Today is Bike to Work Day, WINA reports. Charlottesville Transit Services is providing free rides to anybody with a bike to put on the buses’ bike racks. It’s CTS’ hope that they can promote the bike/ride approach to commuting in order to cut down on automobile usage. Did you bike or walk to work? Have you? Would you?
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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LOL, this might be hard considering I live in Charlottesville and my work place is a good 15 miles awaw. I better hurry this morning.
Sorry, I think this is a sad attempt to be thoughtful. I don’t the people would be taking thier bikes to work today. Since half the people who work in Cville CAN"T afford to live in Cville, that might be a problem.
This is all wishful thinking which if successful in getting say, 100 people to bike to work, would impact only their heart rate and possibly produce a healthful practice for them.
Give it up and change the city slogan to :
"Come to Charlottesville and see our traffic lights".
LOL, this might be hard considering I live in Charlottesville and my work place is a good 15 miles awaw. I better hurry this morning.
My friend Scott has biked to work in Charlottesville from Nelson every day for decades. It’s something like a 40-mile trip. I’m not saying that it’s for everybody, but it’s definitely doable.
The leadership blows! Now, if we live in a ‘bigger’ city where the majority of people live and work in it, doing this day would not be a bad idea. However we got leadership with thumbs up their asses thinking that if one took thier bike to work that might solve the traffic problems. Good idea but again people who work in Cville don’t live in Cville.
I think Cville/Albemarle leaders have to stop with all of this wishful thinking crap and get to addressing the problem of traffic. Traffic is cause by cars/trucks/ and automoblies. I think the biggest reason why 29 is mess is not do to growth. It is due because we have NON-Charlottesvillians using it. If people were traveling down from Northern Va to Lychburg or South Western Va, they would have to use our 29.
I work by 29 and every freakin day I see a Target truck driving by. Now correct me if I am wrong but Target ain’t going to be until 2004. That tells me someone is using our 29.
LISTEN TO ME BUILD A BYPASS OR PARKWAY
I live in C’ville and work off of 29. It is a hilly 6 miles.
I ride when I can, but if I’m running late or have to be somewhere right after work I don’t have the time.
It is a 50 minute bus ride for me, that I can catch once an hour.
I’m fairly dedicated to the environment, but I can’t avoid my car all the time because of the poor planning when the county was getting built up. I can imagine those who aren’t as aware or aren’t in good physical shape wouldn’t have a chance.
For me, the bus needs to run every 15 minutes, be on time, and run a little more directly.
On the other hand, I know there are people who live 2 miles from downtown and work downtown, but drive everyday and leave work every two hours to move their car. If we could reach those folks it would help traffic a little bit.
I rode my bike to work nearly every day for the five years I worked in Charlottesville. Had my bike stolen once, but that cost me $75 in place of the thousands upon thousands of dollars I would have spent on a car during that time. Worked great for me. Were I still living or working in C’ville this would just be another day for me.
GOOD LORD!
I am wondering if he is the guy on the bike who give me the finger when i tried to pass him.
I used to live downtown. I used to bike or occasionally walk the 1.2 miles to my workplace, and might have done so today, but those days are over now. I moved 15 miles outside the city into Louisa County because Charlottesville’s community leaders despise the middle class and refuse to allow sensible growth or follow policies that would lead to affordable housing anywhere I’d want to live in the city. And there’s no way I’m riding those 15 miles any way but in my own car, which is a small, sensible economy model.
I had to laugh bitterly last week when reading the C-ville. Liberal idiots decry "sprawl" and criticize anyone who lives too far away to bike to work, but then when middle-class people want to avoid fleeing to the suburbs and invest their time, their money, even their lives into inner city communities, giving the poorer residents a windfall in higher property values along the way, they’re spat on for "gentrification".
First they spit on the productive residents who pay taxes and watch them leave, only to cry about "sprawl" and whine about road congestion (while opposing any realistic solutions to relieve the congestion). Then they make it impossible for businesses to operate profitably and watch them flee (can anyone say "Martha Jefferson Hospital"?) Give it a little longer and Charlottesville’s leaders will have to wonder why the city is turning into an economic wasteland like every other badly run city across the country, and whine louder about revenue sharing.
I think the biggest reason why 29 is mess is not do to growth. It is due because we have NON-Charlottesvillians using it. If people were traveling down from Northern Va to Lychburg or South Western Va, they would have to use our 29.
You’re very funny. :)
Have you driven on 29 south? It’s devoid of cars. Seriously, do you think that there’s commuter traffic, maybe people driving up to Fairfax from Lynchburg for work every morning? And as a resident of Southwest Virginia, let me tell you — you’d have to be mildly retarded to take 29 south to get down here; at some point, you have to get over the mountains, and it’s best to do it by taking 64. Unless you’ve got a Hummer and you’re feeling adventurous. :)
Charlottesville’s traffic is caused by…(drumroll please)…Charlottesville! Charlottesville and Albemarle has something like 1.7 jobs for for every 1 working person in the city and the county. There are a lot of people that drive here in order to get to work every day. That’s the result of being a successful city in a relatively rural part of the state. We’re left with two options: we can make extra-county commuters less reliant on cars, or we can free up space on the roads by getting Charlottesville communiters less reliant on cars. I think (and apparently CTS thinks) that the latter is the more viable option.
"That’s the result of being a successful city in a relatively rural part of the state. We’re left with two options: we can make extra-county commuters less reliant on cars, or we can free up space on the roads by getting Charlottesville communiters less reliant on cars. I think (and apparently CTS thinks) that the latter is the more viable option."
True Cville is succesful. However, my viewpoints on this subject is that we as a area are not offering any REAL solution to our traffic problems. The city last year had a the great idea of having free yellow bikes so commuters can use them instead of driving to work. Well how did that go? Did we get a award for being creative? Did we settle our traffic problems with that problems? Where is our EarthDay award?
People were stealing those free bikes. I could have told you people that was going to happen.
If I was in charge, I would address who exactly are using our roads. I do believe it is a out of Non-charlottesvillians. People who must travel south on 29. They are force to go through our city. They are big trucks you are stuck behind. They are the big SUV’s that is going to Lychburg. People you are stuck with them because there is no real alternative route for them to avoid our city.
Stop being wussies build the bypass. Built a road that goes from 29 before you wally word that ends up near 64. I am serious people that will save some if not most of the traffic woes in cville.
That’d be easier and cheaper than building the bypass. Make it end at the top of the city and start again at the bottom — with no obvious connection (i.e. no "29 business"). That should throw a decent wrinkle in those out-of-towners…
a simple solution from a simple mind
Correction: The yellow bike program is not a city-run or city-conceived program, and the city didn’t spend a penny on it. It is completely handled by a private citizen.
IamIgnorant wrote: I think Cville/Albemarle leaders have to stop with all of this wishful thinking crap and get to addressing the problem of traffic. Traffic is cause by cars/trucks/ and automoblies. I think the biggest reason why 29 is mess is not do to growth. It is due because we have NON-Charlottesvillians using it. If people were traveling down from Northern Va to Lychburg or South Western Va, they would have to use our 29.
If I remember correctly, the last scientific analysis of 29N traffic had some eighty percent of trips from/to a destination on 29N — not beyond.
Perhaps someone else has a link to the study?
Pail writes:Correction: The yellow bike program is not a city-run or city-conceived program, and the city didn’t spend a penny on it.
Thank goodness we’re not subsidizing the theft program. I wonder if this isn’t a registered charity however — in which case it is indeed a beneficiary of social/public support.
Time for some ‘world class’ thinking. What again is our mayor’s purported area of expertise?!
hey I call them like I seem them. I don’t hide myself under a cafe shop wishing all the CVille problems would go away.