1. New Staff Members!

With the departure of a few key members of the BikeArlington team, we brought on Erin as the Events and Outreach Coordinator and Henry as the new Program Manager. Erin joins us from Chicago and Henry, as a 25+ year resident of Arlington County was most recently with Phoenix Bikes.  We’re excited to have both of them on board this year as they bring a fresh perspective to biking in Arlington.

2. Bikeometer! Plus Two More New Counters

This Spring, Arlington became the home to the East Coast’s first Bikeometer, which automatically counts and displays the number of bike trips through Rosslyn.  We held a kick off launch event, and the counter is even hooked up to our publicly accessible Counter Dashboard which allows anyone to check ridership at any of our counters across the County. Just this past fall, two more counters were installed on the 14th Street Bridge and the Roosevelt Bridge into DC, which brings our counter total up to 33, making Arlington one of the most robust ride data tracking jurisdictions in North America!

3. New Bike Infrastructure, Protected Bike Lanes!

2014 was a banner year for protected bike lanes. Two sections of road were given the parked car separated facility treatment along South Hayes Street in Pentagon City and South Eads Street near Crystal City.  This marks the first of what will hopefully be many more protected bike lanes coming in future years.  And along with renovations the section of Arlington Boulevard from North Courthouse Road to 10th Street North, the paralleling trails were given a significant upgrade.

4. A Soggy Bike to Work Day

Bike to Work Day 2014 was soggy, but given the torrential weather was considered an overall success.  Arlington had a total of 6 pit stops, two of which were directly run by BikeArlington (Rosslyn and Ballston) and we assisted heavily with the brand new Columbia Pike stop.  BikeArlington also helped to provide marketing for the two East Falls Church stops and the Crystal City stop.  In total there were almost 2500 registrations in Arlington.  Rosslyn had 987 registrations, Ballston had 564, Crystal City had 578, Columbia Pike had 137, East Falls Church AM had 137 and East Falls Church PM had 87. Next year’s Bike to Work Day is scheduled for Friday, May 15th!

5. Capital Bikeshare Expansion
Capital Bikeshare continued it’s relentless station expansion westward and with infill in key locations. Arlington started 2014 with 67 stations and 874 docks and expanded to a total of 79 stations with 1061 docks by the years end. And we’ve even got expansion plans worked out through 2021!

6. Community Run, BikeArlington Supported Rides

We loved seeing a number of grassroot efforts really blossom in 2014. The Arlington Fun Ride continued to grow and BikeArlington had a ton of fun hosting the Rosslyn Pit Stop. The wonderful folks who make KidicalMass Arlington happen really got things going in a major way by hosting an event or ride almost every month of the year. Thanks for coming out to see us at the Arlington County Fair and for an awesome Halloween themed ride!

7. Events, Of All Kinds!

We had so many events this year it’s hard to pick our favorites.  If we had to though, some of the most fun we had was doing Yay for Bike Riders Day , Author Elly Blue Comes to Arlington, the Arlington County Fair and our first ever Balaclavas & Baklava: A Winter Bike Accessory Workshop!  We’ve got some big fun planned for 2015!

8. A Plan For Snow Clearing

Arlington County made news this fall as the first jurisdiction in the region to officially commit resources to clearing multi-use trails for people on bicycles and on foot. This is a big deal! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

9. Fixit Stations Around Town

2014 saw the installation of complimentary repair stands, complete with a set of basic tools and an air pump at key bike parking locations throughout the County. Riders at the Ballston and Clarendon Metro stations can take advantage of these tools. Look for additional Fixit Stations at the Pentagon City Metro Station, the Crystal City Water Park and the Shirlington Bus station.

10. The ACPD Are Now Our PALs

In a partnership between Arlington County Commuter Services and the Arlington County Police Department, a number of newly acquired police cruisers now proudly display the "be a PAL" logo, which urges Arlingtonians to be Predictable, Alert and Lawful!