Tag: Bicycles
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Embrace the Scooter Revolution
Bird, the Uber of the electric scooter world, has deployed its first 50 scooters in Virginia — in Arlington County, to be specific. Arlington has no official policy regarding electric scooters, and Bird placed its black-and-white scooters without county permission. Whether that becomes a problem remains to be seen. “We will be having discussions with…
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Latest Apartment Amenity: Bicycle Storage
Developers Charles Macfarlane and Sam McDonald have applied for a special use permit to build a six-story apartment building on East Main Street east of downtown. Current zoning allows for only five-story buildings. The Main 2525 proposal has many things to like, including 7,400 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, underground parking for 241 vehicles,…
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Getting Around London
by James A. Bacon London is one of the most photographed cities in the world. Tourists flock there by the millions, and most of them have cameras. The Parliament building, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey… the list of world-class photo-worthy historical sites goes on an on. And then there’s the scene shown above —…
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When Bicycles and Buses Collide
by James A. Bacon My favorite London bicycling story so far comes from the London Evening Standard, which wrote of a bus driver ogling a female pedestrian who failed to notice a cyclist and hit him. That was only one of 25 incidents involving cyclists in complaints lodged with Transport for London over a fortnight last…
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Women Flex their Biking Muscles
by Amy George Riding a bicycle can be transformative to physical and mental well being, to families, to neighborhoods, and beyond. As cycling becomes more popular, more women and girls are enjoying its effects. However, representation among cyclists still tips male — 76% as measured per-ride in the U.S. Yet recent surveys show women overwhelmingly…
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Map of the Day: Cycling to Work
The number of U.S. workers who traveled to work by bicycle increased from about 488,000 in 2000 to about 786,000 in 2008-2012, the largest percentage increase of any transportation mode, according to a new report issued by the U.S. Census Bureau based upon its annual American Community Survey. Fully one percent of the population in…
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Map of the Day: Where the Cyclists Are
Strava Labs maintains a database of where runners and cyclists using its smart-phone fitness app are running and riding. The data set includes nearly 77 million rides and 20 million runs. The heat map above shows where cycling activity is the most intense across the state. (Sorry about cutting off Southwest Virginia and the Virginia…
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Where In the World Is Jim Bacon?
Nowhere as exciting as the places Matt Lauer goes… but pretty exciting for Jim Bacon. The spouse and I stopped here on the way to our final destination for one evening to help a friend celebrate her 60th birthday. I could not visit without snapping at least one photo pertaining to transportation and human settlement…
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Bicycling in Paradise
One of California’s greatest assets is its climate, and San Francisco, though foggier than nearby locales, is no exception. Climatically speaking, the city is as close to paradise as any location on the planet, which makes it a great place to spend outdoors and a great place to bicycle. As one would expect, San Francisco…
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Bacon Bits: Bicycles and Baseball Stadiums
The Easy Out. Writing in Henrico Monthly John Gerner, a Richmond-based leisure industry consultant, takes Richmond City Hall’s assumption that building a new baseball stadium requires public funding. Ballparks are often built with little or no public funding, he writes: Greensboro’s privately financed ballpark that was built to accommodate a AA minor league baseball team,…
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Bicycle Wars
by James A. Bacon The bicycle wars are coming to Virginia as cyclists literally fight to take back the streets. For decades the issue was settled — the streets belonged to automobiles, with pedestrians confined to sidewalks as second-class citizens. Bicycles didn’t figure into street design at all. But those days are over as increasingly…
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More Awesomeness in Richmond
Another reason I love my home town: Richmond has 40 miles of world-class single-track bicycle trails. I’ve been on a few of them, although, I do confess, I don’t ride nearly as fast as the two guys in this short video! (Nor can I do the neat wheelie tricks up and down stairs.) What I…
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Building a Culture of Cycling
Arlington County has set the goal of becoming the most bicycle-friendly community on the East Coast, and it has devoted serious resources to make it happen. The task takes more than building bike lanes and painting sharrows — it takes changing the culture of transportation, as explained in this video produced by the county. The…
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Bicycle Commuting up Nine Percent
I was driving through one of Henrico County’s most heavily traveled intersections at Parham Road and Patterson Avenue a few days ago when I encountered a remarkable sight: two bicyclists waiting at the stoplight. They weren’t riding together. One was traveling north on Parham and the other heading east on Patterson. That location is the…
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Dogs and Bikes Welcome
I had a business meeting this morning at the Lamp Lighter in the fan. The coffee house is located on the gritty side of Cary Street but it draws a steady flow of customers — a disproportionate number of whom sport tattoos. What I loved most was this scene captured out front. Park your bikes,…