Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Mark McDiarmid, Nextel Engineer AKA "The Pedal Pusher"

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 01:54:03 -0500

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59422-2002Dec15.html
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Officials, Cyclists Push Pedaling for Commuters

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By Katherine Shaver

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, December 16, 2002; Page B01

Dan Tangherlini pedals his Cannondale hybrid bicycle along K Street NW, squeezing between the cars and trucks parked to his right and those whooshing past on his left. A moving van's side mirror skims by within inches of his helmeted head. The bumpers of motorists late for work sometimes hang near his skinny back tire. A whiff of exhaust mixes with the morning breeze.

He does this by choice.

Tangherlini, director of the District's Transportation Department, rides his bike three miles between his Capitol Hill home and his office near Adams Morgan at least once a week. He says he enjoys the peace of the quieter side streets and the exercise -- even in winter. But he also wants to make a statement. He is pushing what he calls one of the easiest, cheapest and most untapped ways to move people without further clogging traffic-choked streets.

"We've focused the last 25 years on optimizing the automobile commute," Tangherlini said. "As we run out of space for them, we realize we have to enhance the other alternatives. . . . The streets aren't getting any wider."

With money tight, roads jammed and pollution at unhealthy levels, Washington area governments are promoting bicycling more than at any time since the 1970s. And not just for leisurely weekend rides on scenic paths.

"We'd like to see bicycles used not just for recreation but as transportation," said Michael Farrell, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

Area officials are dusting off 30-year-old bike plans and drafting new ones. Leaders across the region are looking to create a regionwide biking network by filling in the gaps where bike trails or lanes designated for cyclists suddenly end. And Maryland, Virginia and the District recently spent $1.64 million in federal funds to install bicycle racks on every Metro bus by the end of this month.

But along with more cycling will come increasing demands to share the road at a time when every inch of pavement is coveted. Some of the new bike lanes on streets must come from squeezing lanes for vehicles. A clash could be brewing between Washington's car culture and two-wheeled commuters who say they deserve more of the road.

"There's not enough room on the streets for the cars," said Mahlon G. "Lon" Anderson, a spokesman for Mid-Atlantic AAA, who said he commutes in his 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier because he lives 35 miles from his Chantilly office. "And now we're taking some of that space for bicycles."

Bob Chase of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance questions the benefits of having relatively few people ride bikes compared with the potential costs in safety to cyclists and tighter lanes for motorists.

"How many bags of mulch can you put on a bike?" asked Chase, who said he drives 2 1/2 miles to work because he needs his car for out-of-office meetings and, besides, he doesn't have shower or locker facilities at work.

"I don't think it's realistic to think hundreds of thousands of people are going to give up their automobiles on a daily basis to ride bicycles," Chase said. "I think it's great for health and recreation, but I don't think it's a realistic solution for traffic or air pollution."

Even biking enthusiasts acknowledge that it would take a massive increase in the number of cyclists to make a significant dent in rush-hour congestion. But local officials say some side roads now teetering between free-flowing and gridlock would benefit from any measure that holds down the number of vehicles.

And, they say, bicycling -- even once or twice a week -- offers a fat-fighting alternative for people who cannot afford a car or are tired of being stuck in one.

"It may not make our roads less congested," said Jim Sebastian, who recently revived the defunct position of the District's bicycle program manager. "But for those people who will, bicycling provides another way to get around the congestion."

Sebastian, who lives five miles from work, commutes by bike three days a week, as long as it's no colder than 30 degrees and no hotter than 90.

Local governments are hoping many others will join him. The new bike lanes being painted on Arlington County roads are designed to connect major trails.

Sebastian was hired to scour the District's plans for new road and bridge projects to see where bike lanes or paths could be included. The city also hired a consultant to redo its master plan for bikes, last updated in 1975, and recently painted five miles of new bike lanes on city streets -- the first in a decade.

Loudoun County is creating its first bike and pedestrian plan, to better connect parks, schools, offices, shopping areas and open space. And Rockville is building the equivalent of a bike path beltway around the city and teaching bike safety to all schoolchildren.

"Any parking spaces that free up help, any cars off the road help," said Betsy Thompson, who oversees Rockville's bike program and rides 1 1/2 miles to work two to four days a week, depending on the weather and carpool duty. "We certainly don't expect 50 percent of our population to give up their cars, but I think for increasing fitness and for congestion relief, it can't hurt."

Some bicycle advocates say the region still lags in making bicycling a serious choice.

Less than 1 percent of federal transportation dollars goes to encouraging safe cycling and walking, said Bill Wilkinson, executive director of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking. Development patterns that encourage sprawl make bike trips even longer, he said, and bike lanes need to be painted on more major routes, such as Wisconsin and Connecticut avenues.

"We're getting bike lanes -- yes, that's good," said Wilkinson, who rides his Trek hybrid to work about 10 miles twice a week in spring and summer. "We're getting them where it's relatively easy and uncontroversial to put them. But we don't see them on major routes where they need to be."

It would take leaps for the Washington area to catch up with the great biking cities such as those in Europe, where paths separated from car traffic abound, and people make up to a third of all trips by bicycle.

In the Washington region, about 85,000 daily trips -- 1 percent of the total -- are done by bicycle. About a quarter are for commuting, with the rest for errands or recreation, according to COG.

Any local cyclist can rattle off a list of places, such as upper Rock Creek Park, where the bike path or lane ends for no apparent reason, forcing bicyclists into a scary ride along the roadside and sometimes angering motorists when vehicles get backed up, unable to pass.

Sharing the road can be dangerous. In 1999, the region had 673 reported bicycling injuries and eight fatalities, according to state and local governments.

Offices lacking showers or changing facilities prevent many people from trying a bicycle commute. After all, the invigorating feeling of having ridden to work can quickly melt into embarrassment while walking through the corporate cafeteria in Spandex shorts and with sweaty helmet head.

Mark McDiarmid, 37, said he rides his Look road-racing bike 10 1/2 miles each way from his Falls Church home to his office in Reston two or three days a week, whenever it's warmer than 50 degrees. It take 45 minutes each way, he said, compared with 35 minutes driving in rush hour. He arrives at work in full cycling gear, carrying his office-casual khakis and other work clothes rolled up in an over-the-shoulder bag.

McDiarmid said he likes helping the environment but mostly rides for the exercise and the feeling of arriving at work clear-headed. "I don't have to spend time in the gym outside work," he said.

But he also said he doesn't see bicycle commuting catching on. Even with about 2,000 employees at Nextel, where he is a telecommunications engineer on contract, the office bike rack rarely has more than a dozen bicycles.

McDiarmid said he thinks the region's extremes of hot and cold weather keep people from riding more often. He gives the area a B-minus for bicycle friendliness and said he doesn't think cycling will catch on as a commuting option unless people grow comfortable riding beside vehicles.

"We're never going to be able to build bike paths everywhere," McDiarmid said.

On Tangherlini's recent ride down Sixth Street NE, the bike lane ran out after six blocks. Motorists occasionally give him a get-off-my-road honk, but often he's moving faster than they are in the traffic.

If he catches the green lights, he can be at work in 15 minutes, half the time it would take to go by Metro or car.

"When I drive, it can be equally tense [as biking] in some places," he said. "But once I hit Fourth Street and the back neighborhoods, it's nice and quiet and people are out on the sidewalks. I get a certain tranquillity and peace -- and that's something I never get when I drive."

© 2002 The Washington Post Company

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