Let’s make the County Board listen!

[OneEighth]

If trail users take to the roads and take the lane in sufficient numbers (I’m picturing groups not individuals) it might make an impression, too.

[rcannon100]

Remember, there is an election coming up. And the candidates, whose statements are on the forum, expressed different views on this matter. Biggest day to sway policy outcome is election day. Go to the candidates FB pages and twitter and let them know your views. Links to their websites, FB pages, and twitter accounts can be found here http://donaldsonrun.blogspot.com/

[dasgeh]

I’ve been thinking lately:

How much does it cost the County (direct costs like road maintenance and police, or even indirect, like congestion on the roads and reduced safety) when a car drives 1 mile? Let’s say $X for now.
How much does the County (or whatever branch of government) subsidize a Metro ride? Let’s say $Y for now.
How much does the County (or whatever branch of government) subsidize a bus ride? Let’s say $Z for now.

And, how can we get December trail counter data? All I see in through May 2013.

Assuming we could get all of that data, we could say that A fewer riders rode the Custis after the Dec. snow storm than the week before. If all of those riders drove, assuming they have an average of a 7 mile commute (which puts you in the middle of downtown DC from lots of Arlington), they would be costing Arlington $A*X. If all of those riders too Metro, cost is $A*Y. If they all took the bus, cost is $A*Z. If those riders are still riding bikes, but on the street, you are seriously impacting their safety.

Plus, this is just the cost of the people who currently bike most-of-the-time. If people could rely on the trails, they would bike more, saving more in road maintenance, or public transit subsidies.

You get the idea. We could put dollar amount on their foolishness of not clearing the trails.

[americancyclo]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4535[/ATTACH]

[TwoWheelsDC]

@dasgeh 75420 wrote:

I’ve been thinking lately:

How much does it cost the County (direct costs like road maintenance and police, or even indirect, like congestion on the roads and reduced safety) when a car drives 1 mile? Let’s say $X for now.
How much does the County (or whatever branch of government) subsidize a Metro ride? Let’s say $Y for now.
How much does the County (or whatever branch of government) subsidize a bus ride? Let’s say $Z for now.

And, how can we get December trail counter data? All I see in through May 2013.

Assuming we could get all of that data, we could say that A fewer riders rode the Custis after the Dec. snow storm than the week before. If all of those riders drove, assuming they have an average of a 7 mile commute (which puts you in the middle of downtown DC from lots of Arlington), they would be costing Arlington $A*X. If all of those riders too Metro, cost is $A*Y. If they all took the bus, cost is $A*Z. If those riders are still riding bikes, but on the street, you are seriously impacting their safety.

Plus, this is just the cost of the people who currently bike most-of-the-time. If people could rely on the trails, they would bike more, saving more in road maintenance, or public transit subsidies.

You get the idea. We could put dollar amount on their foolishness of not clearing the trails.

Sorry, you lost me at “$X” #mathisscary

[Tim Kelley]

@dasgeh 75420 wrote:

And, how can we get December trail counter data? All I see in through May 2013.

Custis trail counts at the top of Rosslyn Hill:

January 2013
Peds: 10022
Bikes:18776

December 2013
Peds: 7997
Bikes: 14685

[GB]

@dasgeh 75420 wrote:

I’ve been thinking lately:

How much does it cost the County (direct costs like road maintenance and police, or even indirect, like congestion on the roads and reduced safety) when a car drives 1 mile? Let’s say $X for now.
How much does the County (or whatever branch of government) subsidize a Metro ride? Let’s say $Y for now.
How much does the County (or whatever branch of government) subsidize a bus ride? Let’s say $Z for now.

You get the idea. We could put dollar amount on their foolishness of not clearing the trails.

The problem is that while the average cost of bus/metro/driving is higher thanvthe average cost of biking the cost of 1 more person doing any of those is close to $0. The cost of 1,000 extra ppl is still very low.

[mstone]

@GregBain 75425 wrote:

The problem is that while the average cost of bus/metro/driving is higher thanvthe average cost of biking the cost of 1 more person doing any of those is close to $0. The cost of 1,000 extra ppl is still very low.

Especially if ridership is depressed because a bunch of jurisdictions cancel school due to cold.

[Subby]

Is there any liability involved with not maintaining the trails, or are they provided on a “use at your own risk” basis?

[Tim Kelley]

@mstone 75426 wrote:

Especially if ridership is depressed because a bunch of jurisdictions cancel school due to cold.

The snow and ice stick around much longer than the duration of school being cancelled.

[jrenaut]

I think it’s a good idea to show the bottom line impact, however it might be calculated. It’s easy to say, “I don’t bike so biking can’t be important”, but no one likes wasted tax dollars.

It’s good to look at the perceived reliability of the trails – how many commuter services offer “guaranteed ride home”? It’s clearly a big deal for people to know that their preferred commuting method is going to be available, whether it’s a bus or metro or car or bike. I’ve always figured that there’s data suggesting that people are more likely to choose X method today if they know it will be available tomorrow and every other day.

[DismalScientist]

@Tim Kelley 75430 wrote:

The snow and ice stick around much longer than the duration of school being cancelled.

In Arlington? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…

[Tim Kelley]

@DismalScientist 75436 wrote:

In Arlington? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…

Packed down on the trails next to a shaded sound wall, it sure does.

[dasgeh]

@DismalScientist 75436 wrote:

In Arlington? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…

School isn’t cancelled today. How are those trails treatin’ ya?

[TwoWheelsDC]

For me, it’s really just a matter of the County putting its (well, ours really) money where its mouth is. If Arlington isn’t prepared to do the work to be truly bike/ped friendly, it should stop claiming to be so. Maybe it’s going to take LAB downgrading us to Bronze or something. I pay just as much in taxes as my car-commuting neighbors, so when I have to ride to work over treacherous ice-covered trails (and bike lanes in many places) while the streets are dry and gleaming with salt, it makes me just sorta slightly pretty insanely angry.

And it’s not just cyclists that are affected…I mean, look at the ped counts on the Custis. It’s a major ped thoroughfare and it has not been maintained at all; but I, as a homeowner, am legally obligated to shovel the sidewalk in front of my house. Shouldn’t the County be under the same obligation?

[Author]

Posts