WABA Quick Release

Author Archive

This post is part of the WABA Women Bicycling Project, an ongoing campaign to create a community, share resources and develop strategies for getting more women on bikes.  To read about the project so far, check out Quick Release, the WABA blog. To learn more and sign up to receive emails about this project, click here.

At long last, we are proud to present the audio recording of our Regional Women’s Forum, held last December.

WABA’s Women’s Forum Audio – December 12, 2011

This is the uncut audio from the event, and to help you identify the speakers, here is a list of the women who were on the panel:

Panel moderator

Jesse Cohn, WABA’s Women’s Bicycling  Advocacy & Outreach Intern

Panelists

Veronica Davis, Black Women Bike DC
Heather Deutsch, DDOT
Tracy Hadden-Loh, Rails-To-Trails
Ellen Jones, DC Bicycle Advisory Council
Katie Knight, Revolution Cycles
Finnuola Quinn, Alta Planning & Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling
Kate Ryan, WTOP news
Elizabeth Sherwood, BicycleSPACE
Katie Sihler, goDCgo

Sign up to receive emails about this project here.

Here at WABA, we are still thinking very much about this topic and the bigger questions it raises, as well as how it relates to the ideas that WABA talked about at our Regional Bike Summit in November. We will have some new projects here soon that will help further the conversation and keep the wheels turning. With that in mind, we would like to introduce our new Women’s Bicycling Advocacy & Outreach Interns: Keira Zitelman and Laura Jean Shane! We are very happy to have them both and we will have more details on their projects for the spring in the coming weeks.

One idea that came up again and again during the planning for the forum and afterwards was that this is not a gender-based problem. There is a large proportion of the general public (as high as 60%) who define themselves as “interested in cycling” but with significant reservations–about safety, about buying a bike, about infrastructure, about sweatiness and showers–and this group includes men and women, the old and the young, and people of every description and demographic.

These are the people who are on the cusp of taking up cycling for transportation, and at the core of our Women’s Bicycling Advocacy & Outreach project is the desire to determine what an organization with WABA’s reach and resources can do to convince women (and men) to take the plunge.

You can join the conversation by signing up to receive emails about our Women’s Bicycling Advocacy & Outreach project and by posting on this thread on the Washington Area Bike Forum.

WABA’s Workshop Series brings FREE bike education workshops to your neighborhood! You can read more about our Workshop Series here. Want to bring a WABA Workshop to your local bike shop? Just call them and ask them to request one! You can use our list of local bike shops in the region. Questions? Comments? Email daniel@waba.org or call 202-518-0524 x200.

Interested in finding out more about commuting by bicycle? The Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Spokes Etc. Bicycles in Alexandria are teaming up to bring you the Bike Commuter Clinic! This is the perfect opportunity to interest your friends and coworkers in bike commuting. Don’t forget, National Bike to Work Day is right around the corner! Sign up for the Bike Commuter Clinic  here.

Date
2/29/12

Time
6:30pm

Location
Spokes Etc. Alexandria
1545 N. Quaker Lane
Alexandria VA 22302

Join Daniel Hoagland, WABA’s DC Bike Ambassador Coordinator as he presents tips, tricks, and essential knowledge for commuting by bicycle in the Washington DC area. Daniel is a League Cycling Instructor, has taught many different cycling classes, and is heavily involved in community cycling resources throughout the area.

The clinic will address safe bicycle commuting techniques and equipment, riding in traffic, safe routes for commuting, preparing for your ride, and more. Plus, we’ll show you a wide variety of bikes and accessories you can use to get you ready to ride. We’ll even have a couple of commuter bikes set up and ready to roll.

Refreshments will be served. Due to space constraints, you must register beforehand here. For more information, call Spokes Etc Alexandria at 703-820-2200 or email Nate Graham, Communications Manager, at ngraham@spokesetc.com Thank you!

This winter, we’re looking for the brave, the bold, and those willing to get cold. We’re having a bike education class for our committed Bike Ambassador volunteers on Saturday, January 21st. While this class is primarily for the Bike Ambassador volunteers, it is also open to the general public.

The class will be our Confident City Cycling 1 curriculum, which covers basic bicycling information and on-bike skills. Half of this class will be in the WABA classroom and half will be on-bike practicing bike handling skills.

Please register by clicking here.

You might be asking “Who are the Bike Ambassador volunteers?”

The Bike Ambassador program is our way of outsourcing our bike outreach and education. Bike Ambassador volunteers are just like you–people who love bikes and bicycling. We give them tools and resources to go back into their own communities and workplaces and help WABA spread the word about bicycling. They answer questions, attend events, and generally act as one-stop mobile information booths for all things bike-related. It’s a lot of fun, and we’re always looking for more volunteers.

You can fill out this form, and our Bike Ambassador Program Coordinator will let you know how you can join the Ambassadors!

Last Thursday, The Bike Rack offered a new educational opportunity to its customers and we were happy to help out. Our Bike Commuting Seminar has been one of the services that we offer to are employers looking to show the benefits of biking and physical activity to their employees.  Traditionally, we have held the class as a “brown bag” lunchtime education session for employees, complete with a slideshow, folding bike demonstration, free maps and guides for attendees, and a discounted WABA membership offer.

But The Bike Rack wanted to offer the class not to its employees but to its customers–giving non-commuter cyclists a chance to ask questions and current bike commuters an opportunity to expose their friends to the idea in comfortable environment. We worked with them to be able to provide the class for free, and as a result, we may have created some new bike commuters! More than 20 curious bicyclists packed the bike shop and helped themselves to free wine and pizza provided by local pizzeria Pizza No. 17.

We want to thank Chuck and the rest of The Bike Rack staff for inviting us out to the shop and for giving us the opportunity to expand our bike education offerings, and for providing such a great event space!

But one class isn’t enough…we want to extend this opportunity to other bike shops throughout the region. We want to give you the opportunity to bring your friends out so they can learn about bike commuting in a fun, easy way. So let your local bike shop know that you would be happy to see a class offered there. Let them know that they can get in touch with us to set it up.

And of course, our Bike Commuter Seminars are still available to employers as a great way to encourage bicycle commuting, provide a little education to your employees and make some headway on that “Bicycle Friendly Business” application…

Contact info for Bike Commuter Seminars:
Daniel Hoagland
202-518-0524 x200
daniel@waba.org

Last month, WABA held the region’s first Women’s Bicycling Forum, an important and innovative event designed to start the conversation about why more women aren’t bicycling. Our Women’s Bicycling Advocacy & Outreach intern played a critical role in planning the Forum and took part in a wide range of WABA activities.

For the spring, we’re looking for a new intern to take on this challenging and engaging project and to develop the next steps in our Women’s Bicycling outreach strategy. This internship will involve improving our advocacy and outreach capacity to women and will help drive the broader conversation about gender issues in bicycling, as well as monitoring the feedback from the Forum and designing/implementing WABA’s followup events, campaigns, etc.

This position is unpaid, but WABA is happy to work with local colleges and universities to provide course credit to any student looking for experience in transportation/bicycle advocacy or community outreach and organizing.

Bicycling Advocacy & Outreach Intern – Women’s Bicycling

It’s that time again!

The New Year is all about introspection–the idea of examining yourself and committing to do good in the year to come.

For 2012, we’re Resolving to Ride Responsibly again! Click here to make the resolution with us.

We ride every day, and every day we’re amazed at the number of bicyclists out there. More and more people in the region are taking to two wheels, whether it’s to save money, save time, or just for fun!

The New Year is the perfect time to be thankful that the bicycling movement is picking up speed, and also to reflect on our own bicycling.

We’re resolving to ride responsibly again in 2012! We hope you will too.

Here is this year’s Resolution to Ride Responsibly. Give it a read, sign the pledge, get introspective over a steaming cup of something in front of a cozy fireplace, and come join us for the Ride for Responsibility on January 28th!

WABA is excited for 2012 and the opportunities it will present!

Bicycling is fun. It’s freedom. It’s a million different things to a million different people. We’re a community of bicyclists, and we want every member of that community to be safe and enjoy the ride all year long.

For 2012, we are again asking bicyclists to Resolve to Ride Responsibly. Be safe. Set a good example. Exercise your right to the region’s roadways responsibly.

Join us in making the Resolution:

…I Resolve to be a responsible bicyclist.
…I Resolve to respect the rights of all road users.
…I Resolve to yield to pedestrians.
…I Resolve to do my part to make our roadways safe places.

Please click here and Resolve to Ride Responsibly in 2012

On Tuesday night, the Safety Committee of the DC Bicycle Advisory Council met with Lt. Nick Breul of MPD to discuss updates on various initiatives concerning bicycle safety and law enforcement regarding bicycles, motor vehicles and pedestrians.  Following concerns raised in several enforcement oversight hearings (February, November) this year, MPD has appointed Lt. Breul to act as MPD’s primary liaison to the bicycling community.  Some of the topics covered included:

• An update on the November/December Street Smart campaign
  • Four days of enforcement against pedestrians endangering themselves at four different intersections led to complaints to MPD about police priorities. There is “a lot of work to be done” when it comes to preventing dangerous pedestrian behavior.
    • Pedestrian enforcement locations: 7th & H St. NW, 14th & U St. NW, East Capitol & Benning Rd., New York Ave. & North Capitol
  • Two days of enforcement against motorists endangering pedestrians at Minnesota Ave. & Blaine St. NE led to 56 citations and 2 arrests.
  • Four hours of enforcement against motorists endangering pedestrians along Georgia Ave. NW led to 223 contacts (written/verbal warnings and educational conversations) with motorists–that’s almost a contact per minute!
  • November 29th was the 1 year anniversary of the tragic death of a pedestrian who was struck by a bicycle in Chinatown. MPD officers spent the day stopping and warning bicyclists in the area of the crash (6th & Massachusetts Ave. NW), making 68 contacts with bicyclists. Additionally, MPD officers spent time at the 15th St. cycle track. In both locations, officers focused on education to bicyclists about wrong-way riding, sidewalk riding south of Massachusetts Ave. and obeying red lights.
  • Lt. Breul hopes to replicate the success of these operations in January after the Street Smart program ends for the year.
• A Sergeant in the 3rd District is pushing for more outreach and education for officers regarding bicycles, specifically with how bicyclists are treated by the police during and after crashes.
• Lt. Breul clarified that crashes where a bicycle is damaged minorly and the rider is unharmed would be very unlikely to generate a crash report, however even when damage is minor, insisting on police involvement can help a bicyclist not get taken advantage of by a driver or a driver’s insurance company later.
• The PD-10 crash report form used by police officers was revised in 2010 and is unlikely to see another major revision soon.
• There is no existing “violation code” that refers to a driver violating the District’s 3-foot passing law (DCMR Title 18-2202.10).
• The MPD Academy will be adding additional traffic safety courses focusing on enforcement against motorists that endanger bicyclists, as well as enforcement against bicyclist violations.

Thanks to BAC Safety Committee Chair Jameel Alsalam for leading a productive and informative meeting, and to Lt. Breul for his engagement and insight on the concerns of cyclists.

This post is part of the WABA Women Bicycling Project, an ongoing campaign to create a community, share resources and develop strategies for getting more women on bikes.  To read about the project so far, check out Quick Release, the WABA blog. To learn more and sign up to receive emails about this project, click here.

Sign up here to attend and observe the Forum. Space is limited!

Across the country, there is a significant gender gap in bicycling. Men are three times more likely to ride than women. Though this gap is smaller in the DC metro area, there are still many more men cycling in the region than women. Why is this? What causes this disparity and what can and should be done to change it?

WABA invites you to observe its first Women’s Cycling Forum on December 12th at the West End Public Library. At this roundtable discussion, a panel of women from all corners of the local bicycling arena will share their ideas and solutions as to how to increase cycling in the DC metro area.

Women on the panel include advocates, writers, city and trail professionals, activists, journalists and businesswomen. All of them are bicyclists and want to see more women on bikes.

The goal of this conversation is to produce executable recommendations that utilize WABA’s reach and resources to get more women riding more often. The event is open to the public to observe the discussion.

Event Details

When:
Monday, December 12th
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Where:
Large Meeting Room
DC Public Library, West End location
1101 24th St. NW

Sign up here to attend and observe the Forum. Space is limited!

Before the Event

If you would like to tell your story, you can fill out our Women’s Bicycling Forum Worksheet, and bring it with you to the Forum and your words will be included in the final project report. If you cannot attend the Forum, or would like to do things paperlessly, we have an online version of the Worksheet.

Additionally, we’ve compiled a collection of articles that have explored issues and concepts related to women and bicycling. Please feel free to pass them along to anyone else who might be interested in them:

“New Series #Girlbikegangs: How Women are Changing US Cycling”
The Bird Wheel

“Women Cycling Survey; Analysis of Results”
Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP)

“Bicycling’s Gender Gap: It’s the Economy, Stupid”
Grist

“What Women Want: A Women’s Perspective on Cycling”
Momentum Magazine

“Black Women Take Their Place in DC Bike Lanes”
The Washington Post

“Demystifying NYC’s Cycling Gender Gap”
StreetsBlog

“To Close the Gender Gap, Separate Cyclists from Cars”
StreetsBlog

“Number of Female Cyclists Lags in New York with Safety as a Concern”
New York Times

“What’s British Cycling Doing for Women?”
British Cycling

“Bike vs. Bike: Cycle Chic Debate”
Momentum Magazine

“Sex and the City – and Cycling”
Cycling Mobility

Cycling Sisters
This is a women’s cycling group whose mission is to increase the number of women who ride bicycles for transportation, and to increase the confidence and comfort of women cyclists.

“Media Articles on Women’s Cycling”
Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP)
This is a great resource with several compelling articles.

On Thursday morning, more than 30 people crowded into a small room at the Shirlington Education and Employment Center (SEEC) in Arlington County to attend a Bicycle Commuter Seminar jointly presented by WABA and Bike Arlington. The big difference between this particular seminar and the other 29 that our instructors have done throughout the region this year is that this one was given completely in Spanish.

The Spanish Bike Commuter seminar was given by Edgar Gil and we were invited by Andres Tobar, the director of the SEEC, and Tim Kelly of Bike Arlington. The seminar covered all of the same topics as the English version, including:

• Benefits of bike commuting
• What to do before you ride
• Choosing a bike
• Choosing a route
• Riding visibly
• Lighting and reflectivity
• Lane position and control
• Communication and hand signals
• Riding predictably
• Lawful bicycling
• Bike helmets
• Bike locks
• And more!

Additionally, Bike Arlington provided bike lights and reflective straps to attendees for free, and we handed out Spanish copies of our Safe Bicycling in the Washington Area guide, as well as bike maps of Arlington County and other relevant information. As a follow-up, we’ll be providing free helmets for the SEEC to hand out to participants.

If you or your employer is interested in setting up a Bike Commuter Seminar, in either English or Spanish, please feel free to contact us for more information by calling 202-518-0524 x200 or emailing safetyed@waba.org.

The Shirlington Education and Employment Center matches day laborers with employers who are in need of temporary labor. Potential workers who have the skills and background required are referred to employers who then negotiate the working conditions and wages. Workers are expected to complete the tasks requested to the best of their ability and employers are expected to be fair.

By this point, every bicyclist in the city has seen, encountered or at least read about the closure of the sidewalk along 15th St. NW from G St. south to Pennsylvania Ave. The earthquake in late August damaged some of the decorative stonework atop the Treasury building, and in response, the sidewalk was fenced off in order to make sure nobody was hurt in the event that parts broke off and fell to the ground. In the weeks since the earthquake, pedestrians attempting to use the sidewalk simply walked in the cycle track instead.

Needless to say, this situation created a host of potential conflicts. Bicyclists have complained about the pedestrians, and pedestrians complained about the bicyclists. DDOT put up signage to educate pedestrians on the proper procedure (crossing the street to use the sidewalks on the east side) and WABA’s Bike Ambassadors spent some time directing traffic, but it was unclear if anything could be done to actually fix the problem.

Over the holiday weekend, however, it looks as though the Secret Service and the General Services Administration have decided on a solution. On Sunday, as @sharrowsdc reported on twitter, the fences that closed the sidewalk were moved, freeing up space for pedestrians to remain on the sidewalk. He also posted a photo.

Here are a few more pictures of the freshly reopened sidewalk and pedestrian-free cycle track: