This Week In Transportation:
May 13, 2002
Bike to Work with Metro and King County Roads
 More than a
half million trips every year on King County Metro now involve passengers who
ride bicycles, making
use of the bike racks
[above,
enlarged view: 46K]
that were first developed locally under a contract from Metro Transit and now used
worldwide.
Our Road Services Division also includes bike paths and trails on all new
arterial roadways, and distributes the ever-popular King County
Bicycling Guidemap.
Both King County Roads and King County Metro want to make it easy for you to ride your bike to work, and this
Friday, May 17, Metro is co-sponsoring the annual Bike to Work Day celebration
and ceremonial ride from the Seattle Center to Westlake Center.
Coinciding with National Bike to Work Month, the event
will raise awareness of the environmental and health benefits of bicycle
commuting. On Friday, 36 commuter stations throughout the area will provide information
and maps to assist bicycle commuters, and a morning celebration ride will lead
a parade of thousands of bikers to Westlake Center for
festivities including music, refreshments, and local celebrities.
The Cascade Bicycle Club, the nation's largest bike club, has a
Bike to Work Day Web site
[external site] to help you plan your trip. Seven
thousand riders are expected throughout the region.
Metro Transit was among the first major bus systems in
the U.S. to install bike racks on all the coaches in its fleet. A 1994 contract
awarded to Sportworks
[external site] in Woodinville led to design of a new
rack that allows riders to quickly load and unload their bikes.
"We shocked the transit world,"
recalls Metro transit planner Bob Flor, who managed the project. "Metro set a tone for the country and
maybe for the world. We were willing to try some different things
to build ridership and keep the air clean, not just as a transit agency but as
a transportation agency."
"When other customers saw what Metro
did, they were able to make the leap," agrees Lisa Robinson of Sportworks, who
says their bike racks are now used on buses in about
400 other cities around the country and in Canada.
To encourage new bike commuters, King County Metro in
partnership with the Bicycle Alliance of Washington created the
Bike Buddy Program
[external site] to match new bike commuters with a
"Bike Buddy Mentor." The mentor is an experienced bicyclist from the new
commuter's neighborhood who can:
- Go to the Bike Buddy Rider's house during an evening
or weekend to discuss tips for bicycle commuting, look over the bicycle and
recommend needed adjustments.
- Help the Bike Buddy Rider plan a commute route.
- Bicycle the route with the Bike Buddy Rider either on
a weekend or on a weekday the first time the new commuter rides.
- Answer questions about bicycle commuting.
The King County Road
Services Division builds bike paths and trails on all new arterial roadways and
road widening projects, to help make it easier and safer for bike commuters as
well as pedestrians. Five-foot bike lanes on both sides of the road are
preferred, but where that is not practical a separate bike trail may be built.
Road Services also distributes the King County
Bicycling Guidemap,
which is consistently among the most-requested pages on this King County Web
site.
With all these resources there's little excuse not to oil
those wheels, stretch those ligaments, and ride your bike to work this Friday.
For more information
 KUOW "Weekday," May
14, 2002 -- listen to a streaming audio file of an interview with Metro transit
planner Eileen Kadesh and others
Bike to Work Day 2002
[external link] - in partnership with King County Metro,
get help planning your bike commute.
Bike Buddy Program
[external link] - in partnership with King County Metro,
learn to bike commute or mentor
others.
King County
Bicycling Guidemap
Bicycle Traffic Law
FAQ and Safety Tips
Metro Bike Information
Metro Bike Racks &
Lockers - locations at park-and-rides and transit centers, learn how to
participate.
Bicycle Lost &
Found
Bike Racks on All Metro
Buses
Loading and Unloading
Your Bike on Metro Buses
Bicycle Racks on
Metro Vanpools
"Puget
Sound Journal: Biking to work is good for the heart and soul," by Candy
Hatcher, Seattle P-I, May 10, 2002
"Sales keep rolling along for maker
of Bike-Rack-for-Buses," Seattle P-I, March 21, 2002
Singing
bus driver
 • Word is getting out about Metro bus driver Reggie Wilson and his
ongoing "road show" with his passengers on Route 60 from Capitol Hill to White
Center. See the print version of John Sharify's story,
"Experience A Great Show On
Broadway For Just $1.50" that aired
May 3 on KOMO-TV.
Roadeo winners
 •
Each
year transit agencies throughout North America assemble mechanic teams to
compete in bus maintenance "roadeos." Teams members must be bus mechanics actively
working in the shop environment. King County Metro typically has two teams that
compete regionally and on May 5 in Portland, our team of Leonard Emry, Ryan Stringfellow, and Larry Fitzpatrick
[left to right, enlarged
view: 18K] won honors as the
first place visiting team. Among six teams competing they finished in
second place overall. Congratulations on a job well done! The local King
County Metro Roadeo will be held on June 22nd.
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