west-bound lanes of Lee Highway at the intersection of North Moore Street, by 5:45 p.m. on Friday, June 5. Participants will gather by the fountain in the Park and will head out promptly at 6:00 p.m.

 Walking Tour: Life Beyond the Orange Line in Shirlington

On Saturday, June 6 at 10:00 am the Coalition for Smarter Growth is sponsoring a tour given by County Board Member Chris Zimmerman. The discussion for the tour will center on the question: Is it possible to create a walkable, mixed-use community without Metro? Shirlington leaders and Mr. Zimmerman say yes and will use the tour to prove it. The tour will showcase a walkable, mixed-use community with culture, recreation and retail galore in a community served by a state of the art bus transit center and not rail.

RSVP by June 5 at 4:00 pm by calling Lauren at the Coalition for Smarter Growth at 202-244-4408 x125 or lauren@smartergrowth.net.

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

New Bus Service Between Shirlington, Clarendon and Court House Begins June 8

At a time when other places are cutting back on transit service, Arlington is showing it's commitment to building a sustainable community by adding new bus service. Beginning Monday, June 8 the new ART 77 Shirlington-Lyon-Park-Court House line opens. Buses will run every 30 minutes, 6:00 am to 7:55 pm weekdays with key stops including the Shirlington Bus Station, Walter Reed Drive, Lyon Park, Clarendon and Court House. The service provides an important North-South or cross-County connection between the R-B Corridor and the emerging and exciting urban village of Shirlingtonand the neighborhoods in-between.

And on June 29, Shirlington will get enhanced service on the new ART87 Pentagon Metro-Army Navy Drive-Shirlington line. The ART 87 replaces ART 82 and Metrobus 22B with service six days a week.

Both of these routes will be served by brand new 35-ft. low-floor clean CNG vehicles (pictured here). Arlington Transit just took delivery of 12 of these beautiful European-styled buses and they'll also be used to replace some older buses on other routes.

If you live or work in Shirlington or just want to access some of the great restaurants, shops, theaters or new library, this is a good day. Now you can leave that car at home and go green with ART.

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

America's Fittest Cities: How You Get To Work Can Make a Difference; DC Area #1

From Forbes Magazine we find that the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area is America's fittest (America's Fittest Cities, May 26, 3009, by Rebecca Ruiz). According to Forbes the America's FIttest Cities List is sponsored by the WellPoint Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the health benefits company WellPoint. The index ranks 45 MSAs that include the city and surrounding suburban area on 30 indicators including parkland, death rate from cardiovascular disease, the number of primary care physicians per capita, health insurance coverage, smoking and diabetes rates and the percent of residents who bike or walk to work.

According to the American Fitness Index website, the Washington, D.C. region scores great on 24 of the 30 indicators compared to other cities including a "higher percent using public transportation to work" and a "higher percent bicycling and walking to work." While I realize that Washington would do good on this kind of scale because of it's great economy it is interesting to note that the AFI index takes how people get to work into account in its index and that of course our region scores well on these. It's also interesting to compare the top cities, where there is good public transit, versus the bottom of the list where driving seems to predominate.

There's certainly been an emerging consensus in recent scientific literature that correlates health and fitness with the use of public transit, biking and walking as a transportation mode. And this should be another incentive for people who drive alone to try something different for some of their trips. Want to find out yourself how many additional calories you can burn by switching drive alone trips to bike, walk or transit? Try the Calculator at CarFreeDiet.com.

America's Fittest Cities List

1. Washington, D.C.

2. Minneapolis-St. Paul

3. Denver

4. Boston

5. San Francisco

6. Seattle

7. Portland, OR

8. San Diego

9. Austin

10. Virginia Beach

...

19. Baltimore

...

41. Houston

42. Las Vegas

43. Birmingham

44. Detroit

45. Oklahoma City

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

Dinner With Family Made Possible By Slugging

According to our good friend David LeBlanc who runs the the wonderful, citizen-operated slug-lines.com web site, he gets emails like this all the time but this one stood out. I thought I'd share it here:

David:

Just a follow-up to let you know I started slugging on Tuesday and absolutely love it. I have met some really nice people. I can't believe I didn't switch to this mode of transportation sooner.

I now have a 25 minute commute instead of 60-90 minutes and I have much more time with my family. I actually ate dinner with them every night this week instead of a warmed up plate they left me in the oven. I will recommend this to everyone I know.

Thank you,
Melissa

Melissa had driven by a slug line and seen people holding up signs that said "610" or "17." She figured they were destinations but wasn't sure so wrote to David. He helped her out by pointing to more specific information on their web site and she tried it. Obviously from her follow-up email she's a convert. Her example shows how wonderfully the I-95/395 HOV lanes work and how how slugging is one way to utilize them. 

There are many different free carpool services that can match you up with others and many commuter buses also speed along the HOV lanes into Arlington and DC. Whichever option to driving alone, using the HOV lanes can give you more time with your family, and that's a good thing. 

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

Montreal Shows Bike-Sharing Can Go Big Time in North America

Montreal launched North America's most ambitious bikesharing project to-date on May 12. It's called Bixi. According to the New York Times (Montreal Inaugurates Continent's Most Ambitious Bike-Sharing Program, by Ian Austen, May 13, 2009) the $13 million project was inspired by Velibe in Paris, has 3,000 bikes and 300 closely-spaced stations. This dwarfs anything yet tried on this side of the pond.

The Times says there are a couple of big differences between this system and most of their European counterparts. That includes the City's decision to operate the system itself and to fund it with user fees rather than advertising. From the Times "André Lavallée, the municipal politician who championed the Bixi, said that the advertising opportunities are more limited in Montreal, while city ownership allowed greater coordination with the city’s bus and subway system."

Local International bike-sharing expert Paul DeMaio, also did a post on Bixi (Bixi - The First Large Scale BikeSharing Program In North America, May 11, 2009). Paul reports that you can join for $5 a day (great for tourists), $28 a month or $78 a year. Whichever plan you choose the first 30 minutes of your ride are always free. For sure you'll want to check out this video about Bixi that Paul found too. Montreal is one of my favorite cities and now I have another excuse to go back.

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

Biking In NYC Up 35%

According to the latest video on StreetFilms.org (Commuting with the Commissioner on NYC's Bike to Work Day, Elizabeth Press, May 15, 2009), bicycling in New York City has grown 35% between 2007 and 2008. They attribute much of the growth to the increase in bike lanes. This Bike To Work Day video from May 15 captures some happy bike commuters, including visionary NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadic-Kahn explaining the city's success. As always their videos are worth a view. 

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

Alternatives to 14th Street Bridge

With the upcoming rehabilitation of the 14th Street bridge, now is the time to start to think about options to using it during construction. DDOT has a handy web page (www.ddot.dc.gov/14thstreetbridge) that is full of information about the construction and traffic routing changes. You can even get Twitter alerts sent to you. What's important to know is that no work is occurring on the HOV bridge so carpools and commuter buses won't be inconvenienced. And the bike lanes will remain open too! Another important point is that DDOT will maintain four lanes of traffic into the city during the morning commute. Even so, with narrower lanes, no shoulders and changing traffic patterns, things could get congested.

What can you do if you drive in the regular lanes?

Well, now might be a good time to consider an option to driving and try it out. Visit www.CommuterPage.com and learn how you can share the ride, take Metrorail or Metrobus (many routes go directly downtown), VRE, or commuter buses, bike or even telework. If everyone driving over the bridge tried one of these option even just one day a week we could relieve a lot of the congestion that may occur. Need personal help with finding just the right option? Come to one of our Commuter Stores. Want to know how much money you'll save, how many calories you'll burn and how much less carbon you'll put into the air by using these options on one or five days a week? Then use the CarFreeDiet Calculator. And ask your employer for some help too. If your in Arlington there's help for your employer here, and if you work in DC or elsewhere go here.

If you have to drive through the City, consider using the Wilson Bridge or other alternate routes (PDF map) to get to your destination. Otherwise, keep your cool, relax and realize your drive may take a little longer. We still recommend trying a new option to driving. 

Links:
WTOP Radio story (audio, mp3)
"14th Street Bridge work delayed" from WTOP.com

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