The Council will consider ratifying the Transit Within Reach Grant Application to support 30% preliminary design and engineering to enhance bicycle infrastructure along River Road. Due to Purple Line traffic, the Planning Department will fast-track the River Road Protected Bike Lanes Project. It covers 0.8 miles from College Park to Riverdale Park, creating protected bike lanes. Key stakeholders include MWCOG, College Park, Riverdale Park, the University of Maryland, and MDOT SHA. This marks a significant advancement in the Discovery District’s plans, moving to the 30% preliminary design phase, expected to take 8-10 months. Ratifying the grant application should secure a letter of support for submission.
Category: Biking
The College Park Woods Connector Trail is finally open to the public.
The trail will serve as an important connection between West College Park with North College Park, as it connects the trail that goes up to Home Depot, and branches off to the North College Park Post Office. The trail continues on at least to Powder Mill Road, in Beltsville.
Please see the map below.
According to the project’s website, this important trail is a half-mile connector across the University of Maryland land between the neighborhood of College Park Woods and the Paint Branch Trail. This trail project will link a residential community in the City of College Park with the University of Maryland campus and the Anacostia Tributaries Trail System. It will increase bicycle safety by providing a car-free bicycling and walking alternative to busy Metzerott Road and an at-grade crossing of University Boulevard.
The project scope includes easements across public institutions and private property, a boardwalk across wetlands, wayfinding signs, and advanced-practice shared roadway markings.
Thanks to the County Council member Danielle Glaros, former Council member Eric Olson (District 3), the M-NCPPC, the City of College Park, and the UMD for making this trail a reality.
Bikes and scooters should generally be used on roads, preferably in low traffic areas and bike lanes going with the flow of traffic. Remember to always yield to pedestrians. Exercise caution if it is necessary to cross or briefly travel on a busy road. Riders should always wear a helmet.
As of November 1, 2019, Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation issued a Park Directive to allow the use of Electric Bicycles and Electric Scooters on certain hard-surface hiker-biker trails on Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation property as part of a pilot program through August 31, 2020. The Lake Artemesia Park Trails that circle the lake, as shown on the image, are excluded from use by Electric Bicycles and Electric Scooters during the pilot program period.
For more details, please see the full Directive at this link.
The Proteus Bicycles offer a number of weekly events at their store in north College Park (9827 Rhode Island Ave, College Park, MD 20740). They include commuter ride, pot luck dinner, morning coffee club, Velo Club meeting. Additionally, they will be having a winter riding clinic this Friday. This is a great way to connect with other neighbors and have some good exercise and fun! Please see below this week’s schedule.
Tuesday, October 29, 6:10-9 am – Proteus Bicycles Commuter Ride
Meet at intersection of Paint Branch Trail and the Trolley Trail just south of Lakeland Rd. Get an early start to your morning by joining this morning ride down the Anacostia River Trail (ART) and back to College Park, escorting the DC commuters riding to work. All are welcome! If you already commute into DC by bike, join us! Helmets are mandatory.
Thursday, October 31, 7-9 pm – Proteus Bicycles Pot Luck Dinner, 9826 Rhode Island Ave.
The shop stays open late for a weekly social gathering of bike-minded people. Meet new cycling friends as well as the Proteus staff, maybe even watch a bicycle competition currently airing. Bring a savory dish or dessert to share and your favorite beverage (some beverages are provided).
Friday, November 1, 7:45-9:15 am – Proteus Bicycles Friday Morning Coffee Club
Meet at the Board and Brew, 8150 Baltimore Avenue in the Varsity. Join us every Friday Morning for breakfast/coffee meet up with bike-minded folks at The Board and Brew where they serve up delicious food and coffee. There’s plenty of bike (and car) parking in the Varsity building. Time/weather permitting we may take a ride (helmets are mandatory) after breakfast.
Friday, November 1, 6:30-8 pm – Proteus Velo Club Meeting, Proteus Bicycles, 9826 Rhode Island Ave.
We’re starting a club team! Please join us for our monthly meeting as we form our club and start putting together some events. We start with a pot luck at 6pm (bring a dish to share) and the business meeting starts at 6:30. If you’ve attended past meetings, please make time to come or let John know you can’t make it (jbelltower@yahoo.comjbelltower@yahoo.com). Want to come to the meeting and learn more? email John or just show up!
Sunday, November 3, 6-8 pm – Winter Riding Clinic and Pot Luck, Proteus Bicycles, 9826 Rhode Island Ave.
Everyone is welcome to this Pot Luck supper and discussion about how to keep riding as the weather gets colder and the days get shorter. We’ll discuss bike gear, clothing, and other tips for extending your riding to year round. Bring a dish to share, a guest, a story, and your curiosity!
[Media: Proteus Bicycle]
Staff have worked to identify a new vendor to operate a pilot shared mobility program offering traditional pedal bikes as well as electric bicycles and scooters. After evaluating available options, City staff and our bike share partners chose VeoRide to recommend as the preferred vendor for the new system. VeoRide serves cities and university campuses across the country with programs that offer a mix of vehicles types, including pedal bikes, e-bikes, fat-tire bikes, cargo bikes, ADA-compliant bikes and electric scooters, depending on the community’s needs. If you are looking for a great value electric bike then take a look at Wisper.
VeoRide would launch within the footprint of the existing mBike system and serve the City, UMD campus, and Town of University Park. Current mBike stations to be replaced by VeoRide hubs that co-locate bike and scooter parking in familiar locations. After the initial launch, more hubs can be added where the need for expanded service has already been identified. Soft launch building to an initial fleet of 70 pedal bikes, 150 e-bikes, and 70 scooters Pedal and electric bikes can be parked at any bike rack, promoting flexibility. If bikes are improperly parked, the last user will receive a notification of improper parking behavior, and repeat offenders may be assessed a fine and their account may be suspended or canceled. Electric scooters must be parked within designated “hubs” delineated by painted boxes or decals. Using geofencing technology, riders will not be able to end their rides outside of a hub without accruing charges and the potential for account suspension or cancellation.
VeoRide has found that users typically prefer pay-as-you-go plans to memberships; this has been the City’s experience with mBike riders as well. VeoRide offers pedal bike memberships at $25.99 per month or $99.99 per year, but does not currently offer membership options that cover all three modes. Pay-as-you-go pricing is as follows:
follows:
| Fares | Unlock | Cost Per Minute |
| Pedal Bike | $1 | $0.05 |
| E-Bike, Scooter | $1 | $0.15 |
| Access Program (Reduced Fare) | $0 | $0.05 (pedal bike); $0.15 (e-fleet) |
| New User | $1 | Free: Four 15-minute rides |
The VeoRide program is offered at no cost to the City. There may be minimal costs associated with converting the mBike stations into VeoRide hubs and adding new hubs to the system, and for accessible bikes. These expenses would be offset by the money owed to the City by Zagster and the current balance of $227,135 in the Bikeshare CIP
VeoRide is expected to launch in late August or early September. A soft launch is to occur at the beginning of August.
College Park’s bike share program, mBike, will end this summer, with the last day of operations on August 31, 2019. The City made this announcement yesterday.
The mBike is a collaborative bikeshare program between the City, and the UMD.
With the three-year contract coming to an end, the City was unable to come to terms on a replacement system with Zagster and have mutually agreed to part ways. The mBike program grew steadily over the past three years with more than 4,000 unique users and 130,000 trips.
The City, the UMD, and the Town of University Park intend to build on the success of mBike by introducing a new shared mobility system that provides pedal bikes, pedal-assist bikes and electric scooters. We hope to make details of this new system public very soon.
The County is also rolling out the Capital bike share network in College Park and the surrounding municipalities.
[City of College Park]
If you haven’t already registered, Bike to Work Day is May 17! The City will once again host our Pit Stop in front of City Hall from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m.
Register for free at biketoworkmetrodc.org
f you’re one of the 20,000 to register, you can get a free t-shirt.
[City of College Park]
At tonight’s Council meeting, Council will consider approving a Memorandum of Understanding that would be used with third parties seeking additional bike share locations and additional bikes outside of City limits.
The City and University entered into a contract with Zagster, Inc. to install and maintain a bikeshare system, now named mBike. The System launched in May, 2016, with fourteen stations. It was contemplated at the time of the contract that Additional Locations and Additional Bicycles would be included in the System, which might be added by the City or University, or at the request of a third party.
The contract makes provision for these additions in City limits, which would involve receipt of funding by the City and University to pay Zagster to install and maintain the Location and Bicycles at an appropriate site. Several requests for adding Locations and Bicycles have been received from third parties located outside of the City limits. The University and City staff met to discuss the terms under which these requests would be considered.
Zagster is agreeable to installing and maintaining these Locations and Bicycles under the current contract. The draft MOU is proposed as a template for future agreements with third parties, including other local governments that may be using grant funding. The term of the MOU is the same as the term of the contract with Zagster, which is three years from the Initial Launch date of May, 2016.
The City is working on a “Bike Boulevard” plan that includes a prioritized list of streets for retrofitting as Bike Boulevards, an itemized list and location for the infrastructure required for each, as well as an identification of funding sources, establishment of phasing for the planning-design process, and construction cost estimates for each candidate street.
Bike Boulevards are streets configured to promote safe and convenient cycling, while still permitting vehicle traffic. They are typically constructed along roadways that are too narrow to safely install dedicated bike lanes, meaning the travel lanes are shared space for both vehicle and cyclists. Bike Boulevards are signed and marked for cyclist safety, convenience and wayfinding.
Accordingly, they require streets that are low vehicle volume and are engineered to have low speeds, if needed. In addition, bike boulevards prioritize and emphasize safe and convenient cycling through roadway and intersection treatments that reduce cycling delay, and incorporate bike-specific pavement markings and wayfinding signage. Benefits to cyclists from Bike Boulevards include:
Providing low-volume and low speed routes that are welcoming to a broad range of cycling abilities.
Reducing travel time and increasing safety for cyclists by providing cyclists with the right-of-way at intersections.
Designating routes that direct cyclists to cross major arterials at controlled intersections.
Increasing visibility and branding of cycling as an alternative to driving
A well-designed network of Bike Boulevards will generally have:
Efficient and safe low-volume cycling facilities for all user abilities.
Engineering to discourage non-local traffic
Traffic control that allows for safe crossing of major roads
Minimal impact on surrounding traffic patterns
Traffic calming measures to maintain low residential vehicle speeds
Wayfinding signs for destinations and attractions
Unique aesthetics that inform cyclists of desired routes and inform drivers that the roadway is a cycling priority route.
Here ia a map of all of the proposed bike boulevards and how they connect with existing trails and bike lanes, as well as key destinations.
