Tues. May 18, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC – To reduce Downtown congestion, promote sustainability and encourage bicycles as a viable mode of transportation, the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID) has joined with public and private partners to provide expanded and improved bicycle facilities and promote cycling as both a leisurely activity and an alternative way to get to work.
“Expanding cycling as a smart travel choice bodes well for Downtown,” says Richard Bradley, executive director of the Downtown BID. “To accomplish this goal, however, requires a greater focus on ensuring biker safety and securing more places where cyclists can park their bikes. I’m happy to report these elements have come together remarkably well in recent months to encourage more people to consider biking as a travel option.”
The Downtown BID has partnered with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to promote bicycle safety and parking. Bike lane designs called “cycle tracks” now appear on a few Downtown DC streets to provide greater separation between cyclists and traffic. The first cycle track appeared on 15th Street north of Massachusetts Avenue in November.
This month, DDOT installed new bike lanes down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue, from the White House to the US Capitol. The agency currently is fine-tuning the design and hopes to have it completed some time this summer.
Additional bike lanes are planned for L and 9th Streets, as well as 15th Street south of Massachusetts Avenue over the next several months. Protected bike lanes take one of two forms depending on a block’s available right of way. One design places the bike lane adjacent to the curb, shielded by a buffer zone and a parking lane, as on 15th Street. Some blocks lack sufficient room for a parking lane, so the design positions the buffer zone between bikes and traffic. Both designs will be incorporated into the 12-block span of the L Street cycle track.
New York City, Montreal and Madison, Wisconsin, have all adopted the cycle track concept, now in the pilot stage in San Francisco and DC. DC has 45 miles of bike lanes and plans to increase the number to 80 miles.
With the number of local cyclists increasing steadily, the Downtown BID is purchasing and installing 60 sidewalk bicycle racks this spring and early summer. The racks will offer cyclists an attractive alternative to locking bikes to street furniture, trees, street signs and traditional parking meters, which are being replaced rapidly with wider, multi-space meters. Currently, the Downtown BID area has a total of 260 bicycle racks in public space.
The Downtown BID has pledged to match the number of bike parking racks that DDOT plans to install in Downtown to reach the goal of 200 new racks this year. The racks encourage short-term bicycle trips for shopping, business meetings, deliveries, dining and patronizing Downtown’s many entertainment and cultural attractions.
In addition, the Downtown BID will provide five curbside bike corrals, each of which will hold 10 bikes instead of one car. This effort is in line with city plans to repurpose on-street parking spaces for bicycle parking in at least 25 locations.
To provide long-term parking, the Downtown BID continues to work with employers and property owners and managers to encourage more parking spaces or cages in parking garages. The DDOT also works with property managers, helping them think creatively about selecting, locating and installing the racks, which the city provides at no charge. For more information, call 202.671.2331.
“In June 2009, the Downtown BID released a transportation Leadership Paper, Getting from Here to There,” says Ellen Jones, the Downtown BID’s transportation director. “The paper strongly recommended managing Downtown congestion to favor the most efficient transportation modes for moving people, good and services. It also recommended that we ensure bicyclist and pedestrian safety. Today, we are moving along in both directions at a steady and impressive pace.”
These initiatives all come at a time when the city plans to expand the SmartBike DC bike-sharing program this year from 10 kiosks with 100 bikes to 100 kiosks with 900 bikes, radiating out from the city’s center. As the nation’s first self-service bike rental program, SmartBike DC provides an alternative transportation network for the city’s workers and residents. Four of the existing kiosks are in Downtown near the Gallery Place, Judiciary Square, Metro Center and McPherson Square Metrorail stations. For more information about SmartBike DC, visit www.smartbikedc.com.
The Downtown BID also is a supporting sponsor of two annual events this year—Bike to Work Day (May 21) and Bike DC (May 23), which provide a fun way to change behavior and build a bike culture that appeals to workers and families. More information about both events is available at www.waba.org and www.bikedc.net, respectively.
Go to www.downtowndc.org/bikes to view videos that tout bicycling as a smart travel choice, part of a healthy lifestyle and a viable mode of Downtown transportation.