FABB Blog

The Board will now evaluate the list and provide feedback to staff by January 14. A final list will be presented to the Board on January 28 when the Board will hold the public hearing on these projects and make a final decision. If there is a bike project that you think should be on the list, contact your Supervisor to ask that it be added.

Photo: Washington Post

In Arlington County, 380 bike thefts were reported as of mid-October, compared with 233 during the same period a year ago. Fairfax police reported 468 thefts in that period — up 19 percent from 2012. In Alexandria, bike thefts are at a five-year peak. As of late September, 153 had been stolen this year, up 43 percent from last year.

D.C. police reported arresting 98 people for bike thefts in 2012, up from 65 arrests the year before.

The rise in thefts might be partly a result of the District’s success in promoting bicycle use. The percentage of people biking to work in the city increased more than 30 percent from 2011 to 2012, based on data from the U.S. Census, adding tens of thousands more bicyclists to the road.

“There’s more people biking, there’s more bikes on the street and there are more people riding who may not know the best way to lock up their bikes,” said Greg Billing, the advocacy coordinator at the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. “There are definitely professional bike thieves seeking high-end bikes that aren’t locked properly and will sell them for a lot of money.” There are also, he said, “dumb kids looking to do something.”

Metro stations are a frequent target. They have seen a 50 percent increase in bike thefts over the past year, from 202 reports last year to 303 as of the end of August this year, said Morgan Dye, a spokeswoman for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Tour de Lights Group at Town Center Fountain Square

The best response that I got when I proposed this ride was "Ho Ho NO. I'll follow you to Certain Death, Pete, but not to Tyson's Corner (a fate worse than . . . )."

I think many people dread crowds and parking problems associated with holiday shopping at the mall the week before Christmas. The mall can get a bit crazy this time of year. My goal was to make it fun. I did this by getting there by bicycle and by bringing along as many friends as I could. I've also wanted to share how amazingly easy it is to ride to Tyson's Corner by bicycle. That was the genesis of the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB) / Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) Holiday Shopping Ride. Both FABB and WABA are all about showing people that it is easy to live by bicycle...

Happiness machines: The many benefits of bikes include slowing the aging of skin, getting you to sleep promptly and separating you from air pollutioncompared to car use.

Seeking Volunteers for the Vienna Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees 

The Vienna Town Council is seeking Vienna citizens to volunteer to serve on the re-established Vienna Bicycle Advisory Committee and the newly created Pedestrian Advisory Committee. The Committees will serve as advisory boards to the Transportation Safety Commission (TSC) and members will be appointed by the Town Council. Each Committee will consist of six community members, in addition to a member of the TSC to serve as Chair.

The Committees will meet on alternate months at 7 pm prior to the Transportation Safety Commission meeting on the last Tuesday of each month at Town Hall. The goal of the Committees is to provide recommendations to the Transportation Safety Commission and the Vienna Town Council for improving the pedestrian and bicycle network in Vienna. The Vienna Town Council will consider applicants for appointment in December and January, with the expectation that the Committees will begin work in January.

Anyone interested in serving on the Bicycle Advisory or Pedestrian Advisory Committees should complete the Board and Commission application available online or in the Town Clerk’s Office in Town Hall, 127 Center Street S, 2nd floor. For questions on the application process, contact the Town Clerk’s Office at (703) 255-6304.

In a Dec. 2 letter, Bruce Wright, the chairman of the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling, suggested that I should walk or bike a mile to the new Tysons Silver Line Metrorail stations, instead of driving, and thereby get some exercise, ease congestion and reduce pollution. Mr. Wright’s suggestion was a perfect example of why the parking dilemma facing soon-to-be Silver Line commuters should have been resolved long ago. Fairfax County’s failure to accommodate those commuting to Tysons Corner by automobile will be a colossal failure, especially when winter’s worst arrives.

Mr. Wright’s appeal to commuter ruggedness is wishful thinking. Though I manage, as an 80-year-old, to bike 25 to 30 miles per week, I would be ill-advised to risk traveling down busy Leesburg Pike to Tysons in anything less than my wonderful, safe, climate-controlled, comfortable cocoon — just like other automobile commuters are inclined to do.

While much of the rest of the globe races to embrace individual carbon-powered transport, we race to handicap our economy through forced carbon energy denial. The atmosphere we seek to protect is the same one being polluted by the rest of the world, which will gladly consume any energy we eschew. Our ability to drive anywhere is a blessing that most fail to appreciate, especially those coercive utopians who seek to remold our society into something it will never be.

While driving, it should always be comforting for me to recall, and edit slightly, the late Charlton Heston’s proclamation: I’ll give up my steering wheel when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

John Lucas, Vienna

This fall I've been commuting on a route that takes me along Vaden Dr., past the Vienna Metro. I've noticed that the stoplights at Country Creek Rd/Virginia Center Blvd and Sainstbury Dr. seem to take forever to change if I'm there alone, but not if cars are with me, making me suspect that they are activated by inductive loop sensors. I wonder if you know anything about this and if anyone is pressing the county to mark the sensors (see FHWA link).

As you may know, the signal at Vaden and Saintsbury is new--so new that VDOT has not yet accepted it into our system. It is still being operated by the developer constructing the MetroWest project. Questions or comments about this signal can be directed to the VDOT permittee, Jeff Edelman (571-283-1978 /jeff.edelman@pultegroup.com), or agent Jeff Oetjen (703-801-5848 / joetjen@comcast.net).

The signal at Virginia Center has been in place for many years and is operated by VDOT. This signal is actuated using inductive loop detectors, the most common detection technology VDOT uses at its signals.

Unlike most signals, the Virginia Center signal operates in a mode we call “uncoordinated.” This means that it doesn’t use a fixed cycle time, but rather is free to serve conflicting movements at any time, once the signal detects a vehicle or pedestrian waiting on the side street and a gap in traffic on the major street. The average wait time for vehicles on the side street should rarely exceed about 40 seconds--much shorter than coordinated signals. (A longer wait may occur, for instance, if pedestrians have pushed the button to activate both crossings of Virginia Center during the same signal cycle.)

If a cyclist finds that the signal is not detecting him or her without autos on the same approach, it is useful to know how VDOT typically installs its loop detectors:

In general, VDOT uses the same loop detector design at all traffic signals: a rectangle 40 feet long (parallel to the direction of traffic) and 6 feet wide. The edge of the detector typically extends past the stop bar by 5 feet, which leaves 35 feet of detection zone approaching the stop bar. A detector is typically centered in each traffic lane on the side street. This link shows a typical VDOT loop detector installation, but usually loops are installed before the final pavement surface and are hence invisible.

VDOT normally uses a detector called a “quadrupole” loop, which has its greatest sensitivity along the centerline of the loop (parallel to traffic). Cyclists have the best chance of being detected when they ride in the exact center of the traffic lane at some point while they’re within 35 feet of the stop bar.

Caveats: Sometimes loops are shortened or lengthened based on site conditions, and it can be difficult to find the center of a loop on a sharp curve, because loops are always rectangular even when the road is curved. Some intersections use a different kind of detection other than loops for various reasons, and the advice about loops may not apply at these locations.

If all else fails, this signal is also equipped with pedestrian pushbuttons on both sides of Vaden. While it can be an annoyance for cyclists to use the pushbutton, at least the option is available in this case.

Image: FHWA

By coincidence, I cycle through the Virginia Center intersection frequently, and I have found that it is remarkably effective at detecting cyclists. I have not found the same to be true at the Saintsbury intersection. No loop detector can detect every bicycle, particularly those without a considerable amount of metal in the frame.

VDOT is undertaking a pilot project to improve detection of cyclists at signals, and the Virginia Center intersection is planned for inclusion in the project because of its above-average ability to detect cyclists. The project may include some bike detector signs and pavement markings, but specific details are still under development.

You may also recall that VDOT worked closely with Dave Gibson, the FHWA researcher who authored the document at the link Mr. Schrag sent, when we installed the loop detectors and associated markings in the bike lanes on Soapstone Dr. at South Lakes Dr.

Randy Dittberner, P.E., PTOE
Regional Traffic Engineer
Virginia Department of Transportation
Northern Region
4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA, 22030

Compiled from federal and state databases, the report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group gives a snapshot of a transportation evolution that may portend where the nation — particularly urban America — is headed.

It is the latest of several recent white papers that cite waning use of the automobile to argue for changes in public policy away from the highway-oriented focus born during the suburban expansion of the 20th century.

“There is a shift away from driving,” said Phineas Baxandall, an analyst at PIRG. “The cities in this report are home to most of America’s population and are engines of the economy. Policy leaders need to wake up and realize the driving boom is over. Instead of expanding new highways, our government leaders should focus on investing in public transit and biking for the future.”

Many of the policy changes the report recommended are already in place in Washington and some of its suburbs. Encouragement of the popular Capital BikeShare program and installation of bike lanes have correlated with a spurt in bike travel.

Membership Fee

The membership cost to use this facility is $75 a year, which includes a one-time $15 non-refundable fee for the security device and application processing. After the first year, users will be charged only $60 a year.

In anticipation of the opening of the Silver Line and Wiehle-Reston East Station, The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is offering special reduced rates for bike room memberships beginning now through March 1, 2014:

• Before March 1, 2014:
• Early registration discounted annual membership rate (12 months): $45*
• Early registration two-year bundle (24 months): $75*
• After March 1, 2014
• Annual bike room membership (12 months): $75*

*includes one-time $15 fee for the key fob (electronic access device)

The room will be available to bicyclists starting on opening day of the Silver Line!

In “Parking worries loom over Silver Line’ [front page, Nov. 28], those who live near the Tysons Silver Line Metrorail stations bemoaned the lack of parking at the stations. While there is no car parking planned, there will be bike parking at each of the stations.

Sally Horn of the McLean Citizens Association said “many members of her group live just far enough away that driving to a station is their best option.” For some of those residents, bicycling to the station is one of the better options. For John Lucas, who lives about a mile from the station, driving his car, parking and walking to the station entrance would probably take him longer than taking the same trip by bike. And if he biked, he would get some exercise, burn no fossil fuels, generate no pollution (short car trips generate more pollution than longer trips) and avoid adding to the already-congested Tysons streets.

Bicycling is one of the best first- and last-mile solutions. It’s not for everyone, but those who are willing to try might find it’s easier than they think.

Bruce Wright, Reston.

The writer is chairman of the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling.

Recently, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association partnered with Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS) in the District to give cyclists a safe place to vent and discuss harassment prevention and empowerment strategies, said Nelle Pierson, WABA’s coordinator of outreach programs.

“A lot of women start biking because it is empowering, but also because they can just get away from a situation,” said Zosia Sztykowski, 28, of Columbia Heights, the lead outreach coordinator for CASS, a grassroots organization dedicated to building awareness and ending sexual assault and harassment on the streets. The organization produces a blog that curates women’s experiences with street harassment. “A lot of people think street harassment happens just to them and that they’re alone,” she said.

Sztykowski said there are several methods to engage the harasser, including employing a response such as: “Stop harassing people. I don’t like it. No one likes it. Show some respect.”

Bystanders can help by confronting or distracting the perpetrator or seeking help from law enforcement on the victim’s behalf. Often, bystanders avoid getting involved because they worry that they have misread the situation, think someone else will step in to help or believe that the target attracted the negative attention due to some fault of his or her own, according to Strange.