At VBF’s Fall Retreat, Jeff Peel from the League of American Bicyclists talked at length about the new Bicycle Friendly States program, the scoring system, and why Virginia ranked 23rd in 2008. Here’s where Virginia lost points:
- No 3′ passing law
- No cell phone restrictions for drivers (full credit for total ban, partial credit for hands-free requirement)
- No bike parking requirement for state-owned facilities
- No mountain biking plan
- No CO2 reduction plan that includes biking as a means to reduce CO2 emissions
- No rumble strip policy that includes 4′ clearance for bicycles
- No system to tally percentage of highways with paved shoulders
- State bike routes lack signage
- State bike map does not include suitability ratings
- No bicycle-related questions on state drivers test
- No reporting of bicycle usage in outdoor recreation
- No performance measures in state bike master plan
Your comments are encouraged!
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I won’t argue with most of those points, but in the Hampton Roads area, I see state & national bike route signage all over the place. Some of these roads are not for the inexperience or feint of heart, but they are clearly marked.
We need to review the actual response that VDOT provided to LAB. Several of LAB’s “demerits” seem either undeserved or likely to be addressed as VDOT develops and adopts Virginia’s first real statewide bicycle plan in the coming year. All-in-all, however, the LAB feedback to VDOT’s Bicycle-Friendly States application is useful in helping VBF focus its short-term advocacy efforts.
The “bike friendliness” of Virginia, at least Northern Virginia, depends heavily on where one lives and where one is biking. Alexandria (City of) is fairly bike friendly due to several factors, including the existence of designated bike lanes and bikeable streets, a grid network of roads (at least in the eastern part of town), a city ethos that is friendly to biking and walking and a gov’t that is dedicated to keeping the city like that, and drivers who (in my view, after biking to work almost 20 years) are deferential and courteous to bicyclists. The same can be said of Arlington, only more so. Fairfax County, on the other hand, still has a ways to go and Prince William is downright hostile to cyclists.
Thank you for your comment, Ernie. LAB’s Bicycle-Friendly States (BFS) ranking is primarily based on statewide laws, policies, and practices, not local policies and practices (or general bikeability), which LAB recognizes through its separate Bicycle-Friendly Communities program. Nonetheless, the fact that Alexandria and Arlington are more bikeable and “bike friendly” than the rest of NoVA is partly because all the roads in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties are controlled by the state (VDOT), which inadequately accommodated bicycling (and walking) in the past. LAB’s BFS ranking of Virginia reflects that VDOT has recently become more supportive of bicycling, although bicycling retrofits to existing roads are still practically nonexistent. VBF is working at the state level to accelerate such change throughout Virginia.
Hi, I think it is imperative to have a question on bicycles right to use the road on the drivers test, and posters at the dmv. Thanks
Allan – here’s a really belated reply to you. You are, of course, correct in everything you say. I think Fairfax has really good intentions but, as you stated, the VDOT’s control of road building there has much to do with the nature of cycling there. I would like to say I enjoy the bike map and the existence of many miles of bike lanes in the south county area.
Do you know where in Northern Virginia I can donate a bike?
Both Bikes for the World [http://bikesfortheworld.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=33]
and Phoenix Bikes
[http://www.phoenixbikes.org/en/support/donate-a-bike] gladly accept donated bicycles.
I,m a Virginian living in Ca. Davis Ca has as many bikes on the streets per ca pita as Beijing China. I have enjoyed biking here and am returning to Va next spring to live and will actively seek better biking conditions in Va because of my experience in Ca. I remember saying and hearing said about bicyclist in much of Va. ” Does that person have a death wish”. I’m hoping that condition will improve.
I grew up in Wyoming and lived in San Diego for many years while in the Navy. I recently relocated to the King george area and I can relate to the “death wish” comment.
I would love to make my 15 mile commute by bike but there is quite simply no safe route for bicyclists on the 3/301.
Seriously,Wyoming is more bike friendly than King george, VA
Has this ranking been updated recently or anywhere. I would agree and state that in Virginia Beach, VA, being touted as a tourist spot is probably one of the most unfriendly bike spots in the Common Wealth. No share the road signs until you get to chesapeake, new roads going up but no bike lanes, many roads without shoulders, agressive drivers, etc.
Dennis: we reported the 2010 rankings a few months ago. As you can see we’ve come up a little, from 23rd to 18th, but we’re still dead last in Enforcement. Lack of prosecution in the Dan Hersh case is a notorious example.
We think too that the City of Virginia Beach needs to do a lot more to accommodate cyclists, especially for a tourist town whose crowning glory is its boardwalk.
I don’t know where NY State ranks, but I can tell you, after having spent many glorious weeks biking in the Central NY-Finger Lakes region, how it feels in contrast to Virginia. It is possible to leave East Rochester, find the Erie Canal or parallel roads (NY 31, NY20/5) and go from one end of the state to the other on wide shoulders or quiet roads. It’s not a hassle to ride from Fairport to Canandaigua then South to Naples and the Southern Tier on great bike roads without feeling threatened or harassed. Many roads, including main roads, have wide 10 foot shoulders and even smaller county roads have 3 – 5 foot shoulders. Towns are small and interspersed with beautiful farmland, not sprawl. And best of all, the drivers, for the most part, are respectful of cyclists. In the equivalent of 6 weeks riding there, I only had one driver yell at me to get off the road. I contrast this with roads in Virginia’s Piedmont where drivers routinely buzz cyclists, county councils (Louddoun, e.g.) debate whether or not to limit riders access to public roads, and people tell me how “dangerous” cycling is and how “I am just in the way.” I am sorry to say, I don’t see Virginia as particularly enlightened in any way when it comes to bicycling, and this comes from someone (me) who rides thousands of miles a year on Virginia roads. For that matter, Maryland is way ahead of Virginia in regards to biking facilities and pro-biking attitudes. This is not take away from Alexandria (City) and Arlington which are very enlightened when it comes to biking, but those jurisdictions are far outnumbered by everywhere else in Virginia.
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we will be relocating to virginia soon and this archaic attitude towards cyclists has me very concerned. must re-consider our move.