Does Anyone Actually Care About the Oil Spill or "We're Doomed"

I live in pretty much the most liberal area of Virginia--Arlington County.  All five of our County Board members are Democrats, the voters overwhelmingly vote for Democrats for state and federal offices, and most of my neighbors and friends would characterize themselves as politically liberal.  I suspect most of them would also characterize themselves as environmentalists who care about their impact on our environment.  All of them would express concern about climate change and the US's profligate use of oil and fossil fuels.  And they all most certainly are outraged by the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Yet even among these people with environmental convictions, there appears to be a complete lack of connection between their daily activities and our ongoing "addiction" to fossil fuels.  Here are some examples:

• A week ago a friend of my daughter invited her to go swimming at the local pool.  According to Google, it's 6/10ths of a mile on foot.  She and I walked over.  As I was leaving I noted a neighbor from my block dropping off her daughter at the same pool in her minivan, and I watched her get back in and drive home.
• Another of my neighbors works in a building less than 900 yards from her house.  Yet most days she drives to work.
• In another case, a neighbor has a 16-year old son who works in a local five and dime.  The establishment is about 8/10ths of a mile from their home.  On most occasions, they drive over to pick him up after work--even on days with beautiful weather.
•  We needed to provide our house key to a neighbor's daughter so she could care for our cat.  I called over to their house and her father said he would come right over and get the key.  A couple minutes later he drove up.  They live 800 feet away!!!!

If this is how environmentalists take to heart the need to change our habits and protect our environment, then we are most certainly doomed.

(Image from NASA)

Transforming Transportation by Reprioritizing Trails

Here in the Washington region we have experienced record snowfall that has crippled our transportation systems. They are returning to normal. At the time of this post, it is eight days since the blizzard ended.

I live in Arlington County, which is supposedly the model TOD community: bicycle and pedestrian friendly, excellent transit service, smart land-use decisions, etc.  At bicycle advocacy meetings I hear that we are going to strive to move up from Silver to Gold designation from the League of American Bicyclists. However, not one flake of snow (now ice) has been removed from any of the key (and in some cases essential) ped/bike commuter corridors.

This part of the Custis Trail (which is likely one of the 10 most used bike commuter routes in America) has been redubbed the Custis luge.Because of how it is shaded, it will still have ice on it a month from now unless action is taken.

Arlington has a Car-Free Diet campaign that promotes Arlington as a place to live
without a car, because of all their supposed amenities and  infrastructure.  Yet  someone who lives in parts of Rosslyn  without a car has no--zero!--options for getting to the Metro (okay, taxicab; one).  What are they to do?  Walk on Lee Highway?  Risk injury on the Custis luge?

There are three sections of trail near Metro stations that provide Metro access to hundreds and hundreds of people.  As of the time of this writing, not one inch of those sections has been attended to in any way.  Because of the significant pedestrian use, those sections have now become glaciated skidways of treacherous ice.

The problem is that trail maintenance is housed in the Parks Department.  Rightfully, Parks tend to have lower priority than transportation.  Yet in the case of significant portions of Arlington trails, they function primarily as transportation facilities.  Trails that are used significantly for transportation should be treated as transportation infrastructure and prioritized as such.


View Larger Map
Recently Arlington installed counters along the trails, and they have documented the fact that a significant number of people are using the 4-Mile Run underpass at 395 for transportation; it's necessary for them to reach jobs in Shirlington.  Yet as far as the County is concerned, they may as well not exist.

In reality, if a small vehicle plow had been dispatched immediately after the snow stopped and before it was tramped down, it could have cleared a 5-foot wide path on the 17 miles of Arlington Loop plus the section from the Custis/WOD intersection to East Falls Church in 4-5 hours max.  At $100/hour, it would have cost under $500 total.  Three times this year so far, we're still looking at probably no more than $2000.  No salt or chemicals needed.  If you clear down to the pavement right away, it dries out on its own.  By now it would be totally usable.  (Some people have intelligently pointed out, if you clear 1/2 the trail, the other half remains for the skiers for much longer--everyone wins.)

If someone were to try to clear the Rosslyn part of the Custis now, it will take many hours and big-time treatment, costing thousands of dollars.  Clearing all the trails would take days.  I can hear the whine already, "We doe-on't have the muh-uhny to do it."

A few years ago I was in New York a couple of days after a large snowstorm.  I stayed on the west side near Ground Zero.  I could see the Hudson River Greenway totally cleared as far as I could see, and one cyclist I talked to said it was cleared all the way up.  The streets were still a mess.  Somehow NY has figured out a way to prioritize that route for the thousands of peds and cyclists who are dependent on it.

When the George Washington and Rock Creek Parkways were built, they were primarily envisaged as "recreational" facilities--intended for people to tool along and enjoy the scenery.  Their function has changed.  Imagine if commuters were told that those roads were not going to be cleared, because they are "Parkways" rather than "highways," so they are not really transportation corridors, but recreational.  That's essentially what pedestrians and cyclists are being told about their "trails."  They are recreational facilities, not transportation corridors, so they don't get tended to until everything else is done, and then only if there is money enough left.

It is past time for communities to re-prioritize their thinking about transportation to include all the amenities, not just the roads and transit facilities.  Pedestrian and trail facilities should be included in transportation budgets--not parks or other lower priority budgets.

Blocked Links Prevent Easy Travel for Pedestrians

As urban form is created, through development, redevelopment, zoning decisions, new buildings, and other changes made to the landscape, opportunities to allow for easier pedestrian travel are often missed. Sometimes they are deliberately blocked for seemingly irrational or no reasons. Often developments are built with fences on several sides without any thought of whether it might be good to encourage people to connect through the sides or backs of property.

This map

View Pedestrian Links near Baileys Crossroads in a larger map
shows a location near Bailey's Crossroads almost right on the border between Arlington and Fairfax Counties. The end of Forest Drive almost touches the parking lot of the apartment building on Jefferson Street (although it's at a somewhat higher elevation). The building, instead of installing a staircase that would allow neighborhood people to easily walk from the neighborhood to the shops on Jefferson St., including the Giant Food and Starbucks, blocked it with a fence (see two photos). In the same way, the fence prevents residents of the apartment building from being able to walk around the neighborhood, say to walk their dog or just for enjoyment.

I wonder: who is afraid of whom? Is that apartment building afraid of the neighborhood people? Well, the complex is wide open to Jefferson St.; anyone can just walk in from that side. Are people on one side dangerous and the others not? Or are the neighborhood people afraid that having a link here would allow undesirables into their neighborhood? I can partially see that point of view, although without this pedestrian option, getting to Starbucks requires driving out onto Route 7, which is a royal pain in the neck. Maybe it never occurs to them that they could conceivably walk there if it weren't for this fence.

Just a couple of blocks away, there is a perfect example of just the opposite. It's noted on the above map. Here's a photo of a pedestrian pass-through built into the fence, allowing the apartment complex residents easy access to the nearby shops. This is a really good idea, which I think is probably strongly supported by both the shops and the residents.

I've noted this missed opportunity out in Tysons Corner. Here a large office building abuts a set of shops, but not near the front, but along the side of the building and the back of the shops. This map shows where office workers have worn a path between their building and the shops, which is actually down a steep hill. It also shows how making the same trip via sidewalk (or car) is more than 1/2 mile.


View 2070 Chain Bridge Road Path to Shops in a larger map

It's easy to see that both the office owners and the shop owners would benefit from having this link put in. The office workers would have easy access to more lunch options and services and the shops and restaurants would have a larger market. It's a no brainer, but I suspect no brains have given it any thought.

There are certainly thousands of these small linkages that could be unblocked or created. Each one might open up pedestrian opportunities to a few people or a few score of people. But all multiplied together one could imagine literally thousands of short car trips being eliminated and quality of life for those people improved.

Walking Directions from Google

Google Maps has introduced its walking directions--currently in Beta. When you select directions you are given the choice in a drop-down menu of "By car" or "Walking."

Google has taken on a gargantuan task, in my opinion. The enormous number of shortcuts available to savvy walkers is virtually infinite: plazas, alleys, cut-through buildings, pathways, etc. Then there is the opposite problem--places where a map indicates a street or road, but that would be either impossible or unsafe to walk. How they will sort that all out is going to be interesting to watch.

For instance, I tested out the directions from my house to the Ballston Mall (I live just off I-66 about a mile east of the East Falls Church metro). The shortest and most pleasant way for me to get there on foot (or bike) is on the Custis trail, but Google Maps doesn't know the Custis Trail exists, so it routed me along Washington Blvd., adding about 1/2 mile to the distance. Maps.ask.com, which also provides walking directions also did not indicate the trail.

I think this is a great idea, though, and I hope Google and ask.com are successful at making this service accurate and useful. Try it out for yourself.

(More) How Long Does It Take?

Another in my series on people's perceptions on how long it takes to get around by various modes (see my recent post about cycling and this one about driving and this one that worked through various scenarios for a transit trip).

My 3rd-grade daughter has a friend who catches the school bus in the morning. I was talking with her father about where their bus stop is (and other scintillating topics!). They have to cross Route 50 in Arlington at Irving Street, where there is a light. I suggested that they could cross at the pedestrian bridge a block west at Jackson Street and it might be somewhat more pleasant than walking across eight lanes (and possibly having to dodge turning cars). He said it was a good idea, but they didn't want to take another 10 minutes walking to the bus stop. Ten minutes!!! I didn't challenge him at the time, but I went home and used an Internet mapping tool to compare the distances for the two trips: their house to the bus stop via the light vs. via the pedestrian bridge (BTW Washcycle reports that this bridge will be closed this summer for rebuilding). The bridge trip is exactly 1000 feet longer than waiting for the light. Even walking with a 3rd grader, one should be able to walk at least 3 mph, in which case covering 1000 feet would take 3' 45." If they have to wait 45 seconds or more for the light, then their added time is less than 3 minutes at most.

So in their defense it is quicker to wait for the light, but it doesn't take anywhere near 10 additional minutes to take the other route. It makes me wonder how many people don't take a trip on foot because they think it will take twice as long--or more--than it actually does.

Be sure to visit WalkArlington for more information on walking around town. Here are some other people who give getting around on foot some thought:

Always the Planner
That's Fit
Sneezing Weasel Hat

80,000 Tons!!

Congratulations Arlington!

Arlington’s design: urban villages, excellent transit, good pedestrian and bicycle facilities, make saving gasoline (and greenhouse gases) easier than most places. Many Arlingtonians are able to get to their jobs, take care of their daily tasks, visit friends and participate in community life without having to drive everywhere. Less driving means less air pollution and less greenhouse gas emissions, helping to reduce our climate change impact.

Transportation statistics bear this out. In the whole Washington region, almost 3 out of 4 workers (74%) drive alone to work, while in Arlington it’s a little over 50%. This difference means about 80,000 fewer tons of CO2 are being emitted than if Arlington County were like the regional average—just from these commuting trips. That’s also more than 8 million gallons of gasoline being saved each year!

Also remarkable is that more than 40% of non-work trips by Arlingtonians are made without driving—the majority of these on foot.