2017 Biking Goals

@Judd 151855 wrote:

That’s awesome! On days that you only commute one way to find yourself mostly choosing the downhill route?[/quote]
Most definitely. Generally, my wife does morning drop-off and I do evening pick-up. So in the evening, if I’m at an offsite meeting or otherwise cutting it too close to get to school, or if the weather is too nasty, we would take Metro home and leave my bike parked at work. In the morning, unless the weather is horrific, it’s too easy of a ride to pass up, even if my bike is at work and I have to go CaBi. Besides, where we live, the walk to metro plus train ride is about 20 minutes each way when things are working well. Walking to the nearest bikeshare plus ride down the MBT plus walking into the office is about the same in the morning, and taking my own bike isn’t much more than just the walk to Metro, so it’s a pretty easy decision in the morning.

Also, for our situation, to do the commute one way uphill (so the evening) it’d have to be either after having left my bike at work (so I have the trailercycle to get our daughter home) or because, for whatever reason, I’ve been absolved of my pick-up duties that evening and, for some reason, I got to work through some other means in the morning. Offhand, I think that only happened once last year (during Safetrack where my wife met us for dinner after school so I left my bike at work, then because of Safetrack there were no CaBi bikes nearby nor any trains running nearby, so I ended up taking a Car2Go to get to work).

Now that my daughter is geared up enough for most weather scenarios (latest purchase was a pair of snow goggles so her “eyeballs wouldn’t freeze out”), we’re losing the evening weather excuse, at least for cold and/or wet conditions.

@Judd 151855 wrote:

This is probably the most challenging biking goal of all time. At my agency it’s $20 a month and administratively burdensome. Have to keep a log of commute days, provide receipts and fill out a monthly certification form and then another form every 6 months to stay enrolled. I’ve decided it’s not worth the hassle and I still get the regular transportation benefit as an emergency back up. (Like the time I worked so late that the bike room was locked up for the night.)

The $20/month and at least some of the administrative burden is an unfortunate effect of the IRS rules/regulations based on what Congress passed for transportation benefits, so it’s not just your agency. What’s really annoying is that to claim the $20/month you cannot receive any other benefit during that month (thanks, Congress!), so it becomes an all or nothing thing on a month-to-month basis, and has to be planned for in advance (i.e., I can’t just not use my Metro benefits, which get returned to the agency as a credit on the next SmartBenefits invoice so didn’t actually cost anything but still was a benefit provided, and be able submit a claim for bicycle expenses). And yes, it requires receipts and all sorts of other annoying paperwork, so odds are I just wouldn’t bother because I hate that sort of paperwork and like the people that have to process it. Or I’d short change the amount and just include my CaBi membership and maybe one other receipt.

I think really, that goal is more about fully embracing the idea of “I’m going to ride my bike” every day and actively removing the crutch of “well, it’s a little windy/rainy, so let’s just take Metro since that’s a benefit that’s already paid for.” If we had a longer/more arduous commute, it’d be a silly goal to get rid of that emergency backup, but given where we live (with no plans of moving) and where my agency is (with no plans of moving, at least for the next few years…), I think it’d be good for me. In other words, the goal is really just the tangible outcome of cementing a broader shift in philosophy.

@Judd 151863 wrote:

Also, the $255 is an “up to” amount. You fill out paperwork detailing where you commute from, which method and how much it costs. The benefit then becomes average commute days per month times daily cost. It’s deposited direct to a SmartTrip card and anything unused at the end of the month is pulled back. Interestingly there are a lot of controls in place for the puny $20 a month bike benefit and relatively few controls in place for the regular transportation benefit. There’s not really anything stopping me from applying for the transportation benefit, riding my bike every day and letting my roommate use my SmartTrip card for her commute.

you damn scofflaw cyclists will do anything just to scoff a law wont you

@Judd 151863 wrote:

Also, the $255 is an “up to” amount. You fill out paperwork detailing where you commute from, which method and how much it costs. The benefit then becomes average commute days per month times daily cost. It’s deposited direct to a SmartTrip card and anything unused at the end of the month is pulled back. Interestingly there are a lot of controls in place for the puny $20 a month bike benefit and relatively few controls in place for the regular transportation benefit. There’s not really anything stopping me from applying for the transportation benefit, riding my bike every day and letting my roommate use my SmartTrip card for her commute.

Also be aware you can be audited by your organization, I was at full subsidy amount since I lived far away and would need all of it. Then I started biking more frequently and now only take metro once or twice per month. Our parking and transportation emailed me and said I was being audited, and reduced my subsidy to $64 a month. Apparently they get dinged for having lots of money left in the pot at the end of the year since the unused funds are taken back by the organization (but not given back to the fed) but doled out annually based on a reported need. It makes the organization look like they are asking for too much money.

Or something…If I need more than my subsidy allows though I can email some guy in the office and he’ll give me some hours if I explain why I need them.

@Steve O 151888 wrote:

Back in the days when one received a paper farecard each month that never expired, I imagine there may have been some bike commuters who saved them up for years until they left their agency in 2006 and milked those babies for about five years afterward.

There was quite the black market for paper farecards back in the day. I also remember some guy at Union Station trying to sell my mom a $100 farecard for $10. He had done the old “put a piece of tape where the running tally is printed” trick, then removed the tape to make it look like an original card, and was very upset when I asked to check the balance at the machine before we made the purchase.

Back when they handed the paper fare cards for the subsidy, I would “average” my commuting costs so that my subsidy covered two days a week, knowing that I would use Metro more during the winter months. I would be able to store up cards during summer that I would use during winter.

Did someone mention coffee club goals? In 2016 I was pretty much a regular at HDCC, CCCC, and WTFCC. I have attended MPCC a couple of times (at least once in 2016?). My goal for 2017 is to attend FCC in DC at least once.