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.

Comprehensive Bicycle Plan: a beginning?

Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay (D) asked the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Board Chairman Sharon Bullova (D) to consider the creation (or in his words, to "endorse the concept only") of a bicycle master plan for the county at Monday's board meeting. Such a plan would be a blueprint for integrating bicycling into transportation infrastructure and is a popular step among jurisdictions nationwide toward comprehensive multi-modal transportation planning. The motion, which simply called for county staff to investigate the matter and make recommendations, passed unanimously.

McKay expressed alarm at how many parents drive their children to school, the small number of students who walk, and the amount of fuel wasted driving children to school. "We have trails, but trails are only so good as they are connecting to other trails that take people to places like schools," McKay said, further arguing that fuel savings in the transport of children to school has "budget implications" and is "one of the components of why we need to look at an overall plan, both for kids to walk and to bike to school."

A number of supervisors voiced concerns or related issues, including John Cook (R-Braddock) and Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) who emphasized that numbers need to be collected or projected on users and usage of existing and planned bicycle facilities for cost/benefit analysis.

"The numbers right now are low because the facilities are non-existent," McKay explained. Both McKay and Herrity alluded to a "chicken and egg" egg problem or as Bulova -- who seconded the motion -- put it, "build it and they will come."

Supervisor Lynda Smyth (D-Providence) recommended coordination with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government's regional bicycle planning efforts and consideration for bicycle parking ratio requirements at shopping and business centers.

Prompted by Bulova's mention of his flat tire, Herrity prefaced his remarks by talking about his own bicycle commute from his house in Centreville to the Government Center to Fairfax Corner to his office in west Springfield along trails.

Video of McKay's bicycle master plan "in concept only" proposal and the board discussion is available on the county's website. Fast forward to 3:01:30 for the segment on bicycling. The bicycle plan is board matter 44 (page 30) in the board summary (PDF).

Photo credit: bicyclists on trail by Kathleen Tyler Conklin.

Bicycle Parking at the Colonnade at Union Mill

I was at the Colonnade at Union Mill today. Bicycle parking is very poor at this shopping strip. The only store with a bicycle rack is Giant Food (and props to them for that). That one rack is pretty far from the ends of the strip and is only convenient if you're riding to Giant or the shops next to Giant. I do like getting groceries by bicycle, but, frankly, that's one of the more complex tasks to accomplish by bike. On the other hand, many of the other shops are excellent candidates for bike-by errands.

If you wander behind the parking strip, you'll notice what I presume to be employee bikes locked to pipes behind the building. Actually, putting bike parking in the back of the stores at the end (like Panera) isn't a terrible idea, but parking that's somewhat hidden or cabled to the building's pipes is not recommended.

With a large residential area (Union Mills and Little Rocky Run), Centreville High School, Braddock Park, and good shared-use trails along Braddock Road so closeby, there's no reason why bicycle parking shouldn't be more existent and prominent. Maybe the Colonnade should do what Centreville Square did with a bicycle parking rack on an actual parking spot.

This is a good strategy because bicyclists are treated the same as other customers (not second-class shoppers), and the parking spot's prominence close to the storefronts highlights to other customers how nice a ride to the Colonnade might be in the future. People might bike to the Colonnade not because they don't have a car but because they want to ride a bike. Good bicycle parking is attractive and fun, but if you have to lock up to a sign, that's not attractive and and not fun.

TIGER on the I-66 Corridor?

Last week was the deadline to apply for grants under the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, part of the federal stimulus packaged passed earlier this year. The criteria by which TIGER grant proposals are judged are many, but long-term benefit gains with short-term implementation (i.e., projects that can begin now), economy-stimulating potential, and innovation look like they lead the list. The Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments put together a proposal of three packages, each with some impact on the I-66 corridor.

The first package describes a network of priority bus corridors, the centerpiece of which is the K Street Transitway subpackage focused on improving accessibility and mobility in the city core, the final destination for many surburban commuters. The only component actually on I-66 is a ramp in the median of I-66 providing direct access to and from the left express (HOV) lanes to the Vienna Metrorail station. That could mean big time savings for commuter buses that get caught in the rush-hour backup around the Nutley Street exit. It can also mean less disruption to traffic and a safer situation for buses trying to weave from leftmost HOV lane to the rightmost turn lane.

Also mentioned in the package are new park-and-ride lots and information technology improvements such as real-time bus information (with a mobile web application), bus information displays, cameras on buses, computer-aided distpatch and automatic vehicle location technology, and clean-fuel bus replacements.

The second package is a regional bicycle-sharing program that would put bike-share stations across the region, including Arlington County and the City of Fairfax. The region-wide program also includes so-called high-tech intermodal smart hubs that provide transit information and facilitate transfer from different modes (such a bicycle to Metrorail or Zipcar).

The third package details some accessibilty and capacity improvements to the overcrowded Rosslyn Metrorail station.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will announce which projects will receive TIGER grants between September 22, 2009, and February 17, 2009.

• U.S. DOT: "TIGER Grants Frequently Asked Questions"
• MWCOG [PDF]: "Priority Bus Transit in the National Capital Region" (proposal overview)
• BeyondDC: "TIGER!"
• Greater Greater Washington: "Regional Plan Recommends Regional Bike Sharing but Disjointed Bus Improvements"
• The Washington Post: "A Fast Track to a Busway" (July 15, 2009)

Graphic credits: diagram of proposed priority bus corridors by MWCOG, Montreal Bixi bike-sharing by Comrogues).