Arlington National Cemetery Banning Bikes

[chris_s]

“The Department of the Army is planning to almost completely forbid riding a bicycle in Arlington National Cemetery. Proposed new regulations will require Congressional approval. Evidently Cemetery leadership views riding a bicycle as a purely recreational activity, disrespectful of the proper decorum and decency of the place, and not as a form of transportation.”

It is not straightforward, but you can comment on the proposed regulations. Instructions are as follows:

You may submit comments, identified by 32 CFR part 553, Docket No. USA-2015-HQ-0046 and or by Regulatory Information Number (RIN) 0720-AA60 by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Department of Defense, Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer, Directorate of Oversight and Compliance, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Mailbox #24, Alexandria, VA 22350-1700. Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and docket number or RIN for this Federal Register document. The general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

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[AFHokie]

@Steve O 147282 wrote:

Bad behavior is reflective on the individual who commits it, not on the class of people, nor the mode of transport, with whom that person is associated.

Remember, this is the US Army we’re talking about. An organization where careers are made by enacting blanket policies that affect the many to address issues caused by the few.

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[Judd]

@Steve O 147282 wrote:

Bad behavior is reflective on the individual who commits it, not on the class of people, nor the mode of transport, with whom that person is associated.

I’d change this to “Bad behavior *should* be reflective on the individual who commits it.” Humans stereotype though, particularly of groups that are small and that they have limited experience with.

[lordofthemark]

@KLizotte 147283 wrote:

True, but cyclists are a minority and tend to get noticed more; either because we look different (helmets, spandex) or simply ride a different kind of vehicle than most. For better or worse, people categorize (and stigmatize) outliers into one group. Ignoring that seemingly immutable law of nature is naive and can work against us. Unless the majority of people are biking, cyclists will always be the minority and held to a different standard of conduct. I’ll jaywalk without much concern but won’t do the same on a bike because I know it will be viewed differently by those around me. Same person but different lenses.

C’est la vie.

And then they wonder why minorities get clannish and paranoid.

[acorn]

I so feel like trolling them by showing up every morning at 8 am at the cemetery gate on my bike, with my family pass.

[dasgeh]

A reporter is doing a story about this. If you’d like to speak with her, especially if you have a personal connection (eg a loved one buried at ANC), please PM me your email address or email me at bike gillian gmail com. Thanks!

[mstone]

@dasgeh 147537 wrote:

A reporter is doing a story about this. If you’d like to speak with her, especially if you have a personal connection (eg a loved one buried at ANC), please PM me your email address or email me at bike gillian gmail com. Thanks!

I’m confused at this point what the controversy is. If you have someone there you can bike in with a family pass just as with a car, right?

[OneEighth]

@mstone 147550 wrote:

I’m confused at this point what the controversy is. If you have someone there you can bike in with a family pass just as with a car, right?

Yes. If you wear a helmet while driving your car, that is…

[dasgeh]

@KLizotte 147261 wrote:

Well, if some bad apple cyclists did cut through some funeral processions, we did shoot ourselves in the foot. The other arguments offered one can quibble with.

Having commuted through daily for 4 years, I saw far more disrespectful pedestrians than disrespectful cyclists. BS

[dasgeh]

@mstone 147550 wrote:

I’m confused at this point what the controversy is. If you have someone there you can bike in with a family pass just as with a car, right?

The controversy is that the Army made a decision which a lot of us disagree with. What about that confuses you?

[mstone]

@dasgeh 147575 wrote:

The controversy is that the Army made a decision which a lot of us disagree with. What about that confuses you?

Hey, if all it is, is “I don’t like it”, fine. For all the talk of the optics of this or that, throwing advocacy effort into getting special privileges at a national cemetery seems horribly counterproductive.

[dasgeh]

@mstone 147594 wrote:

Hey, if all it is, is “I don’t like it”, fine. For all the talk of the optics of this or that, throwing advocacy effort into getting special privileges at a national cemetery seems horribly counterproductive.

But it’s not special privileges. It’s the same privileges that people on foot enjoy. It’s different than people in cars. I think people on bikes are more like people on foot than people in cars.

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[KLizotte]

@dasgeh 147574 wrote:

Having commuted through daily for 4 years, I saw far more disrespectful pedestrians than disrespectful cyclists. BS

That’s Trump’s argument. Hey, Clinton groped more women than me!!!!!!!

[chris_s]

The Cemetery is so big, it is a barrier to movement in the County. It is especially a barrier to people on foot and on bicycles. It is even more of a barrier because it is directly adjacent to Ft Myer which is also a barrier. It is even more of a barrier because it almost immediately adjacent to the Pentagon which is also a barrier.

These institutions need to be good neighbors. They need to recognize that when they ban or restrict biking and walking they are harming mobility for the citizens of their community. If they feel that they need to do that for some very good reason, then they need to mitigate that harm. At a minimum, the Cemetery, the Fort and the Pentagon need to be willing and active partners with the County to improve the bike & pedestrian infrastructure that would allow people to get around the outskirts of their facilities if they aren’t going to allow them to go through. That is NOT happening and so people like me who live in the shadow of Fort Myer have bike commutes that are longer and more dangerous than necessary as a direct result of the actions being taken by these institutions.

[mstone]

@chris_s 147605 wrote:

These institutions need to be good neighbors.[/quote]

Well, except they don’t really. It’s important to recognize who has the strength in a negotiation, and in this case it certainly isn’t cyclists.

That said, asking for better routes around the major installations is reasonable. On the other hand, demanding an unlimited right to commute through ANC over the objections of the military is a losing fight with really horrible optics.

[chris_s]

@mstone 147606 wrote:

Well, except they don’t really. It’s important to recognize who has the strength in a negotiation, and in this case it certainly isn’t cyclists.

That said, asking for better routes around the major installations is reasonable. On the other hand, demanding an unlimited right to commute through ANC over the objections of the military is a losing fight with really horrible optics.

Sorry, poor phrasing. These institutions SHOULD be good neighbors and it is not unreasonable to expect them to be. They rely on the help and goodwill of Arlington County in many ways as well – for instance without Arlington’s transportation infrastructure none of their employees would be able to get to work.

[Author]

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