[PotomacCyclist]

There are still a limited number of rebalancing vans. I’ve read complaints about the Pentagon Row and Pentagon City Metro bike stations. The PR station fills up early on weekday evenings while the PC Metro station empties out. I don’t use those stations during rush hour that often but I do find the PR station to be full on some weekday evenings.

Maybe Motivate will continue to get more vans. But I would still be prepared for rebalancing issues in locations where there is a clear direction of travel during rush hour. (Some stations tend to get rebalanced by users, because rush hour commuters aren’t the primary users. But it doesn’t seem that will be the case for the Westover stations, if Steve O is correct.)

[PotomacCyclist]

Existence and the universe begins and ends at the Arlington County border. Forum Fact #639.4667

[PotomacCyclist]

If my employer wanted to pay for a CaBi membership, I wouldn’t turn them down. But I don’t know the specifics of this.

I found this older announcement. Different agencies can have different arrangements for CaBi memberships.

http://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2010/10/agencies-launch-bikeshare-program/32488/

[PotomacCyclist]

As for self-driving cars, Tesla has already started toward that goal with their latest software update. Their cars aren’t self-driving but for highway conditions, they require much less human control than other cars do. For liability reasons, Tesla still recommends that drivers keep one or two hands on the steering wheel. Their cars will be able to stay in a lane and avoid other cars and trucks under relatively steady highway conditions. The software doesn’t work at slower speeds and in more complicated urban driving situations (frequent 90-degree turns, stops and starts, interactions with pedestrians and cyclists).

http://www.wired.com/2015/10/tesla-self-driving-over-air-update-live/

[PotomacCyclist]

Some stats on the deadliness of road/trail users:

In 2013, 32,719 people died in the U.S. because of motor vehicle crashes. The number and percentage of victims by category:

Car occupants – 12,639 / 39% of the total number of fatalities
Pickup/SUV occupants – 8,285 / 25%
Large truck occupants – 586 / 2%
Motorcyclists – 4,381 / 13%
Pedestrians – 4,735 / 14%
Cyclists – 741 / 2%

There are differing stats about how often the various parties are at fault in crashes involving different categories (driver/pedestrian, driver/motorcycle, driver/cyclist). I’m not sure I buy into some of those stats because we’ve all seen how police officers frequently assume the non car driver was at fault. Another factor is that in a crash between a car and a pedestrian or a car and a cyclist, it’s unlikely that the pedestrian or cyclists will be uninjured and alert (or even alive). So there is often just one witness, the driver. Many/most people will not give a neutral account in such a situation, so the blame will frequently be shifted to the pedestrian or the cyclist.

When I walk up to intersections as a pedestrian (which I do frequently), the first driver to reach a red light will run that red light about 1 in 4 or 1 in 3 times. I see this day after day after day. I also see many pedestrians walk into crosswalks or jaywalk while only paying attention to their smartphones. I see some cyclists (mostly those who appear to be bike messengers — sorry but it’s true and it has been my observation time and again) run red lights. Who is at fault in most crashes? I have no idea, but I know that drivers break traffic laws as often or more often than so-called scofflaw cyclists or pedestrians.

Whatever the numbers, we know that drivers are involved with tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. every year, or about 90 deaths a day. This includes drivers who die in these crashes. At the very least, we know that the operation of cars is deadly for many people. That can’t be argued. Even if you accept an assertion that pedestrians/cyclists are responsible for a third of the car/pedestrian or car/bike crashes, that still means that drivers are still killing thousands of pedestrians and cyclists every year because of their behavior or external factors (sunlight in the eyes of the driver, etc.).

On the other side of the coin, there are very few deaths caused by cyclists each year in the U.S. I’ve never been able to find any statistics because the numbers are apparently so low. I read one assertion that cyclists cause about 5 or 6 deaths a year in the U.S. That’s across the entire country over an entire year. But I can’t find any reports or studies on that. I read through a multi-year study of road deaths in New York State. There was less than 1 cyclist-caused death on average per year over the 4 or 5-year span of the study. New York is one of the most populous states. If there is less than 1 cyclist-caused death there per year, I tend to accept the statement that nationwide, cyclists may only cause 5 or 6 deaths a year.

In any case, that’s a very low number. More people will die of MRSA infections (18,650 deaths in 2005 although the number has been decreasing rapidly) or bee stings (40 a year) or being crushed by televisions or furniture (25-30 a year). Terrorism deaths in the U.S. are also relatively low, under 20 a year for foreign-actor attacks, but not counting domestic attacks.

Just some numbers to support the need to address the greater threats to the health and safety of most Americans. [Smoking causes 480,000 deaths a year, although many of those deaths take place somewhat later in life. Smoking does greatly increase healthcare spending and decreases the quality of life and work productivity, for a total bill of $300 billion a year, with only $25 billion received in tobacco-related taxes.]

Some of the sources:
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/state-by-state-overview
http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/more-americans-killed-by-bees-and-wasps-or-falling-televisions-than-by-terrorists?news=844603
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/news/20071016/more-us-deaths-from-mrsa-than-aids
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/

[PotomacCyclist]

For some reason, I never really liked Donkey Kong. I used to play Galaga, Space Invaders, Ms. Pac-Man and Centipede, but rarely Donkey Kong.

[PotomacCyclist]

Another sporting goods chain has filed for bankruptcy, although City Sports intends to continue operations. They are closing the stores in Georgetown, Pike & Rose (Rockville) and Silver Spring.

They don’t sell bikes but they do carry some bike gear and apparel. Maybe people can find good deals on bike shorts or jerseys. Or bike lights and helmets. They have a larger selection of running shoes, running gear and gear for other sports/activites like baseball, weight training, yoga, tennis, et al.

The Georgetown store will close for good after Oct. 26. I went there a couple weeks ago. They didn’t have many cycling-related items but they did have some gear that could also be useful for winter cyclists: tights, fleece pullovers, athletic socks. Many people here also run and hike or practice yoga or play other sports. If so, you may want to check out those stores before they close permanently.

Their other stores appear to be staying open, for now. They have locations in/near Farragut West, Gallery Place and Bethesda. They just opened a new store at the Mosaic District in Dunn Loring, in September. Interesting timing.

http://www.citysports.com/Georgetown-City-Sports-Store.aspx

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2015/10/another-city-sports-closure-and-two-quirky-pop-up.html

[PotomacCyclist]

Southgate Rd. could be removed, depending on the specifics of the land swap between Arlington and DOD/Arlington Cemetery.

Previous plans showed the addition of wide paved bike paths on both sides of Columbia Pike, from S. Joyce St. to the new Washington Blvd. bridge. This was when the County was still planning to build the Columbia Pike streetcar. The Pike would have been straightened out along the Air Force Memorial hill.

With the streetcar canceled and the land swap still in limbo, it’s anyone’s guess what the eastern section of Columbia Pike will look like. But if the Army wants to use the former Navy Annex site for an expansion of the Cemetery, they will still remove Southgate Rd. after a land swap deal is finalized.

Nothing will happen in the short term. But eventually Southgate Rd. will probably be removed or closed to through traffic.

[PotomacCyclist]

From a recent Arlington County email bulletin:

Upcoming Paving on Columbia Pike, Four Mile Run

Crews will begin mobilizing in the next two weeks for milling and paving operations in the following areas:

Columbia Pike between Washington Boulevard and South Walter Reed Drive – Work will primarily be performed at night, between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., to minimize traffic disruption.

Four Mile Run between South George Mason Drive and Columbia Pike – Work will take place during the day and is dependent on weather.

These sections were chosen to be repaired as part of this year’s County Paving Schedule.

http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAARLINGTON/bulletins/1204d98

[PotomacCyclist]

@Steve O 126375 wrote:

AND…be ready to restock it. A lot of the people who catch the #2 bus to Ballston or EFC in the morning are going to figure out that it’s quicker to grab a bike, and the dock will be empty by 8:30 am.

Capital Bikeshare is still struggling with that issue in DC, especially in the Columbia Heights/Adams Morgan/Shaw areaa. Rebalancing might be more difficult in Westover because it’s far away from the center of the bike network, even when just looking at the Arlington stations. Motivate (the operator of CaBi) set up bike corrals in DC on weekday mornings in the summer/fall, one near Franklin Square and one at Foggy Bottom, to handle the demand for dock spaces.

But they haven’t figured out what to do about all the stations emptying out in Columbia Heights/Adams Morgan/Shaw on weekday mornings. It’s tougher to get bikes out there than to set up a downtown bike corral. At the bike corrals, they remove bikes as the station fills up. They park the bikes off to the side of the station, in a taped off area. That gives them time to have rebalancing vans show up whenever they can. But when they are trying to bring bikes to empty stations, they will need to deal with rush hour traffic.

Unfortunately, I think you can expect a similar situation at the Westover stations on weekday mornings. They may also fill up quickly on weekday evenings.

[PotomacCyclist]

@dasgeh 126391 wrote:

I wonder want Steve O thinks about barrels of wine blocking the bike path…

Good for cyclocross practice.

If you can jump over a barrel, then you should be ready for a measly old 1-ft barrier.

But if you try and fall, would you be going over a barrel and falling? (Instead of going over the Falls in a barrel? Sorry.)

[PotomacCyclist]

Farmville bikes

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9853[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9854[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9855[/ATTACH]

[I’ve never played the game. I just found these today.]

[PotomacCyclist]

There was a period of almost a year where there were almost no spammers. Before that, the spam problem was really bad, a hundred times worse than it is now. So the software people (VBulletin or whoever it is) managed to figure something out to block the spammers. But then the spammers figured out their own new tricks and started to trickle in again.

[PotomacCyclist]

There have been a lot more spammers this year who have managed to get around the antispam tools. Some guy started multiple threads advertising some product a few days ago. Maybe he is upset that his threads got deleted?

[PotomacCyclist]

My Federation ID No. is 044162 34 Alpha 0 Niner Dog Dog Picard

Guard this info with your lives.

Oh and my SSN is 01011 1100 00111 0000 1110

[Author]

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