Showing posts with label bikeshare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bikeshare. Show all posts
October 12, 2011
GGW Post on Alexandria Bikeshare
My post on GGW about Alexandria Bikeshare is now online. The maps I posted yesterday are in there, as is some details from last night's City Council meeting and discussion of the program. Just wish we could get the stations in sooner than Spring.
October 11, 2011
Alexandria joins Bikeshare
A quick word now before I wrote a longer post for Greater Greater Washington tomorrow: Alexandria City Council unanimously approved joining the Capital Bikeshare system. First 6 stations to be implemented sometime between spring and summer 2012.
Bikeshare proposal in Alexandria
The Alexandria City Council is expected to vote tonight on whether to join Capital Bikeshare. The docket item is now online.
The initial round of 6 Bikeshare stations (with 54 bikes) is to be funded via already-approved FY 2012 CMAQ funding, with operating expenses to be covered from the city's pot of Transportation Management Plan (TMP) funds. No city general funds will be used, and the docket is quick to make that point clear.
This graphic is from the City Council docket item for tonight's council meeting, showing the draft list of proposed stations. The white circles on the map are for the initial round of six bikeshare stations. Green circles are "To Be Implemenented By Others", likely developer-funded stations as there has been considerable interest among developers and property owners for including Bikeshare stations...as an example, the recently approved Harris Teeter development in North Old Town offered a Bikeshare stations as part of the new development. Black circles show future expansion locations. This is of note since Council approved FY 2013 CMAQ funding on September 27, including $400K for Bikeshare.
The street shading is from the city's map of Potential Bicycle Activity (page 6), from the city's Pedestrian and Bicycle Mobility Plan. It's basically their version of a "heat map" identifying potential areas of bicycle activity. It could also be used to identify potential locations for Bikeshare stations.
By comparison, here is my own idea on Bikeshare station placement, from June 2011:
Of note:
It's still too early to tell just how the City Council will vote on this. Two councilmembers are on record as in support, but indications are that the others are either lukewarm or disinterested. We'll find out tonight with the voting.
The initial round of 6 Bikeshare stations (with 54 bikes) is to be funded via already-approved FY 2012 CMAQ funding, with operating expenses to be covered from the city's pot of Transportation Management Plan (TMP) funds. No city general funds will be used, and the docket is quick to make that point clear.
This graphic is from the City Council docket item for tonight's council meeting, showing the draft list of proposed stations. The white circles on the map are for the initial round of six bikeshare stations. Green circles are "To Be Implemenented By Others", likely developer-funded stations as there has been considerable interest among developers and property owners for including Bikeshare stations...as an example, the recently approved Harris Teeter development in North Old Town offered a Bikeshare stations as part of the new development. Black circles show future expansion locations. This is of note since Council approved FY 2013 CMAQ funding on September 27, including $400K for Bikeshare.
The street shading is from the city's map of Potential Bicycle Activity (page 6), from the city's Pedestrian and Bicycle Mobility Plan. It's basically their version of a "heat map" identifying potential areas of bicycle activity. It could also be used to identify potential locations for Bikeshare stations.
By comparison, here is my own idea on Bikeshare station placement, from June 2011:
Of note:
Not much difference between the city's proposed initial round and my own. We both put stations at the King St and Braddock Rd Metro stations, but while I put the rest of the stations along King St, the city puts one in at Pitt and Pendleton. The city's draft map only focuses on Old Town and Carlyle, though they have announced interest in future expansion into Rosemont, Del Ray, Arlandria, and possibly even into the West End. Meanwhile, I include stations along Mt. Vernon Ave and in Potomac Yard in my proposal. The city includes 6 stations "to be implemented by others", likely via development proffers. My map only has one since I was only aware of that one at the time I created it. Four of my station locations are at/near these proffers.
It's still too early to tell just how the City Council will vote on this. Two councilmembers are on record as in support, but indications are that the others are either lukewarm or disinterested. We'll find out tonight with the voting.
August 31, 2011
September meetings of note
Some meetings coming up in September that are of interest to Alexandria transportation advocates:
- The Transportation Commission meets the evening of the 7th at City Hall (usually starting at 7:30pm). On the agenda will be discussion of transit Corridor C, the Beauregard/Van Dorn corridor, and the recommendations made by the High Capacity Transit Corridor Work Group. This meeting will be considered the Transportation Commission's public hearing on the subject, and city residents are invited to speak on the corridor.
- On Thursday, September 15th, the High Capacity Transit Corridor Work Group will hold its next meeting, discussing Corridor A (Route 1/Potomac Yard). This meeting will be 7pm in the multi-purpose room of the Charles Houston Recreation Center at the corner of Patrick St and Wythe St.
- Following up on the Transportation Commission meeting, City Council will be holding their own public hearing on the Beauregard/Van Dorn Corridor on Saturday, the 17th, at 9:30am.
- Later in the month, City Council will be discussing bikesharing and the possibility of bringing Capital Bikeshare into the city at their meeting on September 27th.
Lastly, if anyone is interesting in helping the Alexandria BPAC take bicycle/pedestrian counts as part of the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project, our next count dates are September 15th (5-7pm) and September 17th (noon-2pm). Please contact Dan McNulty at dmcnul91@gmail.com for more information.
- The Transportation Commission meets the evening of the 7th at City Hall (usually starting at 7:30pm). On the agenda will be discussion of transit Corridor C, the Beauregard/Van Dorn corridor, and the recommendations made by the High Capacity Transit Corridor Work Group. This meeting will be considered the Transportation Commission's public hearing on the subject, and city residents are invited to speak on the corridor.
- On Thursday, September 15th, the High Capacity Transit Corridor Work Group will hold its next meeting, discussing Corridor A (Route 1/Potomac Yard). This meeting will be 7pm in the multi-purpose room of the Charles Houston Recreation Center at the corner of Patrick St and Wythe St.
- Following up on the Transportation Commission meeting, City Council will be holding their own public hearing on the Beauregard/Van Dorn Corridor on Saturday, the 17th, at 9:30am.
- Later in the month, City Council will be discussing bikesharing and the possibility of bringing Capital Bikeshare into the city at their meeting on September 27th.
Lastly, if anyone is interesting in helping the Alexandria BPAC take bicycle/pedestrian counts as part of the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project, our next count dates are September 15th (5-7pm) and September 17th (noon-2pm). Please contact Dan McNulty at dmcnul91@gmail.com for more information.
July 18, 2011
Froggie's First Bikeshare
(Flickr photo from DDOT)
Yesterday, I finally broke down and took my first Capital Bikeshare trip. I'd purchased a membership through the LivingSocial deal this past April, but I have yet to activate it. Part of my delay is that I just haven't had situations where CaBi would have been useful...pretty much every time I'm in the District, I'm either in my car, on Metro, or using my own bike, and then using my own two feet to get in between if needed. But yesterday, an opportunity presented itself for me to test out CaBi, both to see if my membership would be worthwhile, and also since Nice Ride MN uses the same Bixi bikes in Minneapolis.
I did one round-trip, from 5th and K NW up to 10th and U NW, then vice versa after a late lunch. Using the kiosk to obtain the bike was pretty straightforward. I followed the touchscreen, swiped my credit card, got my unlock code, and printed my receipts. The only problem or potential problem I saw would be if someone tried to read all 101 pages of the user agreement on the touchscreen. Perhaps there's a better way somehow for CaBi to provide the user agreement, or at least the main points, without trying to flip through that many pages on a small screen.
Riding the bike wasn't difficult and was fairly easy to get peddling. The brakes felt soft, but still worked as needed. Though I had the seat at the right height, I felt like I was leaning way forward during most of the ride...not sure if raising or lowering the seat further would have solved that. Docking the bike at the destination was easier than I had been led to believe.
The gear shift was probably my biggest hang-up on the trip. On at least 3 occasions, I was instinctively pushing the shift forward to shift into 3rd gear, but this shifted the bike back into 1st gear instead. Having only 3 gears was slightly disappointing as well. I tend to bike fairly fast and, especially on the return trip, there were places where having higher gears available would have come in handy.
The return trip was simpler than the initial trip. Because I was already in the system, I only had to swipe my credit card and get my unlock code. I also got lucky in that, while the 5th and K station was pretty full, there were still 2 open docks available. And my bike got used by someone else less than a minute after I arrived.
All in all, it was a positive experience. The bike took some getting used to, but it got me from Point A to Point B with little fuss. I can easily see situations where CaBi would be useful...if it's too far to walk, or if someone is making a short hop (2 miles or less) and doesn't want to deal with Metro or a bus, or if the destination isn't near Metro but has a CaBi station nearby.
One overall concern deals with helmets. Unless one intends on riding CaBi or plans for the possibility (as I did), the lack of a helmet for some rides is a safety concern. Still, CaBi is a worthwhile addition and I'm looking forward to seeing it expanded, especially to Alexandria.
June 27, 2011
A bikeshare idea for north Old Town
This past weekend, the Alexandria City Council approved a development including a new Harris Teeter grocery store and residential units in north Old Town, basically the northern 2/3 of the block bounded by St. Asaph, Pitt, Madison, and Wythe Streets.
In his Breakfast Links this morning, David Alpert of Greater Greater Washington suggests including a Capital Bikeshare station with the new development. A very good idea, and one I have forwarded to the BPAC and the city's bike/ped coordinator. Hopefully, we'll get a positive response out of it.
In his Breakfast Links this morning, David Alpert of Greater Greater Washington suggests including a Capital Bikeshare station with the new development. A very good idea, and one I have forwarded to the BPAC and the city's bike/ped coordinator. Hopefully, we'll get a positive response out of it.
May 16, 2011
Alex CaBi and Count, Inc...
Two quick notes from tonight's Alexandria BPAC meeting:
- Alexandria has grant money available to implement 6 Capital Bikeshare stations and pay for 1 year of operations. This is in addition to $400K of FY 2013 CMAQ funding that I tweeted about last week. The first round of stations would be focused on Old Town and Carlyle. The CMAQ funding would go for additional stations, either more in Old Town/Carlyle (for more critical mass) or possibly in Del Ray and/or Potomac Yard. City staff still need to work out both site locations and contracting issues with CaBi, DC, and Arlington, but hope to begin installing stations by next spring.
- The BPAC, in coordination with city staff, is looking at doing bicycle/pedestrian counts at various locations in the city in September and possibly also in July, as part of the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project. Volunteers will count the number of bicycles and pedestrians that pass by over a 2 hour period on the count day. If you live in or near Alexandria and are interested in volunteering, please let me know.
I'll post the official meeting minutes (plus catch up from March and April) once they're available.
- Alexandria has grant money available to implement 6 Capital Bikeshare stations and pay for 1 year of operations. This is in addition to $400K of FY 2013 CMAQ funding that I tweeted about last week. The first round of stations would be focused on Old Town and Carlyle. The CMAQ funding would go for additional stations, either more in Old Town/Carlyle (for more critical mass) or possibly in Del Ray and/or Potomac Yard. City staff still need to work out both site locations and contracting issues with CaBi, DC, and Arlington, but hope to begin installing stations by next spring.
- The BPAC, in coordination with city staff, is looking at doing bicycle/pedestrian counts at various locations in the city in September and possibly also in July, as part of the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project. Volunteers will count the number of bicycles and pedestrians that pass by over a 2 hour period on the count day. If you live in or near Alexandria and are interested in volunteering, please let me know.
I'll post the official meeting minutes (plus catch up from March and April) once they're available.
February 28, 2011
Lots of bike stuff at this week's meeting
WashCycle beat me to the punch here, but there's a lot of bike stuff that will be discussed at this Wednesday's Alexandria Transportation Commission meeting.
First, and likely foremost, will be Complete Streets. During the meeting two months ago, staff had raised concerns about the then-proposed Complete Streets ordinance, and recommended a resolution and checklist instead. After a good bit of debate, the Commission tabled the subject and appointed a sub-committee to further study Complete Streets and the staff-proposed resolution, after which it would be reintroduced at a future meeting. This week's meeting is that "future meeting".
A few key highhlights of the revised Complete Streets resolution:
Also, Barbara McCann, executive director of the National Complete Streets Coalition has been invited to speak at a Transportation Commission workshop on Complete Streets that will preceed Wednesday's meeting.
First reported by the Post's Dr. Gridlock last week, but also mentioned yesterday by the Examiner, Alexandria is considering placing roughly 6 (and perhaps up to 10) bikeshare (likely Capital Bikeshare) stations total in the Old Town, King St Metro/Carlyle (between King St and Eisenhower Ave), and Del Ray areas (Del Ray was not mentioned in the news articles, but is in the city's Transportation Commission documentation). The stations would be funded from the city's annual allocation of Federal CMAQ and RSTP funding for Fiscal Year 2013. Which means, if this goes through, it would still be at least the summer of 2012 before we see them. Until then, the closest CaBi station is on Arlington's side of Potomac Yard.
Another CMAQ/RSTP request regards bicycle parking at Metro stations. The city is requesting $250K in FY2016 for additional bicycle parking at the city's Metro stations...likely focusing on King Street and Braddock Rd.
A third CMAQ/RSTP request is to rebuild the city's "Alternative Mount Vernon Trail" where it parallels the railroad spur between Abingdon Drive (the GW Pkwy frontage road) and Royal Street. Speaking from experience, the existing trail is very rutted and narrow, and this reconstruction aims to improve both of those situations. The city's requesting $500K in FY2013 dollars to do this.
Lastly, there's an item for consideration of a city Long Range Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan, which may have a future impact on bicycling and walking in the city as both modes are conducive to the goals of TDM...increasing transportation efficiency and reducing congestion.
First, and likely foremost, will be Complete Streets. During the meeting two months ago, staff had raised concerns about the then-proposed Complete Streets ordinance, and recommended a resolution and checklist instead. After a good bit of debate, the Commission tabled the subject and appointed a sub-committee to further study Complete Streets and the staff-proposed resolution, after which it would be reintroduced at a future meeting. This week's meeting is that "future meeting".
A few key highhlights of the revised Complete Streets resolution:
- Replaced "should" with "shall", which theoretically gives it at little more sticking-power with regards to how the city implements Complete Streets on a given project.
- Directs city staff to create a "Complete Streets Checklist" to be used for all development and city road projects.
- Requires the director of the ciy's Transportation and Environmental Services (T&ES) department to state, in writing, why Complete Streets would not be used on a given project.
- Directs city staff to prepare an annual "Complete Streets report" for the Transportation Commission, including where Complete Streets was not incorporated into a given project and why.
Also, Barbara McCann, executive director of the National Complete Streets Coalition has been invited to speak at a Transportation Commission workshop on Complete Streets that will preceed Wednesday's meeting.
First reported by the Post's Dr. Gridlock last week, but also mentioned yesterday by the Examiner, Alexandria is considering placing roughly 6 (and perhaps up to 10) bikeshare (likely Capital Bikeshare) stations total in the Old Town, King St Metro/Carlyle (between King St and Eisenhower Ave), and Del Ray areas (Del Ray was not mentioned in the news articles, but is in the city's Transportation Commission documentation). The stations would be funded from the city's annual allocation of Federal CMAQ and RSTP funding for Fiscal Year 2013. Which means, if this goes through, it would still be at least the summer of 2012 before we see them. Until then, the closest CaBi station is on Arlington's side of Potomac Yard.
Another CMAQ/RSTP request regards bicycle parking at Metro stations. The city is requesting $250K in FY2016 for additional bicycle parking at the city's Metro stations...likely focusing on King Street and Braddock Rd.
A third CMAQ/RSTP request is to rebuild the city's "Alternative Mount Vernon Trail" where it parallels the railroad spur between Abingdon Drive (the GW Pkwy frontage road) and Royal Street. Speaking from experience, the existing trail is very rutted and narrow, and this reconstruction aims to improve both of those situations. The city's requesting $500K in FY2013 dollars to do this.
Lastly, there's an item for consideration of a city Long Range Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan, which may have a future impact on bicycling and walking in the city as both modes are conducive to the goals of TDM...increasing transportation efficiency and reducing congestion.
November 02, 2010
Meetings galore...
Not one but two transportation-related meetings for me last night. With two more later in the week.
First up was a quick in-and-out at the Alexandria Pedestrian and Bicycle Citizens Group meeting (out quickly because I had to leave early for meeting #2), where I learned a few interesting tidbits:
After that, it was a quick trip to the transportation committee meeting for the Mount Vernon Council of Citizen's Associations. Recently, I became the alternate member on the committee for the Huntington Community Assocation, my neighborhood civic association. This represents my first real foray into the Fairfax County side of the house. While I'm officially a county resident, I've been attending the various Alexandria transportation-related meetings since I transferred here...something which I intend to continue.
This meeting started off with a recap by the committee chair of a forum she recently attended. On October 14, there apparently was a "Transportation and Traffic Solutions Forum" in DC, with guest speaker Ian Lockwood, a nationally known expert on traffic calming whose resume includes traffic calming projects on Route 50 in western Loudoun County and a stint as head of the West Palm Beach, FL Transportation Planning Division. The chair was quite impressed with some of the topics discussed at the forum by Mr. Lockwood, namely that widening of arterials may result in death of a business district (as apparently happened in West Palm Beach). Other items of interest included walkability and a roadway grid network.
This sparked a good bit of discussion at the meeting. Meeting attendees were mostly receptive to the walkability aspects, with several complaints about how Route 1/Richmond Hwy *ISN'T* pedestrian friendly. Discussion got less consensual when it came to the other aspects like road narrowing or a parallel grid. Many of the meeting attendees have been supporting (if not outright fighting for) a long-promised widening of Route 1 to 6 lanes, especially recently in light of BRAC changes at Ft. Belvoir and the expected congestion that will result from all the jobs moving to Ft. Belvoir and the Engineering Proving Ground. At the same time, it appears that both businesses along Route 1 and the neighborhoods immediately adjoining Route 1 are opposed to a wider corridor footprint. How to widen Route 1 while minimizing the footprint/impact has long been debated in this part of the county, with some residents and meeting members complaining that corridor businesses and even elected officials have been playing obstructionist to Route 1 improvements.
While a parallel grid was generally supported (from my viewpoint), there were concerns about right-of-way and redevelopment needs/impacts in order to shoehorn such a grid in along the Route 1 corridor.
During the meeting, a resolution was passed requesting the county, CTB, VDOT, and area officials secure funding for something else long-promised: a transit study along the Route 1/Richmond Hwy corridor. There was a definitive preference among committee members that the study be on RAIL transit. I took this as meaning that area residents (as represented by committee members...all from area neighborhood associations) are supported of rail transit along Richmond Hwy but would be opposed to bus lanes or some sort of BRT.
Concerns were also raised about the Fairfax County Trnasportation Bond Referendum (presumably on today's ballot). The question to voters was whether the county should raise $120 million in bonds to pay for transportation improvements. While the fact sheet associated with the referendum points out that the county's intent is to use this bond money for the county's share of WMATA's capital program, the main concern was with the wording of the referendum, which didn't specify this...leading some to speculate that the money would be used elsewhere if other money "was found" to cover the WMATA obligation.
Lastly, there's another forum featuring Ian Lockwood on the calendar. The Coalition for Smarter Growth is sponsoring a Future of Fairfax Forum, with Mr. Lockwood as one of the guest speakers. The forum will be on Wednesday evening, the 17th, in Mclean. Click on the link for more info and to RSVP.
More meetings later in the week, including the Alexandria Transportation Commission. Stay tuned.
First up was a quick in-and-out at the Alexandria Pedestrian and Bicycle Citizens Group meeting (out quickly because I had to leave early for meeting #2), where I learned a few interesting tidbits:
- A planning study for the Holmes Run Trail tunnels near I-395 has begun.
- The Royal Netherlands Embassy will be hosting a 2-day bike workshop, titled the ThinkBike Workshops, on November 15-16. The workshop, in partnership with DDOT and MWCOG, will discuss all sorts of issues related to bicycle travel, discuss Dutch bicycle infrastructure and "best practices", and will include recommendations for improving bicycling in the DC area. The public is invited to the "closing session" on the evening of the 16th at Union Station. For more info, click on the links.
- MWCOG has shared some info from the Census American Community Survey, namely a comparison of bike commuting share for member jurisdictions from 1994 to 2007/08. Of note is Alexandria's bike commuting share during those 14 years, which skyrocketed from 0.7% in 1994 to 2.7% in 2007/08. While DC's share is larger overall (3.5% in 2007/08), Alexandria by far had the biggest percentage increase during the timeframe in question. Surprisingly, Arlington only posted a 0.3% increase, to 1.4% in 2007/08...though this might be explained in part due to development patterns. Much of Arlington's growth over the past 15 years has been along the Rosslyn-Ballson corridor, and it's reasonable to assume that those residents are commuting via Metro instead of by bike. Not surprisingly, Prince William County remained flat...zero percent. Most other area jurisdictions had modest increases.
- Thought the region didn't win the TIGER 2 grant to expand Capitol Bikeshare, the city of Alexandria is looking at a smaller grant application (through MWCOG) that would allow for a limited expansion of CaBi into the city....enough to put a few stations in the Potomac Yards area (where the city would concentrate first).
After that, it was a quick trip to the transportation committee meeting for the Mount Vernon Council of Citizen's Associations. Recently, I became the alternate member on the committee for the Huntington Community Assocation, my neighborhood civic association. This represents my first real foray into the Fairfax County side of the house. While I'm officially a county resident, I've been attending the various Alexandria transportation-related meetings since I transferred here...something which I intend to continue.
This meeting started off with a recap by the committee chair of a forum she recently attended. On October 14, there apparently was a "Transportation and Traffic Solutions Forum" in DC, with guest speaker Ian Lockwood, a nationally known expert on traffic calming whose resume includes traffic calming projects on Route 50 in western Loudoun County and a stint as head of the West Palm Beach, FL Transportation Planning Division. The chair was quite impressed with some of the topics discussed at the forum by Mr. Lockwood, namely that widening of arterials may result in death of a business district (as apparently happened in West Palm Beach). Other items of interest included walkability and a roadway grid network.
This sparked a good bit of discussion at the meeting. Meeting attendees were mostly receptive to the walkability aspects, with several complaints about how Route 1/Richmond Hwy *ISN'T* pedestrian friendly. Discussion got less consensual when it came to the other aspects like road narrowing or a parallel grid. Many of the meeting attendees have been supporting (if not outright fighting for) a long-promised widening of Route 1 to 6 lanes, especially recently in light of BRAC changes at Ft. Belvoir and the expected congestion that will result from all the jobs moving to Ft. Belvoir and the Engineering Proving Ground. At the same time, it appears that both businesses along Route 1 and the neighborhoods immediately adjoining Route 1 are opposed to a wider corridor footprint. How to widen Route 1 while minimizing the footprint/impact has long been debated in this part of the county, with some residents and meeting members complaining that corridor businesses and even elected officials have been playing obstructionist to Route 1 improvements.
While a parallel grid was generally supported (from my viewpoint), there were concerns about right-of-way and redevelopment needs/impacts in order to shoehorn such a grid in along the Route 1 corridor.
During the meeting, a resolution was passed requesting the county, CTB, VDOT, and area officials secure funding for something else long-promised: a transit study along the Route 1/Richmond Hwy corridor. There was a definitive preference among committee members that the study be on RAIL transit. I took this as meaning that area residents (as represented by committee members...all from area neighborhood associations) are supported of rail transit along Richmond Hwy but would be opposed to bus lanes or some sort of BRT.
Concerns were also raised about the Fairfax County Trnasportation Bond Referendum (presumably on today's ballot). The question to voters was whether the county should raise $120 million in bonds to pay for transportation improvements. While the fact sheet associated with the referendum points out that the county's intent is to use this bond money for the county's share of WMATA's capital program, the main concern was with the wording of the referendum, which didn't specify this...leading some to speculate that the money would be used elsewhere if other money "was found" to cover the WMATA obligation.
Lastly, there's another forum featuring Ian Lockwood on the calendar. The Coalition for Smarter Growth is sponsoring a Future of Fairfax Forum, with Mr. Lockwood as one of the guest speakers. The forum will be on Wednesday evening, the 17th, in Mclean. Click on the link for more info and to RSVP.
More meetings later in the week, including the Alexandria Transportation Commission. Stay tuned.
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