Article on bike sharing in Reston

Bike sharing on horizon for Fairfax is the title of an article in the The Examiner about the possibility of bike sharing in Reston or Tysons. As we reported earlier, Fairfax applied for but didn't receive TIGER II funds for bike sharing. See our article in Reston Patch about the feasibility of bike sharing in Reston.

In the Examiner article Supervisor Hudgins discusses her interest in bike sharing:

"I am very interested in seeing it happen," said Fairfax County Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, a Democrat whose district includes Reston. "I think it's a possibility in the near future."

Officials say plans for bike sharing are still just being discussed and they aren't sure if a Reston pilot would be plugged into the Capital Bikeshare brand already popular in the District and Arlington. But they said they hope some form of bike system will be in place in time for the opening of Metro's Silver Line at Reston, slated for early 2014.

"The county definitely does want bike sharing," said county spokeswoman Beth Francis. "We don't have funding right now, but it's definitely in the plans."

Montgomery and Prince George's counties and Alexandria are already slated to join the Capital Bikeshare program.

Hudgins toured Arlington's bike facilities last summer. She said she wants to talk to Reston businesses and community members to figure out details such as where to put stations.

She said the county, like Arlington and the District, would search for a private partner for the bike system.

Recumbent riders in Fairfax City 4th of July parade

The NoVa Recumbent Club members and guests will be riding in the City of Fairfax Independence Day Parade on the 4th. The parade runs from 10-noon. See a map of the parade route through the city. If interested in riding contact recumbents@cox.net. We'll be getting our red recumbent tandem out of the stable for the ride tomorrow.

See the NoVa Recumbent Club Google group for more info.

Apartment renters want good bike parking

Photo: Washington Post Express

Riding ’Hoods: Apartment buildings find ways to appeal to those who ride on two wheels recently appeared in Washington Post Express:

In a crowded marketplace, apartment buildings in the D.C. area can stand out by offering bike amenities that complement the region’s improved bike lanes and trails and rapidly increasing ridership. The District — recently named the fourth-most-bike-friendly U.S. city by Bicycling Magazine, up nine spots in just one year — and Arlington County are both leading the way. Nearby areas including Fairfax County are learning from those examples and developing plans to become more bike friendly, too.

I'm quoted as agreeing with the statement that in the suburbs "You often have to drive your car somewhere to bike." While bike conditions aren't great in burbs, there are many bike-freindly streets and trails near where most people live. The first and last miles of many trips can be the worst because we don't have a connected network. Riding from home often does require riding on roads with no bike facilities, but unless the road is a major arterial, skilled cyclists can navigate most of these streets without too many problems.

I guess the main point is that it should be easier for everyone from 8 to 80 to be able ride from home to our destinations. That's the goal of the County Bicycle Master Plan. It will take political will to make it happen.

The transformation of Tysons from a car-dominated place to a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly place is mentioned in the article. There are major battles currently being fought to ensure that the excellent Tysons Plan is implemented. It won't be easy but with the transformation Tysons will be a better community, better able to compete with surrounding jurisdictions like Arlington and Alexandria.

FABB Happy Hour

Douglas addresses the crowd

Thanks to Ann and Douglas for organizing a very successful FABB Happy Hour at Coyote Grill in Fairfax City. We had a great crowd that include several folks from the Fairfax City area, a BikeArlington Forum group who rode in from Arlington, and several FABB regulars.

The seating on the patio worked out well although we could have used fewer chairs and a little more standing room. It was a good opportunity to meet some new area cyclists and find out about some bike local routes. We'll get a chance to check out some of those routes on Saturday at the FABB Social Ride.

Kerie and I rode from Reston. It took about an hour. Our route included the W&OD Trail to Vienna where we took some neighborhood streets to the end of Tapawingo Rd where a short trail connects to the Nottoway Park trail to Vaden Dr. We crossed over I-66, gloating just a little when we saw that traffic standing still in the westbound lanes.

The Arlington crew

We took a right on Saintsbury Dr, crossed Blake Lane to Five Oaks Rd to the end where there's another short connecting trail to Plantation Parkway which leads to Fairfax Blvd/50/29. Traffic was backed up so we took the wide sidewalk to the strip mall where we took a left at the light at University Dr and headed into Fairfax City and Coyote Grill.

We'll definitely be holding more Happy Hours in the future. Thanks to everyone who came and thanks again to Ann and Douglas for doing a great job organizing the event.

Bicycling cuts in new Transportation Bill

From a joint statement on the new transportation bill by America Bikes and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership:

The America Bikes coalition — representing the nation’s leading bicycling and walking groups — and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership oppose the new transportation bill, which would nationally cut funding for biking and walking projects by 60 to 70 percent.

We are deeply concerned that bicycling and walking programs suffer large and disproportionate cuts in funding in the new bill. Programs that save lives and dollars are eliminated.

The full extent of cuts to biking and walking funding will be determined at the state level and may be even deeper. We will continue to work in states and local communities to support safe, accessible streets.

The new transportation bill is a bad bill for biking and walking. This bill:

Cuts available biking and walking funds by 60 to 70 percent. Biking and walking programs are combined into a single program, Transportation Alternatives, with drastically reduced funding.

Eliminates dedicated Safe Routes to School funding. The bill eliminates dedicated funding for the massively popular and cost-effective Safe Routes to School program, which helps make walking and biking to school safer for millions of American schoolchildren.

Weakens local control. The new transportation bill allows states to opt-out of half of the funds potentially available for small-scale biking and walking projects. Whereas the bi-partisan Senate bill allowed local governments and planning entities to compete for 1% of transportation funds, the new bill allows states to opt-out of the local grant program completely.

Makes biking and walking compete with new, expensive eligibilities. Eligibilities such as road uses and environmental mitigation have been added to Transportation Alternatives, making it harder for local communities to compete for funding for local biking and walking projects.

This two-year bill represents a major step backwards in transportation policy for transportation choices and healthy physical activity. Despite this temporary setback in national policy, bicycling and walking will continue to grow and gain support, and Americans will continue to demand safer, more accessible streets and communities. Going forward, biking and walking will return to a central place in America’s transportation policies and programs.

DC.Streetsblog writes about the new Transportation Bill.

America Bikes posted an Analysis of the new Transportation Bill—Map-21.

FABB represented at Velo-City Conference

Velo-City Global 2012 "is the world’s premier international cycling planning conference. The four day event offers delegates from around the world a chance to share best practices for creating and sustaining cycling-friendly cities, where bicycles are valued as part of daily transport and recreation."

FABB's Fionnuala Quinn's paper entitled "How to Speak to Engineers: Creating a Guide for Bike Advocates" was selected by the conference organizers. The talk is based in part on her work producing the Guide for Reviewing Public Road Design and Bicycling Accommodations for Virginia Bicycling Advocates. Her talk was scheduled to be given yesterday, and we hope it went well. Once we have a copy of we'll post it here.

Transportation Bill Update

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy recently sent out an update on the discussions underway in Congress on the Transportation Bill which runs out June 30:

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Representative John Mica (R-Fla.) have been negotiating over the past week. Transportation Enhancements (TE) has been a top point of contention, with the House demanding that states be able to shift the money to roads and bridges instead of dedicating it to trails, bicycling, walking and other TE eligibilities. From our perspective, this is the central debate point in the conference. The relative silence regarding Safe Routes to School and the Recreational Trails Program also concerns us. Our assumption, based on previous House positioning, is that the former is endangered and the latter is safe.

Persistent rumors in Washington and Rep. Mica’s district office staff both indicate that the House has prevailed, to our detriment, on the issue of dedicating TE funds despite the fact that the House was not able to pass their bill that reflected this view (H.R. 7). Unsubstantiated intelligence suggests that the mechanisms to achieve this undermining of the integrity of TE may be to make it very easy for state DOTs to opt out of the program completely, transfer more money away from TE, and include expensive new eligibilities that are out of step with its purpose. Some of these same tactics were used in the Senate committee bill to maim TE, but the current negotiations may go even further.

Current talk of “roadside enhancements” also raises suspicions that current TE eligibilities that occur outside of the right-of-way of highways would not be eligible. H.R. 7 took this approach, eliminating rail-trails, railroad depots, historic preservation and other important TE categories.

Cyclists will likely be asked to contact their Congressional representatives to oppose cuts to the Transportation Enhancements program. Stay tuned.