Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Updated Capital Region Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Shows Growth of Biking and Biking Facilities in Area
The council, with help from bike coordinators from local and state departments of transportation and civilian advocates on its Bicycle and Pedestrian Subcommittee, has identified major bicycle and pedestrian projects the region wants to complete by 2040 along with “best practices” likely to be effective in achieving those goals. The updated plan includes lots of interesting data points about bicycling in Fairfax County.
In addition to mode share (the percentage of travelers or number of trips using a particular type of transportation), the plan discusses trends in policy and safety.
For example, Fairfax County is on par with or ahead of most of its neighbors by having 1 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) bicycle planner, 1 FTE pedestrian planner, and 2 FTE trail planners. Similarly, Fairfax County’s full-time, school district-level Safe Routes to School Coordinator keeps it on par with or ahead of most of its neighbors. Fairfax County schools’ participation in Bike to School Day dropped from 35 to 32 schools between 2013 and 2014 but was still the highest in the region.
With regard to safety, the updated plan notes that bike injuries in the region have been rising sharply since 2010, driven largely by the increase in bicycling in the District of Columbia. In Fairfax in 2012, there were 9 bike crashes and 10 bike injuries per 100,000 residents. Annual average fatalities for the period of 2011 to 2013 for Fairfax included pedestrians and cyclists and at .77 per 100,000 residents were the second lowest in the region (Fairfax’s estimated 2013 population was 1,130,924). Such fatalities have been declining in Fairfax, dropping from 13 in 2010 to 8 in 2013. Of those, 4 fatalities were bicyclists in 2010 and there were 0 bicyclist fatalities in 2013.
Finally, the updated plan includes an appendix that lists and provides basic information on 336 bicycle and pedestrian projects planned for the National Capital Region and 73 projects completed since 2006. According to the council, the planned facilities, if completed, will provide 450 miles of bicycle lanes, 630 miles of shared-used paths and signed bicycle routes, and 20 major pedestrian/bicycle intersection improvement projects.
Submitted by Steven Ward, FABB.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Annandale-Falls Church area bike plan meeting report
This was the sixth of eight meetings focused on different parts of the county. The Annandale-Falls Church bike plan area is located inside the Beltway south of I-66. There are several major barriers to bike travel: I-66 in the north, the Beltway, I-395, and Lake Barcroft. The bridges over the Beltway are being rebuilt as part of the HOT lanes project and many will have bicycle facilities, the roads leading to those bridges have few if any bike accommodations.
There was discussion of the lack of trail maintenance and the problem of identifying which agency or group is responsible for local trails. VDOT does maintain some paved trails in their right of way but the County is responsible for most, and there is almost no money available for repaving or repair. One way to find out who should maintain a specific trail you can contact the bike program office.
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| VDOT Snow Map |
An interesting statistic mentioned during the briefing is that most commuting trips (92,000) are greater than 3 miles in length (87%) but 34% of all other trips (272,000) are less than 3 miles, trips that with good bike facilities can easily be made by bike.
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| Marking up bike plan map |
To see notes and information from the other bike plan meetings visit the bike plan Materials & Resources page.
After the bike plan meeting we held the monthly FABB meeting. One of our goals this year is to move the meeting location to different parts of the county. This was a good opportunity to do that, participate in the bike plan meeting, and meet some new cyclists.
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| FABB meeting |
FABB member Douglas Stewart passed around a report assessing various bike routes between GMU and the Vienna Metro station. The next step is to work with the City of Fairfax to sign the route and make any needed improvements.
Labels: annandale, bicycle master plan, bike plan, FABB meeting, falls church
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Annandale Bike Plan and FABB Meetings tomorrow
This is a good opportunity for cyclists to let the bike planners know where you ride, where you can't ride because of obstacles, and what the county can do to make the Annandale area more bike-freindly. There are many people who get around by bikes in this area. Many are service workers who rely on bikes for transportation. All cyclists in the area need better on- and off-road bike facilities, including adequate bike parking. School kids need safe ways to ride their bikes to school and places to park when they get there. They also need bike safety education classes. Let your voice be heard by attending this important meeting.
Labels: annandale, bike plan, FABB meeting, mason district
Friday, February 20, 2009
Tysons bike plan presented to Planning Commission
The Tysons Bike Plan was presented to the Fairfax County Planning Commission Tysons Corner Committee last night.To show an example of good bicycle integration, we noted that Copenhagen, with a well-planned bicycle infrastructure, had a bicycle mode share of 36% in 2006.
We discussed the need for bicycle connections to surrounding neighborhoods to overcome barriers such as the Dulles Toll Road and I-495 to allow access from the north and east.
We discussed the map of planned bike lanes (above) that closely matches bike lanes shown in the Transportation component of the Straw Man Draft of Comprehensive Plan Text (pdf document, pages 49-57). The bike plan includes two proposed transit/bike/ped crossings of the Beltway, proposed by the Tysons Task Force, that will allow cyclists in McLean and Pimmit Hills to finally be able to safely bicycle into Tysons.
The biggest challenge: what facility is appropriate for Routes 7 and 123. Route 7 is being widened from 6 to 8 lanes with no bike accommodations. The sidewalks will be filled with people accessing Metro. As the Route 7 and 123 corridors will be the heart of the newly planned Tysons, bike access is needed. The current design for Route 7 is very bike- and pedestrian-unfriendly. A shared bus/bike lane would be one solution.
Along with a network of bike routes, support infrastructure such as bike parking, changing facilities, and showers is needed. The EPA Bike Room is an excellent example for employers in Tysons, where employees have keyed access to a room with lockers, bike racks, changing and shower facilities. The Arlington County Bicycle Storage Facility Requirements (pdf) are an appropriate model for Tysons Corner.
We also discussed the possibility of having a bike station, a small storefront that provides services such as bike parking, changing room and showers, bike rental, bike accessories for sale, and bike repair. See photos of the Cherry Creek Bike Rack, a bike station in Denver.
Finally we discussed how bike sharing could reduce motor vehicle traffic with bike trips, especially short trips from Metro to work or lunchtime trips. The Vélib' system in Paris is the best example, with 20,000 bicycles and 1,450 stations.
A copy of the presentation is online.
