FABB Blog

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2013 FABB News

A bi-monthly publication of Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling

www.fabb-bikes.org

Transportation Funding for New Bike Projects

Fairfax County is developing a list of transportation projects to be funded with over $1 billion. Several bike projects are contained in the list. This is your chance to find out what projects are planned for your area, and to speak out in support of funding for bike projects. Take the survey to vote on what you think are the most important bike projects and to give feedback to the county on how this money is being spent. See an earlier FABB blog post with links to project lists and more information.

If you can, please attend one of the meetings below to support funding for bike projects:

Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.

2013 Fairfax Bike Summit on Bicycle-Friendly Tysons

An enthusiastic crowd attended the second Fairfax Bike Summit on Saturday, Nov. 2. Over 160 people registered for the Summit and there were noticeably more people in attendance than last year. Thanks to everyone who took time out of their weekend to attend, and thanks to the volunteers who worked hard throughout the year to help make it happen. See our summary of the wrap-up session on the FABB blog.

See the FABB Flickr pool for photos from the summit. Blog accounts of the summit were posed by Rootchopper and tinlizzieridesagain and Summit tweets are at #ffxbikesummit.

Bicycle Master Plan Adoption Schedule Set

During a briefing for the Fairfax Co Board of Supervisors on September 17 the county bike coordinator outlined a schedule for adoption of the Countywide Bicycle Master Plan. See the FABB blog post for more detailed information about the briefing, including key recommendations and a list of ways to jump start implementation. The plan is not yet available on the county website but FABB has posted the July 2012 Draft Bicycle Master Plan text and maps (see FABB homepage for map links).

Next steps outlined at the Board meeting include:

Fairfax County Parkway Repaving

Major sections of the Fairfax County Parkway Trail are scheduled to be repaved over the next year. FABB members received a briefing at the September FABB meeting in which VDOT maintenance staff outlined the two phases of the work. Phase I is the north section from Route 7 to Alliance Dr (near VDOT HQ) and Phase II extends from Alliance Dr south to Rolling Rd. FABB has been working with VDOT to identify the areas of the trail most in need of repair.

The majority of the trail is owned by VDOT. Some sections are owned by Fairfax County, which now needs to come up with $181,000 to supplement the VDOT funds for the repaving project. According to a Board Matter by Supervisor Herrity, "Various County agencies attempted to identify a source for this money but were unsuccessful." Supervisor Herrity has asked that the "Board direct the County Executive to use his best efforts to identify funding and report back to the Board on the outcome." VDOT has made a major commitment to this project and will repave their sections. The county needs to pay their share to ensure the work is not done in a piecemeal fashion.

Upcoming Events

Tues & Wed, November 12 & 13 - Transportation funding meetings

Wednesday, November 20, FABB Monthly Meeting

An enthusiastic crowd attended the second Fairfax Bike Summit on Saturday. Over 160 people registered for the Summit and there were noticeably more people in attendance than last year. 

• Support FABB, WABA, Virginia Bicycling Federation, and the League of American Bicyclists who are working at all levels to create bicycle-friendly communities.
• Speak up for better bike facilities; if you don't ask, they won't get built. Fairfax County is seeing input on future transportation projects at a series of meetings this month. The next meeting is tonight at Falls Church High School. If you can't attend, take the online survey. See a list of unfunded bike projects being considered.
• Find out more about efforts to ensure that the county considers health impacts of transportation and other policies. See the Community Health Improvement Plan.
• Continue to mature as a movement:
• It's not just about the bike; join others working to improve transit, livability, and walkability.
• Our focus internally is about improving bike conditions but externally we continue to stress the need for a multimodal system; we all benefit by having more transportation options.
• Normalize bicycling so everyone can see themselves riding for short trips. You don't need a special bike or clothes.
• Never accept poor quality facilities. We want quality infrastructure, not bare minimum bike lanes or trails. If we want people to feel safe while riding, we need better, safer facilities.
• Marketing is key to everything about Tysons and other new transit-oriented developments. It will be a major effort to change a culture of driving for most trips to one in which walking, biking, and transit are the norm. Part of building a world-class livable community is to actively encourage people to change how they get around. Compared to the amount of money being spent on infrastructure in Tysons, establishing encouragement programs is peanuts.
• Tomorrow is Election Day. Find out candidate positions on transportation and whether they support bicycling, and vote. Send another message by voting by bike.

See the FABB Flickr pool for photos from the summit. Blog accounts of the summit from Rootchopper and tinlizzieridesagain. Summit tweets at #ffxbikesummit.

2013 Fairfax Bike Summit Program - A huge thanks to Tina Myers for donating her time to lay out the summit program.

WTOP report on the Summit, Virginia cyclists push for friendlier bike conditions.

Connection article Bicyclers Take Aim at Tysons: Cycling summit examines Tysons Corner accessibility.

“We’re highlighting the fact that the Tysons transportation network is really going to experience a profound, dramatic change,” said Fionnuala Quinn, a volunteer board member with FABB. “It will open up all sorts of new travel options for people. Right now, many people have no choice but to drive.”

While Tysons Corner’s many motorists and few pedestrians are familiar with the area’s substantial hills, Tysons also has tree-lined routes that are ideal for cyclists, she said.
A new grid of streets in Tysons will allow cyclists to skirt the area’s two major thoroughfares, Routes 7 and 123, said Bruce Wright, chairman of Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling.

“Route 7 is probably the biggest challenge in Tysons, and so far we’ve lost that battle, I think, in making it a bicycle-friendly place,” he said.
The Board of Supervisors is encouraging development around all transit locations and Tysons Corner will serve as an ideal proving ground for initiatives that promote bicycling, Wright said.

“The things that we get right in Tysons will apply to those areas of growth in the future in Fairfax,” he said.

Fairfax DOT Chief Tom Biesiadny at 2012 Fairfax Bike Summit

Bike use is relatively low in Fairfax County, but anecdotal evidence suggests it’s increasing, Quinn said. She disputed some people’s perceptions that bicyclists do not obey traffic laws, and said FABB leaders encourage cyclists to follow safety rules.
“People on bicycles are vulnerable and don’t usually take their lives into their hands,” she said.

Wright concurred, adding that motorists might become more accommodating toward cyclists if they shared the roads with more of them.

“I’ve found through my travels that when bicyclists are given good, safe facilities and respect, they generally behave better,” he said.

Why not register online today?

JULY-AUGUST 2013 FABB News

A bi-monthly publication of Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling

www.fabb-bikes.org

2013 Fairfax Bike Summit on Bicycle-Friendly Tysons

Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling is planning its 2013 Fairfax Bike Summit, which will focus on “Tysons: A Bicycle-Friendly Community.” The summit will be held at George Mason University on Saturday, November 2, and is open to everyone from interested citizens to community leaders. The registration fee will be $25. Program details and registration information will be available at www.fabb-bikes.org/summit.

Fairfax County is undertaking a major transformation of Tysons in an effort to create livable, walkable, automobile-independent neighborhoods. Four new Metrorail Silver Line stations are part of the foundation of that transformation.

The goals of the summit are to:

The success of the Tysons transformation could influence transit-oriented developments across Fairfax County for the next 40 years. From Merrifield to Springfield, Huntington to Reston, bicycle-oriented transportation options must be integral parts of future developments.

The summit is staged by Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling, in partnership with George Mason University, Fairfax County, and the City of Fairfax. If you are interested in volunteering or exhibiting at the summit, contact us at bikesummit@fabb-bikes.org. Hope to see you there!

FABB Benefits from Tour de Fat

FABB once again volunteered at Tour de Fat, which was a great success this year. The bike festival raised over $20,000 for local bike groups, which included over $2,000 for FABB to further our advocacy goals. Thanks to New Belgium Brewery, WABA, and everyone who participated in Tour de Fat.

Meeting with Fairfax County Police to Discuss Bicycle Safety

FABB recently met with Deputy County Executive Rohrer and Capt. Cullen and Lt. Grinnan of the Fairfax County Police Department Traffic Division to discuss how FABB can work with Fairfax County police to improve bicycle safety. Shane Farthing of WABA also attended. Our primary goal is to work with police to ensure that all officers know Virginia law that applies to bicyclists. We also want police and cyclists to know what can be done when cyclists report harassment by motorists. We agreed that FABB would work with police to help produce a police training video on cyclist rights. If you have expertise in this area and would like to help, contact us.

Fairfax County Applies for Bike Sharing Funding

Fairfax County recently applied for funding of a bikesharing feasibility study through the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Transportation/Land Use Connections (TLC) Technical Assistance Program. "The TLC Technical Assistance Program provides focused consultant assistance to local jurisdictions working on creative, forward-thinking and sustainable plans and projects."

The study will focus on the Reston area. Reston has a network of recreational trails, concentrated mixed-use development at the Reston Town Center, Village Centers located within easy biking distance of most residents, and the soon-to-be-completed Wiehle Ave Metrorail station. Much more needs to be done to make Reston truly bike-friendly but we think bike sharing could work there.

Interactive Fairfax County Bike Route Mapping Tool

The Fairfax County Bike Program recently updated their Bicycle Program website. The site now includes the Bike Fairfax Interactive Map containing GIS layers from the printed route map along with several other map layers. The printed route map was an early goal of FABB and has been available for several years. FABB helped to create the map by advocating for funding and reaching out to local cyclists to map bicycle-friendly routes.

Users can choose from several background maps including streets, streets with topography, elevation, imagery, and a background image provided by National Geographic. One of the most interesting background maps is from OpenStreetMap, a public domain source created by the user community. It contains very detailed trail information in some areas.

The map layers are derived from the paper Bicycle Map but they also include more detailed trails shown in the Fairfax Trail Buddy layer. A sidewalk layer only appears at very large scales. An interesting feature is the ability to click on a map element and find out more information. Clicking on a road symbol brings up the meaning of the symbol (usually Preferred or Less Preferred), who maintains the facility (almost always VDOT), the speed limit, and the bicycle level of service category (A-F).

When the trail layer is queried, the width and surface are displayed along with who maintains the trail. We often find trails in poor condition and determining who is responsible for maintenance is difficult. Now we have a source to find out who to call. While the data are not complete, the interactive map is a great resource.

New McLean Bike Route Signage

Fairfax County Department of Transportation has installed approximately 80 bike route signs providing directions and destination information throughout the downtown area of McLean. Dranesville Supervisor Foust was instrumental in getting funding for purchasing and installing the signs. McLean cyclists helped define the routes and determine sign locations.

Bike route directions point riders to the future Silver Line Tyson-McLean and West Falls Church Metrorail stations. The signage also directs cyclists toward the W&OD trail, Arlington and more. The signs are one of the first installations of wayfinding signage in Fairfax County based on new bicycle sign standards. They will set the standard for bicycle signage throughout the county.

Transportation Funding for New Bike Projects

On July 1 the general sales tax in Virginia increased to 6% as a result of the recently passed Transportation bill. The tax on gas was changed from a flat tax of 17.5 cents per gallon to a rate of 3.5% on the total purchase amount, effectively reducing the tax from 17.5 to 11.1 cents per gallon. User fees like gas taxes have never been enough to pay for our roads. We all pay for our roads whether we drive or not, and now we're all going to pay a little more.

The Transportation bill divides funds into regional projects (70% of funds) administered by regional authorities such as the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and local funds (30%) administered by localities. Bike projects help reduce congestion and should be funded from both pots of money. Some people think otherwise. See a list of regional projects in Fairfax County. Contact your County Supervisor to find out what bike projects are being funded in your district.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, July 13 - FABB Social Ride - Merrifield-Vienna Loop

Wednesday, July 17 - FABB Monthly Meeting

Sunday, August 4 - Tour of the Towns - Tour of Prince William

Wednesday, August 21, FABB Monthly Meeting

Saturday, November 2 - 2013 Fairfax Bike Summit: Bicycle-Friendly Tysons