Proposed Capital Bikeshare Locations opposed by Bluemont Civic Association – vote

[arlmom]

I am a resident in Bluemont, in North Arlington, and I read in the latest issue of the Bluemont Civic Association’s newsletter that there was a resolution put forward at the March 25, 2015 meeting to oppose placement of two Capital Bikeshare stations as supported by Capital Bikeshare, Arlington County, and residents that suggested those locations. I think that opposing the stations is a step in the wrong direction for supporting a bike friendly Arlington.

Please consider coming to the April 22 General Membership meeting to speak in favor of these Capital Bikeshare locations and voting to support them and oppose the resolution. The meeting is at 7:30 pm at Arlington Traditional School, 855 N. Edison St., Arlington, VA 22205.

I very much support the proposed locations and hope that others will too.

Here’s the language on the resolution found in the April 2015 newsletter:

The Bluemont Civic Association (BCA) welcomes the interest expressed by Capital Bikeshare and Arlington County in locating additional Bikeshare stations within Bluemont and notes that Bluemont residents recently supported such an expansion in its Neighborhood Conservation Plan.
Notwithstanding that general support, the BCA is particularly opposed to certain proposed Bikeshare locations on N. Harrison Street and along the Bluemont Junction Park for the following reasons.

N. HARRISON STREET
A letter, dated March 11, 2015 signed by Mr. Jason Hardin, consultant to Arlington County Commuter Services proposed a Capital Bikeshare Station located on North Harrison Street and Fairfax Drive.

The BCA is particularly opposed to this location because of the potential safety hazards having a Capital Bikeshare station at North Harrison Street. The potential safety hazard includes traffic obscuration based on the 6’x3’ Bikeshare station marketing and mapping sign from the St. Ann parking lot; the potential safety hazard to the bike renter exiting the bike rack directly onto a heavy residential traffic flow with no bike paths or speed controls except speed bumps placed on North Harrison Street to calm the traffic; the potential safety hazard to the St. Ann elementary school children by increasing access to school grounds by bike renters, short cutting to Custis Trail and; the potential safety hazard caused by a dangerous dip in the road that obscures the full view of the Capital Bikeshare station until the last few seconds traveling south from Washington Boulevard on North Harrison Street between 11th and 10th Streets.
 The BCA is also opposed to the location based on its close proximity to single family residences, the change in the neighborhood appearance, and potential parking complications.
 As an alternative Bikeshare station location to serve the same general area, the BCA suggests that Capital Bikeshare consider locating a station ¼ mile west down Fairfax Drive at the junction of Westover Park and Bon Air Park.
Therefore,
Be it resolved that BCA opposes the location of a Bikeshare station on any part of North Harrison Street with particular emphasis at the location close to Fairfax Drive as detailed in the March 11, 2015, letter referenced above to residents of the Bluemont neighborhood.

BLUEMONT JUNCTION PARK/BIKE TRAIL
Capital Bikeshare, through an Arlington County Commuter Services consultant, has also advised BCA of plans to install a bike rental station along the Bluemont Junction Trail between N. Emerson St. and N. Jefferson St. With regard to this proposal, BCA calls attention to the following:
 BCA has worked closely with County staff for many years on the use and appearance of the beautiful and unique stretch of the Bluemont Junction Park between N. Emerson and N. Jefferson Streets.
 This stretch of open park is used by many neighbors and Arlington Citizens for many purposes and is one of a very few unbroken open green spaces in any neighborhood in Arlington.
 The bike stations comprise an approximately 45 foot long concrete slab, commercialized signage, and brightly painted metal structure that is inconsistent the with open green space character of the Bluemont Junction Park.
 The stretch of the Bluemont Junction Park between N. Emerson and N. Jefferson traverses a narrow area that is close to single family homes which will be disproportionately affected by the look, use, and truck servicing of the station.
 Neighborhood streets along the Bluemont Junction Park have experienced problems with commuter parking and neighbors are concerned about parking connected to the bike station.
 BCA neighbors have made constructive suggestions and offered to work with BikeShare on reasonable alternative locations, including along Wilson Boulevard, where bike lanes will be created this Spring.
 BCA neighbors are deeply troubled about setting a precedent of installing single purpose infrastructure in the Bluemont Junction Park between N. Emerson open green space.
Therefore,
Be it resolved that BCA opposes the installation of a bike share station at any location in the stretch of Bluemont Junction Trail between N. Emerson and N. Jefferson Streets.

Here’s a link to the newsletter: http://www.bluemontcivic.org/newsletters/BCA_News_201504.pdf

Topic

[baiskeli]

Thanks, Potomac. I guess if you do the numbers, the cost factor makes sense. That’s not immediately obvious since you pay to use CaBi but not to ride your own bike. Maybe it’s something for CaBi to use with marketing.

[Steve O]

@baiskeli 114624 wrote:

That’s not immediately obvious since you pay to use CaBi but not to ride your own bike.

But it’s a one-time fee, so it doesn’t really cost anything to ride once you’ve paid it. I just renewed (early) to get the $75 annual rate and am now paid through November of 2016. Any rides I take for the next 18 months at this point are essentially free (unless I go over the 30 mins). Riding my own bikes also feels free, but I’m incurring future costs through depreciation and maintenance that I don’t incur on CaBi.

Fuel costs (food) may be slightly higher on CaBi, since it’s a heavier bike and requires more energy to move over the same distance.

[PotomacCyclist]

But moving all that extra weight of the CaBi bikes increases the workout, despite the slow speeds. (Someone riding on a stationary bike or trainer can be burning a lot of calories without moving forward at all.) Meaning that long-term health costs are likely to go down slightly. Or a lot.

While most of the regulars here are likely to be riding a lot, no matter what bike they have, CaBi can get formerly inactive people moving, on active transportation. If they keep up with it, even on a moderate program, their long-term healthcare costs can decrease significantly. Good for them and good for everyone else (because all medical costs are ultimately shared, through public and private insurance programs or ER subsidization).

Some back-of-the-envelope calculations: It’s estimated that junk food diets and sedentary lifestyles cost the U.S. $190-200 billion (with a “b”) a year in avoidable healthcare costs (because those lead to much greater rates of diabetes, early-onset heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.). Plus it’s now thought that Alzheimer’s is really best described as diabetes type 3, which means that it too is affected by junk food diets and sedentary living. Alzheimer’s costs the U.S. $200-250 billion a year. So the total tab for junk food diets and sedentary living could be anywhere from $400-450 billion a year. Of the 318 million people in the U.S., about 245 million (more or less) are adults (18 and over). Divide the estimated extra health costs by the number of adults and you end up with as much as $1,800+ per adult per year. Perhaps not all of those costs are truly avoidable, but a big percentage of it is. That’s a lot of money.

Bikeshare by itself won’t transform the culture overnight, but it can play a useful role, in normalizing the idea that adults can and should be active, and that it’s possible to fit such activity into a busy weekly schedule, while saving money in the short term as well.

[baiskeli]

@Steve O 114625 wrote:

But it’s a one-time fee, so it doesn’t really cost anything to ride once you’ve paid it. I just renewed (early) to get the $75 annual rate and am now paid through November of 2016. Any rides I take for the next 18 months at this point are essentially free (unless I go over the 30 mins). Riding my own bikes also feels free, but I’m incurring future costs through depreciation and maintenance that I don’t incur on CaBi.

Yeah, that makes even more sense. I was thinking about the hourly rate rather than membership rate.

[baiskeli]

@PotomacCyclist 114626 wrote:

Bikeshare by itself won’t transform the culture overnight, but it can play a useful role, in normalizing the idea that adults can and should be active, and that it’s possible to fit such activity into a busy weekly schedule, while saving money in the short term as well.

You don’t have to sell me on bikeshare, i was just intrigued that you ride it so often despite owning two bikes.

[PotomacCyclist]

I also forgot to mention the comfort factor, which is separate from the convenience element but related. I can ride around and get a lot of exercise on CaBi, whether I’m commuting or doing some other type of ride, but I don’t feel like I’m contorted into an unnatural position as I am on the tri bike. Even on the MTB, it takes a few minutes before I get used to the more rickety feeling of not having the stability of the CaBi bike.

I wouldn’t say that the wide seats are good for really long rides, but for shorter rides, the upright position is comfortable. (I have done a few multi-hour rides on CaBi, during off-peak hours. I dock and undock the bike to avoid per-ride fees. I never do this during rush hour. I think I’ve ridden as long as 3 hours on CaBi.)

[PotomacCyclist]

I’ll add that I always wear a helmet on the tri or mountain bike. I wear a helmet most of the time on CaBi too, but not always on some short trips. Those tend to be in low-traffic areas or at low-traffic times of the day.

[scoot]

I too tend to use CaBi instead of my own bicycles whenever my destinations are in CaBi territory. I would tell you why, but PotomacCyclist already hit all of my reasons and then some

[Author]

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