The TDM Professional

Empowering the Riding Public

In this day and age of modern technology, we have come to expect information at our fingertips.  Mobile phones can browse the web for the latest game scores. WiFi hotspots allow us to do day-trading in the park.  You can read a digital version of a newspaper from across the globe minutes after the hardcopy version has been printed. Information is literally “at our fingertips” nearly all of the time.

I would like to give you some information to ponder. Arlington County is comprised of approximately twenty six square miles. On January 1^st, 2007, its population was estimated at 202,800, this reflects a 7% growth from the year 2000. And as I walk around the county, I see more and more cranes which indicates more and more growth. 

Arlington is among the most densely populated jurisdictions in the country with a population density of about 7,860 persons per square mile. Year 2000 reports have 31,703 residents of other jurisdictions working in Arlington with 7,106 Arlington residents working in other jurisdictions. Arlington has more private office space than downtown Boston, Dallas, Denver, or Los Angeles.

Let’s do some simple math.

202,800(population) – 7,106(residents working outside of County) = 195,694

195,694+ 31,703(non Arlington residents working in County) = 227,397

227,397 = Not enough parking places

This is why Customer Information Services are so important. We need to have the proper, up-to-date information at our fingertips so that we can make an informed decision on how and when we should travel to our destinations.

Arlington County provides this information to our Riding Public in an attempt to empower them with the information they need to fight the daily battle that we call the work commute. Additionally, Arlington is always looking for better, faster ways to get the right information to the right people.

You can find a plethora of information about transportation at the Commputer Pages, the Commuter Stores, and the Mobile Commuter Store. Busfinders display the estimated time of arrival of Art buses and can be found at nearly 50 stops throughout the County. NextBus displays the estimated time of arrival of Metro Buses on the 9A, 9E, and PikeRide lines at the Pentagon. 38B has displays along the Rosslyn Ballston corridor. A web display can be viewed at http://wmata.nextbus.com/wmata. Nextbus also features SMS messaging.

With the proper prior planning, we can all help prevent poor performance. By using the proper information, we can defeat the enemy called traffic congestion!

By Kird Dand, Arlington County Transit Team

New Mobile Commuter Store Coming

Kevin Simmons, Arlington's Mobile Commuter Store & Distribution & Logistics Manager, proudly oversees the final wrapping and outfitting of our new and very improved Mobile Commuter Store. The new store (funded in part by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation) is built on a Winnebago chassis and is therefore much more spacious than our current store, which was built inside an old (and small) bus chassis. The new Commuter Store on wheels will also include all of the latest features available at our retail Commuter Stores including LCD TV bus schedule and promotional screens, computer customer user stations and more. Customers stay tuned. It should be on the street within a month...

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a biking/Metro commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.

Ballston Bike Center & Commuter Store Plans Progress

The Ballston Bike Center & Commuter Store project will triple the number of bike parking spaces at the Ballston Metro plaza to 150 as well as shelter the bikes from the elements. The project will also relocate the Ballston Commuter Store from a low-trafficked corner on the second floor of the Ballston Mall to within steps of the Ballston Metro escalators. Preliminary drawings are in from the architect, Tony Velasquez, which are shown here.

The Ballston Bike Center will provide a kiosk with the new bike map (which is presently in design) as well as information on the BikeArlington program. There will also be a bench for cyclists to sit while preparing for their ride home. Ambient light will shine through the clear shelter, however, additional solar-powered LED lights will provide more security.

Finding American vendors of bike shelters is difficult as the market is not developed. Most bike shelters in the U.S. are bus shelters converted for the use of bikes. Look around most Metro stations with bike parking and you'll see what I mean. In wanting to both have an aesthetic design as well as to help the fledgling American bike shelter industry, we're working with Creative Metalworks of Oregon. Bike circle racks will also be provided for additional parking.

The Ballston Commuter Store will provide all of the same services as other locations, with a walk-up window and expanded hours to meet the higher demand which the location will likely provide. Monitors with the upcoming trains and buses will be displayed for transit-riders on the plaza.

The racks will be double-decker, for parking on two levels. The bottom level will allow bikes to simply be rolled in and then locked to a fixed object with the cyclist's u-lock. The top level requires a handle to be pulled, rolling out the track, which then pivots 45 degrees downward towards the cyclist, allowing for easy placement of the bike. Reversing this process puts the bike in place for the cyclist to lock it up. The rack manufacturer is the German company, Josta.

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Paul DeMaio is Bicycle Promotions Manager for Arlington County's BikeArlington program and will get you on your bike.