Bicycling
USDOT's new bike sharing program is a bike
There's now a new bike sharing program at the US Department of Transportation. Is this another incompatible system like the failed House of Representatives program, American University's, and NPS's? Noanyone other folks at USDOT use his bike. In an attempt to gauge the possible success of a bike sharing program at DOT, he's encouraging coworkers to take the bike out of the garage for short trips around town.
The bike. Photo by the owner.
It's understandable that he wouldn't want to put it outside for anyone to use, but if USDOT were to institute a real bike sharing program, it ought to be part of SmartBike or a successor public system, with racks outside on M Street, instead of a private system. A public system would let employees ride bikes one way for errands (perhaps to ride to a store but taxi back with a heavy purchase), use the bikes for commuting to and from a nearby Metro station, and also benefit residents and employees of nearby buildings.
Here's his letter to fellow employees:
Hello all,I, and I'm sure a few of you, think bike-sharing is a pretty neat idea. Here in DC, SmartbikeDC program is great, and having a station or a dedicated bike fleet pool at DOT and/or FAA would be wonderful. Not only for riding around the neighborhood ourselves, but having bikes available for outreach and education to non-cyclists. But, the rising cost and slow growth of SmartbikeDC, plus the recent failure of a bike fleet program at the House of Representatives, means that if bike sharing ever gets closer to implementation here at DOT, questions will probably arise as to how often such bikes would actually get used.
Well, I found myself in possession of a brand new and fully-outfitted commuter bike until November (I won a raffle, and I'm selling the bike to a friend later this year). So, in hopes of demonstrating how often DOT HQ employees might make use of bike sharing station or a bike fleet, I'm throwing this bike open for borrowing now through October 30th. I'll be using the odometer to track how many miles the bike travels, in hopes of quantifying bike use per person, miles per person, etc, and compiling info about how the bike is used. The bike is a new Specialized Globe Carmel, a relaxed geometry town bike, and the kind folks at CyclelifeUSA in Georgetown threw in a removable front basket, a U-lock, a bell, fenders, kickstand, and a couple of snap-bands to secure pants legs. A picture of the bike is attached.
How do I "check out" the bike?
- No reservations, just take the bike. No overnight trips please, but otherwise, go nuts.
- The bike is located in the racks across from the [exact location redacted]. If there's a need to relocate to another rack, I'll let everybody know.
- Strictly BYOH (Bring Your Own Helmet).
- Adjust the saddle with the quick-release seatpost collar. The bike is Medium size, and by adjusting the seat height, just about anybody can fit on this bike, at least for short jaunts.
- The bike is secured to the rack with a small cheapo cable combination lock.
- Do not take the combo lock with you. There is a U-lock mounted on a bracket near the rear wheel, and the key to this lock is hanging inside the front basket. Use this lock to secure the bike outside the garage.
- When you return, lock the bike at the same rack where you picked it up, using the cable combo lock.
How can I help ensure the success of this experiment?
- Ride the bike frequently. Don't be shy.
- Email me with descriptions of trips you have taken (your destination, distance covered, time of day, what mode of transport you would have otherwise taken). A valuable prize awaits the first person to email me details about a ride they take on the bike.
- Email me if you intended to take a trip, but the bike was already out.
- Promptly notify me of any maintenance issues, especially with the handlebar computer that is logging the miles, and thus measuring our usage.
- Email me your thoughts and suggestions on improving this experiment.
- Got a spare headlight/taillight sitting around? Maybe a good-condition loaner helmet? A spare floor pump? Any other accessories that would make this bike more usable?
I've already got a bike, why should I ride this one?
- More miles on the bike helps make the case.
- Flat pedals and upright geometry make it a bit better suited for the quick ride to Barrack's Row in your business attire than your skinny-tired racing bike.
- Did you know there's a Safeway at 4th and M St SW? It's a long walk, but a quick ride.
- You can save your office a few dollars on Metro/cab costs for crosstown meetings.
- No offense to the hardy souls who risk contracting tetanus from their rusty 30-year-old beater, but riding a new/different bicycle is a nice change-of-pace.
Anything else I need to know?
- I'll send out occasional updates on usage, stay tuned.
- If you know of anybody who you think might make use of the bike, and you can reasonably assume is capable of safely riding a bicycle without instruction, please feel free to forward this email as an invitation. But please copy me, so that I can track the 'total population' of our experiment.
- Once you unlock the bike, your are responsible for it's safe return to it's original location. Properly locking the bicycle with the provided U-lock at your destination is an important part of that responsibility.
- By unlocking the bike, you are acknowledging the inherent hazards of bicycling, acknowledging that I make no claims about the fitness of the bicycle for use, and absolving me of any/all liability arising from your use of the bike.
I'll be out on travel for the next few days, so I may be slow to respond, but if you have questions/concerns, fire away. Happy riding!
 | David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.   |
Comments
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by tom veil on Aug 11, 2009 10:21 am • link • report
by SJE on Aug 11, 2009 10:42 am • link • report
by Elizabeth on Aug 11, 2009 10:55 am • link • report
Hopefully no one will sue him over this great idea.
The Feds are incredibly apathetic when it comes to cycling or encouraging anything other than cars or metro cards.
Where I work, they had a "green month" and one of the first things that happened was removal of the only bike rack available for our building. This was 4 years ago- it has still not been replaced.What cracks me up are the people who are "going green"
[ this over-used new term makes me green in the face]
they run around turning off light bulbs and they recycle newspaper to be shipped to China, and then they get in their SUV and commute to Cumberland Maryland of Spotsylvania County .
To me, I find this behavior rather tiring and hypocritical.
Most gov't offices seem to regard bicycles as some kind of non issue .
by w on Aug 11, 2009 11:15 am • link • report
by Andy Hampf on Aug 11, 2009 11:26 am • link • report
by Gavin Baker on Aug 11, 2009 11:41 am • link • report
In principle I agree with you and you are right on the ball here, but none of the Union members I work with live inside the Beltway, and the great majority of them consider anyone living in DC to be "crazy"- it is very common for my co-workers to live in Hagerstown or Gettysburg- this no longer raises eyebrows and it is considered normal to spend 4 hours each day commuting on the roads.
If only more of the rank and file DID live in the city or even closeby, things might be different. As it stands- w/o a major upswing in gas prices, things with remain the same.Bicycling issues are not even remotely on anyone's radar screens where I work.
To be fair, there are many who live in far flung sprawl areas who commute to Metro and take advantage of the Metro subsidy. However- there are some 2500 workers where I am, and I know very very few who live in the city.
by w on Aug 11, 2009 12:36 pm • link • report
It's such a shame, I know. Why won't the idiots just get with the program and move to the city?!?
by MPC on Aug 11, 2009 12:38 pm • link • report
by JTS on Aug 11, 2009 12:40 pm • link • report
I work for USDOT as well. Trust me, most employees are not apathetic when it comes to cycling or anything else. But remember we don't run our own building, it's leased (meaning that we have to work through the building's management) and yeah, there are layers of bureaucracy we have to work through.
On another note, since I read a lot of comments (and diatribes) about USDOT here....
In general - most of USDOT is safety/regulatory. The part of DOT that is most visible to GGW readers - the Federal Transit Administration - is only 300 employees in DC, and another 200 or so nationwide. It's really small. Even MARAD (Maritime) and FMSCA (Federal Motorcarrier Safety) are larger than FTA. DOT's mission is shifting now, to be sure! But historically, its primary goal has been safety/regulatory, with the exception of the two primarily grant-making agencies (FHWA and FTA)
by BD on Aug 11, 2009 12:41 pm • link • report
Because enrolling your children in the DC public school system is one level above child abuse?
I happened to be vising a friend who lives right of Western Ave in Chevy Chase, MD. He pointed out an incredible thing to me. If you live north of Western, your kids can go, for free, to one of the best public school systems in the country. If you live a block south, your kids can go to one of the worst.
One block.
That's why people move out of the city.
by metronic on Aug 11, 2009 12:54 pm • link • report
This may be the case at Transportation- but then again- one would EXPECT at least some techno- bicyclists to be working for DOT . This is not the case for the rest of Uncle Scam.
I believe it varies a lot agency to agency, etc., but when the Feds devote such a huge amount of money to subsidizing free parking - to a tune that far exceeds any paltry transit subsidies, it will be business as usual w/ the Feds.
The Saudi Royal Family does all of the transportation planning & policy for the USA, IMO.
by w on Aug 11, 2009 1:00 pm • link • report
by Gavin Baker on Aug 11, 2009 1:11 pm • link • report
I know 2 other bicyclists where I work- which is amazing to me- as for many years I was the ONLY cyclist out of 2500.
We know one another, and communicate- but there is no support from any of the power brokers to increase the numbers of cyclists- yes- I agree- it would be a FANTASTIC thing to have a federal employees bicyclist advocacy group to challenge the hidebound and archaic idiots who make up so many of the rules that are really at odds with rationality. Fed support of cycling- and encouraging cycling- could save the gov't untold amounts of money.
But it must be done well- not like the House of Reps ludicrious "bike share" program that is such an abject failure and waste of money.
Attempts like this are really a stab in the back- as they make the skeptikal people more hostile to any postive change .
I also agree totally with the above commentor on the state of DC schools. Something radical needs to be done to improve them.
by w on Aug 11, 2009 1:21 pm • link • report
Is there any evidence that Fed employees live farther from work than non-Fed employees? For that matter is there any evidence that Fed employees are less likely than non-Fed employees to take mass transit or bike to work? Considering many (all?) Fed employees can get a mass transit subsidy, I'd be surprised if they aren't using it in proportionally large numbers.
For all the snide remarks about this one person at USDOT showing initiative, how many private employers in the area (in the nation?) have bike sharing programs?
by dd on Aug 11, 2009 3:21 pm • link • report
You may be referring to our grant programs - and rememeber the transpo bill is written by Congress - and we just act upon it. Federal agencies and Congress are not one organism. If you're referring to USDOT in general, our lot is most definetly pay. The majority take transit or vanpools/carpools in.
I'm surprised (but not that surprised) to hear that a significant proportion of federal employees in the DC area live so far away
Not surprising at all, given housing prices here. Federal pay is good, but not quite as good as private sector, and living in DC and the inner burbs are doable for me as a single young person, but not if I'm trying to get a house/condo with kids at my current GS grade.
who'd be interested in talking (as private citizens, not necessarily as representatives of the agency) about environmental/urban impacts of federal agencies and their workers
The feds actually are leaders in some aspects, given how ubiquitous compressed schedules and telework is. In a given pay pariod, I can telecommute once (some people to more), and do a compressed schedule so I am off another day a week. I travel on transit/bike/walk exclusively, but this cuts off 20% of the work travel I have to do.
would be a FANTASTIC thing to have a federal employees bicyclist advocacy group
There is one, internally at USDOT, and that is true at resource agencies like EPA. And we do work to raise awareness, and it is quite active. But obviously, we want to work internally to raise awareness.
challenge the hidebound and archaic idiots who make up so many of the rules that are really at odds with rationality. Fed support of cycling- and encouraging cycling- could save the gov't untold amounts of money.
A lot of this will have to take place in the next transportation reauthorization bill...
Is there any evidence that Fed employees live farther from work than non-Fed employees?
I don't have hard data, but given that GSA works to locate new federal agencies/facilities near mass transit in DC, I would venture to guess that they live closer, as most federal agencies are located in the urban core of DC. At rush hour, I believe that feds are something like 30 percent plus of Metroriders.
by BD on Aug 11, 2009 5:45 pm • link • report
I'm surprised (but not that surprised) to hear that a significant proportion of federal employees in the DC area live so far away.
That may be w's agency, but that's not mine. Most live within a reasonable orbit of the city. Almost all, even those far away, come in on VRE, transit, carpool/vanpools, or slug in. Some drive if it makes sense. I do know a few that live far, far away, but they work compressed schedules, and generally had some reason for living out that far (ie, a spouse that works in an industry in that area, etc). Also, many newer employees (that bought after the boom) that have families tend to live further out. Being a GS-12 doesn't really put a house in Arlington into affordability range.
by BD on Aug 11, 2009 5:52 pm • link • report
So the view from my cubicle:
The higher paid professional staff (GS-12 and up) tend to live either in DC if without kids or in Montgomery County or Northern Virginia if with kids. Quality of schools is likely the biggest factor here given that this subject dominates the water cooler, lunch, etc. None of the employees I work with who have school-aged children live in the city.
What is interesting is that a significant number (more than 1/3) of the lower paid classified staff (Lower GS ratings and contractors) live deep into Southern Maryland (Lexington Park, California, Lusby, etc). That is a hellish commute and the only transit alternatives are commuter busses which save you gas money but, from what I hear, can add up to a hour to the round trip.
All of these employees are African American and all of them lived within the DC city limits before moving. Listenting to them talk, what drives them south are the opportunity to own a house and a desire to get their kids away from "crime," "drugs," "gangs" and even their kids' old friends (who presumably are involved in all of these things).
One other factor that is rarely discussed in forums like this, nearly every person I work with who is married, is married to a spouse that works. Several spouses I know work in Baltimore, one works up by the MD-PA border off of 95, one works in West Virginia. Others work in DC or the inner suburbs.
by metronic on Aug 11, 2009 6:32 pm • link • report
by ksu499 on Aug 12, 2009 8:30 am • link • report
by whodathunkit on Aug 12, 2009 10:37 am • link • report
Exactly what I was thunkin'...
This place has far too many lawyers-
and some knucklehead moron will get into trouble riding this bike and this generous, concerned and well -spirited guy will take the fall for it.
He needs to take out government lawsuit insurance first.
even that is no guarantee in this friggin' place.
by w on Aug 12, 2009 12:31 pm • link • report
GGW -- small clarification, I'm not technically "letting anyone at USDOT use his bike", it's only folks on our bike email list that this note originally went out on, a few others who I know are proficient cyclists, and first-person referrals, around 70 people in all. Liability worries.
by darren on Aug 14, 2009 8:47 am • link • report
by David Alpert on Aug 14, 2009 9:18 am • link • report
I work at the Commerce Department and we have *lots* of bike commuters (and runner, and roller bladers).
How do I get in touch with all of you o turn up the heat?
by Eric Rosenberg on Sep 14, 2009 9:47 am • link • report
by Michael Perkins on Sep 14, 2009 9:55 am • link • report
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