It’s official.
For the second consecutive year, cyclists chose the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) as the “bike friendliest neighborhood or business improvement district” in the Washington Area Bicyclist Association’s Bicyclists’ Choice Awards.
“The Downtown DC BID has worked for years to provide cyclists with a safe and friendly biking environment in Washington D.C.,” said BID Executive Director Neil O. Albert. “We are honored to accept this award and will continue to strive to improve cycling and bike parking conditions in Downtown.”
[View a complete list of 2016 Bicyclists’ Choice winners here.]
The 2016 WABA Bicyclists’ Choice Awards, hosted on Feb. 25 by Rails to Trails Conservancy Research Director Tracy Hadden Loh, brought close to 150 bicyclists, advocates, WABA supporters, VIPs and award winners together to celebrate the steps taken and achievements made within the past year to make bicycling more friendly and safe in the region.
BID Director of Infrastructure and Sustainability Ellen Jones accepted the bike friendliest award on behalf of the BID.
In 2015, the BID completed a three-year plan with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to nearly double the number of bike parking spaces in Downtown, increasing the overall number of bike racks from 531 in 2012 to 964. That plan involved contractors working with the BID and DDOT to install black U-racks in locations identified by the BID with input from property owners and BID stakeholders and several bike parking corrals.
[Click here to read more about the bike rack rack installs via the Washington Business Journal.]
The BID works with partners on additional biking-related efforts including the establishment of dedicated and protected bike lanes in Downtown, support for Capital Bikeshare’s short-term bike rentals—a service that was piloted in the BID in 2008 as the country’s first bikesharing system—and promoting biking to the public, including by hosting the largest Bike to Work Day pitstop in the District, which is held annually on Bike to Work Day in Freedom Plaza in Downtown.