WABA releases mobile app for reporting crashes

On January 22 WABA released their first mobile app, The WABA Crash Help Kit for iPhone and Android which allows cyclists to enter pertinent information regarding a bike crash. See the WABA blog post about the app, the GGW post, and one from DCist (thanks to WashCycle for the references).

As you can see from the image on the right, the app contains 9 main sections: Report Accident, Modify Old Report, Personal Information, Emergency Information, Safety Tips, The Bike Laws (DC only), Emergency Light, Expense Tracker, and About WABA.

Here's a description from the iTunes WABA Crash Help Kit app page:

Description

Use the Washington Area Bicyclist Association mobile app to accurately record information at the scene of a bicycle crash and reference current Washington, D.C. bike laws.

1. Record important crash data using your phone's camera, voice recorder, and an in-app text notepad and drawing pad.
2. Automatically add your street location to crash reports using GPS.
3. Email crash reports to yourself and WABA, or provide a crash report to a victim as a witness.
4. Look up D.C.'s bicycling laws and common enforcement errors.
5. Call 911, a taxi or car service.
6. Store personal information, like ownership records for multiple bicycles.
7. Locate a nearby hospital, police station or bike shop.
8. Use an emergency flashlight.
9. Learn more about WABA.

The main section is Report Accident. You can enter Driver Information, Witness Information (2 witnesses), Injured Information, and Police Information. You can also enter the crash location using the phone's GPS. You can then enter Road Condition, Light Condition, and Weather Condition. You can enter Personal and Bicycle information, and record various media: photos, audio, notes, and drawings.

The bike laws currently only cover DC. WABA wants to include MD and VA laws but needs to get them into the proper format. According to Shane Farthing of WABA, "Adding VA and MD laws to the app would require a review of our existing web content for correctness and completeness, as well as substantial reworking to fit the app format." There's also the complication of dealing with laws in local jurisdictions. The next version of the Bike Laws section will likely only include VA and MD statewide laws.

Can you report a crash in Fairfax? Absolutely. According to Shane, "We want all the reports we can get regionwide." I've downloaded the app and hope that I don't ever have to use it. If I do, I'll be able to gather all the info needed to document the crash. Thanks to WABA for making this resource available.

WABA holiday party is tonight

Flyer by LA Johnson

WABA his holding their holiday party tonight. This is a good opportunity to meet WABA staff and Board members and find out more about the new staff positions:

This evening at 7 p.m. at Smith Commons, join WABA staff and bike-friendly fellows for a festive celebration (RSVP on Facebook here). There will be drink and appetizer specials, a raffle, and sweet seasonal tunes. Smith Commons is located at 1245 H St. NE, and you can park your bike (bring a u-lock!) in the neighboring parking lot.

There’s a $5 suggested donation for WABA members. If you’re not a member, become one for the year for the discounted price of $25. You can sign up here or register at the door.

Need a ride over to Smith Commons? The Assembly will be leading a group there, beginning at 6 p.m. at BicycleSpace at 1019 7th Street NW.

See you tonight!

New positions at WABA

WABA is creating three new positions and hiring two new staff. The new positions are Advocacy Coordinator, Outreach Coordinator, and Communications Coordinator. Current staff Greg Billing and Nelle Pierson will fill the Advocacy (Greg) and Outreach (Nelle) positions. Alex Baca was hired as the Communications Coordinator and a new Events Coordinator is being hired.

These changes are described in the article Reorganizing and Regrouping for a Regional Approach in the Winter Ride On newsletter. The newsletter is not yet available online:

I have presented and the Board of Directors has approved a restructuring 
of staff roles at WABA. To meet the need we have added staff capacity to have a full-time Advocacy Coordinator as well as a full-time Outreach Coordinator with responsibility for increasing our grassroots efforts outside the District. (Much of our outreach in the District is paid for through outreach/safety grants we have not been able to secure in Maryland or Virginia.) Greg Billing, who has played an advocacy support role and a communications role at WABA, will become our Advocacy Coordinator and will take the lead in facilitating a coordinated approach to regional advocacy, with the ultimate goal of using political pressure to get improvements from agencies like the National Park Service and the Commission of Fine Arts. Nelle Pierson, who many of you know as our Events Coordinator, will be overseeing our outreach activities and working to grow ridership and membership, as well as managing several of our targeted outreach campaigns in our newly created Outreach Coordinator position. I believe these roles better utilize the skills of Greg and Nellie and I am eager to see what they can deliver for WABA and the region.

To fill the gaps created by these promotions, WABA has hired a new Communications Coordinator and is currently interviewing for a new Events Coordinator. Our new Communications Coordinator will be Alex Baca—a longtime member and intelligent voice of cycling who some of you may have met at this year's 50 States Ride. You may also know her work from the Washington City Paper, where she was an Assistant Editor...

Without adapting we can continue to win the local battles but we would lack the capacity to bring the regional change that is needed. With this change and your support I believe we can win on both levels.

As a WABA board member I strongly supported this restructuring. I think it bodes well for Fairfax.

WABA's BikeFest

BikeFest will be held at Eastern Market from 8 p.m. to midnite on Friday. This is a chance to mingle with fellow cyclists, bid on silent auction items, check out the latest Bikebuild entries, and support WABA. Tickets are $45 for WABA members, $55 for non-members.

WABA is positively jazzed to present this year’s BikeFest and for your pleasure, we invite you to pedal back in time and relive the jazz age!

For one night only, we’re turning DC’s Eastern Market into a bicycling speakeasy, so spread the word. Whether you’re a WABA member or not, come on down! Flappers, bootleggers, every day Joes and Joans will find joy and friends of all sorts in an unhurried evening of jazz, drink, food, treats, and more as we celebrate our victories and raise some funds.

As you’re perusing (and pursuing) the silent auction items and splurging on raffle tickets, we will have some splendid hors d’oeuvres to snack on and a secret specialty drink to toss back. To complete the experience, your eyes and ears will be treated to the The Jolley Brothers and the Brian Settles Quartet… and some surprise entertainment.

Last year’s successful Bikebuild contest is back, and our competitors (Papillon Cycle, ThreePenny Bikes, and Silver Cycles) are more clever than ever. Builders are given two rules: keep it cheap and keep it creative. The winning silent steed wil be decided by vote, and each bike will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Papillon took the trophy home last year but we hear Silver Cycles and Three Penny are going to give 'em a run for their money. Stay tuned to our blog for updates on the building process.

WABA offers free bike commuting seminar to local bike shops

WABA recently held a bike commuting seminar at The Bike Rack, a bike shop in DC. It was an opportunity for customers to learn about bike commuting from WABA's Daniel Hoagland, who teaches these seminars on a regular basis. The event was a success and now WABA is offering to hold similar seminars at other local bike shops.

But one class isn’t enough…we want to extend this opportunity to other bike shops throughout the region. We want to give you the opportunity to bring your friends out so they can learn about bike commuting in a fun, easy way. So let your local bike shop know that you would be happy to see a class offered there. Let them know that they can get in touch with us to set it up.

Contact info for Bike Commuter Seminars:
Daniel Hoagland
202-518-0524 x200
daniel@waba.org

Mark Blacknell, new WABA President

FABB's Fionnuala Quinn with WABA's new President
Mark Blacknell at the Bloomsday Ride earlier this year

At the WABA Board meeting last night we elected a new slate of officers. Mark Blacknell, who is also chair of the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee, is the new WABA President. The other offices did not change. See the WABA Board page for details. I look forward to working with Mark on the WABA board and I want to thank past President Barbara Kleiforth for her service to the board.

For more info about Mark and his ideas about WABA's future, see Introducing Mark Blacknell, WABA's New President, on the WABA blog:

Hi, Mark Blacknell here. I’m a cyclist. And a driver. And a pedestrian. And WABA’s newest Board President.

Yesterday, my fellow WABA board members placed their confidence in me, electing me President along with re-electing Martin Moulton as Vice President, Paul d'Eustachio as Treasurer, and Randall Myers as Secretary. The board – and WABA as a whole – owe Barbara Klieforth a debt of gratitude for her years of dedicated service as President. Thankfully, she will be remaining on the board, and will continue to help guide WABA.

I feel very lucky to be taking this on right now. We’ve got a membership who actively support our mission. We maintain good relationships with most area governments. We certainly have a fantastic and effective staff. In short, we’re in good shape.

So what’s left to do? Plenty. Here’s my personal agenda:

• First and foremost – we need to keep pressing on the basics: infrastructure, enforcement, and education. The area has definitely seen some successes in recent years: infrastructure expansion in DC and Arlington, an explosion of interest in Capital Bikeshare beyond its original limits, and the introduction of an anti-assault bill for cyclists in DC. We can’t rest, though, as we’ve still got long way to go on infrastructure, uptake of cycling by new bikeshare users will require greatly expanded education efforts, and that anti-harassment bill? Is still sitting in committee. We can’t rest, even when it comes to the basics.
• I also look forward to supporting and expanding WABA’s efforts to reach out to communities that haven’t traditionally been a focus of bike advocacy. The development of our East of the Anacostia project has been thrilling to see, and I hope we can build the capacity for similar efforts with the “Invisible Cyclists” of our immigrant communities. The gender gap is something that should concern all cyclists, and I eagerly anticipate the next step in the process started at the Women’s Bicycling Forum. Shorter version: cycling is for everyone, and our advocacy should reflect that.
• Finally, I’ll be working to improve region-wide cooperation and communication among cycling advocates. WABA can’t – and doesn’t need – to be at the table for every cycling issue that comes up in the greater Washington area. We can, however, help connect and support local advocates in addressing their local issues. On the other side of that coin, I hope to engage my fast friends in MABRAland and my dirty friends at MORE to ensure that when big cycling issues are on the line, we can bring our full and joint voice to the discussion.

WABA blog post by Fionnuala Quinn: Small Fields, Hedgerows and U2 by Bicycle

As part of the WABA Women's Bicycling Forum, Fionnuala Quinn of FABB recently posted the article Small Fields, Hedgerows and U2 by Bicycle on the WABA blog. Fionnuala, recipient of WABA’s 2011 Advocacy Award and manager of the Women Cycling Project, will be a speaker at the forum which will be held on Monday, December 12 from 6-8pm at DC Public Library - West End Branch. You can register online.

From Fionnuala's article:

My mother recalls the great honor of being brought by her father on the donkey and cart into Boyle for her first new bicycle. She rode nine miles back on the bicycle that was purchased for the huge sum of ten pounds specifically so she could bypass the local national school and attend the better school further away.

A generation earlier, a bicycle had been similarly bought for her mother so that she too could have access to better schooling. Those Raleigh and Royal Enfield bicycles allowed them to travel the Roscommon roads widely, riding between the hedgerows and small fields that hadn’t changed for hundreds of years. My mother talks of happy times riding with her sisters and collecting other girls en route to school in Elphin five miles away. Before the bicycle, the women and girls of rural Ireland had never had this freedom of travel and the options that brought with it.

Read the rest of her article.

Regional Call to Action Published: Updated 11/11/11

Shane Farthing, Executive Director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, officially released the Regional Call to Action report yesterday at the Call to Action Summit. The report was based on the over 1,000 suggestions from 200 cyclists, gathered at local meetings hosted by WABA during the past month.

The primary message was that bicycling needs to be a viable, functional transportation choice for the 60% of area residents who are interested in cycling but concerned about the perceived dangers of bicycling. "They would ride if they felt safer on the roadways—if cars were slower and less frequent, and if there were more quiet streets with few cars and paths without any cars at all."

In order to create conditions for encouraging those interested but concerned cyclists, we all need to work toward this goal; advocates and bike advisory groups, local bike shops, recreational and competitive organizations, and WABA leading the way as the regional advocacy organization. WABA has paid staff who can help make this happen. FABB serves as WABA's volunteer advocates on the ground in Fairfax and we need everyone's help.

The best way to help in Fairfax is to get involved in planning for the future of bicycling in the county. The bicycle master plan is currently being developed by the county. Meetings are being held to gather cyclist input. This is the detailed information needed to develop a list of projects and activities that will help make bicycling a functional transportation choice in Fairfax. The next meeting is for the Mt. Vernon area on Thursday Nov. 176.

Other highlights from the Summit included a very good presentation by local attorney Bruce Deming, "Crashed! Your Legal Rights In A Bicycle Accident." Bruce covered what cyclists should do if they're involved in a crash. He stressed the importance of having a witness to the crash. Without that, it's going to be your word vs. that of the motorist. Find out if a ticket was issued to the motorist and if so, follow the case.

Be aware that anything you say about the crash and your actions can be used in court. Since Virginia, Maryland, and DC are all contributory negligence states, if you admit to any negligence, however minor, it can result in the case being dismissed if it is tried in court. If you need an attorney, look for someone with experience working with bicyclists. WABA maintains a list of bicycle attorneys.

Gina Arlotto, WABA Safe Routes to School Network Coordinator, discussed Tools for Planning Healthy Communities. She discussed the Safe Routes to School program and Health Impact Assessments (HIA) as possible tools. "HIA is used to evaluate objectively the potential health effects of a project or policy before it is built or implemented." Gina has been a tremendous asset in Fairfax, helping FABB and others as we work with Fairfax schools to encourage more kids to walk and bike to school. See the Fairfax SRTS Facebook page for more info.

One statement that summed up her discussion is that people should not only live in a place but they should be able to thrive. Bicycling allows people to get around in a healthy, low cost way. A good resource on the topic is Making Healthy Places: "There is a pressing need to create healthy places and to reduce the health threats inherent in places already built."

Former WABA Executive Director Eric Gilliland gave an overview of the first year of Capital Bikeshare. He is now General Manager, of Capital Bikeshare (CaBi). CaBi now has 19,000 annual and monthly members. Over 1,000,000 trips were taken in the first year. Most of those trips were less than 20 minutes in duration (there is no additional charge for trips under 30 minutes).

We asked Eric about the possibility of having CaBi in a suburban location like Reston. He said it depends on the situation such as the density of population, type of destinations, proximity to transit, etc. Charlie  Denney, Senior Associate of Alta Planning & Design, said that 20 stations with 200 bikes is a rough guess at the critical mass needed for a small system.

Professor Ralph Buehler and Masters Candidate Darren Buck, of Virginia Tech Alexandria Center presented interesting research on CaBi use and bicycling in the DC Metro area in general. Their research will be presented at the Transportation Research Board meeting in January. An interesting but not surprising finding of Darren's was that proximity to bike lanes has a significant impact on use of CaBi in an area. The results of an extensive survey of CaBi users will be available in December.

Professor Buehler gave preliminary results of his work on bike commuting in the Metro area. He noted that in DC, bike commuting comprises a much higher promotion of bike trips that in other places. He also showed that where there are more bike trips per person, the rate of bike fatalities is lower than where there are fewer bike trips per person, with Fairfax Co. having the highest fatality rate in the region.

WMATA panel

WMATA staff Nat Bottigheimer (Assistant General Manager), Patrick Schmitt (Parking Manager), Kristin Haldeman (Manager of Access Planning & Policy Analysis) discussed advances WMATA is making in providing better access to, and parking at WMATA facilities. WMATA expects to need 30,000-40,000 new parking spaces in the future at a cost of $20,000-25,000 per structured parking space. If some of those patrons rode bikes or walked, significant savings could be realized.

Forty five percent of those who park live within 3 miles. Currently 33% of their patrons walk to the station, 29% park, and 1% bike. One major change at WMATA is that bike parking, both lockers and racks, is now managed by the Parking office. As we noted earlier, a Bike & Ride facility is under construction at College Park Silver Spring and one is planned at Franconia-Springfield.

Local bike industry panel

The final panel consisted of local bike industry reps discussing the importance of bike advocacy to their business. They know that if more of those 60% interested but concerned cyclists were riding, they would sell more bikes and we'd live in a better place. It was mentioned that we need to get other businesses that support bicycling and healthy communities to get involved. When they are in the room, politicians listen. Without their help, it will be a much harder struggle making the DC Metro area a more bike-friendly place.

One added benefit of attending the conference was the spectacular view of Georgetown and DC from atop the Waterview Conference Center, including being able to watch the interactions of trail users and other traffic at the Custis Trail/Lynn St intersection.

Update: WABA has posted their summary of the Call to Action Summit and the final version of the Call to Action report.

WABA's Call to Action Summit on Thursday

It appears that it's not too late to register for WABA's Call to Action Summit to be held this Thursday from 8:30-4:30:

Regional Call to Action Summit Schedule

8:30 am – Gathering with light breakfast & coffee

9:30 am – Welcome

9:45 am – Tools for Planning Healthy Communities - Gina Arlotto (Safe Routes to School Network Coordinator, WABA)

10:15 am – Crashed! Your Legal Rights in A Bicycle Accident – Bruce Deming, Lawyer

11:00 am – Panel: Regional Bikesharing – Eric Gilliland (General Manager, Alta Bicycle Share, Inc.) Darren Buck (Masters candidate, Urban Affairs and Planning, School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech Alexandria Center), Ralph Buehler, PhD (Assistant Professor in Urban Affairs & Planning, Virginia Tech Alexandria Center)

12:00 pm – Lunch Break (1 1/2 hours)

You are responsible for your own lunch, so please plan accordingly. The Waterview Conference Center has a full-service and delicious cafeteria with options for all dietary needs.  The lunch break will be long enough for you to seek other options in the Rosslyn neighborhood.

1:30 pm – Panel: Planning Bicycle & Pedestrian Access to Metro – Nat Bottigheimer (Assistant General Manager, WMATA), Patrick Schmitt (Parking Manager, WMATA), Kristin Haldeman (Manager of Access Planning & Policy Analysis, WMATA)

2:30 pm – Panel: The Role of Bicycle Businesses in Advocacy – Jakob Wolf-Barnett (Chief Operating Officer, Revolutions Cycles), Philip Koopman (Owner, BicycleSPACE), Stephen Marks (Managing Partner, Bike the Sites), Debora Hardng (CEO, City Bikes), Anne Mader (Owner, The Bike Lane)

3:30 pm - WABA’s Presentation of the 2011 Regional Call to Action

4:30 pm – Summit Ends

Regional Call to Action Summit Location & Directions
Waterview Conference Center
1919 N Lynn St
Arlington, VA 22209

Google Map Link (create bicycle directions!) : http://bit.ly/tXSwds
Metro Accessible via the Rosslyn Station on the Blue & Orange Lines
Bike Accessible via the Mount Vernon Trail, Custis Trail & the Key Bridge
Indoor Bike Parking!

WABA Fairfax Meeting report

About 15 people attended the meeting last night hosted by WABA to discuss bicycling in Fairfax. WABA is preparing a Regional Call to Action that will be unveiled at the Call to Action Summit to be held on November 3.

Several good ideas emerged in the comments from the group. One common theme was the need for better education; of cyclists of all ages, motorists, and police. There are a lot of misconceptions about where cyclists should ride and how they should behave on the road. Residents have very few opportunities to get good bicycle safety education. It needs to be taught in the schools and the county could sponsor adult bike skills classes. Another way to spread this information is to include it in high school drivers ed courses, the VA drivers manual, and on DMV driver's license test.

As you would expect, most people stated that we need more bike facilities; bike lanes, wider outside lanes, well-maintained paved trails, and better bike parking. On four-lane roads Charlie Strunk, the county bike coordinator, said that VDOT has recently agreed to narrow the inside lane on some roads and increase the width of the outside lane, giving more room for bicyclists.

Fairfax should hold fun, community bike rides. We also discussed the possibility of holding a "civlovia" type event where a major road is closed to motorized traffic and bicyclists, pedestrians, runners, etc. can enjoy these public spaces for a change.

All of the ideas were recorded by WABA volunteers and will be used as input to the Regional Call to Action. Thanks to Greg Billing of WABA who facilitated the discussion, and to the other WABA volunteers.

More details about the November 3 Summit were released by WABA yesterday in their blog post Nov. 3rd Call to Action Summit’s Speakers:

• 9:45 am – Tools for Planning Healthy Communities - Gina Arlotto (WABA’s Safe Routes to School Network Coordinator)
• 10:15 am – Crashed! Your Legal Rights In A Bicycle Accident – Bruce Deming, Lawyer
• 11:00 am – Panel: Regional Bikesharing – Speakers TBA
• 12:00 pm – Lunch Break (1 1/2 hour)
• 1:30pm – Panel: Planning Bicycle & Pedestrian Access to Metro – Nat Bottigheimer (WMATA Assistant General Manager), Patrick Schmitt (WMATA Parking Manager), Kristin Haldeman (WMATA Manager of Access Planning & Policy Analysis), Justin Antos (WMATA Transportation Analyst)
• 2:30 – Panel: The Role of Bicycle Businesses in Advocacy – Jakob Wolf-Barnett (Chief Operating Officer, Revolutions Cycles), Erik Kugler (Owner, BicycleSPACE), Stephen Marks (Managing Partner, Bike the Sites), Debora Hardng (CEO, City Bikes), Anne Mader (Owner, The Bike Lane)
• 3:30 pm - WABA’s Presentation of Regional Call to Action

Bicycle meetings this week

Tonight WABA is holding a meeting to hear what Fairfax bicyclists think should be done to make the county more bike-friendly. The meeting will be held at Patrick Henry Library in Vienna from 6:30-8:30pm. Feedback from the meeting will be used for the Regional Call to Action that WABA will announce at the regional bike summit on November 3.

On Thursday, October 20 Fairfax County is holding a similar meeting. As part of the county bicycle planning process they are holding 8 regional meetings to gather input for the plan, which will be developed over the coming year. The Reston-Herndon area meeting will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m.,  Sunrise Valley Elementary School, 10824 Cross School Road, Reston, VA 20191. See our Reston Patch article Making Fairfax More Bicycle-Friendly.

County planners want to make Fairfax a more bicycle-friendly place. They want residents to have more choices for getting around rather than having to rely on cars for most of their trips. Using bicycles for short trips is a healthy transportation option and a proven way to relieve traffic congestion and reduce air pollution. It’s also an easy way to save money. The county is currently developing a bicycle master plan.

The plan is structured around several major areas of emphasis, often referred to as the 5 E’s: Engineering (bike lanes, trails, bike racks), Education (bike safety classes in school, adult bike ed, motorist education), Encouragement (events such as Bike to Work Day to encourage more people to ride), Enforcement (for motorists and bicyclists), and Evaluation & Planning (counting bicyclists, tracking planning goals and milestones).

 A major part of the planning process is to hear from local bicyclists about where they would like to ride and how their trips can be made more safe and convenient. Is there enough bike parking in the community? Is the parking the proper type, such as inverted U racks which are a standard in many communities? What are your top priorities for making biking better? I

f you’d like to help Fairfax become a more bike-friendly place, come out to Sunrise Valley Elementary School on Thursday evening and participate in the discussion. For more information about the planning process see the Bicycle Master Plan website.

Arlington Call to Action meeting report

Mark Blacknell, chairman of the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee, reported on the Arlington Call to Action meeting held last week: Getting Our Priorities Straight.

The meeting is one of several organized by WABA for the Regional Call to Action report, to be completed and released at the Call to Action Summit on November 3.

The Fairfax meeting is planned for Monday, October 17 from 6:30-8:30pm at Patrick Henry Library, 101 Maple Avenue East, Vienna, VA 22180, located about a block from the W&OD Trail. See our earlier post about the regional meetings and the summit.

Cyclists should be thinking about short, medium, and long term goals for making Fairfax more bike-friendly. If you can't attend the meeting fill out the one page PDF planning sheet and send it to advocacy@waba.org.

FABB's Fionnuala Quinn receives WABA Advocacy award

Fionnuala (right) at the Tysons plan tour

At last night's WABA Annual Member's Meeting Fionnuala Quinn, vice-chair of FABB, received WABA's Bicycle Advocacy Award for 2011. Congratulations Fionnuala! The award is well-deserved for all of the hard work she has done with FABB and as the primary author of the Guide for Reviewing Public Road Design and Bicycling Accommodations for Virginia Bicycling Advocates. Fionnuala also was a major force behind the Women Cycling Project.

The Guide has been well-received locally, regionally and nationally. Earlier this year FABB received the Alliance for Biking and Walking 2011 Alliance Advocacy Award for producing the Guide. Over 13,000 women responded to the Survey on Women Cycling for Transportation, part of the Women in Cycling Project, and several reports have been written based on the survey.

Fionnuala also gave the keynote address at last night's meeting in which she discussed the Guide and the Women Cycling Project. She stressed that "good design costs the same as bad design" so why not ensure that our roads are designed for all road users. She also discussed the importance of creating riding conditions so that more women feel comfortable using bicycles for transportation.

WABA Annual Meeting monday night

WABA members are encouraged to sign up for the WABA Annual meeting to be held on Monday evening starting at 6:30pm.

Join WABA staff and Board of Directors as we take time to reflect on our work in the past year and plan for the year ahead.

The evening will include elections for the Board of Directors, presentations by WABA staff, and awards for local advocates and volunteers. Light food and drinks will be served.

 As a member of WABA, you are welcome and encouraged to attend the annual meeting! To help us better prepare for the evening, please RSVP.

  What: WABA's 2011 Annual Meeting
  Where: Silver Spring Civic Building One Veterans Place,
               Silver Spring, MD 20910
  When: Monday, September 19th 6:30-8:30PM

Regional Call to Action Summit

Today WABA announced the Regional Call to Action Summit to be held on November 3rd, 2011 in Arlington, VA. The Fairfax pre-meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 17 from 6-8pm at Patrick Henry Library in Vienna, site of the monthly FABB meetings. Since there will not be pre-meetings in the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church or the towns of Vienna, Herndon, or Clifton, cyclists in those areas should plan to attend the Fairfax meeting:

Shape the next 5 years of bicycle advocacy in the Washington, DC region!

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is pleased to announce its Regional Call to Action Summit on November 3rd, 2011 in Arlington, VA. At the Call to Action Summit, WABA will be presenting a five-year plan of regional and local priorities for bicycling in the Washington Region. The summit will include presentations on the Metro's long-term bicycle and pedestrian plans, health planning and bicycles, a panel discussion on the economics of the bicycle industry and much more.

We want your input on the regional plan!

1) Please attend a Local Stakeholder's Meeting

We will be holding short, two hour meetings in the six local jurisdictions that WABA serves in order to gather your ideas and give you--the region's local bicyclists--a chance to provide input for the regional plan. We ask attendees to please download and complete the Pre-Meeting Planning Sheet prior to the meeting.

• 9/13 - Prince George's Co. - Greenbelt Library Aud., 6pm to 8pm


• 9/20 - Montgomery Co. - Kensington Park Comm. Library, 6pm to 8pm


• 9/27 - Arlington Co. - Shirlington Branch Library, 6:30pm to 8:30pm


• 10/4 - Alexandria Co. - Nannie J Lee Rec. Center, 6:30pm to 8:30pm


• 10/11 - District of Columbia - Benning Library, 6:00pm to 8:00pm



• 10/17 - Fairfax Co. - Patrick Henry Library, Vienna, VA, 6:30pm to 8:30pm - More Info & RSVP

2) Can't make the local meeting?

The one page PDF planning sheet gives a basic framework for providing input for the five year regional priority plan we are creating. Whether you are at your local meeting or not, WABA and your fellow bike advocates want to hear from you!

Please submit your input by emailing advocacy@waba.org by October 21st, 2011

Attend the Regional Call to Action Summit on November 3rd, 2011

Time: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Call to Action Summit Location
Waterview Conference Center
1919 N Lynn St
Arlington, VA 22209

Google Map Link (create bicycle directions!)
Metro Accessible via the Rosslyn Station on the Blue & Orange Lines. Bike Accessible via the Mount Vernon Trail, Custis Trail & the Key Bridge

More information and to RSVP for the November 3rd Call to Action Summit

We hope to see you at a local meeting or the Call to Action Summit on November 3rd.

Thank you!
Washington Area Bicyclist Association

Prince William and Loudoun Counties are also not included in the pre-meeting schedule and will likely not be included in the Summit. All the more reason for a VDOT NoVa District bicycle advisory committee which would help coordinate bicycle projects in the greater Northern Virginia region.

Update: The time for the Fairfax meeting was listed incorrectly earlier. The meeting is from 6:30-8:30pm

City Paper article on cycling in the District

Sometimes a Bike is Just a Bike: On the symbolism—and politics—of bicycling in D.C. is a good article in the City Paper on stereotypes that have developed about cyclists in the District; "So how did this most egalitarian mode of transportation come to signify for so many D.C. residents a very specific caricature: the rich, white, gentrifying newcomer?"

It's a long article but worth reading. There are good quotes form Greg Billing of WABA, Andy Clarke of LAB, and David Alpert of Greater Greater Washington. From David:

But the idea that bike lanes are the exclusive domain of the city’s younger, whiter class is too simple a story. Like any stereotype, it has holes when you examine it closely; head out onto Beach Drive when it’s closed to cars on the weekends, for instance, and you won’t come back thinking the only people who are serious about bikes in the District are white. David Alpert, editor of the blog Greater Greater Washington, suggests the brouhaha was propped up by media outlets looking for a quick way to frame last year’s mayor’s race. “I think to some extent it became an easy shorthand for people writing about race relations and about divisions in D.C.,” he says.

Here's Greg on work being done by WABA in Anacostia:

WABA, in partnership with DDOT, has begun education outreach east of the Anacostia River to teach riding, repair, and rules of the road. The organization will hold a total of nine clinics in an area that’s home to some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods—neighborhoods that could stand to benefit the most from access to and knowledge of a cheaper mode of transportation. The clinics regularly see about 30 people, and the series wraps up next Sunday.

“It’s been very successful,” says Billing. “Most of the responses we’ve gotten have been, ‘Wow, thank you so much; this is a blessing. We want to bike to school; we want to bike to work. I couldn’t afford to do this without you here.’ It’s just been incredible, the support we’ve received.” Many areas, especially east of the river, don’t have easy access to bike shops, and the clinics help make cycling seem more within reach. “Taking a step back a little bit, the fact that bike lanes became such a heated issue during the election meant that it’s an actual issue now,” Billing says. “Before, bikes used to be a very fringe discussion.”

and from Andy:

“We’ve got to that point in those cities where we want to be proactive about people cycling and that public space is more valuable than giving you a parking space for perpetuity. I think that’s good,” Clarke says. “It’s uncomfortable to go through it, but it’s part of the evolution and process that shows communities are serious about increasing cycling....It will be uncomfortable for a little while, but people will be look back on that and say, ‘What were we so worked up about? How can I get bike lanes on my street?’”

Bicycle Owner's Record

WABA has created a simple document that can be used for recording pertinent information about your bike. With the form you can enter the bicycle make, model, year, color, and most importantly, the serial number, all very useful information.

Recovering a stolen, lost or damaged bicycle without a complete record of the bicycle–including photos, serial number and purchase information–is very challenging. Police will need complete information to file a useful missing property report. The likelihood the police are able to recover your bicycle greatly increase with more information in the report.

Download the form.

Who speaks for cyclists?

FABB is one of several bike organizations included in a Vienna Patch article by Tim Fricker of bikes@vienna entitled Who Speaks For Cyclists?. Also included are the Vienna Bicycle Advisory Committee, WABA (FABB's parent organization), Virginia Bicycling Federation, and the League of American Bicyclists. FABB is a sponsored project of WABA and we encourage our supporters to become members of WABA and to donate directly to FABB.

Two days until BikeFest

Tomorrow is the last day to purchase tickets for Bikefest online. The event will be held in Crystal City this Saturday from 8pm to midnight:

The highlight of the evening will be a showcase of WABA's first-ever BikeBuild Contest. Three regional bike shops are going head to head to create custom bicycles with only 3 rules - builders can't spend over $250, may use recycled parts, and MUST be as creative as possible! This year's participants include Oasis Bike Works, City Bikes and Papillon Cycles. Guests will crown BikeFest's Best Builder of 2011 with a combination of their votes and a live auction, which means three lucky attendees will take home their very own handcrafted bikes.

There's lot's more planned for the evening, with "carnival-cycle games, a silent auction and raffle, sideshow performances, live music and dancing featuring DC's Second String Band and WABA's very own DJ Jennder, as well as bicycle art by Cranky Style, palm readings, photobooth and much more!" Why not support WABA and have some fun at Bikefest?

WABA's Bikefest is this Saturday

WABA's major fundraising event in the past was the Gala, a rather formal affair, usually held at an embassy in DC. This year WABA is holding BikeFest in place of the Gala. It should be a fun and more informal event, and it will be held in Northern Virginia, in Crystal City. We hope you will support WABA and have some fun this Saturday night from 8pm to midnight at BikeFest:

As a non-profit, WABA relies largely on community support for its funding. The fundraising event for 2011 follows a new model. With plenty of opportunities bike-related fun, games, and music, we are holding our BikeFest Celebration and Fundraiser on June 11, 2011 in Crystal City. As usual, car-free transportation to and from the event is encouraged, including transit, group rides, and combinations of bike-on-metro and trail riding. For more information,to purchase your tickets, or simply to contribute to WABA visit the BikeFest page.