Chris Eatough, a former professional biker and the director of BikeArlington, envisions an Arlington County where there are more bikes than cars. In order to get there, says Eatough, the county needs to create a connected network of protected bike lanes.
Why Arlington (and Every Place) Needs More Protected Bike Lanes More »
Washington D.C. is the most walkable metropolitan area in the U.S., according to a report by George Washington University and Smart Growth America. The District’s number-one ranking has surprised some, prompting them to ask how D.C. was able to surpass places such as New York City, which not only contains one of the best subway systems in the world but also that epitome of walkability known as Manhattan.
Ever since George Romero’s 1978 film “Dawn of the Dead” (arguably the best zombie film of all time, with a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), zombies have symbolized modern-day anxieties, specifically American consumerism. For what is a zombie but a mindless automaton consuming everything in its path? But give me a little latitude here, because I believe a strong case can be made that zombie movies also mirror migration trends and settlement patterns, and the new movie “Warm Bodies” gives hope that things are headed in the right direction.
The Rebirth of the Zombie and — Dare I Say it — Walkable City More »
In the video that follows, produced by me and Mobility Lab’s Editor Paul Mackie, Ballston Business Improvement District CEO Tina Leone says, “We see the Silver Line as making Ballston the center of the universe. It makes everything even better here. We already have a very active Metro stop, with 26,000 trips per day. We see that growing to 38,000 trips per day along with the Silver Line by 2020. So that’s coming very, very fast.”
There seems to be quite a lot of flirting, or at least furtive glancing, taking place on public transportation. A new series of Metro ads celebrating the opening of the Silver Line suggests the new rail line to Reston might not only connect Washington D.C. residents with jobs and housing, but with dating opportunities as well. There is data suggesting some truth to the idea that one can find love on transit.
Transit would be better served if the pay-per-ride and unlimited fare schemes that currently dominate were expanded to include more fine-tuned pricing structures similar to those offered by cell phone companies. That was the idea that won the recent second annual Outside the Box transportation conference and competition.
Arlington, Virginia takes bicycling seriously. It partnered with Washington D.C. to create arguably the most successful bikesharing network in the U.S., Capital Bikeshare. Arlington contains more than 100 miles of multi-use trails, on-street bike lanes, and designated bike routes over a relatively small 26.1 square miles of space.
“Does a city speak?” This provocative question – posed by Saskia Sassen (pictured above) – opened the recent Mobilities in Cities: From Visible to Invisible conference at Columbia University. It’s hard to deny that a city has life, but does it live and communicate?
Begin with your most important point. Use short sentences and clear, non-jargony language. Remember your end goal. These were among the tips BeyondDC creator and Greater Greater Washington (GGW) blogger Dan Malouff (above left, with Paul Mackie) imparted at this week’s Lunch at the Lab. Malouff discussed effective blogging and how to get published by websites such as GGW and Mobility Lab.
New York City’s Subway system, run by the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), is the largest rapid transit system in the United States.
A recent Salon article called Arlington the suburb of the future, and Virginia State Senator Barbara Favola (D) had a big hand in creating it. At Mobility Lab’s Lunch At the Lab this week, the 14-year veteran of the Arlington County Board discussed a wide array of transportation issues in Virginia, including the Silver Line, the Columbia Pike Streetcar, Virginia’s transportation bill, and Uber.
Virginia Senator Discusses Silver Line, Streetcar, Uber More »
At a recent tour of Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health in Washington, D.C., Dr. Ted Eytan displayed a photograph of Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado Springs, Colorado medical office (see below), and asked: “In this picture, what’s the most toxic structure to humans?”
The mainstreaming of bicycling is nothing short of a comeback story in the United States. Bicycle ridership generally is up, and so is bike commuting, particularly in some key urban markets. In automobile-congested but bicycle-friendly regions such as New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., the ability of bikes to outmaneuver automobiles and avoid headache-inducing traffic is envied and admired.
Bicycling Gains Could Eventually Put U.S. Cities on Par with Copenhagen More »
More people are moving throughout Arlington County, Virginia without additional automobile congestion. Over the past 15 years, Arlington’s arterial roads have had less traffic, while transit usage during the same period of time has increased 34.5 percent. As transit service has grown, customer satisfaction has increased, especially on the county’s ART buses.
How Arlington Plans to Invest in Transportation Future More »
What’s the current state of the rider experience? Are transportation systems meeting the demands and expectations of the general public? These questions were posed to a panel of speakers at a plenary session of the Mobility Lab-sponsored Innovation in Public Policy Summit.
Gamification, Technology, and Improving Transit Rider Satisfaction More »