Morning Commute – 12/20

Bike Lane Ends

The Morning Commute is an occasional look at meetings or other #BikeSpecific discussions and stories happening in the District. It also looks at interesting bike ideas or concepts from other places across the globe that could possibly work here. Again, this isn’t journalism, just fun.

Today’s commute includes:

  • Bikeshare wins
  • DDOT Dockless permitting process is unclear
  • Uber to expand its market

The quiet triumph of Bikeshare. Curbed discussed how the idea of a bike sharing has, in a relatively short time, grown internationally and, surprisingly in the United States. Curbed

The new mobility sheriff in town wants deputies. Helbiz, one of the new alternative mode sharing companies that have a DDOT permit to operate, are looking for staff to work it its DC office. Helbiz

DDOT’s scooter/e-bike permit evaluation process is a opaque. 2019 DDOT dockless operators who were not selected are bewildered by what some perceive as a lack of transparency regarding the DDOT permitting decision making process. Beyond greater transparency measures, Street Justice reporter conducts an in depth analysis of the process behind the selection of entities that will receive permits for 2020.

Also, if you haven’t subscribed to Street Justice, you’re probably missing out on hard hitting reporting. Street Justice

Gavin Baker thinks #BikeDC should take a hard look a the District Comprehensive Plan. The public comment / review period was to end this Friday, December 20th but this was recently extended to January 10, 2020. The Comp Plan, as it’s called, sets the standards for how the District builds buildings and according to the office, “addresses the District’s long-term needs around housing, equity, resilience, and public resources.” Office of Planning

Accuracy of bicycling and pedestrian data. Portland State University and the National Institute for Transportation and Communities, completed an interesting study on how the methodology and analysis of data involving biking and walking is not subject to the same quantitative rigor of motor vehicle travel.

The study, “Biking and Walking Quality Counts: Using “BikePed Portal” Counts to Develop Data Quality Checks, ” advocates for a standardization of how data is collected and reviewed to improve quality, collecting much more data, and consolidating it into a national database. The report is free to download but registration is required. Transportation Insights for Vibrant Communities

The new Nice Bridge isn’t nice for bicyclists and pedestrians. WTOP reports why Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) eliminated a protected pedestrian / bike lane as part of the replacement of the Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge. Citing low estimated usage and high projected costs totaling approximately $64 million, MDTA decided to eliminate this proposed alternative connection, much to the dismay of bike and pedestrian advocates as well as Maryland politicians.

The current Nice Bridge is bad for everyone. The new Nice bridge will be just as bad for bicyclists and pedestrians (MDTA)

“You made a promise to the citizens of Maryland, and you have broken it. So, shame on you,” said Greenbelt City Council member Rodney Roberts.

Instead, MTA will institute a shared lane policy over the new span. The 80-year old two-lane bridge links Charles County, MD with King County, VA. The cost of the new bridge tops $460 million. Ironically, because of the projected motor vehicle congestion, the MDTA board decided to spend roughly $60 million to add capacity to a portion of Interstate 95 in the state. WTOP

Where do scooters go for the winter? European cities are testing if it makes sense to keep scooters in the wild during the winter months. While operators understand that usage tends to decrease during the colder months – depending on the city and the operator – they are more likely to keep at least a handful of scooters on the streets. Quartz

Uber plans to ‘double down’ on bikes and scooters next year — especially in Europe. Seeking to increase it’s market share globally, CNBC reports that Uber will expand its bike and scooter operations in Europe. According to the report, Uber claims adoption that of bikes and scooters in Europe has outpaced usage in the United States during the last eight months. CNBC

Tweet of Zen: