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Meeting Planned to Discuss Capital Bikeshare Expansion

by ARLnow.com | June 1, 2011 at 1:40 pm | 1,575 views | 46 Comments

With about 30 new Capital Bikeshare stations planned for the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor over the next 6-12 months, the county is seeking input as to where exactly the new stations should go.

Planners have already identified 33 potential CaBi expansion sites throughout the corridor. They have now scheduled a public meeting to discuss the proposed station locations and to gather additional location suggestions. The selection criteria for new stations stipulate that the stations get 4+ hours of direct sunlight daily, be on flat ground and avoid creating “a dangerous situation for street users,” among other requirements.

The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on June 27 , in the Cherry/Dogwood rooms of the county government building at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard.

A list of the proposed station locations, after the jump.

Meade and Arlington Blvd (Rosslyn)
Queen and Arlington Blvd (Rosslyn)
Key and Quinn (Rosslyn)
15th and Scott (Courthouse)
Wilson and Uhle (Courthouse)
15th and Veitch (Courthouse)
Veitch and Key (Courthouse)
Veitch and 20th (Courthouse)
Adams and Clarendon (Courthouse)
Adams and Lee (Courthouse)
Franklin and Wilson (Courthouse)
Fairfax and Danville (Courthouse)
Lee and Calvert (Courthouse)
Wilson and Edgewood (Clarendon)
Fillmore and Clarendon (Clarendon)
Fillmore and Washington (Clarendon)
Highland and Wilson (Clarendon)
13th and Hartford (Clarendon)
Lee and Custis Trail (Clarendon)
Fairfax and Washington (Clarendon)
Fairfax and Kenmore (Virginia Square)
Monroe and 9th (Virginia Square)
Wilson and Oakland (Virginia Square)
Pershing and Glebe (Virginia Square)
Quincy and 10th (Virginia Square)
Quincy and Wilson (Virginia Square)
Quincy and Glebe (Ballston)
Pershing and George Mason (Ballston)
Fairfax and Randolph (Ballston)
Stuart and 9th (Ballston)
Henderson and George Mason (Ballston)
Wilson and Glebe (Ballston)
Fairfax and Glebe (Ballston)

Map via Arlington County

Erin

would be nice to overlay the stations on the County’s bike network map
- ArlGIS
  
  …Actually we can. We have the data to produce such a map internally. The bike staff though contract out that map to a private vendor
  - Confused
    
    So… who is that private vendor and where/when can I find the overlay they produce?
  - Dan
    
    Is this a serious comment ??
    - Confused
      
      Yes, Dan. 3 questions there. Do you have something to add?
      - http://gis.arlingtonva.us ArlGIS
        
        Yes, if you look at the notice on the Bike Map it’s produced by Bowring Cartographic. But they don’t provide the data. We have all the raw GIS data at the county. We have a stripped down version we use internally. I can see about adding the proposed station locatons to our intrernet mapping site if anyone is interested.
      - bb
        
        I’d say it would be nice to be able to overlay the point data on Google Maps/Earth. Maybe a KML file while you’re at it. I say this because of the Google Maps bike route layer that’s already available.
      - http://gis.arlingtonva.us ArlGIS
        
        We are working towards making some of our map services available live via KMZ. However, it’s dependent on some changes ESRI needs to make to their GIS server software before we can do it.
      - Confused
        
        Thanks for the helpful answers, ArlGIS.
- TGEoA
  
  Then it would show the folly of the proposed placement
  - http://www.exactcom.com.au/proofs/KombiPics/Wrecks/bayBushOvergrown.jpg Overgrown Bush
    
    On one hand, the high density living in the RBC would seem to be beneficial to the venture. After all, more people should equal more bike riders. Of course, the metrorail is also right here. It would seem beneficial to make larger stations in the RBC, but have fewer of them and to put other stations in parts of Arlington that does not have rail, but is near a trail or within riding distance of a rail station. Maybe there is a longer-term plan not yet revealed.
    - Vinh An Nguyen
      
      Of course, the metrorail is also right here
      
      That why you want the CaBi stations nearby…so people can go a further distance to and from the Metro than they would be able to walking.
      - http://www.exactcom.com.au/proofs/KombiPics/Wrecks/bayBushOvergrown.jpg Overgrown Bush
        
        Yes, but if there is not a station at that further distance, then what?
      - TGEoA
        
        Except all of the CABI stations are within walking distance of the metro stations already.
        
        It will be only a matter of time before some drunk Clarendouche uses CABI for their ride home.
        
        Natural selection FTW.
      - LyonSteve
        
        Isn’t that the point of the bikeshare? Metro is so unreliable that its not worth it to take it at night, at the risk of having to wait 20-30 minutes in a concrete oven – I mean station.
    - SB
      
      Exactly. I would think one station at each metro with maybe a couple between and the rest outside of easily walkable distance would make the most sense. I don’t really see why I would use CABI to get around unless Metro wasn’t working.
      
      In a dream world it make living further out of the main corridor accessible.
Jacob

The locations in Fort Myer would be most welcome.
- Jacob
  
  Fort Myer Heights, that is.
Ben

Something near Wash Blvd and Pershing would be handy. I see a lot of folks walking down that way to the metro.
Babak

I get the stations by Metro stations, but the rest should be scattered in public areas in residential neighborhoods (houses or apartments) which don’t have easy access to Metro.

eg, Multiple locations on Lee Hwy, Lyon Hill, Cherrydale, Wilson Blvd W of Glebe etc.
- Shirdizzle advocate
  
  Agreed! The people who need bikes the most are the ones who aren’t near the metro. I would’ve loved to do bike to work day, but I would’ve had to drive to a bike station, which kind of defeats the point. They would get a lot of use in Shirlington, which is close to many trails, but not the metro.
  - Vinh An Nguyen
    
    You do know that the bikes are only lent for a half hour.
    - doodly
      
      The bikes are lent as long as you like, though more than an hour gets very expensive.
      
      You don’t have to rent a bike all day to commute – you just rent and return in the morning, and again in the evening.
- http://blacknell.net/dynamic MB
  
  That’s the direction it’s headed. However, successful bike systems (elsewhere) depend in large part upon building out a dense network, cell-by-cell (instead of, say, spreading stations far and wide, then filling in the gaps as resources allow). Right now Arlington’s networks are growing from Rosslyn*, and I think that after we run this line down the R-B corridor (which will result in plenty of use), we’ll see the network branch out from there into places like Westover, Cherrydale, etc.
  
  *And hopefully Crystal City, southward to Alexandria. Barriers like 395 make bike connections between the existing stations there and points north less than attractive to most, unfortunately.
GTdino

Definately dont need any bikes in south arlington they would all get stolen…
Derp.

At this point — wouldn’t it be cheaper to just buy everyone a bike?

Also, are they going to do anything to address the biggest problem regarding biking in Arlington – the lack of adequate bike racks at heavily trafficked locations?
Derp

any reason none of my comments are showing up? blocking email/user and even ip has limits.

It would be nice if ARLnow would instead publish a commenting policy so users know what/why a comment doesn’t go through or is deleted and also to establish some consistency. I know you view this as self defeating, but i don’t think people are out to break the rules or looking to write up something that will be deleted. Right now it just comes off as arbitrary and heavy-handed censorship.
- Maria
  
  http://www.arlnow.com/about/terms-of-use-privacy-policy/
  
  See #7. I do, however, notice inconsistency in the removal of comments. For example, I once had a comment removed because I called out a guy for calling someone a “moron” by sarcastically calling him on myself. Immature, I know, and perhaps worthy of removal, but the comment by the guy who initially called someone else a moron was NOT deleted. It was strange.
  - Maria
    
    *calling him onE
  - http://www.arlnow.com ARLnow.com
    
    There’s simply not enough time in the day to explain ourselves every time a comment is removed. But since there’s some interest, we’ll do it here.
    
    This is a case of personal attacks and unsubstantiated allegations by several commenters. Such attacks are not allowed.
    
    Moderating the comments section is like refereeing a hockey game. You try to let them play, but when it gets out of hand you have to step in. And sometimes you have to send people to the box to cool things down.
    
    Bottom line, if you’re going to make accusations, be prepared to back them up with evidence. Sustained anonymous, unsubstantiated attacks on individuals will not be tolerated.
    - Derp
      
      Scott — I can forward you some of the emails backing this up.
      
      I decided to be anonymous because last time i made a comment the owner of boccato, Christian, sent aggressive and profane emails to me.
    - CW
      
      On a quasi-related note, Derp, the new format seems to have a long lag for comments to post sometimes. Usually they’re instant as usual, but on maybe 10% they take 5 minutes or so and every once in a while I’ve seen them take up to 20 minutes to post.
  - Derp
    
    Ah… thank you. that must have been updated. hadn’t seen it described in that much detail, much less all the other legal stuff.
    
    Unfortunately, despite these guidelines, I’m with you in that i still find the moderation policy very inconsistent. I recalled an experience with the owner of Boccato, who was extremely rude and aggressive towards me. Nothing was untrue or false and it was deleted. reworded it to take out the profanities he used and still deleted. Then I tried commenting on this post and nothing shows up until i switched to a proxy.
LyonSteve

They are really dragging their feet with these new stations. Many bought the living social deal with the information that Arlington would have more stations installed this summer. Now its 6-12 months?
bob

Yep. And that station in Courthouse is still in planning/approval stage.

Apparently BIXI doesn’t build stations or bikes until it gets an order. I suspect Arlington just hasn’t done that yet.
- LyonSteve
  
  The Courthouse station delay is Arlington, not the operator of Bikeshare. This station was supposed to be one of the 4 original in N Arlington but Arlington pulled the plug at the last minute.
  - http://blacknell.net/dynamic MB
    
    Please do share the whole story.
LyonSteve

We can also thank the Canadians for bailing out this system. It’s obviously a resounding financial success:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/05/17/bixi-bailout-package-approved.html
- doodly
  
  They’ve been very successful in other cities though.
ACG

South Arlington NEEDS these bike stations so residents have an alternative to busing/driving/walking to Clarendon/Ballston/Pentagon City. Walter Reed at Columbia Pike, at Rite Aid or at the now empty Ski Chalet would be perfect!!
Take it down a notch

Regarding the possible locations in Ballston, I’m wondering if the county is planning any changes to Glebe Rd to make it better for cycling in that area. It’s 4-6 lanes wide with large intersections and many aggressive drivers. I foresee lots of cyclists using the sidewalks instead of the road, which has its own set of dangers.
- novanglus
  
  Glebe is a VDOT road, not county. Don’t hold your breath
MC

There are a lot of factors in play. First, need to have bikes near density as both starting and ending points. Second, want to encourage rides for journeys that metro or buses don’t make sense, because too short relative to wait, or because existing transit lines don’t match own needs.

I would like to see more support for north-south routes, so people can bike between Pentagon City and Columbia Pike, or Ballston and Sherlington. But would need to figure out the net traffic for such routes to determine proper distribution of bikes.
Michael H.

I’d like to see at least a couple stations a few blocks south of Clarendon/Court House. That will facilitate north-south trips between Pentagon City and the R-B corridor. Right now, it’s difficult for many cyclists to make it from Pentagon City to Court House within the 30-min. limit (before incurring additional per-ride fees).

Unfortunately, the bike trail network isn’t so great between Pentagon City and Clarendon/Court House. One option is to head over to the Mt. Vernon Trail and go to Rosslyn, but that adds a lot of extra time and distance to the trip. The other option is to ride on a patchwork route of narrow sidewalks, side roads and a few trail sections.

MetroRail doesn’t connect Clarendon/Ballston to Pentagon City directly. CaBi could make it much easier to make that trip without relying on a car or bus.

As for the delays in rolling out the stations, it’s the result of the funding plan. The money isn’t available immediately. Once funds become available from specific programs, new stations will get funded.

D.C. is expanding this summer. They also plan to ramp up CaBi expansion with possibly another 40 stations next year (above and beyond this year’s expansion). Maybe Arlington can find new groups to co-sponsor stations. Private groups in Crystal City and Potomac Yards have helped to fund the early rollout of CaBi in Arlington. Other groups can help to speed expansion in the R-B corridor. Maybe they can help to fund stations along Columbia Pike, Lee Highway and in Shirlington.

For those who can’t attend the meeting, be sure to provide your input via email. The email address is listed on the BikeArlington page linked in the article.
GTdino

This is all Arlington needs, more bikers that dont think traffic laws apply to them….
- LyonParker
  
  You’re right! It’s not the drivers fault http://wapo.st/ip5Wha

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