Friday, September 11, 2009
Bike/Walk Resources in Virginia
BikeWalk Virginia just released Part I of Biking and Walking Resources in Virginia.BikeWalk Virginia with cooperative assistance from the Virginia Department of Health, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), 
and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) conducted research to provide the first ever comprehensive picture of the current state of biking and walking planning, resources, accommodations, and safety in the State of Virginia. Funding for the study was provided through a safety grant from DMV.
The study consists of two parts. Part I collected data from all counties, cities, and towns between 2006 and 2009. Part II consists of a statistical analysis to assess the relationship between the current level of biking and walking resources and injuries to bicyclists and pedestrians involving motor vehicle collisions. The following report covers the findings from Part I. Findings from Part II will be reported separately.
Since Fairfax County did not respond to the survey "data that was collected between 2006 and 2008 was used" although the maps show a score of 0. As we noted in an earlier post, we disagreed with data provided in the 2007 study.and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) conducted research to provide the first ever comprehensive picture of the current state of biking and walking planning, resources, accommodations, and safety in the State of Virginia. Funding for the study was provided through a safety grant from DMV.The study consists of two parts. Part I collected data from all counties, cities, and towns between 2006 and 2009. Part II consists of a statistical analysis to assess the relationship between the current level of biking and walking resources and injuries to bicyclists and pedestrians involving motor vehicle collisions. The following report covers the findings from Part I. Findings from Part II will be reported separately.
Our main concern is that the county Trails Plan is not a bicycle plan; it's a map of planned routes and isn't a comprehensive assessment of current conditions, does not contain goals or objectives, has no plan for other bike facilities such as bike parking, shower and changing facilities, and other end of trip facilities, as outlined in VDOT's Bicycle Facility Resource Guide.
We contacted BikeWalk staff to let them know that we think the analysis in Part II of the study, assessing "the relationship between the current level of biking and walking resources and injuries to bicyclists and pedestrians involving motor vehicle collisions" will be affected by the lack of accurate data.
We will continue to advocate for a real bicycle master plan in Fairfax County. We recently met with Supervisor Jeff McKay to discuss possibilities for development of a bicycle plan as summarized in Why Fairfax Needs a Bicycle Master Plan.
Labels: bikewalk virginia
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