More for Metro?

Despite grim budget situations, some transit advocates are calling on local governments to contribute more for transit services. The regional transit authority that operates Metrorail and Metrobus has a dire budget situation of its own and may have no choice but to make serious cuts to service and hikes to fares.

How could Metro ask local governments for more when most other government operations are expected to be cut drastically? And if I drive, why should I care?

Service cuts, fare hikes, or a combination of the two could lead to what many have described as a "death spiral." As transit services get slower, become less frequent, lose capacity, cost more, and serve fewer neighborhoods, more people will switch to driving themselves where they need to go, further reducing transit ridership and revenue while putting more stress on highways.

Students Hope to Pilot Campus Bike-Share Program

George Mason University may feel like a commuter school with large parking decks and campus streets ruled by cars, but some students are trying to change that dynamic. Surrounded by bicycles in various states of repair, boxes of bike parts, shelves of donated tools, and a borrowed repair stand, organizer Christi Kruse fixes bikes as she jokes with friend and co-organizer Jake Knibb in a trailer on the university's Fairfax campus.

Kruse and Knibb, both biology undergrads, have dubbed their trailer the Bike Village and with help from a student environmental group and the GMU Sustainability Office, they're trying to turn their village into a part of campus transportation services. Their vision, according to Kruse and the group's Facebook page, is a cheap bicycle rental service, providing students a two-wheeled ride to class on a semester basis for less than the price of the average textbook and without the hassle of having to transport their bicycle from home. Students and visitors arriving to GMU by bus or car could hop on a bike to zip around campus. Those living on campus or in the area could ride these low-cost bicycles around GMU and the greater Fairfax area.

At the core of the program would be the Bike Village itself, a student-run bicycle co-op that refurbishes donated bikes for the program, rents them out on a daily or semester basis, provides service and repairs, and hosts workshops where students can socialize and learn more about fixing bikes and bicycling in general.

That's the goal, which -- along with free cookies -- is what brings these young cyclists to the open shop night in the trailer each week. Organizers and volunteers are amassing and refurbishing donated bicycles, filing paperwork, and reaching out to other students and school authorities to bring their ideas to bike racks across campus.

Kruse and Bike Village volunteers aim to pilot the first on-campus bicycle-share program in the state.

Photo credits: GMU sign and street by tj hanton. Bike Village volunteers by author; from left to right: Christi Kruse, Tiffany Guinn, and Jake Knibb.