CommuterPageBlog

Do Your Part on World Car Free Day September 22

World Car-Free Day, September 22 might just be the perfect time to start your Car-Free Diet. If you've thought about changing your commute or trip habits, even every once in a while, this is an opportunity to try something new. And there's plenty of tools and resources to help you. What's World Car-Free Day? Says the World Car-Free Day website:

"One day every year, people from all over the globe gather together in the streets, intersections, and neighborhood blocks to remind the world that we don't have to accept living in a car-dominated society. As the climate heats up, this kind of event is the perfect way to take the heat off the planet, and put it on city planners and politicians to give priority to cycling, walking and public transport instead of to the automobile."

The Commuter Connections network, with funding from Virginia, Maryland and the District, is sponsoring events and tools to help. Visit the Car-Free Metro DC web site for more information and take the pledge to go car free on September 22. At the same time the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation is sponsoring Try Transit Week September 22-25. Visit their web site and take the pledge and you'll be eligible to win a whole year of FREE transit. Even GSA is offering it's employees a free trail use of one of the region's 14 telework centers this day.

In Arlington, we want World Car-Free Day to be a showcase for how our county might look, feel, and sound with fewer cars – 365 days a year. We've got a few events in Arlington to highlight World Car-Free Day and a few tools to help you get started on your Car-Free Diet:

• Free Ride on Arlington Transit. Ready to reap the rewards of a car-free lifestyle? Take the Car-Free Diet Challenge and you can download a coupon for a free ART ride. The coupon is good for a ride on any ART bus on September 22 only.
• Free Stuff. When you go to carfreediet.com, make sure you take the Car-Free Diet Challenge, share your Car-Free Diet Story and use the Car-Free Diet Calculator! Do one, and you’ll get a coupon for a free book – the special Arlington Edition of How to Live Well Without Owning a Car. Do two, and you’ll get a coupon for a free “I lost 2,000 lbs in one day” t-shirt as well!”
• Clarendon WalkAbout. We invite you to come out for a fun, family-friendly WalkAbout through the streets of Clarendon starting at 6:30 pm. It’s a great opportunity to see and learn about the historical sights, stores and natural beauty of this urban village up close and on foot!
• Confident City Cycling Class. Join the Washington Area Bicyclist Association on World Car-Free Day for this free cycling class at 2100 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 913 in Arlington. The class runs from 4 -6:30 pm with an optional one hour on-road riding practice to follow.

Get more information on World Car-Free Day:

• Live or Work in Arlington
• Washington, D.C. Region
• The World
• World Car-Free Day on Facebook
• World Car-Free Day in Arlington on Facebook

Check out these sites (above) frequently as more information about events, activities and more incentives will be posted as it becomes available. We want to make it easy for you to go Car Free (or car-lite) on September 22 and then hope you'll do it more often afterward, as a result.

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

Hi-Tech Hitchhiking In Our Future?

In a post from Andrew Sullivan's blog (The iHitch, August 16, 2008) we find an idea from New Zealand about what the future could hold for instant ridesharing (High-Tech Hitchhiking, August 15, 2008, by Phil Hart, The Oil Drum). The author asks: "Have you ever stood at the bus stop watching hundreds of cars go by and wondered just how many of those cars are headed to the same place you want to go? Wouldn't it be great if you could just stick out your thumb and get a quick ride rather than waiting 10 minutes for the old bus?"

He then goes on to paint a picture of the future where technology has the ability to bring back something that use to be socially acceptable - hitchhiking. What's needed? A mobile phone, a GPS unit and a means of paying the driver a small fee - all in one device. He calls the system "iHitch." He should trademark the term now! In this world every car is a mini-bus. Mr. Hart says that by using an eBay model of 'rating' drivers and riders problems could be weeded out.

The post received a lively discussion that still seems to be going on. One problem people foresee is a myriad of government rules and regulations from taxi and transit officials. Seems these bureaucratic nightmares don't just exist in this country.

The iHitch seems to take the instant ridematching concepts of GoLoco and Goose to another level by incorporating GPS. So what do you think? Is iHitch in our future?

I say anything that helps connect people so they can share the ride is a good thing and should be supported.

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

Another Traffic Study. Another Top Ten Congestion Ranking for the D.C. Area

From a story in this week's Washington Business Journal we learn of yet another study that ranks our region as one of the worst for traffic (D.C. One of Top Congested Areas in U.S. - Again, by Tierney Plumb, August 8, 2008). What we needed yet another study to tell us this?

This particular study was released earlier in the summer by Inrix out of Kirkland, Washington. They provide traffic information for your TomTom or Garmon and through MapQuest and other sources like Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network. So they sound like they know something about traffic. Based upon this experience, Inrix developed a 123-page study entitled the National Traffic Scorecard. Its jam-packed with information about the commuting experience of the 100 largest U.S. markets. And is it any surprise how high Washington ranks among the most congested regions?

Drive Time Congestion

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana CA
2. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island NY-NJ-PA
3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet IL-IN
4. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV
5. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX
6. San Francisco-Oakland-Freemont CA
7. Houston-Sugar land-Baytown TX
8. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy MA-NH
9. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellievue WA
10. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta GA

And it's not just at drive time as we're #4 in "Overall Congestion (all hours, all days)" too. Inrix says that:

"Traffic congestion across the U.S. increased nearly 2% in 2007 over 2006 and there appears to be no relief in sight in 2008. With many drivers paying over $4 a gallon at the pump and roads clogged with traffic congestion averaging 60 hours a week across the nation’s 100 worst bottlenecks, traffic continues to have a major impact on consumers, businesses and the American economy."

Take a look at the study. There's a lot here. Inrix provides facts about the best and worst commuting and drive times by day and hour and tells us where the worst bottlenecks are. The data paints a dismal picture and makes Virginia's failure at coming to grips with needed transportation funding seem all the worse and short-sighted.

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

WashPost Editorial Praises Telework

This morning's Washington Post Editorial (The Shortest Commute, August 9, 2008) about telework gives us a chance to chime in and provide some resources. The Post's Editorial Board says its good news that Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) announced an initiative to promote telework in his office and throughout the state government. It sets a good example for businesses to follow. Says the Post: "Teleworking isn't a cure-all for Virginia's transportation woes, but it's a low-cost way to reduce traffic and save gas."... and "there are also obvious environmental benefits."

We learn that 12 percent of Virginians telework at least once a week. With Washington's employment largely knowledge-based we should be able to do even better.

Here are some resources:

• Individuals should start here on our CommuterPage.com Telework page and then talk to their boss.
• Individuals can also go to Telework!VA's page for teleworkers.
• Companies located in Arlington can get information and assistance here at Arlington Transportation Partners. (Even if you're not in Arlington there's a lot of good information available to everyone.)
• Companies located in Virginia can also go to Telework!VA page for managers.
• There's some information at the regional Commuter Connections.
• And there's many links at our CommuterPage.com Telework Links and Resources page.

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

RSS Feeds Make It Easy. Can We Get Some Help Here?

A couple years back WMATA begin posting Metrorail Delays on its web site in an Alerts scroll bar. They conveniently also put these into RSS feeds so others could use the information. We used it to create Transit Alerts scrolls bars on most of the pages on CommuterPage.com and ArlingtonTransit.com that included the information for Metrorail along with service alerts for our ART buses - also available through RSS Feeds. We also use these Transit Alerts scrolls on TV screens in all of our Commuter Stores (and coming soon to selected bus stops).

So we were really excited when WMATA recently announced that they were making bus service alerts available on their web site. So if you go to their web site the bus alerts are alongside the rail information in the scroll bars. But what they didn't do was make this available in RSS feeds so that others can use it. We'd like to add it to our web sites and TVs. We'd like to make it easy for our customers.

Anybody know if WMATA will be doing this? We can't seem to find out.

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

I Come Into Work Happy. The Summer for Biking in Washington

"I come into work happy." says Ed Cabic who rides his vintage Mt. Shasta Capella bike 15 miles round trip from Alexandria to K Street. As a driver, Ed arrived at work every morning mad and stressed. Since he changed to biking says Ed "I went from hating my commute to having the commute be what I was looking forward to all day." And he lost 40 pounds too.

Ed's story is just one of the many delightful highlights from a wonderful story in the Washington Post's Style section this morning about this being the summer that Washington rediscovered biking (Cycling Back Around, by David Montgomery, August 2, 2008). Says the author: "This summer in Bicycle Washington, it's back to the future. Old bikes are back, new bikes look old. The riders, too, seem sketched from another age." Other tidbits:

• "Somewhere along the line, we made biking a hobby and a sport instead of a way to get around," says Alexandra Dickson (pictured here), an architect who commutes from Southwest Washington to her downtown office on a blue Breezer Villager that she calls Babe, after Babe the Blue Ox. "I'd like to see it get back to being a way of getting around."
• "What's happening is, the American conception of the bicycle-as-toy and the bicycle-as-sports-equipment is being infiltrated by the European notion of the bicycle-as-transportation and the Asian notion of the bicycle-as-cargo-hauler."
• The handlebars are set higher than the seats, so you sit upright and comfortable. What a concept. The reign of the purists is over, and all the accessories they forbade are permitted again. There are baskets in front and racks in back. There are chain guards so you don't get grease on your slacks, and skirt guards so you don't catch your dress. Kickstands are no longer a heresy punishable by sneering. Fenders are back, along with mudflaps, so you don't get a splatter trail up your back on rainy days. On some of the models, front and rear lights come installed."

It's just a wonderful story so please go read it. Everything old is new again in this summer when biking was rediscovered in Washington.

Some resources for bicycling as transportation to get you started:

• Car-Free Diet. Calculate the calories, money and CO2 you'll save by switching from driving to biking.
• BikeArlington
• Washington Area Bicyclist Association

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

Cosmoburb. Does That Come With a Twist?

In an Op-Ed (Diversity and the Changing Face of Suburbia, July 18) at Next American City they argue that for some American suburbs the old stereotypes don't apply anymore. They are characterized by diversity and a majority of households without children. They have essentially the same elements that make a place urban - they just arrange it a bit differently than traditional central cities. And "Cosmoburbs" is the term used to describe these places.

According to the book, Boomburbs: The Rise of America's Accidental Cities, the term is used to describe wealthy suburbs that are also divers and increasingly contain non-traditional households. Places like Lakewood, Colorado and Arlington, Virginia. From the article:

"Lakewood, Colorado is following a land-use planning model set by Arlington, Va., in the 1980s when it focused denser growth along the Washington Metro system’s Orange Line. Arlington in 1980, like Lakewood today, contained mostly post-World War II single-family housing in mostly homogeneous neighborhoods. But the Orange Line changed the city into a more diverse and vibrant place. Lakewood is poised to do the same over the next decade, as will other suburbs with new light-rail systems, such as Tempe, Ariz."

While the op-ed focuses on diversity as a drawing card for attracting a creative class of people to these prospering places, another element is there too. These places are also largely more dense and transit-oriented than traditional suburbs. All together these elements make for what the authors call the new economic hubs for an increasingly “brain"-oriented economy. And I bet they drink of lot of cosmos there too.

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

World Bikesharing Leader Paris Aims for Carsharing Lead Too

In a story out of the Associated Press this week (Paris Eyes Electric Car Sharing Plan, July 28, 2008, by Gaelle Faure) we learn that Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who brought the wildly successful 16,000 count, 200,000 member Velib' bikesharing service to his City, wants to bring carsharing to his City too. And he wants to start with 4,000 electric vehicles no less. Program start in 2009/10. We love this guy!

And the name? Autolib' of course. The service will be run by the City. The plan has it's critics who don't want to see any car use encouraged. But we know that studies show that carsharing actually cuts car use, increases the use of options like transit and encourages people to get rid of cars or forgo buying them altogether. That's exactly what program advocates want - to discourage Parisians who don't have vehicles from even thinking of buying one.

This is one mayor who knows how to fight traffic and pollution.

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

It's Official. Americans Are Ditching the Car and the Far-Flung Suburbs

A few stories converged in the last 24 hours that highlight the effects of the rising price of driving.

Yesterday, CNN said that according to a report released by the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), Americans drove 9.6 billion fewer miles in May compared with a year earlier (Americans Ditching the Car, July 28, 2008, CNN). The FHA says the drop was the largest ever for May, which usually sees an increase because of the start of the vacation season and the third-largest monthly drop in 66 years since data has been recorded. The local Examiner (Area Drivers Log Few Miles in May, Part of National Trend, July 29, by Taryn Luntz) and Dr. Gridlock (Driving Drops Again, July 28, 2008, WashingtonPost.com) also covered the news. Traffic Volume Trends reports.

And this morning USA Today says (Gas Prices Drive Push to Reinvent America's Suburbs, by Haya El Nasser, July 29, 2008) that the far-flung suburbs are coping with sharp drops in home prices when compared to urban centers and that this trend is causing a movement to rethink the way the nation develops as we prepare to absorb another 100 million people by 2040.

Until now, people were willing to drive increasingly far for a home they could afford. "Drive-till-you-qualify collapsed," David Goldberg President of Smart Growth America says. "It's done. It's not going to work as a housing strategy anymore."

One individual, Donna Nance (pictured here) bemoaned her 40-mile, one-way commute to work in downtown Phoenix. "Gas would now cost her $60 a week, a blow for a single mom who had moved here to get a house at a better price. She considered moving closer, at the risk of giving up her three-bedroom, single-family home and might have done it if Maricopa had not introduced Phoenix-bound commuter buses in April. Nance, 43, now drives 7 miles to the bus stop and enjoys the ride. Even if gas prices keep climbing, Nance says she has no reason to leave."

But even as individuals find ways to cope, USA Today says "the scent of change is in the air in Maricopa (35 miles outside of Phoenix), even in the way city officials talk. Words such as "bedroom community" have become dirty words. "Green," "sustainable," "walkable," "mass transit," "conservation," "open space" and "energy-efficient" punctuate the suburban dialogue."

Obviously we've got a long way to go until American's really ditch their cars, but at least people are looking at alternatives. Likewise ditching the far-flung suburbs might be a bit pre-mature but individuals and officials are beginning to rethink the old ways of developing, and that's a good thing.

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

Can Other Cities Have What Portland Has?

That's the question posed to Mia Birk, Portland's first Bike Coordinator by CBS Sunday Morning reporter Serena Altschul after spending some time there. Says Birk:

"I'll just challenge your viewers to think about substituting one trip a week that they normally take by car, try it on a bike," Birk said. "Try a short trip that's 2 miles or less." According to a recent federal study, that's 40% of all urban trips in America. "See how much easier it is than you think it is," Birk said. "Just try it."

The excellent 10-minute plus story spends some time with Portland's Mayor-elect Sam Adams, who is said to have "rode to victory on a bicycle platform." In the last ten years the number of trips made by bike in Portland is up 150% and is now six percent of all trip.

"And it makes me proud because, you know, imagine all the smog we're not producing with these bikes trips. Imagine all the health improvements" says the Mayor-elect.

Can any city catch up with Portland? Let's give it a try here!

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

Online Directions for Bikes, Peds and Transit Coming Soon?

A few articles/posts last week bring us information that with the high cost of gasoline, and more people looking for options to driving, that people are looking for 'how to get there from here' map information for walking, biking and transit just like they've been getting for driving for years.

On Yahoo a story out of Philadelphia (Bikers, Pedestrians Seeking Better Better Web Maps, July 25, 2008, by Patrick Walters, AP), which also appeared in this morning's Express, says that Google, MapQuest and others are experimenting and working with groups or cities to solve the technical issues with overlaying detailed information for biking and walking onto existing map systems. Apparently not always that easy. Walkers and bikers can go places cars can't and this complicates matters. Therefore mapmakers are more reliant on community knowledge than they've been with driving directions.

Over at the Google Maps 'Bike There' blog, whose mission is to prod the Google Maps team to work on adding bike directions, we find a Beta "Ride The City" (NYC) site that tries to help bicyclists get riding directions using Google maps data.

The Google Lat Long Blog says that beginning on July 22 Google Maps lets you tell it that you want walking directions (Pound the Pavement, July 22, 2008). This is a Beta version and I couldn't get either the Directions by Public Transit or Walking when I put in local information. But it is working in Seattle. Figures.

Google Transit is coming to more and more cities, but still isn't in our area. Despite strong interest by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, WMATA, and some local agencies it seems that the hold-up is the agreements between Google and these folks. Google wants to make it clear to the public that the information they supply is only as good as the data they get from the transit agencies. For some reason this gives the agencies pause. Meanwhile the traveling public waits. Come on guys lets get this going!

Bottom line, "The easier you make it for people...the more they're going to do it" says Joe Minott, Executive Director of Philly's Clean Air Council in reference to why these new maps are needed. I couldn't have said it better. Maybe in a couple years when you go to Google Maps or MapQuest, and you ask for directions, it will automatically ask you if you'd like walking, biking and transit directions as well as by car. Let's hope this day comes soon.

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

Gurgle. Drool. New Look for Metrobus

What's the sound Homer makes when he sees a doughnut? Well that's the sound transit fans will make when these hit the streets. Do we even need to say anything else? What a nice improvement. More pics, video and a description at WMATA's web site. 22 new CNG buses hit the streets next month. Yea Metrobus!

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

It's Not About Rising Fuel Costs. It's About Time.

So says noted urbanologist and creator of the term "creative class" Richard Florida from his new perch as Toronto University's Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute. In an article in the Globe and Mail (The Days of Urban Sprawl Are Over...But Not for the Reasons You Think, July 11, 2008) Florida says it isn't rising gas prices that are sealing the end of development in the suburban fringe and driving consumer interest in developing and redeveloping neighborhoods closer to the core but rather its time costs that really matter. Says Florida:

"With the constant pressure to be more efficient and to innovate, it makes little sense to waste countless collective hours commuting. So the most efficient and productive regions are the ones in which people are thinking and working – not sitting in traffic. And, according to detailed research by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman, commuting is among the least enjoyable, if not the single least enjoyable, of all human activities."

He goes on to say that in the world's major urban centers the trend is even more pronounced "as talented, ambitious people trade more space for shorter commutes." Hmmm...reminds of the Think Arlington campaign. Regardless, it makes sense that smart people don't want to waste all that time commuting and that places without the long commutes will continue to capture more and more of the creative class and prosper.

Enjoy the article. Mr. Florida is always an interesting read.

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

Time For Plan B for Northern Virginia Traffic. Invest More In TDM - Part 1

"It was bad enough for gridlocked Northern Virginia that leaders in Richmond failed this week to come up with a transportation funding plan, but there's even worse news: There's no Plan B. The result will be more congested roads, crowded trains and possibly an exodus of jobs from the region, officials said yesterday."

Thus began a story by the ever thoughtful Eric Weiss and Michael Laris in Saturday's Washington Post about the consequences for Northern Virginia on the failure of our elected officials to successfully deal with transportation funding issues (Hope for The Best, Expect The Worst, July 12). Weiss and Laris document the opportunities lost to partisan bickering for an infusion of needed dollars that would help Northern Virginia climb out of the second-worst traffic congestion in the nation. Local officials worry about Northern Virginia's competitiveness with other areas and cite companies moving away from Atlanta's traffic-clogged roads as a cautionary tale. But what really struck me about the story though was the statement that "there's no Plan B." True enough.

There doesn't seem to be any Plan B other than to hope for the political players to change next election and to try again next year. However, there are indeed things Northern Virginia could do more of to help alleviate traffic congestion, and help our environment at the same time, in the relatively short-term. It's called TDM (transportation (or travel) demand management). It's fairly inexpensive when compared to building additional supply (roads and transit) and it can be implemented much more quickly than capital intensive projects. Don't take my word for it. According to the Transportation Research Board:

"Many studies that have compared mobility and air quality strategies have concluded that demand management strategies are among the most cost-effective in that they can reduce a trip, mile of travel or ton of emissions for a relatively modest amount of money. Demand-side strategies may not be the primary solution to these problems, but if they are applied in the right situation, they can help address traffic and air pollution problems in modest, yet very affordable way.

So what is TDM? Managing demand encourages travelers to change their travel mode from driving alone to a shared ride, public transit, bike, walk or other alternatives like telework. It also encourages those who do drive to make informed choices of travel route, time and location. (Here's one local example of how you get people to do this). These strategies help us get the best we can out of our existing roads and transit infrastructure. Simple enough. So TDM could be our Plan B, right?

I think it is fair to say that if our region is going to maintain its quality of life and its competitiveness we need to invest more money in transportation infrastructure from transit to bike facilities to roads and more walkable streetscapes. Using TDM should always be part of the mix to get the most out of these facilities. But for the short-term, if there isn't the hundreds of millions we need and expected on the supply-side, shouldn't we be putting more money than we currently are, maybe tens of millions, into TDM as our Plan B? Surely we can come up with that relatively small amount.

Northern Virginia, the region and most places across the U.S. woefully underfund demand-side strategies. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it's the softer side of transportation, because it is less understood or newer. Other than in Arlington and parts of Montgomery County the staff and resources allocated to TDM across the region is a pittance compared to what is spent on the supply side of transportation. And Arlington and Montgomery - as good of models as they are - could be doing a whole lot more if they had the resources. It's time the politicians and transportation planners put some real money into the demand side. Doubling or even tripling the budgets of local and regional (Commuter Connections) TDM agencies annually would be equivalent to the cost of enhancing one traffic interchange. The results could help us better get through these tough times. It could be our Plan B.

In some near future posts I'll begin to explore some specific examples. In the meantime there are some resources below for folks that want to learn more.

Resources:

• Arlington County Commuter Services  (TDM done right)
• Montgomery County Commuter Services (Another great example of TDM done right)
• TDM Strategies from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute
• Mitigating Traffic Congestion. The Role of Demand-Side Strategies. By U.S. DOT & ACT
• Analyzing the Effectiveness of Commuter Benefits Programs - Transportation Research Board Report
• ACT - Association for Commuter Transportation - the TDM's industry's professional trade association
• UITP - International Association of Public Transport
• CUTR - Center for Urban Transportation Research
• ACCS TDM Research Center - local research into TDM
• This is Smart Growth, Chapter 6: Freedom to Choose How We Get Around. Published by the Smart Growth Network
• Vanquishing the Density Demon - Jim Bacon's great take on TDM

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

Commuter Noob

Fun new local Commuter blog called Commuter Noob. Check it out. Here's wishing Mike and his blog good luck. It's nice to see more and more local content on the subject. And I even think I learned what a noob or N00b is (urban dictionary and Wikipedia). How fun.

Enjoy!

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

Today Show: Frustrated With Gas Prices? Ditch the Ride!

So said the Today show on Friday as they featured our favorite author Chris Balish's book, "How To Live Well Without Owning a Car," as the answer to rising gas prices (Frustrated with gas prices? Ditch the ride., July 11, 2008, Today). We couldn't agree more. From an excerpt:

"How to Live Well without Owning a Car is a personal finance and lifestyle book. It is a simple program that can dramatically improve your finances, your quality of life, and your peace of mind."

We liked Chris' book so much that we worked with him and his publisher on a Special Arlington Edition of the book. Best of all you can get a FREE copy of this edition by taking the challenge at Arlington's Car-Free Diet. If you share your story with us we'll also throw in a FREE "I lost 2,000 in one day!" Car-Free Diet T-shirt too.

We're glad that the mainstream media is catching on to Mr. Balish's excellent book.

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

Quote of the Day: Tysons Corner is the Worst

"Tysons Corner is the worst, most notorious choke point for traffic in Northern Virginia. It is the epicenter of what has gone wrong."

U.S. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) addressing approximately 200 people at a transportation public meeting in Tysons Corner on July 3.

Bonus Quote:

"We are building roads, tunnels, sewage systems, and bridges. We are just not building them here in this county."

U.S. Congressman Jim Oberstar, (D-MN), Chair of the U.S. House Transportation Committee on agreeing that money going to Iraq's infrastructure development could be spent in the United States.

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

The Portland Affect: More Bicycling Is Coming

The mainstream media is catching on. Now can the D.C. area catch up to Portland? (If you have trouble viewing this video here, go to: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/25573628#25573628)

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

Quote of the Day: The Time Tax is the Time You Spend Stuck in Traffic

"The time tax is the time you spend stuck in traffic. And when you talk to people, they're stuck in traffic, they're not home with their kids, they can't get to work. What's more valuable, your time or your money? Well they're both valuable, but for some people, time is actually at that point worth more, so you've got to cut the time tax."

Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano in an interview on June 27, 2008 with Dan Goldstein at The American Prospect in answer to the following question:

Question: "Your transportation plan is built around a sales tax, and must be approved by voters at the ballot. But it seems that throughout the nation, with the exception of a few major cities, asking people to drive less and consider other modes of transportation has not worked very well. That's why we see this pandering from Senators Clinton and McCain on lifting the gas tax. Is mass transit a losing issue?"

Full Response:  "I would disagree. I would think, for example, that light rail to link Tucson to Phoenix to Flag, up the center spine of our state, particularly if there are spokes that go out into other transit, particularly in light of the ever-increasing cost of gasoline, makes a lot of sense from a commercial-traffic standpoint if not just a passenger-traffic standpoint. And again, well over half of these funds are going toward highways and roads. It's going to reduce what I call the time tax.  The time tax is the time you spend stuck in traffic. And when you talk to people, they're stuck in traffic, they're not home with their kids, they can't get to work. What's more valuable, your time or your money? Well they're both valuable, but for some people, time is actually at that point worth more, so you've got to cut the time tax."

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

Quote of the Day: We Cannot Drill Ourselves Out of this Situation

"We have to keep pace with demands for public transit, and give this country a reason to be proud of its high-speed trains, light-rail lines, and both rapid and conventional bus transit. We need to make more of our streets safe and convenient for walking and biking to work, school, shops and transit stops. We have to create incentives for developers to invest in our close-in suburbs and urban centers, to meet the huge demand for affordable homes in convenient locations. Americans are not dumb: We would much rather invest in well-located real estate than in gasoline.

We are tired of feeling like victims – whether of oil companies, poor planning, or a lack of vision. We are ready for innovative change, if only our leaders will follow us."

Parris N. Glendening
President of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute and Former Maryland Governor
July 7, 2008; Americans Demand More and Better Options, Planetizen

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

America's Most Fuel-Efficient Neighborhoods

Forbes.com which regularly brings us fun Top Ten Lists, brings us another one today (America's Most Fuel-Efficient Neighborhoods, by Matthew Swibel, July 7, 2008). Forbes tells us that according to the nonpartisan Center for Housing Policy, for every dollar working families save on housing, it spends nearly $2 on transportation. Their research shows that 15 of the 20 fastest growing U.S. counties are located 30 miles or more from the closest central business districts. Yikes.

We find that owning a home in a walkable neighborhood saves residents $300 to $400 a month on gas expenses alone. So Forbes asked the Center for Neighborhood Technology to help identify cheap rides in America's largest metropolitan areas as energy usage can vary widely within the same market. For example in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the average household in urban East Isles, drives 9,420 miles per year and spends $620 compared to 21,684 miles per year in exurban Rosemount, where monthly transportation costs top $1,000. In most metro areas, including our own, you can do the same.

So where are America's most fuel-efficient neighborhoods? Here's the Top Ten List:

America's Most Fuel Efficient Neighborhoods

Rank, Neighborhood, Monthly Transportation Cost
1. Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.)    $643
2. Koreatown (Los Angeles, CA)          $658
3. Logan Square (Chicago, IL)             $742
4. Arlington, VA (Washington, D.C.)   $747
5. The Mission (San Francisco, CA)      $746
6. Fishtown (Philadelphia, PA)             $674
7. Jamaica Plain (Boston, MA)             $728
8. Woodward Corridor (Detroit, MI)     $728
9. Greenville (Dallas, TX)                    $745
10. Montrose (Houston, TX)                $760

According to Forbes:

"You can't always rule out the suburbs. The central location of Arlington, Va., which doubles as a government-contracting hub and a D.C. bedroom community to Northern Virginia's high-tech firms and Washington's downtown section, makes monthly transit costs here cheaper than large sections of the nation's capital."

Hat tip to Jeff Price for forwarding the article. Fishtown and Arlington are pictured.

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

Quote of the Day: People Are Tired of Sitting in Traffic

" Solutions have escaped us because we can't imagine a Virginia in which businesses will leave because of traffic, or that the military could leave. But businesses can leave and the military will leave and yank its people if it can't move them around like they need to. And our universities won't prosper if people can't get to them...Imagine what Virginia will be like if businesses leave, if the military leaves and our children leave because the good jobs are gone.? Anything we can make up our minds to do, we can do. And we must solve this transportation problem."

Senator Yvonne B. Miller, Norfolk
Senate Finance Committee Debate on SB6009
June 26, 2008
Quote from the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance

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

44 Seconds on Fixing Our Roadways

From the Smart Growth America blog we find a nice 44-second video that illustrates how traffic congestion can be conquered. Says the video's creator Eric De Place of the Sightline Institute:

"It's difficult to illustrate the opportunities that are available now on our roads. We don't need big expensive building projects, just smarter systems that protect both our pocketbooks and our natural resources.

It's fairly easy to make the case analytically, but it often doesn't sink in. To find that intuitive hook, I was planning an interpretive modern dance about traffic congestion. But at the last minute, we were all saved from what would surely have been an uncomfortable experience. Instead, I give you Sightline's new 44 second video on fixing our roadways."

But we knew this already, no? The visuals work though.

Enjoy.

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

Hope for Change on Bikes as Transportation

From the Carfree USA Blog we learn that bicycle advocates are gaining respect with the federal government in a story from Congressional Quarterly's CQ Politics (Bicycle Campaign Gears Up for Campaign Cycle, By Colby Itkowitz, July 1, 2008). Two items seem to give bike proponents cause for optimism that bicycling will gain expanded federal funding in the future.

The first is Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's commitment to bicyclists. Says Executive Director of the Bikes Belong Coalition  Tim Blumenthal of a recent meeting Mr. Obama had with him and other bike advocacy groups:

“It was an important coming-out moment for the bike industry in terms of political sophistication,” said Blumenthal, the executive director of the Bikes Belong Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Boulder, Colo. “Never in my memory has a biking event with a presidential candidate happened.”

The presidential candidate told the group he doesn't usually make promises, but that they could count on his support. The second item for hope says Congressional Quarterly is:

“Next year, Congress is slated to write a new highway bill, which is already being touted as embodying the greatest overhaul of federal transportation policy since President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway Act into law half a century ago. Bicycling advocates are hoping to build on a significant set of wins in the current highway law, written in 2005 — including new initiatives to fund “complete streets,” the term for new road projects outfitted with dedicated bike lanes — and arguing to step up federal funding to encourage bike commuting.”

With the potential for change in Washington with this year's elections and the rewriting of the next federal transportation bill slated for next year, bicycle advocates are hoping that their time has come to be taken seriously as a transportation option. Bike fans will want to read the entire article. Enjoy!

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

Transportation for the 21st Century

We learn from the good folks at Smart Growth Online that Brookings has recently released a report that analyzes the current state of the U.S. transportation system, identifies weakness, and outlines crucial points of action to build a transportation policy that works on federal State and local levels. The report entitled A Bridge to Somewhere: Rethinking American Transportation for the 21st Century and available for free online is penned by famed urban planning expert Robert Puentes. From the executive summary:

"In the past, strategic investments in our nation's transportation infrastructure - the railroads in the 19th century, the interstates in the 20th - turbocharge growth and transformed the country. But more recently, America's transportation infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth and evolution of its economy. At the precise time when the nation desperately needs to prioritize its limited investments and resources, the federal transportation program has lost focus."

The always thoughtful Puentes argues that the 100 largest metropolitan areas are the economic engine of the country and that they need a strong, deliberate and strategic federal partner to help meet the nation's most critical transportation challenges. He documents the problems with current transportation policy, calls for reforms and offers a new federal approach to investing in transportation that will be sustainable and keep America competitive.

Good stuff for policy experts and transportation professionals to ponder, especially during an election year.

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

Transit Leadership from Maryland

Some good stuff from U.S. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland on public transportation Monday on the Grist (Maryland Senator Pushes for Better Transit, Efficiency, June 30, 2006):

Grist: You authored the transit portion of the Climate Security Act. Clearly this is a priority issue for you. What role do you think transit policy should play in climate legislation?

Sen. Cardin: A huge part. [The transit portion called for] $171 billion over the life of the bill. That's big money. That can make a major impact. It can make a huge difference in the capacity for transit programs. We are in desperate need of significant transit improvements. We've got to have the facilities and we don't today, and then we need the fare-box and economic policies that reward people for taking public transportation. Some try to say that it should be "self-sufficient" or have a certain percentage return through the fare-box. We don't do that on our roads, and public transportation is much better for so many reasons -- not just the environment or the quality of life. We should be providing much stronger incentives for people to use public transportation, but first you need to have the facilities.

I'm a big, big supporter of dramatic change in public transportation. It includes more than just the bus and rail systems in our urban areas. It includes a commuter rail and inner-city rail -- the whole gamut of services that get people out of their personal vehicles. I don't want people driving their personal vehicles the way they are today.

The entire article is worth a read. I'm glad we've got some transit leadership in the Senate from the local area.

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

Greening Your Organic Shopping

How can environmentally oriented folks who want to do their grocery shopping for local meat and produce make their green practice even greener? Well, the Sierra Club's Hey Mr. Green says you can take fewer trips, ride your bike or best of all carpool and make grocery shopping an event (Thinking Outside (and Inside) the Car, June 25, 2008). Good to see the coming together of green living and green transportation. Enjoy!

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

Get Behind It. Bike Box!

More on those cool bike boxes that have popped up in Portland, Oregon and NYC. Just another reason why Portland gets it. So when are these things going to start appearing in our area?

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