FABB Blog

Friends and Faces

Jeff Anderson is a parent of three children, all of whom bike to school at Wolftrap Elementary School in Vienna. Jeff spearheads the school's Safe Routes to School program, and as his photo shows, is a cyclocross racer in the mid-Atlantic region.

How did you get involved in SRTS?
It was by accident, really. My wife, kids and I are great bike enthusiasts. So when my oldest child started first grade at Wolftrap Elementary School, biking to school was a given. The only glitch was that the school lacked a bike rack. Two weeks after asking the principal about it, the rack appeared! Shortly after that I started a bike train, comprised mostly of my daughter's friends and some neighborhood kids. The bike train now operates monthly over a nearly 2-mile route.

I wasn't totally unaware of SRTS at the time, so I talked with someone at another school about their SRTS program. That got things started for me and now I understand what the states' SRTS program is and how the program can help Wolftrap. I work with the school's PTA to promote SRTS. The PTA is very supportive and is an outlet to the school community about SRTS events and activities.

Other than enjoying biking, why is SRTS important to you?
I am committed to getting more students to walk and bike to school as a way to reduce the number of cars around the school during arrival and dismissal. All three of my children are at Wolftrap - in 5th, 3rd and 1st grade - so I'm in it for the long haul and believe that by the time my 1st grader leaves Wolftrap, things will be very different. My vision is for 20 or more bikes in the racks most days. We now have two racks, but we'll need a third with that many kids biking to school. And, I would like to see kiss and ride used as a convenience, not as the main mechanism for kids getting to school. This would greatly reduce the 90-100 cars using Wolftrap's Kiss & Ride each school day.

Is the school principal supportive?
Because principals have a lot of decision-making power, they can often influence decisions parents make about how their kids get to school.Our school principal has been great. She really understands SRTS and supports the program. Most importantly, she trusts parents to do the right thing in setting up and running programs and activities. This is key for SRTS successes at any school. Our principal's support for SRTS comes from her own active lifestyle. She runs marathons and is very visible about promoting health and well-being in the school. She understands the importance of educating the whole child. For example, she didn't object to the bike/walk challenge we held during SOL testing week, joining in our walking and biking to school activities.

How do the students feel about SRTS?
They love it. They get very excited about the bike and walk challenge, creating meeting points for walking and biking to school. They especially love the comraderie that comes with walking and biking to school together. Unlike the past, this initial socialization happens on the way to school, not in homeroom. Our students' enthusiasm is contagious! School board members, state delegate (Mark Keem), and a couple local professional bike racers have all joined in.

Have you applied for infrastructure funds to improve the walking and biking conditions around Wolftrap?
No, Wolftrap has good sidewalks around the school. The infrastructure is the easy stuff; county engineers know how to do this. It's the education and encouragement which is harder.

So, how have you tackled the need for education and encouragement?
We received a $2,000 grant from Prevention Connections and will host our first bike rodeo in April 2012. This is a logical growth of our past work. For example, in 2010 we held a series of events during the May National Bike to Work week, such as a bike education workshop for students and parents, and after school events with the police department. It was the second year of our Bike and Walk Challenge Week, which we have continued since its inception in 2009. I started the Bike and Walk Challenge Week with the goal of creating a friendly competition among classes at Wolftrap Elementary School and other Vienna schools to see which could get more kids to walk or bike. During the week, we challenged parents to not drive their kids to school. We counted kids walking and biking to school, and those arriving by car. As the week progressed, we reached a 50% reduction in the number of students arriving by car and about ½ the kids either walked or biked to school by the end of the week.

Who else do you work with on SRTS at the school and in the larger community?
I am really proud to say that the entire Wolftrap Community has been involved, including the PTA. PTA members help get out information about our SRTS program and actively participates. For example, PTA members count kids and cars during the challenge week. A couple of parents help - regardless if the temperature is 19 degrees or 90 degrees!

What about the school division?
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is really beginning to engage in SRTS. Working with the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB), Trails for Youth, the Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA), FCPS supported International Walk to School Day in October 2011, resulting in 26 schools participating in event activities. Our goal is for 50 schools to participate in the 2012 event. Another sign of their support is a change in the criteria for the division's Golden Wellness Award. Schools apply for the award, ranking themselves in areas such as recycling and student health. In the past, the application didn't provide credit for walking and biking to school. But, we successfully lobbied for a change in the application. Now, walking and biking to school is included in language for the health and well-being awards. In addition, the FCPS School Board recently passed new school policy that puts decision-making about how children get to school firmly in the hands of parents. The policy also adds bicycling education to the existing pedestrian and bus safety education.

Companies are in a race to outdo each other on bike friendliness. Google not only gives employees racks and lockers, the company will donate to charity if employees ride to work. Etsy's got an in-house bike mechanic. In New York, Foursquare just chose a new location for it's headquarters, based on where biking would be easy.

Dennis Crowley: I never think of this as going to work everyday. It's just, hey this is where I go to do the stuff I like to do and I ride my bike to get there.

When Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley was raising money from venture capitalists, he pedaled to pitch meetings.

Crowley: I might have got a couple of weird looks when you walk in and your T-shirt is a little bit sweaty.

Crowley got the money and his company is wildly expanding. For him and other tech CEO's, not having a place to store bikes in the office would be like building a suburban campus without a parking lot.

Crowley: It was not an option to be in a building where people would have to leave their bikes outside.

It's not just an amenity. For Foursquare and the other firms, having a bike-friendly culture spurs innovation.

Crowley: We talk about Foursquare as being -- as like creating software that helps people change the way that people experience or even use cities, and I think bikes do the same thing.

Mitchell Moss: Biking has become the mode of choice for the educated high tech worker.

Mitchell Moss runs a transportation think-tank at New York University. He says the company that can get the most creativity, and the most collaboration, will win in the 21st century economy.

“Our enthusiasm to take this momentous step for the movement is matched by a commitment to do this right,” said Noah Budnick, Board Chair of the Alliance for Biking & Walking. The boards of all three organizations must ratify the agreement. Once (and if) that occurs, the transition team will work with a variety of board, staff, partners and advisors to determine the initial programs, membership structure, and staff needs of the new organization. “Changes will be implemented carefully and respectfully over time,” continued Budnick, “and it is important to say that all existing contractual agreements will be honored and the continuity of existing memberships is assured.”

“We can transform communities across the United States and accelerate the creation of a more bicycle-friendly America by combining the programs, resources, and members of these three leading organizations,” said Chris Fortune, Chairman of the Bikes Belong board and member of the transition team empowered to facilitate unification of the three groups. The transition team comprises representatives of each organization and will be working with the boards, staff, and members of each group to implement the process.

“There is a lot of work ahead,” acknowledged Hans van Naerssen, Chair of the League’s board and a member of the transition team. “We must determine how to combine the diverse strengths of a powerful alliance of state and local organizations, a storied national user group, and a vibrant industry association in a way that preserves their unique attributes and realizes the game-changing potential of a single entity.”

DeBoard comes to the town from the Fairfax County department. She currently is a deputy chief for Investigations and Operations Support.

Prior positions in which DeBoard served include commander of the county’s helicopter division, commander of the special operations division, captain of the Franconia district station and major of the division II patrol bureau.

DeBoard began her career with the county in 1986 as a patrol officer.

As president of the Fairfax-based Police Unity Tour, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, she actively is involved in fundraising for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C.

Act Now on Key Transportation Votes
Ask the Senate to Support Cardin-Cochran, Tell Your Representative to Oppose the House Bill It’s time to ask both chambers of Congress to save our streets.

The current Senate transportation bill (MAP-21) weakens walking and biking programs. To improve the bill, we’re asking senators to vote for a bipartisan amendment to guarantee local governments a voice in transportation decisions and allow them to build sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that keep people safe.

In the House, we are asking representatives to oppose the House transportation bill. Despite the fact that walking and bicycling infrastructure is a low-cost investment that creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway spending, the House bill eliminates dedicated funding for walking and biking altogether.

Will you contact your Representative and Senators today and ask them to save our streets?

Senate: Support the bipartisan Cardin-Cochran amendment

As written, the Senate’s transportation bill removes dedicated funding for walking and biking and allows state DOTs to opt-out of safe street programs. The Cardin-Cochran amendment ensures local governments can fund walking and biking infrastructure.

Tell your senators:

Local governments deserve a voice in transportation. The Cardin-Cochran amendment ensures that cities and counties have a voice in making transportation decisions for safer streets in their communities. Safety matters. Bicycle and pedestrian deaths make up 14% of all traffic fatalities, but only 1.5% of federal funds go towards making walking and biking safer. These programs provide funding for sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make streets safe for all users.

Active transportation is a wise investment. Walking and biking infrastructure is low-cost, creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway spending, and is critical to economic development for main street America.

House: Say “NO” to H.R. 7

On the other side of Congress, the House is about to consider a transportation bill that reverses 20 years of progress in making streets safer for people. Despite the fact that walking and biking make up 12% of trips but receive only 1.5% of federal funding, the House bill eliminates dedicated funding for walking and biking. It’s time to defeat this bill.

Tell your representative:

HR 7 takes us back to the 1950s. HR 7 takes us back to a 1950s system by eliminating dedicated funding for biking and walking AND kicking transit out of the highway trust fund. We need a transportation bill to meet 2012 needs, not 1950 needs.

HR 7 doesn’t invest wisely. Federal transportation laws should invest our finite resources in cost-effective, efficient infrastructure solutions that create jobs and keep the economy moving. The House bill eliminates walking and biking, despite the fact that walking and bicycling infrastructure is low-cost and creates more jobs per dollar than any other kind of highway funding.

HR 7 makes streets more dangerous for kids. By repealing the successful and effective Safe Routes to School program, the House bill makes the streets more dangerous for kids on their walks and bike rides to school. Congress needs to know that that finding effective, efficient transportation solutions to keep people safe on the streets should be a national priority. Please contact your representative and senators today.

Thank you for all that you do to keep the streets safe!

The installation is working with MetroBike, a bike-sharing consultant company, on an initiative that would create a network of cycles for people to use as transportation to various locations on post such as offices and eateries.

"The long-term goal is to have stations spread out about five minutes apart from each location," said Juanita Green, garrison transportation demand management coordinator. No start date is set for this initiative but Green expects Belvoir to have the transportation method in the near future. According to Paul DeMaio, founder and managing member of MetroBike, bike-sharing is a short term transit rental service.

According to Green, Fort Belvoir, which is significantly smaller than D.C. and Arlington, would likely have a scaled down version of the Capital Bikeshare network. Green said the garrison’s system would have docks close to offices, businesses and recreational locations for employees and residents.

The transportation method could help mass transit commuters travel to meetings, lunch and shuttle pick-ups throughout the work day. Biking could also be an alternative for community members traveling to places on post such as fitness centers and convenience stores.

Green expects Belvoir to start the program slow with stations potentially located at 12th Street, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital and the 300 area. The ultimate number of bicycles and docks would depend on funding and demand.

"I would like to see it all through the installation as a means of transportation for employees," Green said. "A lot of them using mass transit don’t have means internally to travel around post." The transit method could have a number of long-term benefits to the installation.

Bike-sharing would reduce the number of vehicles on the road which reduces congestion, accidents and car emissions. Daily ridership is also a form of exercise. "It’s introducing bicycling to people who haven’t been on a bike since they were a child," DeMaio said of bike-sharing’s popularity in other areas of the country.

The garrison’s next step is to acquire assistance from directorate and tenant organizations on post for funding and maintenance support of any future network of bikes.

A key reason the bike program has flourished in the District and Arlington has been the expansion of bike lanes and bike-related improvements to encourage cycling. As Bikeshare moves to areas outside the city, the same accommodations are important, said Shane Farthing, director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

“I do think that the next places that come along are going to have to step it up a little bit to make sure that conditions are right, that people are safe, that there’s space for people to bike, and that drivers and cyclists are educated on how to ride responsibly,” Farthing said.

Moments ago, Congressman John Mica (R-FL) announced the introduction of the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act. The proposed bill eliminates dedicated funding for bicycling and walking as we feared, and it goes much further and systematically removes bicycling from the Federal transportation program. It basically eliminates our status and standing in the planning and design of our transportation system -- a massive step backwards for individuals, communities and our nation. It's a step back to a 1950s highway- and auto-only program that makes no sense in the 21st century.

The bill reverses 20 years of progress by:

• destroying Transportation Enhancements by making it optional;
• repealing the Safe Routes to School program, reversing years of progress in creating safe ways for kids to walk and ride bicycles to school;
• allowing states to build bridges without safe access for pedestrians and bicycles;
• eliminating bicycle and pedestrian coordinators in state DOTs; and
• eliminating language that insures that rumble strips "do not adversely affect the safety or mobility of bicyclists, pedestrians or the disabled."