Bike-to-Work Recovering from Fire & Ice

After tallying enough trip-miles to ride around the equator in 2010, Building-A employees pedaled nearly 10% more in 2011. Well, 2012 started out looking like another banner year . . . then the High Park Fire erupted on June 9^th.

“Normal” bicycle trends didn’t seem to recover until the month of November 2012. Maybe it wasn’t just the fire that made a few cyclists too sick to ride last summer/fall; perhaps the nauseating run up to the presidential elections also took its toll – who Knows!

Bicycle commuting to building-A is only now showing signs towards a full recovery.  Rumor has it the RMRS (Rocky Mountain Research Station), which vacated the building over the winter holidays, had their share of hardcore cyclists; and instead of fire & smoke providing the unsafe conditions, it was the ice & snow of spring that made two-wheeled travel a bit more hazardous for some.

I hope many of you will choose to participate in the Summer Bike-to-Work day this Wednesday and continue the celebration not only through the end of this month but all the way into the fall. Enjoy the ride!

The table shows the daily average number of riders each month as compared to previous years. 

–          Stay Safe & Keep Pedaling!

 

1st Quarter Bike-to-Work Trips Increase 15%

After riding around the world last year, Building-A employees have biked to work 15% more often in the first 3-months of 2011 over last year.

The table below shows total trips each month, cumulative trips, and the daily average number of riders each month as compared to a year ago.

                                 2010                                        2011                                 % 2011 of 2010

              Month     Cum     Avg          Month     Cum      Avg             Month       Cum         Avg

    1          293         293      15.4           339          339      17.0             116%         116%       110%

    2          277        570     14.6           289          628      15.2              104%        110%       104%

         3          424         994     18.4           516         1144      22.4             122%         115%       122%

Not sure why the significant increases – here are some possibilities I can think of – but we’d rather hear the real reasons from the dedicated saddle sitters directly.

• Same dedicated group of riders, just riding more days because they’re now in better shape.
• New riders adding bicycling to their commuting habits.
• Simple – a lot nicer weather this winter.
• I donated my car to New Belgium’s “year without a bike program” and now got no choice!
• My personal habits just turned a darker shade of Green.
• I got a new bike for Christmas!
• The four additional March riders are all recent hires that are also members of a local cycling club.

Whatever the reasons, it’s been impressive seeing the covered and uncovered bike parking areas heavily used during the typical slow period of the calendar.

So what’s your story?

Again, any input will be appreciated. Please share with the Green community, via a comment, what your round trip commute is and how often you ride to work.

– Stay Safe & Keep Pedaling!

National Trends in Satellite Observed Lighting: 1992-2009

The USGS Fort Collins Science Center, located in Building-C in our Natural Resources Research Center, is hosting an interesting seminar this Wednesday, April 6th.  Here is the notice that welcomes all who can attend:

U.S. Geological Survey – Fort Collins Science Center – Spring Seminar Series
Title: National Trends in Satellite Observed Lighting: 1992-2009
Speaker: Dr. Chris Elvidge, NOAA
Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Time: 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Place: Main Conference Room, USGS Fort Collins Science Center, Building C

Abstract: A time series of global annual satellite maps of nighttime lights reveals several distinct patterns linked to population changes, economic development and the improvements in lighting efficiency.
Six categories of national lighting trends have been defined:
1) Rapid growth in lighting driven by population and economic growth,
2) Population driven changes in nighttime lights,
3) Economic driven changes in nighttime lights,
4) Erratic, with wide interannual variation in nighttime lights and little affinity to population and economic changes,
5) Stable, with little change over time and little affinity to population and economic changes, and
6) Transitional countries not fitting in to the other five classes, in many cases due to a shift from one class to another midway through the time series.
The results indicate that there are national level differences in the behavior of nighttime lights over time. Recognition of these patterns may lead to improved spatial modeling of socioeconomic processes based on satellite observed nighttime lights.

Bio Sketch: Elvidge leads the Earth Observation Group (EOG) in the Solar and Terrestrial Physics Division. The EOG operates the long term archive for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. DMSP is unique for its ability to collect low light imagery of the Earth at night. For the past sixteen years Elvidge has lead the development of algorithms to map nighttime lights with DMSP images and the development of applications for these maps. Current projects include satellite monitoring of gas flaring in oil and gas fields in sixty countries, construction of a global GDP map, and the analysis of electrification rates in more than 150 countries. Elvidge graduated from Stanford University in 1985 with a Ph.D. in Applied Earth Sciences. He was a NRC post-doc at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1985 to 1987. He was subsequently on the faculty of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada and a visiting scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Global Change Research Program in Washington. DC.

Always check with your supervisor to see if attendance is permitted.

We Should Double Our Daylight Saving Time.

Is there really some value with the use of Daylight Saving Time (DST), including here in Fort Collins, or is it just another Government imposed initiative that just won’t end, but should?
I conclude that DST still makes sense and is still a good & green idea, and I’d even shift another hour just for good measure; it could be called Double Daylight Saving Time (DDST).
First, the concept of DST started during World War I with the intent of conserving some of the energy used to produce artificial light in the evening hours when most people were still awake. I think a different way of looking at the issue may be to start at the other end of the day – the morning and how most of the industrial world functions.
It could be sensible to consider +/-8 a.m. as being a reasonable, not an average, not your specific circumstance, but a reasonable starting time for industrial production and normal business day. That seems to be when much of the parking lot is loaded up in front of NRRC Building-A. Excluding morning gym-rats and various school schedules, let’s say it takes most of us about an hour to wake, prep, and make it to work – that would have us getting out of bed and needing some functional light by 7 each morning.
To be more green and energy efficient, a society could coincide and maintain the general working clock in our lives with the sunrise where we’d get up with the sun every day and without the need for artificial light. All that ‘extra’ natural light could be used while we’re all still awake and doing stuff long after our work day.
In looking at a Sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk time graph for Ft. Collins (see Gaisma Graph), DST shifts our sunrise clock from 6 to 7 a.m. this weekend and then back again the early part of November. I see the logic!

Gaisma Graph

So, being a left-handed engineer . . . OK, now I hear the rumblings . . . I again look at the graph and think “why not have another 6 to 7 a.m. shift for the same reason” starting in early May through the end of August. No, better yet, make it through the Labor Day weekend. Just add back that ‘lost’ hour Tuesday morning, which could help sell the idea, ease the back-to-work pain, and truly salute the end of summer – the end of night baseball leagues, neighborhood tennis not under-the-lights, and boating on Horsetooth.
Hey, who goes to sleep before 10 o’clock in the middle of the summer anyhow – we might as well be as naturally lit as we can be. Show me where I’m wrong – a national DDST movement – Brilliant!
By the way, the graph came from: http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/fort-collins-colorado.html, an excellent website for checking climate & sun stats for other places almost as awesome as Ft. Collins.

Employees Pedaled Around the World in 2010!

NRRC Building-A Employees Pedaled Around the World in 2010!

In support of promoting a greener, more efficient, and more connected existence, here are data, details, and discussion of the 2010 bicycle commute results for Building-A employees.
2010 was the first year detailed records were taken to help quantify the use of Building-A’s dedicated bicycle parking and parking structure. Well, the results have been tabulated and charted and with reasonable estimations, the bicycling employees of Building-A rode an estimated 27,580 miles to & from work in 2010. That’s a greater distance than circum-navigating the equator. On average, 22 persons rode an estimated 5 miles round trip on each of the 250 work days in 2010. Of this average, there seemed to be a core of 7-10 employees that chose to brave the journey regardless of road conditions or seasonal elements. Bravo!
On most every work day, the number of bikes parked in and around the bicycle parking structure were physically counted and recorded. Data for the few days not directly counted were interpolated based on trends and weather factors. Counts were normally taken middle to late morning when employee attendance was usually considered the most stable. The only bike not counted was the “green loaner” that sat daily at the ready to be ridden for short errands or to the Across the Tracks shopping area (via the bike path tunnel, of course).
The data: Tuesdays and Wednesday s were the most common bicycling days; Friday was the least. February was the slowest month while June was the busiest month. “Bike-to-Work” influenced about 20 more persons; such the case for both Summer & Winter events. An estimated 5,516 bicycle trips were taken during the 250 official federal work days in 2010.
This 2011 year is already shaping up to surpass 2010. January and February cycling trips totaled 628 with an average of 16 employees each and every day coming to work on wheels this winter.
To improve the quality of this year’s results, it would be great to get a range of trip distances for calculating average trip miles. Some employees may commute 4 miles one way while others may ride in from 8 miles or from just around the corner.
Please let the Green Team know, via a post or comment, what your round trip bicycle commute is and how many times a week (average) you ride to work. Any input will be appreciated.
– Stay Safe & Keep Pedaling!

BikeCountTable_2010

BikeCountChart_2010