CommuterPageBlog

How can we help future bike commuters?

As a dedicated bicycle commuter from 2002 to 2007, the findings of the 2011 ACCS BikeArlington study that the majority of bicycle commuters are male, white, affluent, and middle-aged are no surprise to me. I can confirm that the availability of workplace amenities is of prime importance in determining whether someone commutes to work by bicycle. In my case, it was a deciding factor in accepting the position. My employer provided a fully-equipped commuter shower and an indoor, secure bicycle rack. The office was two blocks from a bicycle lane. There were three regular commuters who used the shower, and 3-6 commuters who used the bicycle rack. Additionally, my employer did not provide free parking to employees, and the closest Metro station was a 25-minute walk away. Riding my bike to work just made the most sense, and my commute often turned out to be the best part of my day.

My bicycle-commute involved riding from Prince Georges County, MD to Alexandria, VA. Thanks to Washington, DC’s urban street grid, I had many route options through the city. I found that the most direct route was not the best bicycling route. I was able to cycle safely and comfortably on side streets even though bicycle lanes and paths did not exist in NE DC at the time (the Metropolitan Branch Trail has since been completed and would have been a welcome part of my commute). After crossing the river to VA, I was able to ride the Mount Vernon trail all the way to my office. My total commute was 14 miles each way.

One cold morning, as I was pedaling uphill, I heard a woman calling after me, “Biker, biker, please wait!” I turned to look, and saw her running down her front stairs in her bathrobe waving at me. I decided to stop and see what the fuss was about. As I walked my bike back towards her, she said, “Miss, I just wanted to tell you, I’ve seen you riding your bike past my house for a long time, every morning whether it’s cold or hot, and I just want to tell you that you have inspired me and my husband to get bikes and ride them!”

Wow. Awesome. That was easy.

The woman lived in NE DC about two blocks from my home. She was a 40-ish, heavy set African American woman; not the typical bicycle commuter. And yet, she and her husband were inspired to go out and purchase bicycles. She told me that she and her husband had already started riding their bikes around the neighborhood and that they were having so much fun, just like kids again.

The ACCS BikeArlington survey analyzes current bicycle commuters but more research is needed to identify who the next bicycle commuters could be and what they need in order to start on their journeys. I am sure there are more people like the woman I met. Who are they? Where do they live? Where do they work? What’s preventing them from riding bicycles to work? And how can we help them? As a bicycle commuter and city planner, these are some of the questions I like to ruminate about. 

Juliellen Sarver has been an avid bicyclist for decades. She lived in the DC region for six years, and currently resides in Richmond, VA. Although she works from her house, she still uses her bicycle for errands, meetings, and discovering the city.

Dangerous Bollards Being Removed from Arlington Trails

Arlington County has been removing some of the dangerous bollards and collars that riders have identified on the bollard map, which is here:

View Arlington Bollards in a larger map

Last week I noted that the two bollards on the connector from N. Van Buren St. to the Custis/W&OD, just east of Lee Highway and west of the East Falls Church Metro station, have been removed and new pavement has been smoothly added.  I updated the Bollard map to show this change.

If you have noted other bollards or collars (or other similar hazards) on Arlington's trails, please add them to the map.  Please also note any bollards that have now been removed, as I did.

Kudos to Arlington for using the information provided through this public forum to improve cycling for all of us.

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Steve Offutt is a member of the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee

Future of Transportation: Notes from a Workshop

 

Yesterday, I spent a lively afternoon with a diverse group investigating the Future of Transportation at a workshop hosted by GovLab of Deloitte in their Arlington, VA, offices. The conversation was similar to many others I have been part of in the transportation industry. But the discussion confirmed that the vision of Arlington County's Mobility Lab is on the right track. Here are the ideas discussed at the workshop that I found compelling:  

• Adam Greenfield of Urbanscale said that there is no such thing as a seamless transportation system. In fact, what we are trying to acheive is a system with "beautiful seams".
• Reducing waste, whether through Collaborative Consumption such as Avego's real time ridesharing community or through GM's EN-V, should be a focus in designing future systems.
• Improvements in connections and reliability through provision of real-time transportation information on multiple mode choices and advances in design of technology are of prime importance. While much can be done on the policy and funding levels to encourage innovation and advancement, there is no need to wait. All sectors, but especially the private sector, can start on this critical job today.
• Behavioral economics can help identify the reasons for mode choice by various types of travelers. This knowledge can help design a system that better serves travelers' needs, and help travelers make good mode choices for their trips. 

At the end of the day, the most popular "solution" for the future of transportation was the one that was simple - one based on a single philosophy, easy to explain and understand, flexible enough to serve all types of trips, and as reliable as possible in a world replete with technology and information.

Sonali Soneji, AICP, Research Manager, Arlington County Commuter Services (ACCS). Mobility Lab is an initiaitve of ACCS.

I-66 "Spot Improvement" now completed

I-66 looking westbound from Ohio St.

The project to widen I-66 westbound between Fairfax Drive and Sycamore Street is now completed.  This is one of several projects that VDOT calls "Spot Improvements."  In this case, the "spot" is about 1.5 miles long.  This is the first of these projects, and was begun in the summer of 2010. None of the others is currently underway nor scheduled for the immediate future.

The roadbed was widened and new drainage had to be designed and built. The VDOT web page says that the shoulder is designed to handle full traffic and thus could be used as a travel lane in emergencies.  The project did not affect the Custis Trail in any way nor any of the soundwalls or adjoining neighborhoods. In my post last year I expressed concern that the widened bridge over the Custis Trail where it passes under I-66 would make it darker and the lighting should be reassessed. My opinion is that the lighting is still essentially the same as before and that the project did not change the daylight on the trail much if at al.

I'm not sure why the shorter dotted lines are used to delineate the right lane.  Perhaps to indicate that the lane is not continuous, although I have not seen this treatment in other locations, even where lanes exist for short distances. 

According to this VDOT press release, the other two spot improvements are on hold in the engineering phase until after the completion of the I-66 Multi-Modal study.

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Steve Offutt, Arlington

Hybrid vehicle sales experience large increase in 2010

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) conducts a triennial survey of the Washington area vehicle fleet.  In November they released the third in this series (2005, 2008, 2011).

Among the findings from the survey, the results showed a significant increase in the number of hybrid cars sold in the DC area in 2010.  In fact, sales of hybrids doubled in 2010 from 2009 and were more than 30% higher than either 2008 or 2007, the previous highest years.

Sales of hybrids declined in 2009, as did sales of all cars, due to the recession.  The uptick in 2010 was quite large.  The 15,000 hybrids sold in the Washington area represent about 5.4% of all hybrids sold in the US, compared to the 1.8% of the total US population represented by the region.

===============================(photo by Paul Garland)

Steve Offutt, Arlington

Cars in Washington area getting older

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) conducts a triennial survey of the Washington area vehicle fleet.  In November they released the third in this series (2005, 2008, 2011).

Among the findings was data that showed the average age of vehicles in the DC area is going up; that is, cars are getting older.  Here are the average age of passenger vehicles (light-duty vehicles are regular cars while light-duty trucks are SUVs and pickup trucks):

  Year       Light-duty vehicles      Light-duty trucks

  2005            8.23 years                       7.06 years

  2008            8.51                                7.53

  2011            9.25                                8.55

The average age for cars has increased a full year since 2005 and the average age for SUVs has increased 1 1/2 years over the same time.  It is likely that the recession has had a strong influence on people's interest in and ability to purchase new cars, a likely factor in the increasing age of the fleet. 

The older fleet of cars has a negative impact on air quality, which is why MWCOG collects this information.  MWCOG is responsible for developing the plans for the DC Metro area to meet its air quality obligations under the Clean Air Act.  Knowing the age of the fleet allows them to more accurately model air emissions.

There are two ways the older fleet has a negative impact on air quality:

• New cars generally have better and newer emissions reduction technologies compared to older cars,
• As cars age they also tend to become somewhat less efficient, both for fuel efficiency and for their ability to reduce air pollutants.

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Steve Offutt, Arlington

 

These Books Were Made for Walking

It might not seem possible during this pre-holiday frenzy of shopping, party-hopping, and “non-stopping,” but in a couple of weeks, you might actually find yourself with a little down time. Whether you have a few days off to relax, extra time on the plane, train or in the boarding area en route to (or from) your holiday destination, or some inclement winter weather that limits your mobility, here are some good reads that will at least keep your mind and spirit moving.  Compiled by your friends at WalkArlington,  this list offers an array of titles that are guaranteed to inform, excite, educate and even inspire the “walker” in you.

 

The Tao of Travel
by Paul Theroux

According to a recent New York Times review, “Like a musty old attic, ‘The Tao of Travel’ is a book to be plundered and raided. Part gossip, part philosophy, it covers a lot of the angles on literary travel…As I read about the many writers who couldn’t live without walking, I found myself reflecting on how I now find a walk anywhere, even central London, more edifying and salutary than any exotic bus journey.”

 

The Most Beautiful Walk in the World
A Pedestrian in Paris
by John Baxter

From the Los Angeles Times:  "’The Most Beautiful Walk in the World’ is as close as a reader can get to the feel of a languid spring walk along Baron Haussmann's boulevards without actually being there. Baxter understands that the beauty of that great city[Paris] is the generosity, the bounty that allows all of her admirers to, as Colette once said, create their own little province — connecting a bakery to a park to a favorite shop to a literary anecdote. “

 

Walking Home: The Life and Lessons of a City Builder
by Ken Greenberg

2012 Planetizen Top 10 Books:  “’Walking Home’ is a personal, compelling and persuasive argument for more enlightened city-building.  Walking Home articulates the urgent need for change while providing his colleagues and interested laypersons alike practical and entertaining guidance for bringing it about.  Greenberg argues that, if we are to continue to live in large cities in an era of high energy costs and climate change, then we need to "reclaim the promise of the city" by making our cities places of diversity and adaptability, of density and vibrant public spaces, where nature and the city are integrated, and where we can leave our cars behind and walk among -- and get to know -- our neighbors.

 

Cities for People
by Jan Gehl

2011 Planetizen Top 10 Books:  “With a physician's understanding of humanity, Jan Gehl is able to examine planning questions of the last forty years with impressive clarity and focus. His ideals - rejection of ideology in favor of common sense, respect for people and scale - offer a panacea to many of the environmental and health crises faced in urban areas across the globe. ..There is a careful blend of analysis and case study throughout, providing a backdrop to Gehl's tenets of urban living.”

 

A Walk in the Woods
by Bill Bryson

From the publisher:  “Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes--and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings”.

Wanderlust: A History of Walking
by Rebecca Solnit

From the publisher: “Solnit focuses on the walkers whose everyday and extreme acts have shaped our culture, from philosophers to poets to mountaineers. She profiles some of the most significant walkers in history and fiction-from Wordsworth to Gary Snyder, from Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennet to Andre Breton's Nadja-finding a profound relationship between walking and thinking and walking and culture. Solnit argues for the necessity of preserving the time and space in which to walk in our ever more car-dependent and accelerated world.”

 

The Long Road Turns to Joy
by Thich Nhat Hanh & Robert Aitken

From the publisher:  “One of the few books focused completely on mindful walking and walking meditation.  ‘The Long Road Turns To Joy’ reminds us that we “walk not in order to arrive, but walk just for walking.”  This book will appeal to anyone who would like to get more out of walking, from long-time meditators to those who are just looking for a way to make their walk around the block more meaningful.”

To check out these and more walking-related reads, visit Arlington Public Libraries!
Happy Reading and Happy Walking from WalkArlington!  

 WalkArlington, an initiative of Arlington County Commuter Services within the Department of Environmental Services, gets "more people walking more of the time" by promoting the health, environmental, community-building, and commuting benefits of walking.

New Carlin Springs bridge design better for pedestrians and cyclists

Arlington County has chosen a design (pdf) for its upcoming rehabilitation of the Carlin Springs bridge over George Mason Drive.

 

View Larger Map

The current bridge has five-foot sidewalks and no accommodation for cyclists.  The new bridge will have 8-foot sidewalks and 5-foot bike lanes on both sides.  The rest of Carlin Springs Drive does not currently have bike lanes, but it is important to plan for the future by including them now.  Had the County not included better bike/ped accommodations, then those decisions would have been difficult to change for 30 or more years.

For more information about this project, click here.

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Steve Offutt is a member of the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee

 

Transit Near Me

Don’t know your transit choices near home or work? Do you use your smart phone or computer to browse through various websites? And after spending a good amount of time online, you get discouraged and say to yourself “forget it, I’ll just drive and pay extra for parking”. Sounds familiar? If yes, we have some great news for you. It’s called the Transit Near Me app . This application will show you all the transit options around your location or any other spot in the region. Since this is a beta release we would like you to share your comments and feedback with us. Browse through the features and share your comments with us either here or on our Facebook page.

We at Arlington Transportation Partners are always looking for ways to make transportation simple!

Pinky Advani is a Business Development Manager with Arlington Transportation Partners.

Your Help is Needed to Turn Rail~Volution DC 2011 Ideas into Action

Wait! Don’t turn the page yet on Rail~Volution DC 2011, a conference about transportation and urban planning. The conference is finished and has left town - it will be held in Los Angeles, CA in 2012. But the lessons and impacts from the conference are still reverberating in the region. 

Three concurrent Local Program sessions held on the last afternoon of the conference were well-attended and lively. Each session began with a panel discussion, followed by break-out discussions. These sessions gave local experts and professionals in the D.C. region a chance to ruminate over new ideas sparked during the conference and turn them into action items that could make a big difference to how local projects and issues played out. To everyone’s relief, there was hardly any kvetching as old sores were reexamined. And we are left with some great nuggets of wisdom and innovation. Check out the notes from these sessions (listed below) to see how you can play a role in the future of our region. 

Managing Change and Being Good Neighbors with Federal Properties in the DC Region ( Download FINAL Federal Local Program Session Notes)
This session addressed the coordination of policies and creation of partnerships between local and federal agencies. The session identified lessons learned from recent BRAC experiences in the DC region that can help manage the impacts of policy changes and direct resources appropriately for future federal actions. Challenges and successes from various federal properties around the region were also highlighted. New ways to integrate large secure campuses into existing communities in a way that helps revitalize neighborhoods and promote economic development were discussed.

Complete Communities – Creating and Achieving Livable DC Area Communities 
How do you create affordable communities at the neighborhood level? The elements of an affordable community include a range of housing and local business opportunities and necessary services (transit, grocery, healthcare, banking, etc.). Several D.C. area locations with excellent potential for affordable neighborhoods due to existing or planned rail transit stations were examined: Tysons Corner, VA (Metrorail); Purple Line communities; Manassas, VA (new commuter rail station); and East of the River, DC (existing Metrorail stations and planned DC Streetcar stops).

The Jobs-Housing Balance in Metro DC: A Region Undivided 
What if the Washington, DC region’s growth patterns were redirected to reduce lengthy commutes and driving time, increase access to jobs, and offer more mixed-income housing opportunities and great walkable neighborhoods? How can the DC region capitalize on its potential for transit-oriented development on its east side? How will the next generation of transit link jobs and housing throughout the region? This session examined these questions -- and possible answers – with local and national experts.

Sonali Soneji, AICP, Research Manager, Arlington County Commuter Services.