Migrated to windy-run.blogspot.com

So long and thanks for all the fish.  Well, maybe not from SW DC.  Anyway, this blog has migrated to Windy Run. We hope you have enjoyed your time here as much as we enjoy pickled herring.

Federal Agencies as Corporate Members in Capital Bikeshare

Part of the League of American Bicyclists consideration for whether a workplace is a Bike Friendly Business is whether it has or participates in a bike share program. Bike sharing has many advantages: It can serve as a public transportation option for staff; it can also provide onsite bicycles available for exercise (think about borrowing a bike after work for a few laps around Hains Point!). 

One option is for an agency to acquire and maintain its own small fleet of bikes. Another option in the Washington D.C. area is Capital Bikeshare (CABI). 

How CABI Works: CABI is a bike sharing program where individuals may use a bike for 30 minutes for free, and may ride the bike from station to station. Members pay for accounts (daily, annually). After they set up a membership, they will receive a key that permits them to check out bicycles. If they borrow, ride, and then park the bike within 30 minutes at a CABI station, they can immediately get another 30 free minutes. Members can continue to use the bike in 30 minute intervals throughout the day. If they use the bike for more than 30 minutes, they pay a rental rate designed to promote short trips. There are 175+ bike stations in Washington DC, Arlington, Alexandria and other local jurisdictions. This makes it easy to pick up a bike and bike across the city, much as if the individual might use public transportation.

Agency can recommend to CABI that a station be placed near their location; or they can make arrangements with CABI to pay for a station that can be located at their location. 

CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP

A normal annual membership is $75. Agencies can also participate by acquiring corporate memberships at the following rates:

• LEVEL - AGENCY PAYS - INDIVIDUAL PAYS - WHO PAYS FOR MORE THAN 30 Minutes?
• Platinum - $50 - $0 - Agency
• Gold - $50 - $0 - Individual
• Silver - $25 - $25 - Individual
• Bronze - $12.50 - $37.50 - Individual

"All Platinum, Gold and Silver level corporate partners are provided with one complimentary on-site Confident City Cycling Class, taught by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. Classes must have a minimum of 20 attendees in order to take place. "

"Marketing of the Capital Bikeshare program to your employees is provided as part of all corporate memberships." 

"All corporate members will be recognized as “Corporate Partners” on the Capital Bikeshare website "

 Several government entities already have corporate memberships and are listed as Partners.

GOLD

• USDA Foreign Agricultural Service
• U.S. Department of the Interior
• U.S. Green Building Council
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management
• The World Bank

SILVER

• International Monetary Fund

In short, even at the lowest level, Bronze, an agency's participation in the program cuts staff's costs by half. That's a pretty good deal for not too much effort. A good way to start is with a pilot project with a hand full of membership to see if there is interest among staff.

September 12th :: Sunrise over the Potomac

Final National Bike Challenge Local Team Ranks and Scores

Final scores and ranks for local teams, based on their National scores (because of the  way NBC set up the challenge, if a team has members in MD and VA, those members will not be scored together on the LOCAL Leaderboard. The only way to see the score for a team for all of its members is to look at the National Leaderboard).

Ranking includes teams I know about; I am sure I missed some teams. This is the score for the ENTIRE PERIOD. "Change" is the change in team rank comparing the Final rank to the July rank. A negative change means the team went down in the rankings - a positive change means the team went up.

The full chart should be visible at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...Xc&output=html 

Outstanding achievement by the local teams, both in terms of miles pedaled, and also in terms of the numerous teams that participated!

Team / Natl Score	National Rank Final	Final Points	Change
Bike Arlington B	12	37818	-3
BikeArlington	14	37310	3
Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail Club - Team 1	24	33203	2
Bike Arlington C	33	31845	3
Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail Club - Team 2	50	29227	1
Team Finra	61	27956	27
Silver Cycles Night Riders	69	26576	28
Friday Coffee Club	87	25078	-32
IDA-3	103	22733	49
Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail Club - Team 3	108	22632	72
FABB	179	18536	-5
Friday Coffee Club 2	199	17804	34
Federal Cyclists Commission	210	17356	12
Bike Club Yo!	252	15792	-90
NIH	288	14467	-22
IDA-1	318	13760	42
IDA-2	346	13053	18
Farm and Rural Bicycle Branch	398	12084	-15
The Bike Rack DC	437	11315	-196
Oxon Hill Bicycle Club 4	488	10416	187
VOA DC	535	9658	-61
IDA-4	558	9351	-56
US DOT	611	8722	-154
Black Women Bike DC Team D	687	7795	-687
HUD	695	7679	-695
Arlington Transportation Partners	848	6132	-87
Team Finra 2	856	6085	-856
WABA	930	5439	66
USCG	960	5179	-960
HUD 2	999	4824	109
Comcast	1041	4460	20
AT&T National Bike Challenge	1117	4064	-89
NOVA-CBG	1232	3324	-1232

August is an excellent month to try out biking to work!

Photo by Team Frosick (CC)

Cycling is an excellent way to get to work.  By biking to work, you can save time, get in shape, and help save the environment.  Washington, D.C. has great bike paths, bike lanes, bike sharing services, and bike organizations.  This makes it easy to hop on a bike and get to work.

Biking to work saves time.  Really.  I live in North Arlington, about 7 miles from work.  When I drive my car, it takes 20 to 40 minutes depending on traffic.  When I cycle, it takes about 40 minutes to make the trip.  When I take public transportation (which involves a good walk, a subway trip, and a transfer to a bus), it takes a bit more than one hour.  See, cycling is the quickest!  Confused by the math??  Remember that when you are biking to work, you are achieving two things simultaneously:  transportation and exercise.  When I used to drive to work, I would then drive somewhere else to get exercise.   When I add transportation time to exercise time, cycling to work is the fastest hands down.

Biking is great exercise.  Cycling is a full body, low impact exercise.  It’s easy on the knees, it builds strong legs, and it builds strong arms. It helps clear the mind, builds strong lungs, and strengthens the heart.  It is a good exercise that is good for both young and old.

Biking saves money.  You can compare these numbers in many different ways. 

·      Car: Add the cost of ownership, insurance, taxes, operating, fuel, and parking.  One website says that adds up to about $271 per month or $3256 per year for my 7 mile commute. 

·   Public Transportation:  WMATA’s trip planner site indicates that the cost of my commute would be $134.40 per month or $1612.80 per year (of course the federal government offers excellent support for public transportation ridership which cuts down that cost). 

·      Bicycle: I bought a $900 bike used for $400 (if you are going to ride a lot, its worth it to get a good bike).  I have purchased a bunch of equipment (bike clothes, lights, bags, and repair tools) – let’s make up a number of $400.  There are repair cost but I do almost all of my own repairs. Tires, tubes, and brakes wear out, just like in cars, and need to be replaced.  And you should regularly clean and oil your bike.  I am also a 100% bike commuter so I ride more, and wear out parts faster, than people who ride just a few times a week.  Being generous, I might put the annual cost at $400 per year.

Other people have done this comparison and come up with comparable savings. The Denver Regional Council of Governments has a Commuter Savings Calculator that you can try out.  One more thing you can cut out of your budget: gym memberships!

Cycling helps save the environment.  According to the European Cyclists Federation, the environmental impact of the different modes of transportation, with all things considered, is (per passenger, per km traveled)

·      Bicycle: 21g CO2

·      Bus: 101g CO2

·      Car: 271 g CO2

Why do I bike?  I started bike commuting when I was a teenager, when I was too young to drive – and never stopped.  Because of my schedule, I can now bike to work 100% of the time, and I am thrilled.  Why do I bike?  Because riding down the Mount Vernon Trail in the morning, and watching the sun rise over the US Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Potomac River – is simply magnificent.  I never arrive at work experiencing the rage of rush hour traffic on the GW Parkway. I look forward to my ride every morning.

Motorscooter on 14th Street Bridge Bike Path

National Bike Challenge Leaderboard for Wash DC Teams

The National Bike Challenge is a competition that goes from May to the end of August. Cyclists get 20 points for each day that they bike and 1 point for each mile.  Shown are the National Scores for the local teams. "Change in Rank" reflects the change since June 14; a positive number means the team improved, a negative number means the team went down in ranking.

Team / Natl Score	National Rank	Points as of 7/5/2012	Change in Rank
Bike Arlington B	9	21589	-1
BikeArlington	17	19366	-5
Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail Club - Team 1	26	18149	13
Bike Arlington C	36	17394	-9
Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail Club - Team 2	51	15641	0
Friday Coffee Club	55	15488	23
Team Finra	88	13764	41
Silver Cycles Night Riders	97	13226	19
IDA-3	152	11085	8
Bike Club Yo!	162	10739	-40
FABB	174	10420	11
Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail Club - Team 3	180	10332	56
Federal Cyclists Commission	222	9549	9
Friday Coffee Club 2	233	9416	10
The Bike Rack DC	241	9293	-21
NIH	266	8638	4
IDA-1	360	7245	18
IDA-2	364	7206	-12
Farm and Rural Bicycle Branch	383	6992	-42
US DOT	457	6270	-7
VOA DC	474	6134	-58
IDA-4	502	5821	-31
Oxon Hill Bicycle Club 4	675	4529
Arl Transportation Partners	761	3958	79
WABA	996	2713	-47
AT&T	1028	2602	-88
Comcast	1061	2493
HUD 2	1108	2324	-104