[PotomacCyclist]

@PotomacCyclist 127305 wrote:

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Underground people bike too.

A few pictures of a bike in use and as a background prop on an indie movie shoot in the abandoned Dupont Underground (but soon to reopen as an arts center of some sort?).

If anyone saw the Syfy series “Continuum”, one of the main actors from that show, Luvia Petersen, is starring in the short film that was shooting in the Dupont Underground. There might be a couple scenes with someone from the forum too…

[PotomacCyclist]

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Underground people bike too.

A few pictures of a bike in use and as a background prop on an indie movie shoot in the abandoned Dupont Underground (but soon to reopen as an arts center of some sort?).

[PotomacCyclist]

Another article about Reston bikeshare:

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/28635/capital-bikeshare-is-coming-to-reston/

[PotomacCyclist]

I’ve heard of the term, but only through this forum.

There’s a different definition added to the Forum Dictionary thread: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?2783-Forum-Dictionary&p=27991#post27991

If anyone has different definitions, those can be added to that thread.

[PotomacCyclist]

Right after the ceremony, DC Mayor Bowser climbed all the way up the Exorcist Steps.

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Shortly after that, William Friedkin did the same, even though he’s 80 years old!

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[PotomacCyclist]

Sort of Halloween-themed. The Exorcist: William Peter Blatty (the author, screenwriter and producer of the movie), William Friedkin (director of the movie), plus DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, DC Councilmember Jack Evans and Georgetown Univ. president John DeGioia attended the commemoration ceremony and the dedication of a new plaque, marking the cultural significance of The Exorcist movie and the famous Exorcist Steps in Georgetown, on the night before Halloween.

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Those weren’t real priests and nuns. They were actors hired to promote some “live exorcism” broadcast on the Destination America channel tonight. Seems kind of bizarre. They weren’t officially part of the ceremony.

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Director William Friedkin

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Author/screenwriter William Peter Blatty

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[PotomacCyclist]

@dasgeh 127083 wrote:

I agree with you that this is needed, but it strikes me as something the government (DC, Arlington, etc) should be doing. If it’s done through an advocacy organization, it’s almost certainly going to have gaps.

I agree for the most part. But I think there is going to be some pushback, perhaps from some groups like AAA Mid-Atlantic or exurban jurisdictions, about tracking these cases in such detail. There are already other hot-topic issues of public safety where certain groups have basically blocked government agencies from tracking public health and safety issues when they perceive a threat to particular rights or interests.

[PotomacCyclist]

Such a project would have to be done by a larger organization or even a government agency, but there would be funding issues with government too. Maybe a transportation or safety organization could have interns track this as part of an ongoing project. It could provide solid research experience for the students/graduates too.

Do groups like the League of American Bicyclists track this? Probably not, because this would be time-consuming and costly for them too. Maybe a larger group that isn’t exclusively focused on cycling but is concerned about general health and safety? If such an organization could modify existing data-collection projects, that would be easier than starting up an entirely new project from scratch. But those other groups may not be as motivated to devote resources if the project focuses primarily on cyclist injuries and deaths.

Many more pedestrians are killed in car collisions/incidents each year, compared to cyclist deaths. So maybe a good approach would be to work with/through groups that focus on pedestrian safety. I doubt anyone is tracking all the stats and updates nationwide because there are over 4,700 pedestrian fatalities every year. A locally focused database wouldn’t have nearly as many incidents and cases to track.

How many cases? I have no idea. According to my back-of-the-envelope calculations (with a wide margin of error):

Nationwide: ~4,700 pedestrian traffic deaths, ~740 cyclist traffic deaths
I don’t know the exact number of serious injuries, but I’ve read that those can be even greater in number than the death count. For the sake of this simplistic calculation, I’ll say it’s the same number. So 4,700 serious but non-fatal pedestrian injuries, 740 serious but non-fatal cyclist injuries.

Total cases, 9,400 pedestrian cases, 1,580 cyclist cases. About 11,000 total, nationwide.

The DC area has about 6 million people, depending on which areas you include. That’s about 1.8% of the total U.S. population. I think DC death rates are actually lower than average but the rate of traffic crashes/incidents is slightly higher. I’ll just assume the traffic incident rate is roughly the same as the U.S. overall. So 1.8% of the 11,000 number total is about 200 cases.

In other words, I’m guessing/calculating/estimuh-mating that there are about 200 of these cases, including pedestrians and cyclists. The number of cases involving cyclists would be much lower. Maybe 25-30? I know all these calculations are inexact but I just wanted to get a ballpark figure here. I think it’s safe to say that the actual number will be in the range of 15-100, not in the hundreds.

But that would be 25-30 new cases a year, plus ongoing tracking of previous cases. How long should these cases be tracked? The longer the time period, the more work required.

Just some preliminary thoughts about this.

[PotomacCyclist]

@mstone 126881 wrote:

please don’t do this–the spam will be gone long before most people read the offtopic post in the comment thread.

I think it’s useful to get the spam off the top of the forum index/front page. Sometimes the spam posts remain on the top of the index for many hours. On the weekends, sometimes they stay up there for almost an entire day.

[PotomacCyclist]

Although a bill to modify negligence law in DC was reintroduced this year, it has been stuck in the Judiciary Committee since January.

WABA posted about the situation yesterday, along with a link to contact Councilmember McDuffie, Chair of the Judiciary Committee. If you are a DC voter and you are concerned about the delay, contact Councilmember McDuffie.

http://www.waba.org/blog/2015/10/wheres-that-crash-victims-bill/

Another thread on the forum re contributory negligence in DC: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?7362-Contributory-Negligence

[PotomacCyclist]

Update: All 30 weekend MARC Penn Line trains will now have a bike car, starting tomorrow.

http://mta.maryland.gov/news/mta-rolls-out-bike-cars-all-weekend-trains

[PotomacCyclist]

Similar info as the WTOP story, only a few days later. But the Post does include the map of proposed bike station locations.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2015/10/29/capital-bikeshare-is-coming-to-fairfax/

[PotomacCyclist]

@PotomacCyclist 127018 wrote:

Are these the highest bike racks and bike lockers in the DC region, compared to ground level?

This is on the top (3rd) level of the new Sarbanes Transit Center in Silver Spring, adjacent to the MARC station and the Metro station. There are bike racks and bike lockers at ground level at the Metro station, on both sides of Colesville Rd. (bike lockers only on the north side). More bike racks between the Metro station and the MARC station, along what is marked on Google Maps as the Metropolitan Branch Trail although the small spur hits a dead end, several blocks away from the rest of the MBT.

Then there is a large set of U racks on the top (3rd) level of the Transit Center, near the entrance from Bonifant St. and Ripley St. At the far end of the level, overlooking Colesville Rd. below, is a set of 20 bike lockers.

I don’t recall any other bike racks or lockers being located so far above ground in the greater DC region. I’ve mapped a lot of bike racks this year and none of them were located above ground level, I believe. Bike racks in parking garages are usually located on the ground or basement levels. There is a new bike parking room at the Reston-Wiehle Ave. Metro station. Someone added it to RackSpotter but I haven’t been there myself. On Street View/Google Maps, the structure appears to be a two-story building. I’m not sure if the bike room is on the ground level or the 2nd level. If it’s on the 2nd level, it would be one of the few above-ground bike parking areas in the region, along with the Silver Spring Transit Center.

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I’m not sure if cyclists know about the bike racks and lockers on the top level of the transit center. As you can see in the photo, there isn’t a single bike at those bike racks. The transit center itself was very busy. Nearly 50 bus routes and services now have stops at the center and there are the convenient connections to the MARC trains and the Metro Red Line.

The bike racks at ground level were in use, although the set of racks alongside the Transit Center only had a couple bikes locked there. The racks in/under the Metro station had more bikes.

The top-level racks and lockers would actually be more convenient for cyclists arriving from the east of the Transit Center. But it wouldn’t make sense for people traveling to the Metro station, because those upper racks are two levels away from the Metro. Or maybe not as many people bike then transfer to a bus.

[PotomacCyclist]

I just sent you a test message. It seems to be working now.

[PotomacCyclist]

I slowed down a bit in August and September when I thought I might actually do some real training instead. That didn’t quite work out. (I would run for a week, then stop running for 7-10 days, then run a week, and so on. So I didn’t get into peak form at all. Not even mediocre form.)

I already covered the densest areas in terms of bike racks, which is in central DC. The other neighborhoods do not have as many bike racks so closely placed together over such a large area as central DC has. I’m starting to fill in a few areas now but it’s only 5-10 racks here and there. I stopped by one of the new buildings in the Mt Vernon Triangle neighborhood to map those racks recently.

Most of the large construction projects will add bike racks upon completion. It’s pretty insane just how much construction is taking place in NoMa, Mt Vernon Triangle, downtown DC, Gallery Place, Foggy Bottom, Capitol Riverfront and the SW Waterfront. I count at least 80-85 projects of medium to large scale in central DC, including The Wharf, the new DC United soccer stadium, Capitol Crossing over I-395 and the REI Uline arena flagship store. The Wharf, which won’t open for a few years, by itself will add hundreds or possibly thousands of new bike racks to DC. The total number of medium/large projects is probably well over 100.

Then there’s all the new construction in Arlington, both current and planned for the near future. More than a dozen large buildings in the pipeline just in Pentagon City/Crystal City/Potomac Yard, all of which should have new bike racks. Plus many new buildings on the way in Alexandria, in Potomac Yard, North Old Town, Old Town and elsewhere.

I doubt I’ll do any long RackSpotter runs over the winter, but you never know. I think 1800 might be a reasonable target by the end of the winter. 2000 will be tougher.

Whenever I read about local stories and development updates now, chances are that I now know the exact block that they show in the photo. It’s interesting to get to know the area in such depth, something I wouldn’t have done without this mapping project. It gives me a different perspective on development, local history and all the changes in this area, particularly the rapid changes over the past 10-15 years. I’m still thinking about using this info for a fictional work someday. Even if I don’t use any places by name, I can still get ideas about what various urban and suburban neighborhoods are like in terms of physical infrastructure, transportation networks, local flavor and oddities (like some of the off-the-wall murals and statues I’ve seen in DC), and the various characters I see, both good, bad and neutral.

I also see this as my big contribution to Arlington/DC cycling, bike planning and information sharing. Got to make my mark somehow, and it’s not going to be through winning any races (unless every other contestant drops out before the start, or if they all run over a pile of broken glass and I don’t).

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