FABB Blog

With two premier bike trails parallel to the route, enthusiasts and bicycle organizations have long pressed the railroad to add the service. Currently, bikes must be dismantled and packed in boxes and can only be loaded on and off trains at staffed stations, of which there are none between here and Washington, D.C.

 “The expansion of bike service will take place as early as next week,” Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods confirmed on Thursday.

Reservations will be required and the railroad will charge a $25 fee for the service, even though passengers will be responsible for rolling their bikes onto the trains, securing them, and rolling them off. Only standard-sized bikes will be permitted. The service will be available at all stations on the route, which extends from Chicago to Washington.

At the conclusion of an annual contest that garners over 100 submissions, New Belgium selects approximately 15 for inclusion on the tour each season. This year’s films touch on diverse topics – outdoor adventure, environmental activism, comedy, art, craft beer, and more. All films last under five minutes. Our selected filmmakers come from all walks of life, from basement hobbyists to professional feature-length directors. These films will be shown on a giant 30 foot inflatable movie screen.

At each tour stop, guests are invited to try New Belgium’s unique Lips of Faith series alongside popular classics. The beer list features everything from wheat beers to IPAs. Many of these beers can be hard to come by, especially the popular barrel-aged sour offerings (La Folie and Eric’s Ale) and the available-only-at-Clips Film Noir, a caramel, chocolate, vanilla, milk, imperial milk stout. Only one keg of this big malty/roasty brew will be available. Film Noir is basically a milk dud in beer form....no.....an EPIC milk dud in beer form.

Tysons Partnership recently wrote about the repaving projects: New Bike Lanes Popping Up Around North Tysons:

This summer VDOT had plans to repave many of the roadways in Tysons. They took that opportunity to implement some changes to striping and lane delineation in the most residential portions of Tysons, including the North Tysons neighborhood where large empty roadways make for dangerous intersections and bike paths.

The summer is nearly complete and we are getting a better picture of the safe paths in Tysons. While I don’t think VDOT went nearly far enough, sentiment in the area remains suburban and auto-focused (and people wonder why the Silver Line ridership is low from the nearby communities), and therefore this interim step is about as good as one can expect for the short term.

This is a good day for anyone who uses non-vehicular means to get to work or run errands, but the struggle against bad design isn’t over. Bike lanes are an easy come easy go infrastructure, it takes vocal support and physical support to show planners and politicians their value. The added benefit is that by showing support for these interim steps we improve the chances to get true infrastructure including protected bike lanes (arguably more important in the suburban regions than established urban bike areas) and further road diets in the non-congested corridors of Tysons.

The final Sunday of the month is approaching, and with it comes another edition of the town of Vienna’s Afternoons on Church Street program.

This month’s theme is “Wheely Fun Time,” and is sponsored by Bikes@Vienna. Kids can take part in Historic Vienna, Inc.’s bike parade and a bike decorating contest (no registration required), and can enjoy moon bounces and cornhole boards courtesy of the town’s Parks and Recreation department.

Families of all ages are also encouraged to come check out the classic and muscle cars that will be lining Church Street on display.

The band Harlan Simple will perform a concert on the Town Green as part of the festivities, and students from the Bach to Rock program at Herndon America’s Music School will play a concert beginning at 5 p.m.

This month’s refreshments will be provided by Lombardi’s Pizza, ONO Hawaiian Ice, Caboose Brewery and Vienna Vinters. The Girl Scouts will be offering face painting and balloon animals, and Inova will be providing free bike helmets to those in attendance. Other local businesses will also be on hand for the event.

Afternoons on Church Street take place from 1-5 p.m. on the final Sunday of each month from May through October. This week’s event will cause the town to close Church Street from Dominion Road to Mill Street during event hours.

Squij Kat was founded by two female cycling enthusiasts in Arlington, Va. Our passion for biking goes beyond sport and leisure. We support smart commuting, traffic safety and an overall greener community.

 According to a Census Bureau report on America’s commuting patterns that was released last week, biking to work is slowly but steadily on the rise as more young, urban adults are giving up on driving to work. This was particularly true in cities with strong public transportation networks, where automobile commuting declined by 6 percentage points among workers ages 25 to 29.  

Job #: 15-01451
Job Title: Transportation Planner III
Opening Date/Time: Sat. 08/08/15 12:00 AM Eastern Time
Closing Date/Time:  Fri. 08/28/15 5:00 PM Eastern Time
Salary: $31.23 - $52.05 Hourly
$2,498.52 - $4,164.18 Biweekly
$64,961.52 - $108,268.78 Annually
Pay Grade: S27
Job Type: FT Salary W BN
Location: DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION, 4050 LEGATO ROAD, SUITE 400, FAIRFAX (EJ03), Virginia
Department: Transportation
Posting Type: Open to General Public

Coordinates the development, design and review of transportation projects, plans and feasibility studies with a focus on bicycle and pedestrian related projects. Reviews transportation facility design plans and resolves project issues for roadway, intersection, and multi-modal projects, such as transit, parking, bicycle or pedestrian facilities. Develops scopes for new projects, reviews traffic data, and provides transportation analyses. Prepares technical reports, correspondence and other written documents. Coordinates project development with residents, agencies and elected officials.

Position may be underfilled as a Transportation Planner II. The underfill requirements are stated below in the Employment Standards section.

Employment Standards:
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
Any combination of education, experience, and training equivalent to graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, urban, regional or transportation planning, or a closely related field; plus four years of experience related to transportation planning.

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:
Valid state motor vehicle operator's license.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to this position will be required to complete a criminal background check to the satisfaction of the employer.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
Experience in two or more of the following areas: performing transportation planning for roadway and multimodal projects, traffic engineering, and/or transportation design. Strong analytical, verbal and writing skills. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with government officials and the general public.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Work is generally sedentary. However, employee may be required to do some walking, standing, bending and carrying of items under 25 pounds in weight. Employee must be able to ride a bicycle.

UNDERFILL REQUIREMENTS:
This vacancy may be underfilled at the level of Transportation Planner II (Grade S24, $56,415 - $94,026). The employment standards for the Transportation Planner II are: Any combination of education, experience, and training equivalent to graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, urban, regional or transportation planning, or a closely related field; plus two years of experience related to transportation planning. Upon completion of an underfill agreement (which will require that the employee meet the employment standards stated above in addition to obtaining competencies defined by the hiring agency) the employee will be elevated to the level of Transportation Planner III.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview.

Fairfax County is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, creed, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran’s status or disabled veteran's status.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Contact 703-324-4900 for assistance. TTY 703-222-7314. Minorities and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. EEO/AA/TTY.

The Northern Virginia Regional Bikeway and Trail Network Study.  The Virginia Department of Transportation is updating its regional network of bicycle routes and trails to measure the progress made since 2004 in building the network. Your participation in this survey is important and will help us to plan our transportation system.

 Network Update Scope

• Purpose of update – To see how we are doing, to see if any major changes need to be made to the regional network like proposed roads that were eliminated (e.g., Tri-County Parkway) 
• Collecting Data of existing facilities – Consolidate GIS files from all jurisdictions 
• Performance measure – How many additional miles of the original 2004 network have been built by our partnership with jurisdictions 11 
• Wikimap – Crowd source the taskforce to identify needed corrections and major omissions from the consolidated GIS files. 
• Latent Demand (rate existing routes 1 to 5) - see if the taskforce’s suggestions for the network rise to the level of being regional significant. 
• Future Performance Measure - Provide a baseline BLOS of all roads in the network using SPS data. Use to show improvements in Network – how many miles of BLOS A, vs B, vs, C…. 
• Virtual Public Meeting - MetroQuest

What do you do to protect your air quality?

• Ride your bike to work? Take the bus?
• Use a gas or electric grill instead of charcoal?

Tell us and you could WIN 2 TICKETS to Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire at Jiffy Lube Live on Friday, August 14th.

How it works:

1. Tell us what you do to protect the air by August 6th.
2. On August 7th, we'll randomly select 75 participants to receive 2 concert tickets.