Posts about Bicycling

WMATA is trying to encourage more people to bike to their stations, and providing a secure place to park is an important aspect of achieving that goal. By 2020, the agency hopes to triple the number of people cycling to their stations.

Parking costs 5 cents per hour during the day and 2 cents per hour overnight. Riders gain access to the facility and pay for parking with an access card from a company called BikeLink. There are no annual fees, only a one-time $5 fee for customer ID verification.

BikeLink will manage the facility for WMATA, and has the incentive to encourage bicycling to the station, since they take home the revenue generated by the facility. WMATA will win by getting additional rail and bus fare revenue from those who chose to College Park because of the facility.

WMATA chose College Park for the pilot program because it's already one of the top stations for cycling. In the 2011 bike parking census, it came out in third place systemwide. Additionally, the space in the garage was available, and a third of people parking at the station come from three miles away or less, which means many are already within biking distance.

Also demonstrating their commitment to bicycling, Kissal, Assistant General Manager Nat Bottigheimer, and several other WMATA employees biked to College Park from the WMATA headquarters near Judiciary Square.

This facility is a great addition to the Metro network and promises to be the first of many similar secure bicycle parking areas around Metro.

1. Cyclists might be on the left side of the road (such as when turning left).
   
2. Riding outside a bike lane is often okay (and, in DC in VA, always legal).
   
3. If turning right across a bike lane, move into the bike lane first. More on this.
   
4. Bicycles are faster than you might think.
   
5. Don't honk.

Bob added 5 requests to cyclists, which I agree with as well:

1. Be obvious, be predictable.
   
2. Think like a driver.
   
3. Wait for right-turning drivers (in other words, respect drivers doing the right thing to turn right across a bike lane as in #3 on my list).
   
4. Obey traffic laws. (Though personally, I'd like to see us adopt the Idaho Stop.)
   
5. Respect pedestrians.

You can read the whole thing on the Washington Post site.

A number of people brought this up in the Dr. Gridlock chat today. Most echoed a similar point best captured in this question and Bob's fantastic response:

Sunday's column regarding cars and bicycles sharing the street with each other did not address what I consider a major point. While I won't intentionally do something that would endanger a bicyclist, I find little reason to respect the "rights" of people who choose to ignore laws that I must obey. I live near a street with a bike lane, and regularly see riders who don't even slow down at a stop sign, and only hesitate at intersections with a red light. Why do they feel that laws they find inconvenient are no more than suggestions?

ROBERT THOMSON:
I completely understand how you feel and see the same things. But I think this is a slippery slope.

Our goal in all "share the road" situations should be to survive and help other travelers survive. Along those lines: We don't have to prove our righteousness to total strangers who may be doing the wrong thing in traffic. We just have to do the right thing.

And there's too much of this dividing ourselves into categories of travelers. Like it's our category against all the other categories—whether it's drivers, bikers, pedestrians—or Lexus drivers, pickup drivers, sedan drivers motorcyclists. What's the point?

Cyclists and walkers know how rare it is to see a motorist stop—rather than just slow down—for a Stop sign. Why wouldn't they have a similar bad opinion of drivers?

Another great comment came in a little later in the chat:

From my office, I can see the bike lane on Q Street, NW at 16th. Routinely, and I do not exaggerate, I see cyclists riding the wrong way on Q Street. More often than not, they are on BikeShare bikes (but not always) and generally don't have helmets on. I also see cars that veer into, and sit in, the bike lane on red lights.

We're all selfish (says this driver/cyclist/pedestrian). I think everyone needs to watch out for everyone else. Being dead right on your bike is still being dead. And I would think that being the cause of the death or maiming of another human whether on the right side of the law or not would be a horrible thing to carry through life.

ROBERT THOMSON:
Yep. I think you've gotten to the bottom line.

Travelers sometimes write in and say, "Dear Dr. Gridlock: Who's right in the following situation ... "

I love to discuss such issues, because it can raise our consciousness about traffic situations, but I worry about creating the appearance that under some circumstances, it's okay to hit somebody.

Travelers are never in season. As our commenter pointed out, the fact that you didn't get a ticket won't be much consolation if you wind up injuring another person.

The score combines 4 factors: Bike lanes, hills, the distance to various amenities, and the percentage of people who bike commute. In DC, that concentrates the score heavily in the center. Already there is more in the center, and it's a lot flatter, which is the reason the city centers where it does.

It's important to recognize that this is just descriptive, not proscriptive prescriptive. In other words, places where few people bike get demoted in the rankings, which helps people understand and visualize where people don't bike today. But that doesn't mean that the places shaded closer to red couldn't become great places to bike, though there's nothing to do about the hills.

DC comes in behind Minneapolis, Portland, San Francisco, Boston, and Madison, but ahead of Seattle, Tucson, New York and Chicago. Do you think this is accurate?

The lane uses a "mixing zone" to handle drivers turning left and cyclists traveling straight. About 140 feet before an intersection, the separator between the bike lane and the other lanes will turn into a dotted line. Drivers will merge (after signaling and carefully looking for cyclists) into the shared lane.

Some worried that the drivers would then take up the entire shared lane space and make it hard for cyclists continuing straight to get by. To address this, DDOT created a 4-foot wide bike space at the right edge of the mixing zone, which they will paint green with bike symbols. This should make clear to drivers that they should stay to the left and let cyclists pass to the right.

Also, DDOT has modified the plan to include flexible posts between the left turn lane and the other lanes. This means that drivers will have to merge back where the mixing zone starts, instead of waiting until the end.

At the meeting, several cyclists said they are still nervous about the mixing zone concept. They worried that drivers won't take enough care when merging to the left. Many cyclists like the cycle tracks because they create a feeling of greater security; WABA Executive Director Shane Farthing expressed concern that the mixing zones would eliminate that comfort factor.

However, DDOT's Mike Goodno explained that they can't replicate the layout on 15th, where the leftmost car lane is a left turn lane with a special left turn arrow. That would leave L Street with only 1 through lane outside rush hour. Also, the study of the existing lanes showed weaknesses in that arrangement on 15th. Many cyclists still go through the intersection when left-turning cars have a green arrow, and the setup on 15th makes both cyclists and turning drivers wait much longer, said Jamie Parks from Kittleson, the consultants behind the study.

A few participants asked if DDOT could continue the green paint through the intersection. Goodno noted that an an intersection, the many vehicles driving across would quickly wear away the paint. This will be DC's first foray into green paint on bike lanes.

The 15th and Pennsylvania lanes required cyclists, drivers and pedestrians all to adjust to slightly different behavior. People, even the occasional DC Councilmember, complained, but these lanes have all settled into a working pattern. With L Street and the mixing zones, there will be some more adjustment, and after some time passes, we will be able to judge whether the mixing zones work well, or not.

Other elements of the bike lane plan

At intersections that allow right turns, bike boxes will let cyclists cross from the bike lane in front of waiting cars to the right side of the road. On our post, commenter egk suggested instead placing the bike boxes on the cross streets, so that a cyclist moves left and then waits in front of the drivers on that cross street:

Goodno said that he thought that was a good idea and investigated it. However, a bike box in that location blocks the curb ramps, and DDOT can't move them without far more extensive construction work.

DDOT will also be adding a more traditional bike lane on L between Pennsylvania Avenue and the start of the cycle track at 22nd Street.

Drivers will not experience much more congestion. At the most, some segments decline by 1 letter grade in "level of service," such as from B to C. The double left turn on 18th Street at rush hour will have to become just a single left turn lane.

When the lane goes in, DPW will step up enforcement on L Street to ensure that the rightmost lane stays clear for through traffic during rush hours. Drivers of cars and trucks will be able to park there off-peak, but today that lane often gets blocked even during the peak by trucks making deliveries.

WMATA has also started replacing signs at the station, formerly known as New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet University with its new name: NoMa-Gallaudet U. This is one of several station name changes the WMATA board recently approved.

Metro recently posted a sign on the existing racks, saying that it will be moving them farther from the wall on May 10, and installed 27 new racks. There used to be 8 racks at the N Street entrance to the station, and 5 racks at the M Street entrance. Now, there are 30 at the N Street entrance, and 10 at the M Street entrance.

While these improvements are excellent, Metro should still consider installing racks inside the station for even more safety. Theft has declined, but I've noticed a recent uptick in missing front wheels.

It's fantastic to see Metro responding to the demand for more and better bicycle parking. There are probably more racks now than absolutely necessary to accommodate the people who bike there on an average day, but now that nearby residents have this bike parking, hopefully more will start cycling to the NoMa-Gallaudet U Station.

As the organizer of Kidical Mass DC, I love to share the ins-and-outs of biking with kids. Biking around DC with my son during the past 2 years has been more fun than I ever could have imagined. It's a joy for both of us because my son loves that we can pull over on the road whenever we see anything interesting. And I get a very real thrill that unlike other parents in the area, I don't have to worry about hunting for parking when I'm dropping him off at daycare. Plus, by using the bike to run everyday errands with him in tow, I'm teaching him that bikes are a safe, useful, and normal way of getting around.

I've learned a lot about the different approaches to biking with kids and think that with the right knowledge, nearly any parent can share the delights of cycling with their own children. Below is a summary of some of the most common cycling options for parents who have kids aged from infancy to early school age, listed in order of cost.

Bike Seats ($)

If you want to try biking with your children without making a big investment in gear, aftermarket bike seats are a great first step. Easily adaptable to a variety of bike types and brands, relatively cheap, and offering the intimacy of having your child within arm's reach during the whole ride, bike seats that bolt onto either the front stem or rear rack of your bike are a great economical choice.

The most commonly-seen bike seats bike seats are Topeak's rear seat (ubiquitous in bike shops) and the iBert front-mounted seat, a neon green contraption that is outstanding for its ability to fit onto a broad range of bike types and sizes.

I have used both front and rear seats and there are pluses and minuses to both. Front seats are unbeatable for staying in contact with and monitoring the comfort of your child. Your child gets to see everything that's going on around him or her, and drivers can't miss the fact that you're child is with you.

A front seat's main disadvantage, in my view, is that they're only usable for 2 or maybe 3 years because most have a maximum weight limit of 35 pounds. Rear-mounted seats, though, will hold kids weighing up to 50 pounds. Kids riding behind cyclists are also a little more protected from the weather than kids riding on the front of the bike.

You should keep a few considerations in mind before you head out to the local bike shop. First, what kind of handlebars does your bike have? Front-mounted seats go best with upright or mountain-type handlebars. Also, some front-mounted seats only work with certain stem diameters and otherwise require adaptors to be used.

Additionally, make sure your kickstand is sturdy and well-balanced enough to handle the additional weight of a child on your bike. You might even want to look into aftermarket centerstands like this one available from Velo Orange to provide more balanced support for your bike.

One more consideration: I strongly recommend using a mixte, loop, or other step-through frame if you're going to bike with a child on the back of your bike. It makes it easier to get on and off your bike without kicking your child in the face (ask me how I know!).

With a price point of $100 to $200, child seats are the most economical way to start biking with kids if you already have an appropriate bike.

Front seats:

• iBert*
  
• Yepp Mini
  
• BOBike Mini
  
• WeeRide

Rear seats:

• Topeak*
  
• Yepp Maxi* (includes option for mounting without a rear rack)
  
• Peanut Shell*

Trailers ($$)

For many years, trailers were the ultimate bike accessory for the hard-core, year-round cycling parent in the United States. They attach to nearly any kind of bike, include canopies to keep out the cold and rain, can carry a significant amount of cargo, and can accommodate a broad age range of passengers. Many trailers also convert to strollers, meaning that parents can potentially address two needs with a single tool.

If you're on a limited budget and need to invest in a single kid-hauling accessory that will carry your child from an infant (in a car-seat, of course) to school-age, trailers are probably your best bet. There is also a strong resale economy for trailers, so it's usually easy to either find a used trailer online or sell your own trailer when you're finished with it.

The two big names in the trailer world are Burley and Chariot. Made in the U.S.A. and Canada respectively, Burley and Chariot offer trailers in a wide range of sizes and weights at prices ranging from $300 to close to $700 depending on the size and features. Thanks to its many years in the business, Burley has a fantastic customer support system that offers replacement parts even for models that haven't been made in five or more years. Chariot produces a similar fleet of trailers but focuses more on the multi-sport market: they offer conversion kits for walking, jogging, and even skiing to increase the versatility of their trailers.

Trailers:

• Burley*
  
• Chariot*
  
• InStep*

Longtails ($$$)

A recent innovation, longtails are a great compromise between the speed and maneuverability of a regular two-wheeled bike and the cargo capacity of a boxbike. The original longtail is Xtracycle's Free Radical. The Free Radical is a frame extension that bolts on to an existing bike frame in the place of the rear wheel, moving the rear wheel back and adding an extended platform to the back of the bike.

Since first developing the Free Radical, Xtracycle has continued to refine its design and has spawned several variations on the original concept of bikes with extended tails. The company partnered with Surly to design an all-in-one longtail bike, the Big Dummy, that incorporates the longtail concept in a single frame and is therefore sturdier and able to handle larger loads. Recent other variations have included Xtracycle's Radish (a lighter-weight, step-through frame), the Yuba Mundo, and the Kona Ute.

Longtails are a great way to carry multiple children at the same time or to carry older kids. Even after they outgrow bike seats and trailers, kids can perch on the rear decks of these versatile bikes. With a little creativity, you can even fit three kids at a time on a longtail.

Longtails are relatively lightweight for their cargo capacity and, though even a simple FreeRadical conversion kit costs more than some trailers, are a great investment for their ability to accommodate many different combinations of cargo and kids. FreeRadicals are about $500 while other longtail styles can cost from $1,100 to $2,000.

Longtails:

• Yuba Mundo*
  
• Surly: Big Dummy*
  
• Xtracycle: Free Radical, Radish
  
• Kona Ute
  
• Madsen (longtail/boxbike hybrid)

Boxbikes ($$$$)

The true SUVs of the cycling world, cargo trikes and bakfietsen are low-maintenance, weatherproof, nearly bombproof kid-hauling machines. Both types of cargo bikes feature a dramatically extended front end with a large, sturdy front box mounted on the frame. Cargo trikes have one rear wheel and two front wheels on either side of the box while bakfietsen (the Dutch plural for "boxbike") have one rear wheel and one front wheel that sits in front of the box. Some bakfietsen sport a box large enough to comfortably accommodate even four children, or two children, a dog, and a bunch of groceries.

Equipped with weather canopies, plenty of cargo space, built-in seats with seatbelts, and sometimes even integrated lighting systems, boxbikes are the ultimate turn-key option for families who want to make a full commitment to going car-free or extremely car-light. They often feature fully enclosed shifting and braking systems for maximum weatherproofness, so keeping these bikes outside shouldn't be a problem. This is especially important for those without dedicated garage space. Many boxbikes have chain guards while some even include full chain cases for the ultimate maintenance-free drivetrain.

As you might expect, all these features come with a price. Boxbikes typically start at $2,700 and, depending on capacity and other factors, can increase in price to $4,000 or more.

Of course, that's about 10 times more than most people would ever dream of paying for a bike. But $4,000 is about one-third the cost of the very cheapest car you can purchase new. Plus the annual maintenance costs for the boxbike are practically nil. More than any other family biking tool, boxbikes are designed to serve as true car replacements, giving that price tag a different context and making them a worthwhile investment. Additionally, considering how much space car seats take up in the back seat of a sedan, a cargo trike or bakfiets could even carry more children than your typical family sedan!

Bakfietsen:

• Larry vs. Harry Bullitt*
  
• Gazelle Cabby*
  
• Workcycles Cargobike
  
• Metrofiets
  
• CETMA
  
• JoeBike Shuttlebug

Cargo trikes:

• Boxcycles Christiania*
  
• Nihola

If you want to explore these options further, be sure to stop by the ABC's of Family Biking this Saturday. Thanks to several helpful bike shops and a cadre of enthusiastic (evangelical, even) parent cyclists, we will be demonstrating many of the types and brands of bikes and bike equipment described above.

* available in local shops, either in-stock or by special order

16th Street/U Street New Hampshire

• Motor vehicle intersection [Level of Service (LOS)] remained the same before and after the bicycle facilities were installed.
  
• Fewer than 20% of cyclists are using the bike box and bike signal as intended to cross the intersection.
  
• 82% of cyclists are stopping in the crosswalk instead of the bike box as intended. Though the bike box may still be effective at giving separation as only 15% of cars are stopping in it.
  
• 13% of Cyclists using the bike signal encounter motor vehicles who are running the red, but are able to navigate through.
  
• There was 1 more bicycle crash (5 vs. 4) at the intersection in the year after the installation than before.

Pennsylvania Ave cycletrack

• Bicycle volume doubled after the cycletrack was installed.
  
• Arterial LOS was similar for motor vehicles on Pennsylvania Avenue before and after the bicycle facilities were installed.
  
• Danish Bicycle LOS and Bicycle Environmental Quality Index (BEQI) analyses all show significantly improved operations for cyclists with the median bike facilities.
  
• Signal timing for bicycles generally works well between 10th Street and 15th Street, but results in large delays to cyclists between 3rd Street and 9th Street.
  
• Bike crashes went up 80% after the bike lanes went in (so, not as much as bike traffic went up).
  An average of 42 percent of cyclists arriving on a red signal violated the signal.
  
• Most cyclists stopping at red lights stop in the crosswalk or median area rather than behind the white stop bar.

15th Street cycletrack

• After the two-way cycle track was installed, there was a 205 percent increase in bicycle volumes (from before conditions) between P Street and Church Street during the p.m. peak hour, and there was a 272 percent increase in bicyclist volumes (from before conditions) between T Street and Swann Street during the p.m. peak hour
  
• Motor vehicle counts show that volumes are up a little bit on 15th Street before and after the bicycle facilities were installed.
  
• Motor vehicle LOS was basically the same after the cycletrack was installed.
  
• Bicyclists experience less delay on 15th Street between lower E Street and I Street than between I Street and U Street.
  
• The number or crashes again grew, but not as fast as the number of cyclists did (so crash per cyclist went down).
  
• There are potential issues with the existing design, which uses the pedestrian signal to control cyclist movements.
  
• Over 40 percent of cyclists were observed running red lights.
  
• There are now fewer cyclists on the sidewalk.

DDOT is hosting a public meeting on Thursday, May 3, to present more details of the study and discuss the proposed L Street cycletrack from 25th to 12th Streets, NW. The meeting is at the Reeves Center, at the corner of 14th and U, in the 2nd floor community room.

A version of this article was originally posted at TheWashCycle.