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The League of American Bicyclists recently revealed its latest state rankings, and Virginia came out at #16. That’s one step up from last year. Frankly, I am surprised that Virginia is ranked as high as it is.

What will it take to get Virginia into the top 10 Bicycle Friendly States? First, let’s take a look at what Virginia is doing right.

Bike Virginia is a long-established multiday ride that attracts riders from all over the country. Bike Virginia welcomes cyclists to rural parts of the state that might not otherwise be aware of bicycling’s economic impact resulting from thousands of bicyclists descending on a small town. That’s got to count for something.

Arlington County is a national leader in bicycle-friendliness. It might well carry the rest of us into the #16 spot. Those of us in other urban areas in Virginia could learn a lot from Arlington. They do it right.

Virginia Capital Trail, while incomplete, has come a long way and is generally considered a Good Thing for bicycling in Virginia.

Richmond 2015 is raising awareness of bicycling, at least in Richmond.

Bicycle Advocacy organizations are active in lobbying at the state level. The statewide Virginia Bicycling Federation should be commended for its efforts (although we need more people to get involved).

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. Please comment with other thoughts.

Now for what Virginia can do better. The LAB already spelled out what we can do better on the Report Card. I’ll review and maybe add a few of my own ideas.

• Adopt a vulnerable users law /safe passing law/ 3-foot rule…whatever you want to call it, just pass it already. Mississippi has a 3-foot law, for crying out loud. Mississippi!. We can do better.
• Adopt a dooring law. We shouldn’t have to legislate common sense, but unfortunately we need to.
• Infrastructure! In order to become a bicycle-friendly state, Virginia must become…wait for it…bicycle-friendly. That means bike lanes in urban, suburban and rural areas. Acknowledge that bicycles are a legitimate form of transportation by building bicycle infrastructure on our state’s roads.
• Establish a state funding source for bicycle projects and programs that promote, encourage, and enable safety.
• Apparently, Virginia actually dis-incentivises the creation of bike lanes by reducing funding to communities that provide bike lanes and center turn lanes because doing so reduces the number of car lanes. This is new to me. Virginia needs to stop this.
• Hold a state Bicycle Summit. North Carolina does this, and they are ranked #26!
• Establish actual goals to change the transportation mode share. This means adopting policies and implementing programs that get more people on bikes for transportation.

…and a few of my own…

• The state Capital, Richmond, should be a leader in bicycle-friendliness. That will take political leadership and real implementation power at the Bicycle-Pedestrian coordinator level. And Richmond will be a model for other cities and counties in the Commonwealth.
• VDOT should promote and implement bicycle and pedestrian improvements in every project. Every. Single. One.
• Driver’s Education should include a segment on bicycle safety for drivers. You can only get your driver’s license if you pass the bicycle safety part of the exam. It will education people and maybe make them think twice when they are out driving.

In the end, Virginia has to want to be more bicycle-friendly if it is going to move up in the state rankings. Words are not enough.

What are your ideas? How can Virginia get to #15 or even #10 the next time LAB releases its report cards on the states?

Juliellen Sarver is a planner from Richmond, and among other things, an avid bicyclist and advocate (Pedal RVA).

The Richmond Area Bicycling Association (RABA) has launched a grants program designed to award grants of up to $1000 in support of bicycle related programs, events, and projects sponsored or offered by governments, organizations, or individuals. At the same time, the Board allocated $5000 to the grants program for 2013. Each February, the Board will allocate a portion of the club’s funds to be awarded to projects and programs that promote bicycling in the Greater Richmond Area. A Grants Committee will solicit and vet bicycle related projects and make recommendations to the Board, which will have the final approval. Applications will be accepted and grants approved until the allocated funds have been exhausted.

In assessing grant applications, consideration will be given to a variety of factors, including the potential impact of the program, project, or event and the number of people who will benefit; local volunteer and support for the project; the degree to which the request works with or complements other community organizations; the possibility of using the grant as seed money for matching funds from other sources. Members are encouraged to get the word out that there is grant money available for bicycle-related projects and be on the lookout for potential applicants. Interested parties should visit the RABA website for more details and contact information.

The Richmond Area Bicycling Association (RABA) offers cyclists of all levels and abilities many ways to enjoy their favorite pastime since 1967. Club membership is currently over 1000 members who participate in regularly scheduled on and off-road rides held on weekdays and weekends. Meetings are monthly and feature speakers on topics of interest to the club, as well as opportunities to socialize and become more involved in cycling in the area. Family Membership is only $25 a year and offers many benefits including discounts, insurance, and custom cycling wear. New members of all experience levels are welcome. For more information, visit www.raba.org

Construction has begun on two expected expansions which will begin the final phase of lengthening the Huckleberry Trail to more than 10 miles. When finished, the trail will connect from the middle of Christiansburg to the Jefferson National Forest.

Read the rest at Roanoke Times’ The Burgs.

This is big news. Though the Huckleberry Trail has been serving the community well, its full potential has not been realized. Now cyclists and pedestrians will have access to the big box stores across Peppers Ferry Rd. from the New River Valley Mall, avoiding the very busy 460 Business, and especially the interchange at Cambria St. Virginia Tech students, faculty and staff will enjoy better connectivity with the Foxridge and Hethwood neighborhoods, and mountain bikers will enjoy a completely off-road commute to their favorite trails at Pandapas Pond and Brush Mt.

Thank you, Bill Ellenbogen!

Sorry for the late notice, but hopefully we can get some bike advocates to this meeting — or at least help spread the word about what’s going on in Blacksburg.

Beth Lohman writes:

VDOT is hosting a public input session on the Route 460/Southgate interchange this coming Wednesday. The project scope includes some work in the area where the Huckleberry Trail tunnel under Route 460 is located. Please plan on attending the meeting and providing comments on the proposed work. The details are:

WHEN: Wednesday, May 8 | 5-7pm

WHERE: The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center, 901 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg

PLAN REVIEWS:

• Blacksburg website: http://www.blacksburg.gov/index.aspx?recordid=3187&page=304
• VDOT website: http://www.virginiadot.or!g/projects/salem/southgate_connector_-_blacksburg.asp
• Huckleberry Trail tunnel – pay specific attention to page 6 of 9 (PDF): http://bit.ly/11T5kUN

If you have any questions now or for the meeting, please contact Phil Hammack, VDOT, at 540-387-5353.

Beth Lohman

With the start of Bike Month this week, the League of American Bicyclists released their 2013 Bicycle Friendly State Rankings. At 16th, we’ve moved up one from 17th in 2012. But we still have a long way to go to make top ten in time for Richmond 2015.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

What can we, the Virginia Bicycling Federation, do better, to help make Virginia a top ten state?

Please see the Bike Smart Richmond cyclist/driver PSAs from Fox Richmond. Sheryl Finucane from RABA and Michael Gilbert and I from RideRichmond collaborated with them on the messaging to keep them short and to the point, to make them targeted towards both drivers and cyclists, and to have a diverse group of cyclists filmed.

I hope this is the first of many opportunities for such community education, and these turned out pretty well, I think. You can even get a quick glimpse of me in the sidewalk video.

Driving around cyclists

Why not to ride on the sidewalk

Visibility and Hand Signals

Shared Lane Markings / Sharrows

Virginia Tech cyclists in Blacksburg – VT News photo.

Three more Virginia universities have been awarded Bicycle Friendly University status, Bronze-level, by the League of American Bicyclists:

• Virginia Tech in Blacksburg
• George Mason University in Fairfax
• Old Dominion University in Norfolk

Congratulations to all! We now have six Bicycle Friendly Universities in Virginia, including Bronze-level James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, and Silver-level Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

View the nationwide list (PDF).