Skip sitting in traffic and join over 10,000 of your fellow local commuters on May 16 for Bike to Work Day.
The DowntownDC BID will once again sponsor the biggest pit stop in D.C. at Freedom Plaza (14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW) from 7 to 9 a.m. There, visitors can collect t-shirts (for which they’ve pre-registered here at biketoworkmetrodc.org), prizes, enjoy snacks, listen to guest speakers and more. The BID’s 2013 Freedom Plaza pit stop drew 900 cyclists.
Need some practice stowing your bike on a bus rack? We’ll have a parked DC Circulator bus on site where you can test out your loading and unloading skills.
This year, you can walk your bike down our red carpet and stroll over to our fun photo booth to capture the moment with some entertaining photo props. Stow your cycle with free bike valet provided by Two Wheel Valet.
Acting U.S. Surgeon General Rear Admiral (RADM) Boris Lushniak and D.C. council member David Grosso are among the officials who have RSVP’d to the BID’s pit stop event.
Various sponsors and groups will host a collective total of 79 pit stops throughout the D.C. metro region on May 16 where bikers can gather and receive free gifts (after registering for free at biketoworkmetrodc.org) and snacks.
Participation in Bike to Work Day also contributes to the Big Green Commute Challenge which this year will be held May 12-16. This week-long annual competition in the D.C. region encourages employees to adopt more sustainable work commutes, scores office participation and awards the winner with a coveted trophy. Last year, 54 offices in the region competed and participants collectively saved over 107,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. Registration is now open online.
The BID’s entire 138-block area was designated by the BID in 2011 as the DowntownDC ecoDistrict as part of an effort to enhance living, working and visiting Downtown. The DowntownDC BID supports biking as a sustainable transportation option which contributes overall to the goal of the DowntownDC ecoDistrict and sustainability.
The District’s Sustainable DC Plan, which is supported by the BID, aims for 75 percent of all commutes to be non-auto by the year 2032 and for 25 percent of all commutes to be walking or biking. In 2012, 55 percent of commutes were non-auto: 13 percent were walking and 4.1 percent were biking (with the remainder carried out via public transit).
The BID is pleased to report that biking is on the rise in D.C. The city’s share of commuters using bicycles for transportation reached a record 4.1 percent in 2012, which tied the District for first place in bike usage among large U.S. cities and represented a dramatic over the previous year, during which biking made up 3.2 percent of all commutes.
The BID is proud to support biking infrastructure and other projects to support biking as a safe and convenient transportation option in Downtown.
- The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in partnership with the BID, has increased the number of dedicated bike routes in Downtown and augmented them to provide safe and convenient routes. DDOT has seen a 200 percent increase in cycling along Pennsylvania Avenue since the installation of a protected center bike lane, supported by the BID.
- Today’s Capital Bikeshare program grew out of an initiative first piloted in the BID in 2008. Today, Capital Bikeshare offers over 2500 bikes at more than 300 stations in the District and in areas of Maryland and Virginia.
- The BID’s ecoDistrict, in partnership with DDOT, is currently implementing a three-year plan to double the number of bike racks in Downtown. Last year, 145 bike racks were installed between 6th and 11th streets. The installation of 175 racks between 11th and 16th is scheduled to take place this summer.