NewVA Moves

One Step Closer

The Virginia senate has passed a repeal of last year's unpopular abusive drive fee law.  The repeal even includes a provision allowing those hit with the fees to seek a refund.

The abusive driver fees were an interesting lesson in how our transportation infrastructure is funded, and what kind of trouble that funding is in.  From the beginning, there were a number of problems with these fees.  Saddling dangerous drivers with additional costs for their trangressions is not immediately distasteful, though it quickly became apparent that trying to fund massive infrastructure needs on the backs of a relatively small proportion of Virginia drivers resulted in wildly ridiculous penalties.  It did make some sense to tie transportation funding to transportation users, even if the law targeted only a small number of users and irresponsible ones at that, but the law even failed at this by exempting non-Virginia drivers from the fees.  In an area like Northern Virginia, where massive employment and shopping centers must be drawing drivers from West Virginia, DC, and Maryland, this exempts a significant portion of users from having to pay for the roads they're driving on.  The law also suffered from something of a split personality - if the fees expected to serve as a revenue source for transportation needs, then clearly they required significant numbers of bad drivers to keep driving badly in order to keep the money flowing, so they couldn't possibly be effective deterents for unsafe drivers.  And if they did become effective deterents, then suddenly the state would find itself back at square one having created a very successful safety program but still with huge transportation shortfalls.

If the state wants to tie transportation funding directly into transportation use, they are going to have to do so across all users of the system, not just a tiny segment of lawbreakers, and neither can they exempt out-of-state drivers who are using Virginia roads.  The only way to do this, it seems to me, is an increase in the gas tax or tolls on the most highly congested/highly used corridors.  If politicians and the public find this distasteful, then the revenue will have to come from a broad, though smaller, general tax increase.  Abusive driver fees may still have a role to play - albeit on a more reasonable level - but it was a mistake from the beginning to think they this would be a successful way to fund our transportation needs.

Bike Virginia Rides the Crooked Road

This year's Bike Virginia tour, scheduled from June 20 through 25, will ride the section of the Crooked Road heritage music trail in the Bristol/Abingdon area.  It's unfortunate that it won't include those sections in Floyd and Franklin counties, though I understand that Abingdon and Bristol see a lot of cyclists come through and should be well-prepared for the additional influx that Bike Virginia will bring in.

On a related note, it turns out (and no doubt avid cyclists already know this) that the NewVa region hosts a section of the cross-country Bikecennential trail, now called U.S. Bike Route 76.  It has been added to our Interactive Bike Map, though there are some gaps in the route.  The section running north of Roanoke through Botetourt and into Catawba is fairly well mapped, but once it enters the New River Valley it gets trickier.  I was able to find some rough directions indicating where the trail entered Christiansburg, but beyond that it was guesswork.  I contacted the NRV bicycle club, and it sounds like maintenance of the route in terms of signage has largely been neglected.  It would be excellent resource for the region if we were to promote this historic route with updated signage and more accurate maps.

VMT in The Roanoke Times

My op-ed was published today.  Go check it out at Roanoke.com.

To Atlanta

Tomorrow, I fly to Atlanta to attend a three-day conference on renewable energy and other energy-related topics.  Actually, the conference isn't in Atlanta itself, but in Rome, Georgia, about an hour-and-a-half outside the city if Google is correct.  This means I will not only have to deal with what is rumored to be one of the most difficult to navigate airports in the country, but I will have to drive in at least some portion of Atlanta traffic.  This will be a precusor to this year's annual Association of Commuter Transportation conference, also being held in Atlanta, though someone thought it would be a good idea to schedule it for August.  August in Atlanta does not sound like an enjoyable experience.

Atlanta has a reputation, well earned, as one of the suffering from some of the worst sprawl in the country.  Its growth over the last several decades has been unchecked and unbalanced, resulting in poor air quality and long commute times.  After having visited many cities - Seattle, as a primary example - who have led the way in combating sprawl, traffic congestion, and related air pollution issues, Atlanta is an example of a city that has not adequately met the challenges facing it.  I'm not very excited about navigating Atlanta roads, but after my recent ordeal with D.C. traffic, I think I'm better prepared.

Demand for Gasoline Down Slightly

This story is almost a month old by this point, but deserves some attention:


If this drop was maintained, it would be the first time that such a prediction has actually come true - it's remarkable the resistance American drivers have had to changing consumption habits. Much the same kind of prediction was made when gas hit $1.50, then $2.00, then $2.50. At each of these arbitrary price points there has often been a flurry of hand-wringing and accusations of price-gouging, but the result has generally been drivers cutting other things out of their budget rather than cutting back on the driving.

I'm somewhat skeptical, therefore, that $3.00 (or $3.50 or $4.00...) gas will be the magical point at which there is a sustained drop in consumption. Without, admittedly, any evidence to support the assertion, I would guess that the drop mentioned in this article has more to do with changes in holiday buying habits - more online shopping rather trips to the mall. Indeed, online holiday spending in 2007 was up 19% over 2006, while overall holiday spending was tepid. If this is an indicator of how people were shopping in addition to how much they were shopping, it does not suggest, unfortunately, a sustained reduction in consumption.

Roanoke River Greenway

I took my daughter for a walk along the Roanoke River Greenway this morning, the new section running east past Roanoke Memorial Hospital, under the Walnut Street Bridge, and along Riverland Rd.  It was the first time I've explored this section.  We didn't traverse the whole thing, but what we did walk offered a beautiful view of the river, a well-used pathway, and a wonderful resource for those homes that, previously, backed a litter-strewn flood plain.  It also serves as a convenient pedestrian/bicycle connection between SE Roanoke, Roanoke Memorial Hospital, and the athletic fields at River's Edge.

Roanoke's Green Initiative

I just came across this website from a recent City of Roanoke press release.  Clean and Green is the City's effort - spurred on by Councilwoman Gwen Mason's press conference last year in which the problem of litter (particularly cigarette butts) was a primary concern - to promote a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable valley:


I was pleased to see Clean Commute Day in the sidebar!

VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled) vs. CAFE

I have submitted this piece for consideration as an op-ed in The Roanoke Times, but I'm not sure that it will be accepted for publication.  I think that VMT is a measurement worth discussing, and in the interest of starting the conversation offer the piece here:

Congress’s recently-passed energy legislation has a lot going for it, whether or not you agree with the controversial removal of tax subsides for oil companies, and one of the most highly touted features is a long-overdue increase in CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standard to 35 mpg from the current 27.5.  Despite some naysaying, there is evidence that the technology to achieve this standard already exists; and where it doesn’t exist or is too expensive to implement, the legislation’s 2020 goal allows ample time to develop it.  If you don’t agree, think about how powerful your computer was 13 years ago, how large your cell phone, and how many songs fit on your non-existent MP3 player.  A decade is a geologic age in terms of technology development when the pressure for change is applied.  Unfortunately, that geologic age also presents a problem:  The new CAFE standards will take a long time to implement fully and could even lead to increased traffic volumes.  We need to look at another measure – VMT, or Vehicle Miles Traveled – in addition to CAFE.

The new energy legislation requires that all new cars sold in 2020 meet the standards, while older vehicles are understandably exempt.  According to current Kelly Blue Book, new cars represent 28% of all sales each year, and only 7.5% of cars on the road.  At that rate, it would take many, many years to see the full impact of the new standards propagate across America’s roads and to reap the full benefits of lowered fuel consumption, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions generated by our transportation system.  Further, as the gas mileage of vehicles increases, there is a risk commuters can begin pouring out of their trains, buses, carpools and bike lanes and back into high-efficiency, single-occupant vehicles; the resulting increases in traffic congestion and total vehicles on the road can offset some, though not all, of the progress made by improved fuel efficiency.  And, finally, it’s important to note that the gas tax – a significant portion of the per-gallon cost at the pump – is the major source of revenue for the already ailing Highway Trust Fund, the pot of federal money that supports the nation’s major transportation infrastructure.  An improvement in fuel efficiency that actually increases traffic would erode the funds available for maintenance and construction of roads even as more cars are traveling them.

Luckily, Virginia already has a head start on using CAFE’s important partner, Vehicle Miles Traveled.  VMT is another measure of efficiency; in this case, the efficiency of an entire transportation system rather than individual vehicles.  It’s a factor in describing traffic congestion, fuel consumption, wear-and-tear on roads, and vehicle emissions; and, like CAFE, a low number is better.  It means fewer cars are driving less miles to move the same amount of people.  Most metropolitan areas in Virginia have a program that addresses VMT:  RIDE Solutions in Roanoke and the New River Valley is one of them.  Though each program may be described differently depending on their primary function – alternative transportation, congestion mitigation, transportation demand management, commuter assistance – the goal of each one is essentially the same: to reduce regional VMT.  Getting cars off the roads and commuters into healthier, faster, more efficient modes drastically improves the ability of our roads to get people where they need to be, with the added benefit of reducing energy consumption and related emissions far beyond what Congress’s new CAFE standard alone can do.  Unlike increasing vehicle fuel efficiency, reducing VMT and the related loss of the gas tax comes with a corresponding reduction in traffic volumes, additional highway longevity, and a diminished need for new construction.

Given the amount of energy that goes into our transportation system – 43% of all energy use in Virginia, according to Stephen Walz, the Commonwealth’s Senior Advisor for Energy Policy – the new CAFE standards are a laudable and necessary component in a plan of energy reduction.  But real energy independence, and meeting the challenge of global climate change driven by tailpipe emissions, will come not just with more efficient vehicles, but a more efficient transportation system through reduced VMT.  The Commonwealth and the local governments of the Roanoke and New River Valleys who support programs like RIDE Solutions are playing a vital role in addressing these challenges by providing their commuters options, but ultimately commuters themselves – and the employers to which they are commuting - must understand that changes in personal driving habits will have a much larger, and far more immediate, impact, than just better technology.  The cleanest mile is always the one not driven.

Bicycle Friendly Community Workshop results

I will simply publish the Workshop press release. It says everything that needs to be said:


The meeting was a good one, attended not only by bicycle advocates but VDOT and local government planners, park rangers, Greenways commissioners, members of Valley Forward, members of the City of Roanoke Economic Development office, and others. I think the diversity of attendees shows that being bicycle friendly is more than just a treat for the "lycra crowd" (their words, not mine!), but really serves all citizens in a variety of ways.

Rideshare Resources

RIDE Solutions is your best resource in the region for ridematching, commuter assistance, incentives and events.  But not everyone who is interested in finding a carpool match is using RIDE Solutions, and we can't always meet every commuter's needs.  Luckily, there are other resources - some local, some national - that might be able to help:

Craigslist:  The free classified service now has a presence in both Roanoke and Blacksburg.  The sites offer a rideshare section where requests can be posted; for the most part, the trips are long distance, some one-way, often trips home for students or trips to DC.  Both sites are pretty new to the region (the Roanoke site arrived around the middle of 2006, with Blacksburg soon after) so traffic to the sites and awareness of them is still growing.  And, since they're free, it doesn't hurt to try.  I'm awaiting a response from the Craigslist staff to see if RIDE Solutions can posts requests for rides when we are unable to locate a match; serving as a liaison between Craigslist and commuters would be another service we could provide.  Be warned that Craigslist is a free and open forum with little moderation; language can get salty in some sections of the site.

RIDE Solutions Rideshare Board:  Our own rideshare board, located in the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission's forums, can be used in addition to or instead of the Craigslist board.  Very few rides have been posted so far, though the topic has been widely browsed, so clearly people are looking here.

GoLoco:  This Facebook application uses the site's social networking technology to connect commuters.  It is installed as easily as any other Facebook app, and is particularly popular among college students.

NuRide:  NuRide is a national program that actually offers you rewards for connecting in carpools and logging your trips.  It is set-up primarily to handle one-time trips, so finding a regular work commute partner may be a bit difficult.  If you work an odd schedule or are only looking for a temporary or one-day-a-week partner, this might be a good option.

eRideShare:  This national service uses a similar matching algorithm to the one RIDE Solutions does, though there is no human intervention to run corridor matches and seek out other possibilities.  The number of registered users in the NewVa area is minimal, but there, and as with any of these free sites it doesn't hurt to register.

Are there others you have used with which you've found success?  Note them in the comments and we'll include them on the RIDE Solutions site and in future blog posts.

UPDATE:  I forgot to mention one of the newest players, Greenride, another national service that concentrates on the environmental impact of ridesharing.  As of this posting, though, the site seems to be down.

CFL Giveaway

From a City of Roanoke press release:



Through our own giveaways, RIDE Solutions has distributed or assisted in the distribution of over 1,000 CFLs. Most of these have been through the Household Hazardous Waste days, with Roanoke Valley Cool Cities volunteers handing out the bulbs to attendees.

Someone's Paying Attention

Thanks to Bob Grebe of WDBJ-7 and his coverage of RIDE Solutions. We've already received a couple of registrations and an application for a free bike rack as a result of the spot.

Check out WDBJ-7's GreenTown page for more regional environmental news and resources.

There are more videos of RIDE Solutions and related programs at the RIDE Solutions YouTube channel.  We're also on Facebook and MySpace for those of you in the social networking scene.

UPDATE:  There has been phenomenal response to the WDBJ-7 Mornin' piece by Bob Grebe.  Between attending today's Bicycle Friendly Community workshop and processing rideshare registrations, all other work has fallen to the wayside.

Being Bicycle Friendly

Jeff Sturgeon of The Roanoke Times has a front page article on an upcoming League of American Bicyclist workshop that will be held tomorrow in Roanoke. Shane Sawyer, Bicyle and Pedestrian Planner with the Regional Commission, and I will both be attending, along with other local elected officials, planners, and area cycling advocates. The Workshop will go through the process of becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community, a designation offered by the League and attained by only 73 localities nation-wide. What makes a community bicycle friendly?


So what do we have that shows we're serious as a region? From the article:


If it seems a bit spare, it must be that space concerns did not allow Sturgeon to include:

• The Roanoke chapter of BikeWalk Virginia.
• The Regional Bikeway Plan (5.6 MB .pdf file)
• The Regional Rural Bikeway Plan
• Online interactive bicycle accommodations map
• Bike Rack Donation Program
• Area Bike, Hike and Bus map produced by the Regional Commission and sponsored by Cox, available free all around the Valley
• Bike Rodeos and helmet giveaways for students
• Bike racks on the front of most Valley Metro buses
• Guranteed Ride Home support for bicycle commuters
• Annual Clean Commute Day event

And I'm sure there's much more. The Roanoke region has a good shot at getting the Bronze level of designation, it seems to me, and doing so could propel local governments into building additional bicycle infrastructure and driver education into the region.

Skyrocketing

It was inevitable:


I paid $2.85 a gallon for regular at a 7-Eleven to fill up my tank yesterday; the other stations on the street were at $2.99. Looks like those prices aren't going anywhere for a while.

Mobility and Gangland

Via Michael Brendan Dougherty's Surfeited With Dainties.

Peter Landesman of LA Weekly has an expansive piece (warning: rated PG-13 for strong language) on street gang culture and violence in Los Angeles. Though notable for its discussion of the expansion of street gangs outside of the their traditional urban areas (including a mention of rural Virginia as fertile ground for new gangs), that discussion doesn't really belong here. What does is this line from the story:


We're familiar with the statistical connections between crime, violence, poverty, and population - combine high levels of the latter and you're bound to get high levels of the former - but it certainly wasn't obvious to me that mobility and isolation was a vital ingredient in the formation of street gangs. In retrospect, it should be obvious. Driving is an expensive proposition, though most of us take the insurance, licensing, maintenance, car payments, and gas prices in stride without thinking twice about the cumulative effect of these costs; for urban L.A., without light rail and an anemic public transportation system, this means people without the means to drive are stuck in the neighborhood they were born in. The urban sprawl become another kind of "flyover country," though now the flying is done by cars zooming by on overpasses that have no connection to the neighborhoods they pass through.


Neighborhoods are defined not just by who lives there, but also how they're connected to other neighborhood and the community at large. When it's easier to move between and among neighborhoods, social mobility expands and it is more difficult for people to feel isolated by their own cul-de-sacs. Without that mobility, it's easy to see how desperate poverty can manifest hyper-local identification and resulting turf conflicts.

The NewVA region is by no means L.A., nor will it ever be. Nor are L.A.'s gang problems solely the result of transportation problems. Certainly, however, lack of mobility was a catalyst in the culture that eventually spawned street gangs. It's a pointed lesson that the social and economic costs of skimping on transportation options are greater than one might imagine.