Author: chogan@directresearch.com

Dockless Bikes as an alternative to Capital Bikeshare, 3/10/2019

After analyzing the data and writing extensively on Capital Bikeshare — a bike sharing system using dedicated bike “docks” — I decided to take a quick look at dockless bike rental alternatives.

In a nutshell, dockless systems — where the bikes can be parked anywhere, and you can rent them using an app on your smart phone — have some huge advantages over docked systems like Capital Bikeshare.  I summarize those advantages below.  But they can cause a mess if people park them willy-nilly.  Most of the cities that have allowed dockless bike rental have ended up passing significant laws to regulate them — particularly, to regulate where you can leave them parked.

Detail follows.  Drop down to the paragraph in red to see my summary. Continue reading Dockless Bikes as an alternative to Capital Bikeshare, 3/10/2019

Board of Supervisors candidate Parker Messick, 3/7/2019

I had the privilege of chatting with Parker Messick earlier this week, at Caffe Amouri.  He’s one of four candidates seeking election to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from the Hunter Mill district, following the announced retirement Supervisor Catherine Hudgins.

This was a first for me, in many ways, so let me share a few things that I learned. Continue reading Board of Supervisors candidate Parker Messick, 3/7/2019

Bioretention, 3/7/2019

A colleague asked about the “bioretention area” in the 380 Maple West proposal (Maple and Wade Hampton, 40 condos).  I had to learn about this topic nearly ten years ago, for a construction project at the church I was attending.  On this page, I’ll try to put that learning to use, and explain what that bioretention area is, what key role it plays here, and what the potential drawbacks are. Continue reading Bioretention, 3/7/2019

Capital Bikeshare rack location, data analysis, 3/8/2019.

On this page, I describe the issue facing Vienna, and then profile the typical Capital Bikeshare user and analyze data on Capital Bikeshare use in Tyson’s Corner and Reston.  See a separate page for a quick summary of dockless bike alternatives.

Gray pins in the map below flag the low level of use of Capital Bikeshare bike racks (“docks”) installed around the Tysons and Reston Metros, in 2018

Continue reading Capital Bikeshare rack location, data analysis, 3/8/2019.

2019-03-04 Town Council/Planning Commission work session, audio and index

The Town Council and Planning Commission held a joint work session on 3/4/2019 to discuss three items:  two MAC projects (380 Maple West and the Sunrise assisted living facility), and to discuss restrictions on private meetings between property developers and elected or appointed Town officials. Continue reading 2019-03-04 Town Council/Planning Commission work session, audio and index

Some trivia from the Town Council/Planning Commission meeting, 3/5/2019

On 3/4/2019, the Town Council and Planning Commission had a joint meeting to discuss 380 Maple West (40 condos at Maple and Wade Hampton), and the proposed Sunrise assisted living (85 rooms, more than 100 beds?, Maple and Center).  They also discussed placing limits on private (non-public) meetings between elected and appointed Town officials and developers.

There’s a lot to talk about here, and I hope to do so, but in this post, I’m going to talk about a seeming trivial thing.  Because the one thing that sticks in my mind, from all of last night’s meeting, is the extent to which the Town just seems to make up the zoning rules as it goes along.

The example here is the difference between abutting properties and adjacent properties.  These terms, as used in real estate, are well-defined.  Properties abut if they literally touch.  Properties are adjacent if they are near one another, and no other piece of private property comes between them.  So you and your next-door neighbor on the same side of the street have abutting property; you and your directly-across-the-street neighbor have adjacent property. Continue reading Some trivia from the Town Council/Planning Commission meeting, 3/5/2019

Somebody is confused about the Town’s traffic study, 3-4-2019

Maybe I’m confused.  Maybe Town Council is confused.  Either way, one of us has to be wrong about this.

The Vienna Town Council has made much out of a “traffic study” that Town staff commissioned.  But it sure sounds to me as if none of them has actually read the scope of work for the study they voted to fund. (here, as a .pdf.)

I wrote a page almost two months ago, where I analyzed the description of the proposed traffic study.  (Read it, in blue, halfway down this page.) My opinion then was that it would be useless from the standpoint of assessing the long-run impact of MAC on traffic.  Instead, the point of the study appeared to be to speed up development by helping the Town to develop a standard transportation “proffer” that it would expect all MAC developers to pay. Continue reading Somebody is confused about the Town’s traffic study, 3-4-2019

Pedestrian-friendly? 3/4/2019

(This map was generated by walkscore.com.  You can check out the walkability of your neighborhood by visiting their website and typing in your address.)

Town government has repeatedly said that MAC will make Maple Avenue more “pedestrian-friendly”.  But that’s … questionable, at best.  And in some key cases, I am almost sure that MAC-redeveloped property will make Maple less safe for pedestrians. Continue reading Pedestrian-friendly? 3/4/2019

If the community says No, No, No, then we’ll have to start all over, 3/4/2019

This page explains a critical step coming up in the development of MAC zoning.  Turns out, the Town is going to ask the citizens what they think about MAC, and then act on that.  Which sounds pretty good, until you realize that the way they are proposing to do that is … confused, to be as polite as I can about it.

Read on and decide for yourself.  This shouldn’t take more than five minutes. Continue reading If the community says No, No, No, then we’ll have to start all over, 3/4/2019