Take action now: write to the Fairfax Board of Supervisors.

In a flurry of budget-cutting and who-knows-what other politics, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors wants to eliminate, permanently, the bike coordinator position, and all County bicycle programs. This is at odds with recent efforts to develop a bike master plan, to improve quality of life and transportation options, and make Fairfax a more desirable location for businesses.

30% of Fairfax residents do not drive motor vehicles. To simply stop development of other options is a big step backward indeed.

Politicians need to hear from their constituents. Kate Schwartz of the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club asks all cyclists in Fairfax County to write to their Board of Supervisors, and provides some language for doing so:

“Please act now to write to the FFX county board of supervisors and spread the word since bicycling programs are at risk of permanent elimination. This proposed budget cut will create a lasting loss of future cycling & pedestrian facilities, trails, equipment and resources.

I urge you to sustain Fairfax’s bicycling programs since the county’s future business viability depends upon these programs. Creating new and maintaining existing cycling and pedestrian facilities must remain permanent pillars of the county; they are essential to fostering more innovative transportation solutions in an area that’s desperate for transportation alternatives. The Board has always emphasized that Fairfax County must preserve its national reputation as an attractive location for businesses and their employees. Bicycling programs, such as trails and on-road bike accommodation directly improve businesses’, residents’ and visitors’ quality of life by reducing traffic congestion, pollution and obesity, boosting employee productivity, and increasing cardiovascular health & fitness. What other county programs and facilities can claim these wide-reaching benefits?

How can the Board of Supervisors reconcile Supervisor Cook’s position (“bicycles are not transportation devices”) with the Board’s December 7 meeting, where the board discussed the need for the county to explore new and innovative approaches to transportation?

Dedicated bicycle and environment facilities and staff partnered with private- and public-sector employers can formulate and execute new transportation solutions, as we witness today with Tysons Corner’s new multi-modal transportation solutions plus walking and bicycling facilities integrated into the replacement bridges during the Beltway HOT lane construction. Eliminating bicycling programs will only increase congestion, pollution and obesity, while slashing employee/employer productivity. Fairfax County’s future business viability depends upon having a dedicated & permanent bicycling program.“

Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling are on top of this story. Check with them for updates, and follow them on Twitter (@WABADC, @BikeFairfax).

Please help spread the word. Use the Share This link below to forward this to your mailing lists, and share it in social media.

Please sign our rails-with-trails petition. Then get your organization or local government to write a letter of support for our rails-with-trails resolution (PDF). As of June 18, 2009, 31 organizations have signed on, along with over 900 individuals.

The Virginia Bicycling Federation, along with 25 national, state and local organizations has endorsed a resolution asking Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine to support rails with trails along all major rail projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

With concerns for the environment, the economy, and the ability to maintain our Interstate highway system, government is looking at railroads as a key component of our transportation infrastructure for the twenty-first century. Railroads are experiencing an unprecedented level of interest and expansion.

By investing in upgraded infrastructure, government is helping rail companies to improve their levels of service for freight, passenger and multimodal transportation. Upgraded railways will help reduce the number of cars and trucks on our roads, and decrease air pollution, energy use, and wear and tear to our highways. The Virginia Bicycling Federation supports this effort.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has already invested over $60 million in rail projects in Virginia. Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation are seeking billions more state and federal dollars to complete these projects.

Current upgrades include the Crescent Corridor which travels from New Orleans to the Ports of New Jersey. This Crescent Corridor splits in Birmingham, Alabama, with a branch routed along the I-81 corridor in the Shenandoah Valley through Roanoke; and another branch traveling east of the Blue Ridge through Danville, Lynchburg, and Charlottesville, ending in Manassas.

Also being upgraded is the Heartland Corridor, which would connect the Port of Portsmouth with Chicago, following the Route 460 corridor through Southside Virginia.

The Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor would connect Washington DC, Richmond Virginia, and Raleigh North Carolina.

The Virginia Bicycling Federation believes that citizens and taxpayers deserve to benefit directly from these massive government expenditures.

The Resolution asks Governor Kaine to ensure that as these railroad projects are planned and implemented, bike and pedestrian accommodations, rails with trails, are included as a required and integral part of these projects.

Including multi-modal facilities in all transportation projects is consistent with both State and Federal transportation policy.

Rails-with-trails have proven to be a safe and viable way to offer true multimodal accommodations, and provide facilities for people to walk and cycle throughout their communities.

There are currently 1,184 miles of open trails among 142 different rails with trails projects throughout the United States. Another 75 projects are underway, which will add 905 additional miles of trails when completed.

These projects provide transportation alternatives, promote healthy lifestyles, and encourage exercise in an increasingly obese population. Trails also encourage economic development and tourism.

Asking for these facilities while in their early planning stages is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create thousands of miles of trails connecting communities throughout Virginia and the United States.

Current supporters of the resolution include:

Adventure Cycling Association
Alliance for Biking and Walking
BikeWalk Virginia
Blue Ridge Bicycle Club of VA
Capital Region Land Conservancy
Cycor Sports
East Coast Greenway Alliance
Franklin Freewheelers
Friends of the Rivers of Virginia
International Mountain Biking Association
League of American Bicyclists
Nelson Bicycling Alliance
New River Bicycle Club of VA
Pathways for Radford
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Richmond Area Bicycling Association
Richmond Pro Cycling
Rivanna Trails Foundation
Rockbridge Area Conservation Council
Three Notched Trail Foundation
Tidewater Bicycle Association
Virginia Bicycling Federation
Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail Foundation
Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club
Virginia Conservation Network
Williamsburg Area Bicyclists

Support This Resolution

Download a copy of the Rails-With-Trails Resolution (PDF), and get your organization to write a brief letter of support — your bike club, hiking or birdwatching group, scout troop, church, school, PTA/PTO, university, neighborhood association, town, city, or county. Send your letter of support to VBF at the address listed on the resolution. You an also download copies of our press release, and this article (PDF), to print and hand out at meetings and get-togethers, leave in your local coffee shop, etc.

Sign Our Online Petition

Individuals can also sign our online rails-with-trails petition. Please link to it, share it, and help spread the word about it.

More Information

• New Era Dawns for Rail Building (Wall St. Journal)
• Richmond-to-D.C. high-speed rail route gets support (Richmond Times-Dispatch video)
• Norfolk Southern proposes $2 billion-plus rail corridor (PilotOnline)
• Plan, Design, Build: Rail-With-Trail (Rails to Trails Conservancy)
• Rails With Trails – silverspringtrails.org
• Trails along tracks: rails with trails projects (Pictures — National Recreation Trails — Cool Trail Solutions)
• Blazing Old and New Trails (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

After decades of burdensome restrictions, cyclists may finally have better access to trails in our National Park system. A proposed rule change at the National Park Service (NPS) will make it easier for individual parks to open trails to bicyclists. But to ensure that it happens this way, it is important that you submit your comments now.

IMBA has taken the lead on this, putting up a page about the issue with links to their own analysis of the proposed NPS rule change, the entire text of RIN 1024-AD72, and of course, a link to submit your comments. Custom-written letters are preferred. IMBA has provided 8 points for mountain bikers to use in writing their letters.

But while IMBA has focused on mountain biking, VBF reminds everyone that this proposed rule change affects bicycling on all roads and paved trails in National Parks too. NPS has not been as supportive of bicycling as we would like them to be — particularly in Virginia, where their jurisdiction includes the Blue Ridge Parkway and the George Washington Parkway, Shenandoah National Park, many other parks and National Monuments, and all the roads and trails within.

Please submit your comments by February 17.

As with all action alerts, please forward this to your mailing lists, and share it in social media.

The George Washington National Forest needs to hear from bicyclists! We need you to write a letter by Jan 27th and mail or email it to:

comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us

Please write “Comment on George Washington Plan Revision” in the subject line of your email.

Mail your paper letters to:

George Washington Plan Revision
George Washington & Jefferson National Forests
5162 Valleypointe Parkway
Roanoke, VA 24019

Why is this important?

Bicyclists currently have access to over 1,000 miles of trails and dirt roads in the George Washington National Forest. The managers of these trails are revamping the management plan. This happened recently in our neighboring state of WV. They had under 50 letters from bicyclists requesting continued and improved access in WV’s Monongahlia National Forest and over 4,000 from people who wanted to see land protection designations that are not compatible with continued bicycle access on trails. As a result of this lack of action by bicyclists, the current Omnibus Act calls for the loss of 70 miles of bicycle trails in our West Virginia National Forest.

How You Can Help

At the minimum modify the below suggestion. All we need to do is illustrate that bicyclists use the GW often and we would like better trail opportunities in the GW

AN EXAMPLE – I attend the ____(A)______ event annually and it is a very good time. I would like to have more trails that are easy to ride in the GW. I really enjoy coming to the Shenandoah Valley to ride my bicycle in the George Washington National Forest. _____(B)____ is my favorite trail. I believe that all of the current bicycle access is compatible with resource and watershed protection in my National Forest.

Choose a few for each and modify accordingly

A-
Shenandoah Mountain Bike Festival
MORE Fall Camping Trip
IMBA Virginia Festival
Shenandoah Mountain 100
Fall Foliage Bike Festival in Staunton

B-
Shenandoah Mountain Trail (Southern Traverse)
Whetstone Ridge Trail
Elliotts Knob, Chimney Hollow and Bridge Hollow (Braley Pond)
all the trails in the Shenandoah Mountain 100
all the trails around the Big Schloss
Massanutten Mountain Trail – Elizabeth Furnace

The next meeting…
TOPIC: FOREST PLAN COMPONENTS (Fitting the workshops and other information together toward a Draft Plan)
Thursday, January 29
Time: 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Rockbridge Co. High School
143 Greenhouse Rd.
Lexington, VA 24450

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/forestplan/revision/index.shtml

SB 874 (Ticer) — which would prohibit (with several exceptions)
non-emergency cell phone use without a hands-free device while driving a motor vehicle — was favorably reported by the Senate Transportation Committee on January 22 and will soon be voted upon by the full Virginia Senate, probably by January 28.

Please contact your Virginia Senator ASAP (before noon, January 28), by email or telephone, to support this much-needed restriction of
distracted driving. According to the National Safety Council, the use
of cell phones by U.S. drivers contributes to 636,000 traffic crashes,
330,000 injuries and 2,600 deaths each year.

1) Call the Constituent Viewpoint Hotline: 800-889-0229 or 804-698-1990.

2) Find and contact your VA Senator directly with the “Who’s My
Legislator” web tool:

http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform

For more information on SB 874, visit the following links:

Current version of SB 874 as amended in Senate Transportation:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?091+ful+SB874S1

SB 874 legislative history page:

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?091+sum+SB874

Fox5DC News Story:

http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=8304443&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Update: Bud Vye reports on the progress of SB 874 as of Jan. 29.

Please use the “Share This” link below to forward this to your mailing lists, and share it in social media (Facebook, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Digg, Reddit, etc.)

Below is a report from VBF’s Barbara Duerk about the Jan. 5 CTB meeting in Dubllin, VA. With the Richmond and Fairfax meetings coming up this Monday and Tuesday, there’s still time for you attend and be heard. Please note that these meetings have been attended by the Secretary of Transportation and various heads of VDOT and DRPT. Now’s your chance! See our previous article about these CTB public input meetings to find out what you should advocate for, and how to go about it.

Bicycling was mentioned by several speakers at the Monday, January 5, meeting of the CTB at the New River Community College in Dublin, VA. CTB members Jim Bowie, Bristol District and Dana Martin, Salem Construction District were in attendance. Secretary of Transportation, Pierce Homer, chaired the session. Administrators from Bristol and Salem, VDOT Commissioner Akern, the DRPT chair, plus the CTB members were at the head tables.

Homer was honest with his assessment of the economy’s financial burden on VDOT. Income for transportation is from the gas tax, sales tax on new and used automobiles and on vehicle registration fees. VDOT is looking to reduce staff by 1,000 employees if the economy doesn’t recovery or the stimulus package doesn’t address transportation. Bridges are a high priority. VDOT has needed to replay bridges over the Elizabeth River on the Kings Highway and others that were built right after WW II. There is no money to do this, so the bridges are closed.

In the Salem construction district, several long term projects are placed on hold. The new I-81 interchange at Ironto to serve the intermodal center and extra lanes between Salem and Christiansburg were added to the six year plan.

Jeanne Duddy, BRBC member, spoke about bicycle recognition as transportation and asked for recognition of AASHTO routes #76 and #1. She thanked the board for successfully getting the routes included on the Va. Official State Transportation 2008-2010 and the VDOT Map of Scenic Roads in Virginia.

Two members of the VBF board spoke of the need to prioritize bicycle and pedestrian projects.

Barbara Duerk’s comments included:

• Virginia bicycle fatalities in 2008 doubled. The elderly population in Virginia is doubling. Therefore we should measure annually the success in implementation of 2004 Bicycle and Pedestrian policies. For example, ask construction districts to provide figures on increased number of bicycle facilities, local policies, regional bicycle advisory committees, increased number of bicyclists.
• Recognize, sign and promote AASHTO approved routes US Bike route 76, the Bikecentennial or TransAmerica Adventure Cycling Route and the Adventure Cycling Route US bike route 1. Note: The Department of Conservation and Recreation is promoting 5 statewide routes. The Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, The Great Eastern Trail, James River Heritage Trail, East Coast Greenway and Beach to Bluegrass Trail. There needs to be some recognition of the importance of on-road routes for economic development and tourism in Virginia. The 76 route goes from Yorktown to Astoria, Washington. 570 miles are located on Virginia roads.
• Insure pedestrian and bicycle accommodations are a vital component on all new or upgraded road projects, particularly bridges.
• Provide bicycle use on transit to encourage multi modal transportation.
• Prioritize maintenance projects.
• Support the Dulles Rail connect and expansion of trails for transportation, especially the the Capitol to Capitol trail from Richmond to Jamestown.
• Locally, allow access for a trail connecting Virginia Tech with the Roanoke River Greenway through the proposed intermodal, Heartland Express properties in the Elliston and Lafayette area. The Montgomery County Comprehensive plan includes this trail in their Village Transportation Links Plan. Any development with state money should not exclude use of land for a trail.
• Consider Rails with Trail in developing routes for Connecting the Commonwealth.

James Rosar spoke on the bicycle as a transportation vehicle and encouraged the CTB to value bicycle riders. Traffic congestion, air quality mitigation, personal and societal health issues and educational performance can benefit from the use of a bicycle.

Interestingly, several local officials spoke about the economy and the need to provide walking and bicycling facilities in their area – not just bicyclists any more.

I also issued an initiation to CTB members and staff (naming Jacob Helmbolt specifically), to experience first hand the AASHTO route 76 in May. (on VBF’s annual Cross State Ride)

Comments can be sent to six-yearprogram@vdot.virginia.gov.

Please complete this survey on bicycle signage for roads and trails:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bdmAJQR4_2f7OrJANA0wbg2Q_3d_3d

It’s a little long — they say 12 minutes. But your honest input is needed to help choose the best signage for the the Manual On Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the national standard for traffic signs and road markings.

Your participation in this survey is requested by Jeff Miller, President and CEO of the Thunderhead Alliance for Biking and Walking; and
Donald Meeker of Meeker & Associates, representing the Society for Environmental Graphic Design.

Please complete this survey ASAP, as the results must be tallied by Wednesday, Jan. 7.

Though some of us may be back at work, the holidays aren’t over yet. By devoting just a little of our holiday free time to bike advocacy, we can really accomplish a lot.

“Promote Bicycle Transportation” At Change.Org

The deadline is tomorrow, and as of today, fewer than 1000 votes are needed for “Promote Bicycle Transportation” to make it to the final round of voting for the “Top 10 Ideas for America.” Use the widget on our site, or follow this link:

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/promote_bicycle_transportation

Change.Org is a web-based, national public input campaign by the incoming administration.

Prepare Your Comments For The Commonwealth Transportation Board

The Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) is the parent entity that directs all transportation policy in Virginia, overseeing our roads (VDOT), rail and public transit (DRPT), airports, and port facilities. If you have an idea about how these agencies should be doing things, or working together better, the CTB is whom you should be telling it to. You’ll have that opportunity real soon, at a series of public input meetings. For more information about what you should ask for, how to go about it, and when and where the meetings are, see our recent post about the January 2009 CTB Public Input Meetings.

Identify Your Shovel-Ready Projects

This is aimed at local government officials and staff, and key citizen volunteers. There’s much talk about an upcoming economic stimulus package focusing on transportation infrastructure. Ready-to-go projects that need only to be funded will probably be favored, as this will put the most people to work the soonest. Bike-ped projects are usually simpler and cheaper than roads, bridges, etc., and thus easier to pull together in a short time, if funding were available. Well now it might be, so let’s identify likely projects in our own communities, and get the details in order for our grant applications.

from the Bikeleague (League of American Bicyclists)

We understand that the United States Senate may vote on an energy legislation package this week, (The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008), which will provide a number of incentives to promote clean energy sources.

The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, also includes the bicycle commuter tax benefit provision, previously introduced by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). The provision provides for qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement for such reasonable expenses incurred by an employee for the purchase of a bicycle, bicycle improvements, repair, and storage.

The Senate is expected to vote on this legislation either tomorrow Thursday, September 18, or Friday, the 19th. Please take a moment to contact your Senator to urge them to vote yes on the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008:

Click here to take action

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Please the “Share This” link below to forward this as email, or promote it through social media (StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, etc.)

Update: the bike commuter tax benefit has passed both houses of congress as part of the $700B financial services bailout package, and was signed into law by President Bush.

from the Tidewater Bicycle Association, prepared by Bruce Drees

The following essay is in regard to an article titled “Chesapeake Bicycle Corridor Becomes a Path to Frustration” appearing in the Virginian-Pilot on Sep. 1st. The genesis for the article, and this response, was a Chesapeake City Council workshop held on Aug. 19 with state and federal officials about the Dominion Blvd project. Tidewater Bicycle Association, which has members residing in the City of Chesapeake, adopted this document as its position in support of maintaining bike and pedestrian access in the project design.

Not long ago a friend was bicycling on a rural road in Chesapeake, not far from where a planned major expansion of Dominion Blvd is under consideration. Someone in a truck going in the opposite direction tossed a beer bottle, striking him in the face. The impact caused him to crash and a loss of consciousness. Fortunately, a passing motorist took notice and summoned help.

Watching a video of the Aug. 19th Chesapeake City Council meeting evoked images of my friend’s ordeal. Except this time it wasn’t a beer aficionado tossing bottles but smiling elected officials wearing suits. And this time the target wasn’t a single cyclist, but anyone who wants to get somewhere by bike or on foot in the City of Chesapeake.

In the clip, one can watch a U.S. Congressman, aided by state and local elected officials, strike blow after blow to a planned trail and bridge crossing for cyclists and pedestrians currently included in the Dominion Blvd roadway project. Party affiliation appears irrelevant, as members of both parties had a hand, right down to scolding city officials for not killing such an audacious proposal at birth. The congressman even pushes Chesapeake’s new mayor into promising to deliver a final coup de grâce via a council vote this fall.

Unfortunately good governance was also struck a blow. We elect officials recognizing the difficult job they will have sifting through competing interests. We have every expectation they will do their best to apply scarce resources to the greatest need, after thoughtful consideration based upon input from all sides.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case here. Instead, we have officials using questionable assumptions to make what may someday turn out to be a very shortsighted decision. Allow me to elaborate.

First, the much ballyhooed $16 million cost figure cited by the city and taken as gospel by everyone else. Local bike and trail supporters have questioned this number from the beginning. From the Pilot’s Sep. 1st article, it appears that even professionals in the field such as VDOT have yet to understand exactly what this would buy. Objectivity is an issue, since the same city staff citing the figure told advocates early on that they would do everything in their power to sink any proposal for a multi-use path over the bridge.

That citizens many years from now may seek to resurrect this initiative cannot be discounted. The costs will never be cheaper than including a multi-use bridge crossing option in the original plan.

Let’s look at some of the other negatives that were discussed.

It should be no surprise that a narrow, shoulder less, 55 mph roadway carrying 32,000 cars a day has little bike or pedestrian activity. Yet this was stated as one of the reasons for killing the plan. At present people may walk and bicycle over the existing bridge and even though the traffic is very heavy, everyone manages to get where they need to go. Using current traffic counts as a principal basis for rejection ignores likely growth and redevelopment cycles within the city during the bridge’s long lifespan.

Another reason stated was bridge height. At 95 ft over the river, the replacement will be a noticeable structure above the flats of southeast Virginia. But is it really true that few would be able to bike across it? Hardly.

Case in point: the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, SC which opened in 2005. It provides a 200 ft clearance, carries 8 lanes of traffic for US 17 and has a 12 foot wide bike-pedestrian lane. Its average grade (4-5 %) is very similar to that proposed for the Steel Bridge replacement. Bicycling over the bridge has become an attraction in its own right, with enterprising merchants renting bikes solely for this purpose, including moonlight trips. An annual 10K run that attracts over 30,000 participants is routed over the bridge. Such use is very unlikely here; but as Charleston’s experience shows, our cyclists, walkers, and runners will adapt and handle a 95 ft bridge just fine.

On the topic of bridge height, what exactly is the justification for a 95 ft clearance? Who will be the primary beneficiary? Are lower cost alternatives available, such as building a 65 ft fixed span or relocating vessels requiring extra clearance further upriver? In the quest for fiscal responsibility, why aren’t these questions being asked?

Some of the officials stated they are not anti-bike. That’s good, but then why are they willing to support road projects solely benefiting motorists, when a means for recreation, transportation, health and fitness can be part of our daily lives? For instance, the Dominion Bridge is only 4.5 miles from the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail, which equates to about a 45 minute ride for the most casual family cyclist. Instead of getting in the family car to get to the park, wouldn’t having use of a nearby trail make more sense?

Even motorists should be up in arms that the project is not supported. Every bike commuter is one less car on the road competing for a spot in traffic or parking.

The Elizabeth River and Chesapeake & Albemarle Canal cleave Chesapeake almost in half. As of this writing there are 6 bike and pedestrian accessible bridge crossings. The combined loss of the Jordan Bridge later this year and potentially Dominion results in a 33% reduction in non-motorized facilities. Loss of bridge access is a very significant concern for all of our 500+ members.

Recognizing the current national energy situation and desire for choice in our transportation needs, a better scenario would have been for our politicians to have first validated the $16M cost figure as accurate. Further verifying that no alternatives exist such as deferring certain aspects for a later date or inquiring about less expensive designs would also have been preferable to what played out. Instead of pressuring the mayor and city manager into shredding the city’s bikeways and trails plan, couldn’t officials have taken the time to understand it, asking planners for viable alternatives should accommodations along Dominion not be possible? Wouldn’t taking the view that bridges are a critical infrastructure item and a regional asset for all users of the public right of way provide more benefit in the long run?

No one can accurately predict what our energy future looks like ten, twenty or thirty years from now. It’s a pretty safe bet there will be change of some kind, perhaps by moving closer to where we work and shop, what we drive, and when we do. The economics of energy may well force other changes, such as substantial reductions in car trips close to home in favor of other modes. We can either lead the problem or be totally reactive; it’s a relevant topic and one of the most difficult political choices of our time. An out of hand dismissal of the Dominion project under the pretense that it solely benefits the “cycling elite” gets us nowhere.

One organization attending the council workshop understands the big picture. Much to their credit, the Commonwealth Transportation Board and VDOT have taken on a broad view of transportation that goes beyond cars. This includes making telecommuting, transit/rail, cycling, and walking viable choices for our residents. It is an effort to move Virginia’s transportation system into the 21st century and help make our state economy more invariant to major fluctuations in global energy costs. At least they recognize the importance of establishing a range of complementary transportation modes. Participants at council’s meeting would do well in following their lead in seeking innovative yet cost effective solutions.

The Virginian-Pilot’s reporters also need to chill out. One can easily envision a contra headline or op-ed piece years from now during a significant energy crisis deriding political inaction when we had the chance. Quit pitting both sides against the middle.

Cyclists, walkers, runners and other non-motorized users of the public right of way may not have been physically assaulted during the Aug. 19th council meeting. But they were shown the same underlying contempt and disregard as my friend received by that beer toting driver. Our political leadership can and must do better than what we have seen so far on Dominion, especially at the state and national level.

One final note. I am employed as R&D manager for a tech company here in Hampton Roads. We have the kind of jobs that communities drool for. As with most tech companies, we also have a proportionately high number of employees who choose cycling as a form of transportation and recreation. In fact, not long ago I was lured away from a company in Chesapeake by one in Virginia Beach. The ability to bike to work tipped my decision in favor of relocating. The city’s image in this regard is an ancillary factor that one might want to also consider.

Prepared By

Bruce Drees
Tidewater Bicycle Association
921 Winthrope Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
757-647-3987
bwd-vb@cox.net