On Wednesday, BikeArlington hosted the 2012 Arlington Bike Culture Forum, which brought together various entities in Arlington County and the region. In attendance were representatives from Arlington County Commuter Services, Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services, planners, engineers, Arlington County Police Department, local BIDs, bike shops, bike advocates, and many more.

The meeting started with a warm welcome from Chris Hamilton, Arlington County Commuter Services Bureau Chief and Dennis Leach, Arlington County Director of Transportation. Kate Ryan of WTOP fame followed, sharing her entertaining experiences of riding a bicycle in the greater Capital region and then Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists spoke on what Arlington can do to improve its bike friendliness.

The meeting then broke into smaller groups to brainstorm ideas and next steps to help guide what future efforts should focus on. The four areas to work on include:

• Education and Encourage for Children and Parents
• Education for Adults
• Infrastructure
• Enforcement

Following the meeting, Mark Blacknell who is President of the Board of Directors for the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Chair of the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee wrote a short piece on his take away from the meeting, entitled "Bike Culture: It Takes a Village…"

We hope to bring the group together again soon to keep the momentum going. And be sure to check out more photos from the event on our Facebook page!