Don, this is good to hear, and it makes valid sense that someone from the Parking Authority could be that person we are looking for.  Someone who would not only address Bicycle Parking on City proprieties, but who would also address Bicycle Parking Facilities on all potential City properties.

At this point I am fed up with creating plans, it seems like it is the only thing I spend my time doing these days.  Plans mean absolutely nothing if they aren't acted on.  Two years ago, the Bicycle Board presented a comprehensive plan to the TC, how much mileage have we gotten out of that? 

The Bicycle Parking Committee has amassed a huge amount of information on Bicycle Parking Standards and we would be happy to present that again to the BB as we have done in the past.  This is the same information that was presented to WVU including some information which overlaps what we presented to the High Schools.  We have already spent substantial amount time collecting and becoming experts in this area, including follow-up meetings to solidify this knowledge.  Now time is running low, if you want to see a budget item by this January, we need to act now, we can't just endlessly (and mindlessly) keep running this by the BB at meetings.  What is our vision for Bicycle Parking in Morgantown?  It's the same vision that is the founding statement of the Bike Board.

So let's get into contact with the Parking Authority now (today or tomorrow) and find out what their commitment level would be.   If  they aren't interested let's find out who else the City could offer via the TC or City Council.  Otherwise, this is just going to drag on and on and nothing will ever be accomplished.  What do people on the Bicycle Board think about going this route?  

-Jonathan


Don Spencer wrote: 
Jonathan - I believe that we already have someone that we can work with and
that is Tom Arnold from the Parking Authority. Nearly two years ago he
expressed a willingness to work with us in generating parking centers in the
Parking Garage, but we were not able to follow-up on his willingness at that
time.

I believe that the first cut on all parking planning needs to be the Parking
Authority. Once we have something that is acceptable, then we can go to the
Traffic Commission and ask for their support in presenting whatever we need
to communicate or request to the City Manager and the City Council.

Before we go to Tom again, however, we need to have a draft comprehensive
parking vision and plan that the Bicycle Board has reviewed. Hopefully Hugh
Kierig will be able to dialog with us in putting a preliminary plan
together.

Don

-----Original Message-----
From: bikeboard-bounces@cheat.org [mailto:bikeboard-bounces@cheat.org] On
Behalf Of Jonathan Rosenbaum
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 1:43 AM
To: Bicycle Board
Subject: Re: [Bikeboard] Trail stripe

I plan to be there, thanks on this Frank.  Mark must be a telephone
person because he never responded to an email I sent him last month.  In
relation to that, I have another item I'd like to bring up to the TC,
and I would hope this is a fairly obvious one to the BB, and that I have
your (BB) support.  There will be a lengthy explanation (because I enjoy
wasting lots of time saying the obvious), but please read it all if you
can.

When developing a  strategy to get the City/County to act,
"communication with collaboration" is the most important ingredient to
reach a successful outcome.  In some areas I've been working on that
strategy has been well demonstrated.  With the Campus Connector project
of the WVU Committee from the very beginning many key players have been
involved which include the Assistant City Manager (paid employee) and
several City Council people.  Even more importantly, Jim Hunt (paid
Director of Sunnyside Up) has been actively involved in the funding
aspects and fully supports the connector because Sunnyside Up will be a
beneficiary.  Meanwhile, WVU Facilities & Services has the WVU property
side covered and have done their own independent studies.  The only real
obstacle to the success of the CC are some unresolved property issues on
the City side of the connector.  However, there has been no lack of
communication or collaboration in this pursuit, nor will the connector
be built in a haphazard way because there are too many eyes watching the
process.  Significantly, there are paid people involved, so there is a
high degree of accountability involved in doing it right and actually
getting it done.

At a prior BB meeting, it was asked how can the City copy what WVU did
with Bicycle Parking?  In the case of the WVU Committee's work with WVU
this April/May, a paid employee, the Campus Planner, listened to our
recommendations which included APBP  standards developed from countless
hours of research that establish proper rack standards, proper sizing,
spacing and placement specifications, other recommendations included
examples from other Cities and Campuses, recommendations about different
types of parking and applications in relation to long and short term
parking, security/sheltered parking, planning for future expansion of
parking, and the list goes on.  He listened to us and determined what
could be accomplished in the first phase given the present budget.  Then
he went out and did a study of all locations that met the specifications
we presented to him in relation to the budget, and then he brought back
that study for our input.  That same process was repeated over again a
second time so that we could provide secondary feedback for a finalized
study.  This study was then presented to the campus facilities and
grounds budget committee for approval.  Again, there was no lack of
communication or collaboration in this process.

On the other hand, with the Bicycle Parking Committee of the BB, which
has a great group of volunteers, the one important thing that has been
lacking is a close relationship between our committee and a dedicated
employee from within the City similar to the Campus Planner from WVU.  
One who could listen to our recommendations and work closely with us
from the ground floor up to put together a comprehensive budget item for
the City this January (discussed during the August BB meeting).  The
advantages of such a relationship are obvious, first of all this
employee will become intimately knowledgeable about what recommendations
the Bicycle Board wants implemented, second of all, this employee will
be accountable to the City to get it right through a process of
communication and feedback with the BB.   Asking volunteers to put
together a budget item without having a City employee working with them
who is an expert on City property and budget details is not a productive
process and will greatly limit our success.   I would really hate to see
the City get bicycle parking wrong because it would be an incredible
waste of time, the facilities wouldn't be used, and it would send a
terrible message to citizens.  If anything - given the City's commitment
to reducing traffic congestion - if the City really wants to send a
powerful, positive message out to the citizens of Morgantown, they will
authorize existing employees to spend part of their paid hours  working
closely with committees like the BB to provide compelling alternatives
to the common way most people travel in this town.  In the case of
bicycle parking, if you do get it right, it sends out a message to
citizens that the City fully supports and encourages people to commute
by bicycle.  The better those bicycle parking facilities are, the
stronger the message sent out.  Proper bicycle parking facilities
provide an impressive kind of PR and will get many people out on their
bicycles.  Ofcourse, painting stripes incorrectly on the rail-trail,
including in a multi-million area whose charm is linked heavily to the
rail-trail is the worst kind of PR imaginable.  I would hope the City
has learned their lesson from this and will now work much closer with us.

In review, I want to ask the TC to request that the City authorize a
City employee who is knowledgeable in City property and budget details
to work closely with the Bicycle Board's Parking Committee to realize a
Bicycle Parking budget item for this January 2009's City Budget that
would include facilities on City properties including the City's parking
garages.  The expectations and reasoning for such a collaborative
employee are discussed above.

Versione completata.

-Jonathan

Frank Gmeindl wrote:
  
Bicycle Board Members,

At yesterday's Bicycle Board meeting, I took an action item to call Mark 
Wise, BOPARC Director, to find out why the trail striping committee that 
he told us at our July meeting he would form hasn't met yet.  I called 
Mark today to tell him that I was aware that the committee has yet to 
organize and meet.  I also asked him for a timeline or at least a target 
date for doing something with the current rail trail stripe situation so 
that I could inform the Traffic Commission at next Wednesday's meeting.  
He said that he will attend the meeting and ask for a member of the 
Traffic Commission to join the committee that he said he's going to form. 

Since Don Spencer and Jonathan Rosenbaum volunteered at our July meeting 
to join Mark's committee, I would like to encourage them to attend next 
Wednesday's Traffic Commission meeting.  It begins at 6:30 pm and is in 
Council Chambers. 

When we originally recommended the stripe and the Keep Right signs to 
the Traffic Commission, they spent a lot of time developing 
specifications for where the stripe would be applied as well as the 
stripe's size, shape and color.  Unfortunately, none of that was 
captured in the minutes and we all know what we got. 

If all the right people are at the Traffic Commission meeting next 
Wednesday, it is possible that the corrective action can be decided 
right then and there instead of dragging out through numerous meetings.  
It would probably also be tremendously helpful if someone came with some 
authoritative guidelines for trail striping.

Frank


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