Bike Parking and Showers

[americancyclo]

http://groups.google.com/group/fedbikes

[Bilsko]

I’d like to revive this thread. While at a meeting in an office in Crystal City yesterday, I wondered what it would be like to work there as far as bike facilities go. I saw tons of riders coming and going along Crystal Drive, many parking on the street and some parking in garages. But what about that building that I was in (200 12th St, to be exact)? It was clearly an older building, and without any front desk staff, I didn’t have an easy way of finding out about bike parking, showers, etc. AFAIK, its not considered a Federal Bldg – despite housing a number of DoD/NASA contractors – so I don’t think it will show up on the FedBikes site.

So I wonder if there is any online DB or map-based tool to identify which buildings around DC have good (or bad) bike facilities. If not, I’d be willing to get a Google map set up for everyone to contribute to (as anonymously as Google will let you, of course) – something like this: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=216472585696087910941.0004dcc26682027b381d7

Or it could just take the form of a searchable spreadsheet, at the cost of being user-friendly

[dasgeh]

@Bilsko 52091 wrote:

So I wonder if there is any online DB or map-based tool to identify which buildings around DC have good (or bad) bike facilities. If not, I’d be willing to get a Google map set up for everyone to contribute to (as anonymously as Google will let you, of course) – something like this: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=216472585696087910941.0004dcc26682027b381d7

Or it could just take the form of a searchable spreadsheet, at the cost of being user-friendly

What about this? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_EcN4QMZDBIyN4keLlRXJCy1lw8qciJyQzXmcIzt17g/edit#

I think the maps idea is cool, but your link didn’t work for me, so I’m not really sure what you’re talking about.

[Bilsko]

@dasgeh 52095 wrote:

What about this? https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_EcN4QMZDBIyN4keLlRXJCy1lw8qciJyQzXmcIzt17g/edit#

I think the maps idea is cool, but your link didn’t work for me, so I’m not really sure what you’re talking about.

Odd, not sure why the link didn’t work – I checked in different browsers and different computers and it came up alright…

The survey is great, but what I’m looking for is a way to identify (on a map or from a list) whether or not a certain -specific- building has bike facilities. Lets say you’re looking for a new job and want to know (without having to ask HR) what the bike situation is….voila! Bike Facilities Building Map to the rescue!

Or – you’ve got jury duty. What buildings around the courthouse can you use for indoor bike parking….

Basically just crowdsourcing what Google Maps already does with Car-parking lots.

[americancyclo]

It would also be nice to list the gyms that do a minimal cost shower only plan for those folks that may not have showers in their building, but know of a nearby friendly gym.

[dasgeh]

We could always adjust the survey to be just about the building one works in, ask for the address, and ask whether visitors have access to the facilities. It adds to a rather long survey, but it’s useful.

The Googlemaps link you posted [Strikethrough}ust brings up googlemaps for me (in both firefox and IE)[End] works now. Odd. But that could work too.

[Bilsko]

I like the idea of adding an address field to the survey (optional of course) – the only difficulty (as it is with managing metadata) is getting consistent address entry.

If I had more GIS skillz, I’d take the tax-lot/owner GIS data set from gis.dc.gov and figure out a way to normalize the buildings/address in a manner that made for consistent data entry. Don’t know if Arglinton and MD suburbs has good GIS datasets too.

The problem, as I see it, is that the tool (as I’m proposing it) has a pretty narrow scope of use. Some thoughts:

— For some of us, CaBi does away with the bike parking issue altogether (although not necessarily the shower/locker facilities)
— As far as long-term use of a building’s bike parking goes, the turn-over tends to be pretty low. People don’t change jobs or buildings *that* often.
— For shorter term use, the tool could be helpful, but there are almost always passable options for street parking, and the added effort of finding a building with bike parking in the garage (that is open to the public) may not pay off.
–At least for the BA forum community, posting a parking question to the forums will typically generate some response – often almost as quickly as it would take to research the info solo.

All of which is to say, its probably not worth all that much effort. It just stemmed from my curiosity about bike parking in a building that was unfamiliar to me.

[dasgeh]

I think it’s a good addition to the survey, though, and if someone wants to take the responses we get and get them up onto a map, even more awesome. I have no GIS skillz, but I envy those that do.

[Bilsko]

So, having spent 2 days in my new office building. Part of this massive complex in Crystal City, I have some updates.
There is essentially a single garage that spans the entire footprint under all the buildings. Sections are segregated for cars (with certain areas only accessible by certain entrances) but bikes can get around the entire lot without difficulty.

There are a few inverted U-locks near the garage entrance to the health club and some subpar racks strewn elsewhere around the main garage floor. As far as I can tell, there are no bike cages.

For my office building (and I suspect the others) there are no locker rooms / showers. So I’ll get a (not cheap) membership at the Health club and use that.

I did see a bike stored in the 9th floor office supply / storage room of my building. So today, I wrote a note asking my Fellow Bike Commuter for suggestions on getting the bike upstairs (I’m hoping for in-my-office bike parking) without causing anyone else to get upset. (This is one of those buildings that has a lot of DoD contractors and a lot of Air Force brass, so I dont want to piss anyone off.)

Hopefully I didn’t come across as creepy. I should have invited them to Friday Coffee Club.

[jopamora]

Here is some info for bike commuting in Crystal City. Not sure if the information is all up to date. Maybe contact Robert Mandle

We can talk more at FCC

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