Thanks from VBF to Alta’s Fionnuala Quinn for organizing this get-together for the 4th year in a row. It’s great to finally meet everyone from around Virginia, and see others we don’t get to see often enough. From Fionnuala:

Thanks to everyone who came to the 4th Virginia Get-Together on a snowy day when practically everything else in DC had shut down. Despite conditions, we gathered a great group of about 35 bike advocates, officials, summit scholarship winners, bike coordinators, and others from MORE, Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Blacksburg, Richmond, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and elsewhere. We missed several people who had originally planned to join us because of the local weather.

After some lively socializing, we took a break for short presentations from:

Becky Johnson of Harrisonburg

• Becky Johnston of Harrisonburg, talking about local success with eliminating a bus route via a walking school bus.
• Beth Weisbrod, Executive Director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation on the progress installing the Virginia Capital Trail and the on-going need for support as the project continues moving forward.
• Gillian Burgess of Arlington KidicalMass talked about the casual, slow-paced family rides that have been a huge local success and she called for ride-marshall volunteers to join in the fun.
• Jeff Anderson, Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling, on the Second Fairfax Bike Summit, SRTS progress and the hiring of a new SRTS coordinator.
• Jenifer Joy Madden, Fairfax and Durable Human, spoke about the Partnership for a Healthier Fairfax and the inclusion of health considerations in local design (check out Jenifer’s book)
• Jonathan Nye of Ecocycling described plans for the Hampton Roads Bicycle Summit to be held on Saturday May 31st. Make a note.
• Kitty Zeringue, the Virginia Tech Bicycle Coordinator (and New River Valley Bicycle Association president) spoke about the bike parking study that has been taking place on-campus.
• Kyle Lawrence of Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition, provided a round up on the Harrisonburg bike master plan, the second Rockingham-Harrisonburg Bike Summit, the successful trail funding and the work taking place at JMU.
• Mark Blacknell, Washington Area Bicyclist Association Board President/Arlington resident talked about the making of Bikeswell, the documentary (a must watch)
• Max Hepp-Buchanan of Bike Walk RVA (Richmond) talked about the visit of elected officials and local government staff to Arlington and DC to tour bike facilities (another must-watch video)
• Rick Holt, President of Prince William Trails and Streams Coalition, gave an up-date on local progress including a major SRTS infrastructure grant.
• Susan Wilson, Manager of Transportation for the City of Portsmouth, spoke about the progress installing dedicated bike lanes throughout the City using various funding mechanisms and the other upcoming plans
• Tom Bowden, of Virginia Bicycling Federation (VBF), provided an update on the ongoing legislative session.
• Travis Davidson, Tidewater Bicycle Association, provided an update on the ongoing effort to incorporate a bicycle friendly multi-use path along the light rail planned in Virginia Beach and plans to hold a local bike summit in February, 2015
• Wendy Phelps, Active Transportation Planner working on bicycle and pedestrian issues at City of Charlottesville, updated us on ongoing planning and improvements.

[continue reading…]

As the 2014 Session of the Virginia General Assembly draws to a close on Saturday, March 8, cyclists may soon feel safer on Virginia’s roads but additional work will needed to be made in the future.

Thanks to the work of Senator Bryce Reeves (R – Spotsylvania), if Gov. McAuliffe signs SB97, motorists will be required to pass cyclists by at least three feet.  This was a hard fought battle but a great victory for all of us.

Though Delegate Barbara Comstock (R – Fairfax/Loudon) wasn’t successful with HB82, requiring motorists to not follow cyclists too closely, she certainly made a valiant effort to get it through the Senate Transportation Committee — where a number of longtime supporters voted against the bill.  Considering that Virginia is the only state which doesn’t protect cyclists from being tailgated, this legislation merely corrected an embarrasing omission to the existing Code.  It seems larger forces (Politics!) may have influenced the outcome of what seems like a common sense bill.

Senator Chap Petersen (D – Fairfax) suffered a similar fate with his SB225 before the Senate Transportation Committee. This “dooring” bill would have made it illegal to open a car door into moving traffic and causing an accident.

Until we make our roads and streets safe for all cyclists, we are facing an uphill battle to expect average citizens to choose to ride their bikes to work, school, for errands exercise or vacation.  Good common sense legislation like those introduced this year helps us achieve this goal.

We will soon begin planning for the 2015 Session.  If you live in Senators Reeves’ or Petersen’s, or Delegate Comstock’s districts, please thank them for going to bat for us.  We will be back to fight another day, but need the help of citizens across the state to get these bills passed.

Just back from a long day at the U.S. Capitol, as the League of American Bicyclists Bike Summit had their Lobby Day.

While there, at shortly after 1 p.m., I received the good news that the Virginia House of Delegates, after Passing the Bill By for the Day on both Monday and Tuesday (for reasons I have not yet learned) PASSED the Bill today by a 72 – 27 vote, culminating more than 5 years of effort in attempting to get to this result. SB 97 Bicycles, etc.; minimum clearance for passing.

floor: 03/05/14 House: VOTE: PASSAGE (72-Y 27-N) YEAS–Albo, Anderson, BaCote, Brink, Bulova, Campbell, Carr, Chafin, Cole, Comstock, Dance, DeSteph, Fariss, Farrell, Filler-Corn, Futrell, Greason, Habeeb, Head, Herring, Hester, Hope, Howell, A.T., Hugo, Ingram, James, Keam, Kilgore, Kory, Krupicka, Landes, LaRock, Leftwich, LeMunyon, Lopez, Loupassi, Marshall, R.G., Mason, Massie, McClellan, McQuinn, Miller, Minchew, Morris, Morrissey, O’Bannon, O’Quinn, Orrock, Plum, Pogge, Ramadan, Rasoul, Robinson, Rush, Rust, Sickles, Simon, Spruill, Stolle, Surovell, Taylor, Torian, Toscano, Tyler, Villanueva, Ward, Ware, Watts, Wilt, Yancey, Yost, Mr. Speaker–72.

NAYS–Adams, Austin, Bell, Richard P., Bell, Robert B., Berg, Bloxom, Byron, Cline, Cox, Davis, Edmunds, Fowler, Garrett, Gilbert, Helsel, Hodges, Joannou, Jones, Knight, Lingamfelter, Marshall, D.W., Morefield, Poindexter, Ransone, Scott, Webert, Wright–27.

ABSTENTIONS–0.

NOT VOTING–Peace–1.

Thanks are due to many, as I will expand upon later, but the hour is late.

Update: please note that Del. Buddy Fowler & Del. Chris Peace have notified the
House Clerk that their intent was to vote FOR the bill, rather than
being counted as a NAY and a Not Voting.

Although they do not rewrite history in such cases, and the vote still
stands as 72 – 27, their intentions are noted in the official record.

Accordingly, no need to express disappointment to them, but rather your
thanks.

Are you coming to the Bike Summit in DC next week?  Even if you’re not attending the conference itself, there’s plenty going on that’s open to everyone.  For example, the congressional visits (contact Champe to schedule yours).  And the Virginia get-together Monday evening, where we hope you can drop by and join us.  It’s a great chance to meet everyone, and get the dirt on what’s really going on!

From our organizer and friend, Fionnuala Quinn:

We are holding a casual gathering for any Virginia folks in town for bike summit events. This is a great chance to connect and put faces to the names. We also have a few people lined up to tell us briefly about some great Virginia projects of the last year. We have reserved several tables at Cuba Libre, one and a half blocks from the Renaissance hotel.  

Where:  Cuba Libre, 801 9th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 – corner of 9th & H Streets

When:  4:30 pm to 6:00 pm on Monday March 3rd

Refreshments:  The Virginia Bicycling Federation and Alta Planning + Design will sponsor appetizers but everyone will be responsible for their own food and drink orders

RSVP:  FionnualaQuinn@altaplanning.com  so we have some idea of numbers

What to bring:  Bring along any new materials, brochures, flyers developed locally to inspire others

Please feel free to extend this invitation to others based in Virginia with a biking interest.  We hope that you can join us this year.