Another example in the "be careful what you wish for" department: Transportation Demand Management Planning in the District of Columbia

SmartBike DC location at 14th and H Streets NW.

More than most people, I can take credit for the minimal requirement of transportation demand management planning during the process of approving what are called "planned unit developments" in DC.

All (yes, all) the Smart Growth types waxed poetic in testimony during the 2006 Comprehensive Plan process about how the plan discussed smart growth and transit, leaving it to me to point out that the talk was great, but the plan as written didn't require that transportation demand management planning be incorporated into zoning approvals for new buildings and that it should be required for most types of extant commercial, multiunit residential, and institutional buildings.

So after hammering away at this, the Office of Planning amended one word and voila, transportation demand management is required for planned unit development approvals (not even all new buildings, just for PUD projects). No requirements for extant buildings were put into the plan. (Actually, this is a point on which I differ with DCOP and DDOT. I think the language is in there that supports TDM requirements overall. They don't. But as EE pointed out before, plans are "precatory," in that they suggest but unless the vision is translated into specific legal requirements, they are just fanciful language.)

But I can't claim that I am happy with the results.

Right now the approach is what we might call a cafeteria approach, giving the developer a list of choices that they can adopt or pay toward, rather than a more comprehensive and thoughtful consideration of how to reduce trip generation overall, especially single occupancy trips. Or to put this better, how to optimize trip demand so that it best utilizes extant transportation infrastructure while reducing to the greatest extent possible, the generation of new automobile trips.

To my way of thinking, that means that bicycle planning needs to be considered _generally_ not only within the context of _bicycle sharing_, which is a constrained and incomplete framework.

So, Washcycle discusses SmartBike being incorporated into zoning agreements, in "SmartBike now a $70,000 bargaining chip," which is based on this entry, "Smart-Bike: DDOT's Transportation Plan" from the DC Metro Urban Diary. (Note that this is for a different type of zoning agreement, which indicates that DDOT is taking the opportunity to press for transportation improvements more generally, which is a great thing.)

Here's the problem. SmartBike is cool, sure, but I am not sure it should take the pole position in forging transportation demand management planning in DC.

For one, bikesharing in DC seems to be turning into a system focused on commuters, not residents. Sure more stations will be added throughout the city which will serve residents and this will change the use and user demographics, but I am beginning to believe that bicycle sharing programs support occasional users more than they support people who might be able to become frequent/regular bicyclists--especially from home (unless they live immediately abutting a residentially-based SmartBike station).

Anyway the DCMUD and Washcycle entries discuss that DC wants the new Convention Center hotel to provide a bikesharing station and that the cost to outfit one is $70,000.

The issue is what audience are you serving and is a SmartBike system the best way and the best use of $70,000 to do so.

The major audiences at a hotel are employees and hotel guests. Visitors to DC aren't well accommodated by the SmartBike system.

There are three types of trips that need to be considered: (1) getting to and from the hotel by guests; (2) getting to and from the hotel by employees; (3) getting to and from places while staying overnight at the hotel.

As far as bicycles are concerned (and note that trip type #1 is not easily served by bicycling, it requires that other modes be addressed--it's hard to get from the airport or train station to a hotel by bicycle, especially with luggage), better instead to (1) provide a bike fleet for guests to be able to use (or change the SmartBike system to better accommodate visitors) while they are staying at the hotel; (2) provide a system that would encourage employees to use transit and/or bicycles (plus walking of course) with financial inducements to do so, but 24/7/365; and (3) therefore provide a system that provides payroll payment plans for bicycle purchases, etc.

I guess I am still pleased that we are beginning to press for transportation improvements as a normal part of building/zoning approval systems. I just wish we could do a much more comprehensive, thorough, and considered job of it...

For the point on hotels providing bicycle access to guests see:

-- Use of Complimentary BMW Cruise Bikes at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
-- this Bike Portland blog entry, "Hotel near airport offers “Bike and Fly” service, free loaner bikes" about the program at the Aloft hotel there, which lends Electras and Bike Friday folding bicycles to guests
-- Across Europe, Your Hotel Room Could Now Come With Bike (from the New York Times)
-- an article from Tree Hugger blog, "Four Boutique City Hotels That Let You Use the Bikes for Free"
-- this article from HotelWorld magazine, "Bikes are great amenity for budget-minded guests"
-- "The new key to the city: Bikes" from the Toronto Globe & Mail

In a comprehensive TDM approach, DC would bring up providing bicycle access to hotel guests (and support systems for employees)_with every developer initiating a hotel project_ as a matter of course.

From the New York Times article:

In recent years, from Paris to Rome, new urban cycling lanes and public bike-sharing programs have been gaining popularity. And while some travelers are not able to tap into all the cycling opportunities — in Paris, for instance, the check-out meters for the Vélib’, a public bicycle-rental program, will not accept most American credit cards (they lack a crucial microchip) — there are several hotels that offer guests use of bikes for a small fee or no cost at all.

“It’s become a new way for hotels to show their greenness,” said Jonathan Barsky, vice president for research at Market Metrix, which gauges customer satisfaction in hospitality companies.

The bikes, which are usually upright models, have proved to be popular, especially among vacationing guests, though business travelers have been known to cycle to an appointment, according to several hotels.
The Hotel Gates in Berlin, which introduced a dozen red bicycles last May, making them available to guests without charge, has just ordered four more bikes for the summer season.

“Sometimes the guests ask for a bike, and they’re all gone,” said Kirsten Kurbjuhn, the general manager, adding that more than 60 percent of the guests who fill out the hotel’s customer-feedback questionnaire say the bikes are “a highly valuable service,” and 20 percent say they are one of the reasons they chose the hotel.

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From the Hotel Gates website:

Bike included
We offer our guests a simple way to keep fit, at no charge: bright red city bikes are available for use outside the hotel entrance, each equipped with a lockable transport box and a laptop bag on request. This is a great way to get to your business meetings quickly or explore the city at your own pace. Details

Hotel Gates photo.