2008 Year in Review 

ENGINEERING 

• Installed 6.2 lane miles of bikeways (3.1 road miles) on Pickett Street, Taney Avenue, Kenwood Avenue, Monticello Blvd., Old Dominion Blvd. & Commonwealth Ave.
• Installed the region’s first pedestrian beacon (HAWK signal) on Van Dorn Street (www.alexandriava.gov/hawk).
• Approved new strategies for snow removal at accessible curb ramps near key transit stops and long trails including the Holmes Run Greenway (www.alexandriava.gov/snow).
• Completed and opened the new Duke Street overpass to provides a key pedestrian and bicycle connection from the Cameron Station to Beatley Library.
• Resurfaced/improved ¾ mile of trail in Alexandria including on Eisenhower Avenue and in Four Mile Run.
• Completed design for construction of Tarleton Trail, estimated to begin spring 2009.
• Installed nearly 0.5 mile of new sidewalk including Edsall Road, West Nelson Ave.
• Improved over 20 individual intersections with new crossing signals, median refuges, crosswalks and other infrastructure that improve safety for pedestrians/bicyclists.
• Installed over 60 new bicycle racks, including an innovative on-street parking space. Required over 275 bicycle racks in approved development plans. New standards and designs are on-line at www.alexandriava.gov/bicycleparking.
• Secured over $5.6 million in state and federal grants for pedestrian and bicycle improvements including the Chambliss Connection of Holmes Run, Mount Vernon Trail improvements, Safe Routes to School and more.

EDUCATION

• Implemented the region’s first “Bicycle Ambassador” program in coordination with Washington Area Bicycle Association and National Park Service which included 12 students from George Washington and Francis Hammond Middle Schools. The students attended over two dozen major events such as the Waterfront Festival, Friendship Firehouse Festival and Farmer’s Markets between June and mid-September and personally delivered bicycle maps and safety information to over 1,500 Alexandria residents.
• Offered 4 free “Confident City Cycling” classes for residents through the Washington Area Bicyclist Association in spring and fall; partnered with BikeWalk Alexandria on Bicycle Safety & Maintenance classes at Recreation Centers.
• Participated in the second annual “Got Lights?” campaign with WABA, BikeWalk Alexandria and local bicycle shops to provide a limited number of free bicycle headlights and tail-lights to  disadvantaged residents in high-accident areas. Virginia law requires lights when cycling at night.
• Through Safe Routes to School program efforts, reached over 1,000 students through bicycle/pedestrian safety initiatives at multiple schools including Charles Barrett and George Mason Elementary schools and Francis Hammond Middle School, where the BikeSmart Hammond program has been teaching all sixth and seventh grade students a class in bicycle safety  since 2003.
• Provided new “School Walking Maps” showing safe walking, bicycling routes for nearly a half-dozen public schools and piloting new “Walking School Bus” maps to be used for schools.

ENFORCEMENT

• Conducted two targeted enforcement campaigns (spring and fall) at drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists to raise awareness of safety concerns as part of the bi-annual Street Smart campaign. Each campaign includes specific enforcement waves with tickets issues to drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. The APD issued over 1,000 warnings and 400+ citations.
• Worked with the Alexandria Police Department to address bicycle registration offered by the City and promote the National Bicycle Registry, which is expected to become the City standard in 2009.

ENCOURAGEMENT

• Events year-round encourage cycling:
  February - BikeWalk Alexandria participated in numerous events such as the George Washington Birthday Parade
  May - 10th annual Bike to Work Day attracted 7,000 region wide and in Alexandria the free giveaways included a bicycle
  June - Arlington-Alexandria Community Bike Ride attracted over 600 cyclists who began in Crystal City and made either a 23-mile loop around the city and county or an 8-mile Family Ride on the Mount Vernon Trail.
  July - Free Bicycle Valet Parking at the Red Cross Waterfront Festival through the Ambassadors, WABA, BikeWalk Alexandria and Jeff-Houston Elementary
  October - Walk to School Day included participation at six schools and over 1,000 students. Also, the Alexandria Archeology Department and BikeWalk Alexandria led a 20 mile Heritage Trail Bike Ride around the city.  This year's ride celebrated the late Ellen Pickering, the Alexandria Heritage Trail, and the City’s historic and natural resources. Ellen’s efforts in the early 1970s resulted in the creation of the first section of what is now the Mount Vernon Trail. These rides have been held in June (National Trails Day) and September-October for many years.
• Alexandria Bikeways map re-printed for second time in two years and more than 20,000 free copies made available citywide
• Working through COG and in coordination with DC and Arlington, the City implemented a bicycle-route finding web application https://tdm.commuterconnections.org/mwcog
• In June 2008, passed a new Transportation Master Plan and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Mobility Plan. The Master Plan is a paradigm shift in transportation for the City and sets defined goals for pedestrian and bicycle transportation improvements. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan calls for more $36 million in improvements in programs such as “Access to Transit,” “On-Road Bikeways” and “Off-Road Paths.”

EVALUATION

• According to figures released in March 2009 by Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments 2007-08 Regional Household Commuter Survey, 9% of all commuting trips in Alexandria are made by bicycling or walking. This represents an increase of 5.5% since 1994 and places Alexandria second to Washington, DC (15.3%) in the region. The number of non-motorized trips in Alexandria is 25.9%.
• In 2008, there were 57 pedestrian crashes and 15 bicycle crashes. There were 0 fatalities in 2008. There were 80 pedestrian crashes and 13 bicycle crashes and 1 fatality in 2007.
• According to a pilot study by Alexandria City Public Schools, the number of students that walk to school is 26% and 2% bike to school.
• Alexandria recognized as Best Walking City in Virginia and #21 in a survey of 500 cities in the US by the American Podiatric Medical Association.
• The city is formulating the region’s first “Eco-City Charter” with City Council-approved goals and actions that call for Alexandria to move aggressively to change the culture of City streets from “cars first” to “people first” by implementing development and transportation projects consistent with the following level of precedence:  pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation, shared motor vehicles, private motor vehicles.

2009 Goals 

• Conduct counts of bicycle use in locations previously counted in 1990 to determine changes in usage levels
• Pass a resolution adopting the principles of Complete Streets (as recommended by the Transportation Master Plan) and Low-Impact-Development in road projects wherever feasible, while balancing the benefits against long term maintenance costs.
• Continue improving facilities for cyclists by:
  - Adding 2 miles of bikeways annually and piloting innovative projects on an annual basis as outlined in the Transportation Master Plan,
  - Conducting a feasibility study for a bike sharing program, and
  - Increasing bike storage and bike parking as outlined in the Transportation Master Plan, and continuing to offer temporary bicycle parking at special events.
• Continue, expand, or implement the current transportation and bike/ped education programs such as:
  - Programs that encourage children to walk or cycle to school.
  - Cycling proficiency program/test for all school age youth.
  - Local Motion workshops and other related transportation demand management programs.
• Use existing informational tools, such as Local Motion, Alexandria eNews, FYIAlexandria, local media, the EPC and other organizations to promote the benefits of transportation alternatives.