Bike Outreach Opportunities.

[dasgeh]

@cvcalhoun 91706 wrote:

And some day, maybe “suburbs” will even include Maryland?

Well, if MD would get on the Kidical Mass bandwagon, we could take them seriously as suburbs…

J/k. Kidical Mass is already in Rockville and Gaithersburg. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why it’s not in Bethesda/Chevy Chase and Takoma Park/College Park/Silver Spring. Anyone know any bikey parents out there willing to organize? It’s really simple: find a route, tell people about the route (we can help with that), ride the route.

[cvcalhoun]

While I yield to no one in my enthusiasm for biking, my children are both grown and living elsewhere. And producing another child for the purpose of starting a local Kidical Mass (even if I were biologically capable of doing so) would seem excessive…

@dasgeh 91727 wrote:

Well, if MD would get on the Kidical Mass bandwagon, we could take them seriously as suburbs…

J/k. Kidical Mass is already in Rockville and Gaithersburg. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why it’s not in Bethesda/Chevy Chase and Takoma Park/College Park/Silver Spring. Anyone know any bikey parents out there willing to organize? It’s really simple: find a route, tell people about the route (we can help with that), ride the route.

[Dirt]

WABA is starting a new project in Old Town Alexandria called #StopCampaign. Basically we’re helping promote lawful cycling at major intersections in the area.

Alexandria City is a an area that is working very hard to make the streets better for cyclists. They really need to! The area is growing in popularity, attracting more people every year. The amount of parking places and driving lanes can’t keep pace. Alexandria is working to support other ways to get around town.

The city faces significant resistance to their efforts to improve cycling, as was evident during the battle to get bike lanes put in on King Street. One of the biggest things that cycling opponents can use to strike down efforts to improve bike infrastructure is the behavior of cyclists at stop signs.

Please consider being a part of this project. There are many great things you can do.

1) On the simplest level, please pay attention to traffic signs in Alexandria and yield to pedestrians.

2) Consider taking some time out of your afternoon and picking up a sign to help convince others to ride lawfully.

3) Spread the word of the published Facebook events to attract others to join us.

4) When you see us, snap a photo and post it on Twitter. Tag @WABADC and #StopCampaign in your post

Here’s the invitation to the first event in Alexandria: https://www.facebook.com/events/529319217213117/
It is this Thursday afternoon.

Some things about this… This campaign depends on positive interactions. We are NOT yelling at cyclists who don’t stop. We ARE talking positively to all cyclists and thanking the ones that stop. Nothing good happens when someone yells at a cyclist for failing to heed a stop sign.

Thanks for taking a little time to read and contribute.

Best wishes,

Pete

[mstone]

@Dirt 96297 wrote:

The city faces significant resistance to their efforts to improve cycling, as was evident during the battle to get bike lanes put in on King Street. One of the biggest things that cycling opponents can use to strike down efforts to improve bike infrastructure is the behavior of cyclists at stop signs

I’m disappointed that WABA is buying into this. There is no moral justification for denying safety improvements to an entire class of people because of the actions of some subset of that group, and it is despicable to even acknowledge such an argument.

[dkel]

@Dirt 96297 wrote:

Nothing good happens when someone yells at a cyclist for failing to heed a stop sign.

Which is why I don’t yell. But it doesn’t keep me from wanting to. Instead, though, I redirect that emotional effort into praying that the person who just ran the stop sign doesn’t get injured or killed from such behavior.

Thanks for this campaign, WABA, and thanks for posting about it, Pete.

[dasgeh]

@Dirt 96297 wrote:

WABA is starting a new project in Old Town Alexandria called #StopCampaign. Basically we’re helping promote lawful cycling at major intersections in the area.

I love you guys, and usually, I love your work. However, I don’t think this is the best use of WABA’s time. Seriously, we have yet to get a WABA staff member on a Kidical Mass ride, because they’re stretched too thin, but they have time to do this? Sorry, but I think those priorities are off.

[dbb]

@dasgeh 96312 wrote:

I love you guys, and usually, I love your work. However, I don’t think this is the best use of WABA’s time. Seriously, we have yet to get a WABA staff member on a Kidical Mass ride, because they’re stretched too thin, but they have time to do this? Sorry, but I think those priorities are off.

So let us all commit to help WABA with the stretch problem. I am sure we all know at least one cyclist who regularly rides for recreation or as a commuter who isn’t a member of WABA. If we can get those riders to join, WABA will have more resources for the stuff we all think is important.

[americancyclo]

@dasgeh 96312 wrote:

I love you guys, and usually, I love your work. However, I don’t think this is the best use of WABA’s time. Seriously, we have yet to get a WABA staff member on a Kidical Mass ride, because they’re stretched too thin, but they have time to do this? Sorry, but I think those priorities are off.

How would adding a WABA staffer to a Kidical Mass ride provide outreach? I make the assumption that most adults that show up for Kidical rides are already cycling advocates. How do you see the relationship between WABA and the various kidicals around the area evolving? I’m also unaware of the percentage of WABA staff that are parents of young children (maybe close to zero?) so that might tie in. Are parents/kids too niche, or already addressed by other WABA programs?

maybe new thread? (besides making kidical rides more awesome, I heart WABA folks!)

[lordofthemark]

@dasgeh 96312 wrote:

I love you guys, and usually, I love your work. However, I don’t think this is the best use of WABA’s time. Seriously, we have yet to get a WABA staff member on a Kidical Mass ride, because they’re stretched too thin, but they have time to do this? Sorry, but I think those priorities are off.

I am speaking only for myself (having only attended half a BPAC meeting so far), but I also attended the public meeting on the Alexandria Bike Ped Master Plan update, and my strong sense is that the City is very committed to encouraging cycling in multiple ways – expanding CaBi, more infrastructure, more encouragement, etc. It seems to me worthwhile to disarm what political opposition we do face, and a lot of that is in Old Town, and to the extent it is at all rational, is connected to the behavior of folks on Union Street.

[lordofthemark]

@mstone 96305 wrote:

I’m disappointed that WABA is buying into this. There is no moral justification for denying safety improvements to an entire class of people because of the actions of some subset of that group, and it is despicable to even acknowledge such an argument.

Should we pass on taking action that will, realistically, advance biking politically, for the sake of taking a moral stand on what is a proper argument?

[dasgeh]

@lordofthemark 96322 wrote:

Should we pass on taking action that will, realistically, advance biking politically, for the sake of taking a moral stand on what is a proper argument?

I don’t think it will advance biking politically. Some people will see at least one cyclist behaving badly, and they will extrapolate and make ridiculous arguments. Good decision makers (and engineers, etc) look at all the arguments and figure out those that are ridiculous. WABA can help make it clear that the extrapolation argument is ridiculous in many ways:
1) They could pull together easy to present data on the economic benefits of cycling, tailored to our area
2) They could pull together easy to present data on the benefits of cycling to the municipality (save $$ in road maintenance, e.g.), tailored to our area
3) They could pull together safety data tailored to our area (who is really a menace on our roads)
4) They could suggest infrastructure upgrades that will mitigate conflict between bikes and cars and peds
5) They could promote family biking to change the face of “cycling” in the region (because who wants two beautiful kids on a long-tail hit by an inattentive driver? and who cares if the mom on the long tail stops 100% at the stop sign)

[worktheweb]

@Dirt 96297 wrote:

WABA is starting a new project in Old Town Alexandria called #StopCampaign. Basically we’re helping promote lawful cycling at major intersections in the area.

…

1) On the simplest level, please pay attention to traffic signs in Alexandria and yield to pedestrians.

I commute on Union Street everyday and have seen the heavy police enforcement push on this route. I agree that people should yield to pedestrians, and to other road users who have the right of way. Unfortunately, the enforcement isn’t in the areas where people aren’t doing this (say King Street and Union, where you set up your sign), it is where there is no traffic at all in the mornings (Wolfe and Union & Queen and Union, for example). They are essentially shooting fish in a barrel, charging people $76 for slowing down, looking at the intersection to make sure it is clear, and continuing. I’ve seen people get tickets when no other traffic has been present. They may be violating the letter of the law, but certainly not its spirit. Indeed, forcing bicyclists to stop at every single stop without regard to traffic conditions decreases overall safety. Having no desire to get hit with a ridiculous fine, I stop at every single one now — and I’ve had numerous cars dangerously pass me at stops (in the past, my average speed was the same as theirs, no negative interactions). I’ve also come close to being rear-ended by other cyclists who don’t expect me to stop, even though I signal it. This asymmetric enforcement does nothing but harm the safety and finances of an already vulnerable class of road users. If Alexandria truly wants to be “bicycle friendly” they should consider adding the Idaho Stop to the books and then go after cyclists who fail to yield. After Idaho did it, accidents went down, which I think is the point, isn’t it? Then we can educate the public about why a different standard for cyclists is safer and more efficient, and hopefully, everybody would be happier as a result.

I appreciate that you’re getting out there trying to make things better, and for that I thank you. However, as a card-carrying member of WABA, I would rather have the organization advocating reasonable laws and appropriate enforcement instead of implicitly rubber stamping the status quo.

[dasgeh]

@americancyclo 96316 wrote:

How would adding a WABA staffer to a Kidical Mass ride provide outreach? I make the assumption that most adults that show up for Kidical rides are already cycling advocates. How do you see the relationship between WABA and the various kidicals around the area evolving? I’m also unaware of the percentage of WABA staff that are parents of young children (maybe close to zero?) so that might tie in. Are parents/kids too niche, or already addressed by other WABA programs?

maybe new thread? (besides making kidical rides more awesome, I heart WABA folks!)

First off, your assumption is very, very wrong. I would say 95% of the adults on my rides aren’t even WABA members, and probably 75% don’t know what WABA is. At least in Arlington, most riders find out about it from listservs (schools/neighborhoods), friends, and the occassional shout out in the press. Very few are hardcore-cyclists-before-they-had-kids. I was just talking to two this morning who didn’t even know what WABA was (one of whom has been on pretty much all of my rides). Why would they — these are people who mainly ride with their kids around Arlington — to school, to the store, to the park — many don’t commute by bike — most are “fair weather”. WABA has done very, very little for family cycling especially in Arlington (WABA hasn’t done much for cycling in Arlington until recently, leaving it to the ABAC and BikeArlington, despite the fact that those are by definition not advocacy organizations). (BikeArlington, on the other hand, has been a big supporter of Kidical Mass Arlington and of family biking in general).

You’re right that most WABA staffers don’t have kids — which is part of the reason WABA has had a HUGE blind spot when it comes to family biking. Look at the images of bikes on their walls, at their parties, in their materials. Almost no family bikes. It’s like long-tails and bakfiets and midtails and Madsens and child trailers don’t exist.

Why does it matter? Because we need policies that support family biking. We need e-bikes to be legal wherever bikes are legal.

We need infrastructure that accommodates family bikes. Just yesterday I was stuck by the White House at bollards too narrow to accommodate the Boda’s running boards. Apparantly, WABA has worked with the Secret Service on access in this area, but the access won’t work for family bikes. We need curb-cuts that work with our bikes, turns that work with our bikes. And we need routes that are safe enough to take the most precious cargo. The L Street cycletrack and M Street cycletrack don’t cut it for families.

We need help coordinating the various family biking efforts around the region. The KM organizers all (kinda) know each other, but we’re all volunteer, and we give a lot. WABA could also help coordinate the SRTS coordinators in the area (the SRTS Partnership splits this area, for some odd reason) and share best practices for cycling in particular.

Parents/kids are probably the fastest growing demographic of cyclists in the area (I was stopped by 3 families at my kids’ small preschool this morning wanting to know more), but WABA has been, until very recently, totally blind to it. We don’t even have data on it.

And so we (the KM organizers) asked WABA if they could maybe, at least once, send a staffer or two to a KM ride to see what it’s like, see what they’re missing, see all of the challenges we face on our crazy bikes. We asked 4 months and about 10 local KM rides ago. Instead, WABA staffers are out asking people to stop at stop signs.

So you see why I think WABA has its priorities off?

[lordofthemark]

@dasgeh 96327 wrote:

I don’t think it will advance biking politically. Some people will see at least one cyclist behaving badly, and they will extrapolate and make ridiculous arguments. Good decision makers (and engineers, etc) look at all the arguments and figure out those that are ridiculous. WABA can help make it clear that the extrapolation argument is ridiculous in many ways:
1) They could pull together easy to present data on the economic benefits of cycling, tailored to our area
2) They could pull together easy to present data on the benefits of cycling to the municipality (save $$ in road maintenance, e.g.), tailored to our area
3) They could pull together safety data tailored to our area (who is really a menace on our roads)
4) They could suggest infrastructure upgrades that will mitigate conflict between bikes and cars and peds
5) They could promote family biking to change the face of “cycling” in the region (because who wants two beautiful kids on a long-tail hit by an inattentive driver? and who cares if the mom on the long tail stops 100% at the stop sign)

I am not sure it will not advance biking politically. Sure some people will make ridiculous arguments, but if you can move a few fence sitters, that might help. Plus having WABA out there not only may reduce the number of cyclists riding rudely or dangerously (note merely technically illegally) it shows that WABA, organized cycling, is pushing for better cyclist behavior – we can’t control everyone else, but it shows we are trying. As a side benefit, it may result in the cyclists being safer – thus its not just a political effort, but an extension of WABA’s educational efforts. I mean if a city cycling class encourages you to be a PAL, then reinforcing that is a benefit.

As for steps 1 – 5, my sense is that most are already being done, and are having an impact. Certainly at the master plan meeting there was safety data, and there plenty of suggestions on infra upgrades. There was also discussion of bike education in the schools. I know there was a Kidical Mass ride in Alexandria recently, though I don’t know what the WABA involvement was.

[lordofthemark]

@worktheweb 96330 wrote:

I appreciate that you’re getting out there trying to make things better, and for that I thank you. However, as a card-carrying member of WABA, I would rather have the organization advocating reasonable laws and appropriate enforcement instead of implicitly rubber stamping the status quo.

Just to clarify, in Virginia bike law is (mostly) made in Richmond. The City of Alexandria cannot choose to allow Idaho stops. Virginia Bicycling Federation usually takes the lead in lobbying the legislature. WABA usually supports their efforts. This past session Va law was changed to require drivers to give 3 feet when passing (previously it had been 2 feet) This year I assume that the dooring bill and the due care when following bill will come up again.

[Author]

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