Bike Parking - Greater Greater Washington

Condo bike storage

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 08:40:00 EDT

Can a condo in DC ban bikes from a parking garage and then charge for storage? The City Paper thinks so, but WashCycle thinks the condo might be running afoul of zoning.

Comment

Bike parking scarce at DC USA (Mar 10, 2008)
Streetscape-draining front parking lots may soon be out (Jan 19, 2011)
WMATA reaches agreement to use DC USA garage (Apr 21, 2010)
DC USA: SmartBike yes (eventually), racks in garage no (Aug 25, 2008)
More underutilized parking in Columbia Heights (Jun 20, 2008)

GW provides parking for bikes but not cars

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 09:09:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

A planned George Washington University 900-bed residence hall will have 132 parking spots for bikes but none for cars. (WBJ)

Comment

The great Georgetown bugaboo: Cars and parking (Sep 8, 2009)
K Street Transitway options balance buses, bikes, cars, and loading (Jul 30, 2009)

And...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 08:22:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Sandy damaged many of New York's bikeshare docks and bikes in a Brooklyn warehouse that flooded. (NYT) ... The Brookland and Shady Grove Metro stations get more bike parking. (PlanItMetro) ... Could the area get a high-speed ferry? (WTOP)

Comment

Metro proposes quintupling bicycle access mode share (Dec 6, 2010)
After price increase, bike locker usage plummets (Aug 5, 2011)
Metro trying new technology, communication with parking (Jan 24, 2011)
Metro tests secure parking with new "bike and ride" (May 15, 2012)
Metro closing Red Line for 8 months to accelerate repairs (Apr 1, 2012)

Get to Georgetown easier

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 08:15:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Joe Sternleib, new Georgetown BID head, wants to make Georgetown easier to get to with performance parking, bike racks, cab stands, and more Circulators. Also, NPS control limits options for activity on the waterfront. (DCmud)

Comment

Reduce car spaces, add bike spaces

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:29:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Developers might be willing to reduce their parking below the current minimum requirements, but they should add more bicycle parking at the same time, to give people better non-automotive options. (RPUS)

Comment

Bikes should continue to LEED

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:57:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

LEED certification isn't perfect developers sometimes game the system, but counting bike racks and showers isn't the problem. (WashCycle)

Comment

Innovative bike rack makes parking into sculpture

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 13:22:00 EDT

by David Alpert

I was traveling recently and came across this object. At first, it looks like an artistic sculpture, but on closer examination, it's also a bike rack!

Click to enlarge. Photos by the author.

For bonus points, do you know where this is or can you recognize the location?

Here's a part of the instructional sign on the rack. The full sign gives away the location, as do these two other signs.

The sign says this is more compact than other bike racks. That's largely true, though in this configuration, the rack also requires a lot of empty space around in every direction. In an institutional setting with big open spaces (and where it can also function as art), that makes sense. In many tighter urban spaces, arranging these curved, vertical racks side by side instead of in a circle would allow storing bikes even more compactly, though less artistically.

10 comments

"Rack Attack" hits Near Southeast with new bike parking (Oct 1, 2011)
New Cooke school bike racks too close together, too close to wall (Aug 28, 2009)
East Falls Church needs more bike racks (Oct 28, 2010)
Change car parking to bike parking, suggests Georgetown bike shop (Dec 12, 2008)
Bike parking scarce at DC USA (Mar 10, 2008)

Good parking minimums

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 08:24:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

New regulations, which took 5 years to write, would require all DC apartment buildings of more than 8 units to provide some secure bicycle parking, either covered or indoors. (WBJ)

Comment

Draft zoning would mandate bike parking (Apr 8, 2008)
Early draft of parking zoning rules reduces some minimums (but not enough) (Apr 7, 2008)
New parking recommendations released (Jun 4, 2008)
Zoning Commission supports parking reform! (Oct 17, 2008)
DC tops "most improved" bicycling list (May 8, 2008)

Portland provides some urban inspiration for DC

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:41:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

Portland has achieved near-cult status in urbanist circles for its progressive development and transportation policies. All is not perfect in Portland, but there are lot of great things we can take away from the City of Roses.

Aerial tram over South Waterfront. Photo by tracktwentynine on Flickr.

The city has a thriving downtown, and walkable inner-ring neighborhoods. It sports an extensive transit network and unbeatable bike infrastructure. But the central city gives way quickly to suburban development and highway interchanges. And there some examples where, even a town whose name is synonymous with alternate transportation, it's hard to overcome the primacy of the auto.

Last week I traveled to Oregon for work and had a few hours to kill in Portland before heading back east. Here are a few great things that Portland has accomplished, and also some pitfalls the DC region should try to avoid.

Transit and bike friendly airport

Landing in PDX, you are greeted by abundant wayfinding signage, all of which clearly points out transit and bike options.

Left: Wayfinding signage points out bike and transit options.
Right: MAX information is highly visible.

The MAX light rail line dead ends at one end of the terminal, much like the MTA light rail does at BWI. The covered walk from there into the main terminal is easily half the distance most drivers would walk from the nearest, most expensive parking garage. The MAX is brightly advertised on monitors in the airport, encouraging people to take transit into the city.

PDX is also extremely bike friendly, even featuring a bike assembly area. As one of the few airports in the country to be connected by trails and bike lanes to its downtown, this is an outstanding amenity. And while fliers probably don't use it heavily since checking a full-size bike on an airplane has become almost prohibitively expensive, even travelers with folding bikes will find the work stand, tool set, and bike pump useful.

It's also a low-cost amenity that is makes commuting by bike easier for thousands of airport employees and serves as a visible reminder that biking is a valued access mode.

Top left: Ample covered bike parking on the arrivals level. Top right: The bike assembly station. Bottom: detail of bike assembly sign.

Washington National Airport is ideal for an amenity like this. DCA connects to multiple trails, making a ride to the airport convenient from downtown, the close-in Virginia suburbs and even parts of Maryland. Washington National is even closer to downtown DC and Arlington than PDX is to Portland, making biking an even more viable option.

Bike amenities everywhere

Induced demand gets a bad rap on the highways side, but Portland is using it to its advantage with bike parking. You cannot walk 20 feet without finding a bike rack, both downtown and in neighborhoods. I was struck by Portland State University and Oregon Health and Science University efforts to provide ample bike parking. Demographically, students, and to some extent faculty members, are more likely to ride bikes, so it makes perfect sense.

Hundreds of bike spaces at Portland State University. Classes clearly aren't in session for another week. Photo by the author.

Comparatively, the major universities in DC have made meager attempts to provide ample, high quality bike racks. The biggest bike parking are on Georgetown's campus consists of 4 "comb" racks which are nearly impossible to safely lock bikes on. George Washington University's campus in Foggy Bottom, is practically devoid of on-street bike racks. GW's newest mixed-use building, Square 21, provided a total of 10 racks spread around an entire block with a Whole Foods and multiple restaurants.

The MAX trains also have hanging bike racks in them for cyclists. While racks like these won't work in the shorter Metro cars, they're worth keeping in mind as the DC streetcar system gets started.

In downtown, several streets feature buffered bike lanes. Although they were one-way, they were nice and wide, allowing easy passing for cyclists traveling different speeds. In other places where bike lanes were not separated from traffic, they were painted bright green and flowed into large green bike boxes at intersections.

In the redeveloped South Waterfront neighborhood, there are significant on- and off-street bike treatments that connect to a trail into downtown. Best of all, there is a massive bike parking area and a bike station with valet and repair services.

Left: A curb-separated bike lane splits as it enters the South Waterfront. Right: The northbound bike lane turns onto the sidewalk to send cyclists across the crosswalk to the sidepath into downtown.

This is right next to the lower Portland Aerial Tram station and a Streetcar stop. The Tram connects the burgeoning research, education, and residential neighborhood with the main campus of Oregon Health & Science University, situated on a massive hill and separated from the waterfront by I-5.

The South Waterfront Aerial Tram station with a Go By Bike station.

Good on-street transit information

Tri-Met and the city of Portland have made significant investments in good, visible transit information on the streets of downtown. The city's wayfinding system signs point to the nearest streetcar and MAX stations. Major downtown stops have very clear customer information, communicating which buses stop where, and where those buses travel. Also, many of the stops have real-time arrival screens, something DC has yet to achieve outside of the Metro.

Left: A bus stop is clearly marked with visible, high quality infrastructure.
Right: Real-time bus arrival information.

Strategic single-tracking

Acquiring right-of-way and laying track is expensive. So Tri-Met and Portland chose to single-track the MAX and Streetcar in some places where right-of-way would have been politically or financially unfeasible. In downtown, the streetcar runs on one track in both directions for 2 blocks just past PSU. For a low-speed system, where headways are unlikely ever to be shorter than a few minutes, this compromise makes sense if it allows for the most effective routing, in this case right through the center of PSU's campus.

Left: Streetcar singletracking south of PSU. Image from Google Maps. Right: Single track flyover on the Portland MAX Red Line. Image from Bing Maps.

On the MAX line to the airport, the system is single tracked in two places, for almost a mile after the Gateway/NE 99th Ave stop where the Red Line parts ways with the Blue and Green lines to head north along I-205, and again upon entering airport property until just before the terminal station. The first location incorporates a tight cloverleaf flyover and several over- and underpasses around I-84 and I-205. Again, frequencies on this line are unlikely to be high enough to make it worth the massive extra cost to build this infrastructure doubly wide.

Not quite level boarding

A small ramp makes the streetcar accessible. Photo by the author.

The streetcar and MAX both use low-floor vehicles and featured raised platforms at the all the stations I visited. Yet none of these stations had totally level boarding. Instead, the trains have small ramps at some of the doors that have to be manually deployed to bridge the gap for anyone in a mobility device.

The result is that people with disabilities can only board some doors, which would maddeningly frustrating when an extra few inches of precision would have made all the doors accessible. The operational ramifications of having to deploy a ramp are minor, but not insignificant, so I'm not sure why you wouldn't just make sure the platform is entirely level with the rolling stock.

In DC, the existing streetcar platforms on H Street only have portions that are raised, so people in mobility devices will not be able to board at any doors. Hopefully, though those raised sections will at least be totally level, eliminating the need to operate and maintain ramps.

Mixed-traffic transit and highway right-of-ways

For a medium-size city, Portland has built a significant rail transit system in a phenomenally short time. However, this system suffers from one major shortcoming: low-quality right-of-way. The majority of Portland's light rail and streetcar systems run in either mixed-traffic lanes, or in the highway medians or shoulder.

The areas dense enough to best utilize high-capacity rapid transit only get high-capacity transit. The sections of the system where trains can run relatively fast suffer peaked ridership and lower productivity resulting from low-density development and park-and-rides that surround the stations.

The streetcar waits behind stopped cars. Photo by BeyondDC on Flickr.

The streetcar gets little or no priority along its route. As a result, it took me more than 30 minutes to go from Downtown to South Waterfront, a 2 mile trip.

The MAX gets more preferential treatment, running along a transit mall through much of downtown, but runs in highway right-of-ways in many directions on the outskirts of town, where comparatively little is within walking distance of stations.

Good or bad, Portland has led the way with many innovative urban investments. As we develop our bike and streetcar networks here in the Washington region, we should look to the west for lessons learned.

For more photos of Portland, check out photo sets by Greater Greater Washington editors and contributors Matt Johnson and Dan Malouff.

13 comments

Security bollards could also provide bike parking (Dec 3, 2010)
DC USA: SmartBike yes (eventually), racks in garage no (Aug 25, 2008)
A 4th option for M Street SE/SW (Sep 18, 2012)
DDOT shares downtown bicycle facility plans (Mar 19, 2010)
East Falls Church needs more bike racks (Oct 28, 2010)

And...

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 08:28:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Watch the onboard video of the Ride On bus crash. (WTOP) ... Three Virginia parkways get new numbers. (WTOP) ... Anacostia's Uniontown restaurant has been evicted because of drug dealing. (Post) ... Brookland gets more bike parking. (WashCycle)

Comment

The hazards of driving: Michael Phelps and you (Aug 18, 2009)
Ride-On now on Google Transit (Nov 2, 2009)
Transit First recommends Maryland restore Ride-On, speed buses (Apr 2, 2009)
Ride On piloting real-time bus tracking (Nov 1, 2011)
Ten cents better than deep cuts for Ride On (Jan 14, 2010)

WMATA counts bikes

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 08:56:00 EDT

by David Alpert

WMATA's bicycle census found the numbers of parked bikes increased, while bikes decreased in the core possibly thanks to CaBi. A few stations (looks like Union Station, Federal Triangle, Foggy Bottom, L'Enfant Plaza, and Franconia-Springfield) have more bikes locked than there are racks. (PlanItMetro)

Comment

Apartments sell themselves through bikability

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 08:27:00 EDT

by Thaddeus Bell

Apartment buildings across the area are using bike-accessibility as a major selling point. Beyond just bike parking areas, some buildings loan out bicycles or even offer bicycle repair rooms. (Post Express)

Comment

Bethesda gets new but terrible bike racks

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:41:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Honest Tea wanted to do a good thing for its community and fund some bike racks in downtown Bethesda. Unfortunately, a salesman sold them some awful racks that don't allow effectively locking up bikes, and the Bethesda Urban Partnership apparently failed to check bike rack standards or talk to the experts—even those in their own organization.

Photo by Richard Hoye.

Richard Hoye writes,

I pointed out that the 100 bike racks the Bethesda Urban Partnership approved for the CBD streetscape and funded by Honest Tea violated basic design standards for bike racks. [Seth Goldman of Honest Tea] didn't even know there was a codified body of knowledge on bike rack design and, it appears, neither did BUP.
I asked Tom Robertson, retired bike planner for the County Planning agency, who now works for Transportation Solutions in BUP's offices about this collaboration. Even he was not consulted on the project.

This style of bike rack was very common decades ago, and you still see them in some places, often college campuses. But they don't work well for locking. They're not designed to get the bike's frame close enough to the rack to allow locking the frame, wheel and rack all together.

On many racks like this, people instead lift the bicycle up and place it so that the wheel goes over the rack and the rack's top bar sits behind the wheel. This rack seems to make even that difficult, as the top bar is much thicker and square.

Section 7.2.9 of the draft new zoning rules for Montgomery County specifies bike rack standards:

Where required bicycle parking is provided via racks, the racks must meet the following design and dimension standards:
The bicycle frame and one wheel can be locked to the rack with a high security lock;

A bicycle can be securely held with its frame supported in at least two places;

Racks must be offset a minimum of 30 inches on center;

The rack must be durable and securely anchored; and

The locking surface of the rack should be thin enough to allow standard u-locks to be used, but thick enough so the rack cannot be cut with bolt cutters.

Montgomery County DOT has also created a fact sheet detailing how to best design and install bike racks. Many cities have very thorough manuals, like Toronto's.

It's not that unusual for well-meaning people to install bike racks entirely wrong. Someone installed 9 "inverted U" racks at HD Cooke Elementary in Adams Morgan, but put them too close together and too close to a wall to be usable. DCPS subsequently relocated the racks.

Hopefully Honest Tea and the Bethesda Urban Partnership can go back to the company that sold them these noncompliant racks and switch them for something better.

39 comments

New Cooke school bike racks too close together, too close to wall (Aug 28, 2009)
Bethesda will lose farmers market (Mar 8, 2010)
"Rack Attack" hits Near Southeast with new bike parking (Oct 1, 2011)
East Falls Church needs more bike racks (Oct 28, 2010)
Bethesda garage only needed if you ignore all the other parking lots (May 7, 2008)

Bike & Ride opens today

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:10:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

WMATA's first new secure biking facility, called a Bike & Ride, opens today at College Park station. Metro wants to triple its bicycle access by 2020, and Bike & Rides are planned to be a big part of that increase. (TBD)

Comment

Metro tests secure parking with new "bike and ride" (May 15, 2012)
Metro trying new technology, communication with parking (Jan 24, 2011)
Metro proposes quintupling bicycle access mode share (Dec 6, 2010)
East Falls Church needs more bike racks (Oct 28, 2010)
After price increase, bike locker usage plummets (Aug 5, 2011)

More room to eat your jumbo slice

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:45:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Construction is ending for Adams Morgan sidewalks that are now wider and feature new bike racks. Some local businesses worry traffic won't bounce back to what it was before construction. (DCist)

Comment

New Cooke school bike racks too close together, too close to wall (Aug 28, 2009)
Look at those streetcars (Jun 11, 2008)
Champlain St under Marie Reed to reopen with contraflow bike lane (Feb 19, 2009)
Now there's really too much parking at DC USA (Apr 27, 2009)
DC USA: SmartBike yes (eventually), racks in garage no (Aug 25, 2008)

And...

Thu, 10 May 2012 08:40:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Car2go pays $2,890 a year for a zone 9 parking permit, which allows their cars to be parked in any zone. (Post) ... Bethesda is getting more bike parking. (Post). New York's bike sharing overage charges are the highest in the world. (Transportation Nation)

Comment

Innovative, flexible car sharing coming to DC with car2go (Jul 20, 2011)
WashCycle weighs in on Georgetown (May 29, 2008)
Are protected bike lanes actually more dangerous? (Jan 14, 2008)
Bethesda weekend parking: Still free, still too crowded (Mar 17, 2010)
Change car parking to bike parking, suggests Georgetown bike shop (Dec 12, 2008)

Metro improves bike parking at NoMa station

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:30:00 EDT

by Geoff Hatchard

Metro riders who bike to the NoMa station have long encountered too few and poorly placed racks along with rampant bike theft. Metro has now installed 27 new bike racks at the NoMa-Gallaudet U station, and plans to move other racks to better locations.

Photos by the author.

Bicycle parking has been scarce for a long time. Plus, the racks were originally installed too close to the wall, forcing cyclists to lock their bikes up in strange ways.

Better bike parking will encourage people to bike to the Metro from nearby neighborhoods like Trinidad and Eckington, who might live too far to walk.

Bike theft and vandalism, once a major issue, has mostly ebbed since a young man was caught in the act of stealing wheels from bicycles at the station. New racks and nearby commercial space under construction should bring more cyclists and activity and deter theft. Station managers will be able to more easily see many of the new racks as well.

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.

4 new racks at the N Street entrance.

8 new racks just south of the N Street entrance.

The original 8 racks near the N St entrance, plus 10 new ones.

Finally, the 5 old and 5 new racks 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.

19 comments

Let bicycles park inside New York Avenue Metro (Nov 14, 2010)
New York Avenue bicycle thief caught, then released (Oct 28, 2011)
New Cooke school bike racks too close together, too close to wall (Aug 28, 2009)
East Falls Church needs more bike racks (Oct 28, 2010)
Employee vehicles blocking bike racks at NY Avenue Metro (Jul 13, 2010)

And...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:39:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

A tiny, 130-square-foot house is making the rounds in DC as a home of the future. (DCMud) ... College Park Metro station just opened an experimental enclosed and locked bike garage. (Patch) ... Metro is inspecting all of its defibrillators after one failed to perform during an emergency, allowing the passenger to die. (Examiner)

Comment

Entire level of DC USA garage has never been used (May 29, 2008)
Metro proposes quintupling bicycle access mode share (Dec 6, 2010)
Breakfast links: Mo' train money, mo' problems edition (Oct 1, 2008)
East Falls Church needs more bike racks (Oct 28, 2010)
DC USA: SmartBike yes (eventually), racks in garage no (Aug 25, 2008)

And...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 08:42:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Affordable housing often looks boring but doesn't have to. (City Paper) ... Maryland studies possibly stealing DC United from DC. (DCist) ... Are hardware stores a sign of gentrification? (City Paper) ... Metro installs 70 new bicycle racks. (PlanItMetro)

Comment

"Rack Attack" hits Near Southeast with new bike parking (Oct 1, 2011)
East Falls Church needs more bike racks (Oct 28, 2010)
After price increase, bike locker usage plummets (Aug 5, 2011)
Metro proposes quintupling bicycle access mode share (Dec 6, 2010)
Metro trying new technology, communication with parking (Jan 24, 2011)

And...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:21:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

How do Arlington grocery stores compare in providing bicycle parking? (Bike Arlington, Steve O) ... Muriel Bowser wants to consolidate or eliminate some of DC's boards. (City Paper) ... Riverdale Park votes for the Cafritz project, while College Park votes against. (Patch, Dan Reed)

Comment

Afternoon tweets: What hipsters want

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:07:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Photo by kenny_lex on Flickr.

20-somethings demand small affordable apartments, and architects and builders are listening (Builder Online, @justupthepike)
What might DC look like without WMATA? More highways, more parking garages (Atlantic Cities, @_jpscott)
Columbia, MD applies for an MDOT grant to study bike sharing feasibility (Baltimore Sun, @bogrosemary)
A first look at the infill development at the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station (Rhode Island Ave NE, @IMGoph)
Where the 99% can afford to live: DC? No. Oklahoma City? Yes (DCentric, @vebah)
Roads safer for motorists, increasingly deadly for pedestrians (USA Today, @streetsblogdc, @MilesGrant)
Nationals Park and Navy Yard area developments get new life (Post, @ColinStorm, @vebah)
Georgia Ave gets new bike racks, but can better designs make truly great streets? (Park View DC, @_jpscott)
Discovery puts TLC logo on Veterans Plaza ice rink, lets people skate for free (Gazette, @justupthepike)

14 comments

Take action: Rhode Island Avenue deserves decent sidewalks (Oct 5, 2010)
TD Bank a step back for urbanism at RI Ave (Nov 15, 2010)
Rhode Island Station will activate Metro entrance (May 18, 2010)
On the calendar: Walk, bike, park, and paddle (Sep 11, 2009)
Fenton Street Market moves to Veterans Plaza (Nov 17, 2010)

And...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:35:00 EDT

by Moira Gillick

A 1978 Arlington bus map has a few differences from today. (BeyondDC) ... Authors of the report on the MLK Library accidentally used a picture of Silver Spring. (JUTP) ... Vienna gets new bike racks. (PlanItMetro)

Comment

Then and Then and Now: Harris & Ewing Studio (Oct 23, 2009)
Metro stations could get DVD kiosks and trolley tour tickets (Jun 21, 2010)
Bike sharing maps multiply (Jul 21, 2010)
Video shows plans for Crystal City redevelopment (Jul 25, 2011)
This year, let's have a great Summer Streets (Mar 25, 2010)

Bike "garage" slated for Franconia

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 08:32:00 EDT

by David Alpert

WMATA plans an indoor bike parking facility at Franconia-Springfield, as part of a new garage. Rates will be lower overnight, to encourage reverse commuters to ride from the Metro to a nearby office. (FABB)

Comment

The parking front of the commuter "war" (Jul 8, 2008)
DC USA: SmartBike yes (eventually), racks in garage no (Aug 25, 2008)
Draft zoning would mandate bike parking (Apr 8, 2008)
WMATA reaches agreement to use DC USA garage (Apr 21, 2010)
After price increase, bike locker usage plummets (Aug 5, 2011)

Bike commuters get their own secure parking

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:18:00 EDT

by Eric Fidler

Metro's first "Bike & Ride" facility is under construction in College Park. Commuters can park their bikes in the access-controlled space for 5¢/hr most of the day and 2¢/hr at night. (PlanItMetro)

Comment

Metro trying new technology, communication with parking (Jan 24, 2011)
Draft zoning would mandate bike parking (Apr 8, 2008)
After price increase, bike locker usage plummets (Aug 5, 2011)
East Falls Church needs more bike racks (Oct 28, 2010)
Montgomery considering Bethesda parking rate increase (Apr 20, 2009)

"Rack Attack" hits Near Southeast with new bike parking

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 14:22:00 EDT

by Michael Perkins

It only takes about half an hour to install a bike rack. So, very soon, DDOT and WABA will have placed 36 new bike racks in Near Southeast as part of a new initiative called "Rack Attack."

Photo by DDOTDC on Flickr.

ANC Commissioner David Garber brought attention to the lack of bicycle parking at new retail establishments in the area. Along with DDOT and WABA staff, he was on hand to witness the first rack being installed at Cornercopia in the rapidly growing neighborhood.

New bicycle racks are fairly inexpensive and provide a great incentive for cycling in a neighborhood. U-shaped "staple" racks cost about $100 in bulk, and DDOT provides a grant to WABA for installation. DDOT Bicycle Program Specialist Chris Holben estimated the total cost of a new bike rack at around $300. WABA Bike Parking Program Coordinator Megan Van de Mark installs most of the racks, using a bicycle and trailer to carry the racks and tools to each installation site.

Are there places you know that could use more bike parking? Maybe a “Rack Attack” could come to your neighborhood soon. DDOT installs about 250 bike racks a year and takes requests from the business community for possible locations. Post your suggestions in the comments and we'll get the nominations to DDOT.

Check out the full set of photos provided by DDOT.

45 comments

"Bike Rack Raising" 11 am at DC USA (Mar 13, 2008)
New Cooke school bike racks too close together, too close to wall (Aug 28, 2009)
Change car parking to bike parking, suggests Georgetown bike shop (Dec 12, 2008)
East Falls Church needs more bike racks (Oct 28, 2010)
Where did the quick curb come from? (Jul 17, 2009)

Atlantic Cities launches with neat maps, Huffington Post DC with "war on cars" debate

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:36:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Two new news sites launched today, both edited by DCist alumni: Atlantic Cities and Huffington Post DC. Both have a number of interesting urbanism-related articles, though one a blog post in Huffington's launch set sadly rehashes tired arguments about the "war on cars."

Photo by slambo_42 on Flickr.

Atlantic Cities, run by Sommer Mathis, aims to cover the growing interest in cities and urban planning nationwide. Bruce Katz and Richard Florida talk about why we should care about cities; interesting map and chart articles look at playgrounds among various cities and how to define their borders.

Over at the Huffington Post edited by Michael Grass, there are a number of local news articles on the usual topics like Metro, restaurants, politics, and the Salahis. Blog posts include ones from David Catania on youth violence, Avis Jones DeWeever on DC voting rights, and Adam Clampitt on local veterans' issues.

A few posts talk about transportation: Jody Melto reviews taking the Chinatown bus, Seth Thomas Pietras the proliferation of old bikes. And Chuck Thies, an insightful commentator on District corruption issues on WPFW and the Georgetown Dish, decides to use his inaugural post to complain about the push for safer and better bicycle facilities as a "war on automobiles."

~~I'd link to it, except the Huffington Post uses detailed analytics to determine how long to leave posts on its home page, and this one needs to roll off as quickly as possible.~~
Here's the link. The vast bulk is a long recitation of every car Thies has owned and the location of every places he's lived or worked. But Thies comes to the conclusion that he can't drive because of the location of his son's new school, and therefore, any public policy that's not about automobility is the "war on cars":

There are powerful, multiplying forces aligned who seek to make driving as difficult as possible. They oppose spending money to build roads and want to occupy your parking space with a bike rack.
Don't get me wrong; I love public transportation, bicycling and walking. ... A month ago my son started school across town. ... So, last week we rejoined the community of car owners.
Now we are back in the crosshairs of those who prosecute the war on automobiles. I have already heard it several times: "You don't need a car," "You could do that with a bike," and so on. ...
People are moving here and businesses are hiring. ... Not all of those employers will be walking distance from a Metro. Every new home will not be built on a block with a bus stop. People with jobs will buy cars and drive them to places to spend money. That is reality.
I love walking, bikes and riding our much-maligned Metro. I do not like sitting unnecessarily in traffic. If the war on automobiles succeeds we will all be caught in a jam and the long-term prosperity of our region will be at risk.

The problem isn't with a public policy that increases transportation options, but rather with these people who hassled Thies for driving. It's fine for Thies to drive if that's easiest for him. I drive sometimes. I have friends who drive to work.

Some of them have to be able to dart into the office late at night if there's a sudden international crisis, and I can totally understand that buses just don't run enough from their house to their office at that time of day. Or they have to stop at a daycare which is inconveniently located to transit.

I just bought some antique doorknobs for my house at The Brass Knob in Adams Morgan. They're replacing black plastic handles which I hated. Some people love the plastic, probably including the former owner that put them on. That doesn't mean that I am engaging in a war on modern fixtures, even though personally I think they're awful. I have friends with super-modern aesthetic senses, who put things in their homes I would never consider for a moment, and we can still be friends.

By the way, I drove to the Brass Knob. It's not very far, but I had to carry a heavy bag of metal objects including the mortise, to make sure I got the right size, and I was fine paying the $2.32 to park for an hour with ParkMobile. I bike a lot. I take Metro and buses. And sometimes I drive. I don't feel bad about my transportation choices, but neither do I say that a project which helps people on one mode I use sometimes is a war on another mode.

This "war" rhetoric is really tiring. It assumes that anything which helps improves non-automotive mobility hurts drivers and vice versa. That's the opposite of the truth. In DC, wherever Thies is driving from Mount Pleasant, there's never going to be a new or wider road. If he's frustrated by traffic, the best thing we can do for him is make it easier for some people, those who don't have to take a kid to a non-transit-accessible school or carry doorknobs or go stop wars from beginning late at night, not to compete with him for road space.

If anyone can feel under attack, it's cyclists. Tom Coburn is currently tying Congress in knots to try to cut any dedicated bike and pedestrian funding, which if approved would surely lead most states to zero out entirely any spending on bike lanes and sidewalks.

At a more micro level, some drivers actively assault cyclists, or talk about how much they wish they could. There's the guy on Rhode Island Avenue who deliberately knocked a cyclist over with his pickup truck, while the cyclist was riding completely legally, or the guy who deliberately struck A Girl On Her Bike not knowing she was a police officer, or the Ballston Patch writer who bragged about her cravings to smack into those pesky bikers with her car.

Most drivers aren't that guy on Rhode Island Avenue, nor the Patch writer, nor Tom Coburn. Most people driving just want to get to work or wherever they are going, just like most people biking or walking or riding the bus do. At least the people driving aren't as likely to get seriously injured if they're hit.

Maybe that's why a few of them, like Chuck Thies, can say with a straight face that they feel there's a war against them. If anything shows an insane sense of entitlement, it's his statement that some people "want to occupy your parking space with a bike rack." Why is it "your" parking space? DDOT has never forcibly installed a bike rack in the parking pad behind anyone's row house. If it's on the street, it's my parking space too.

Thies wasn't just talking about bikes; he's also talking about opposition to the Outer Beltway and most other freeways conceived in the 1950s. There are plenty of arguments against that as well, but most of all, none of it would help Thies' own personal driving concerns, which is what his whole article focuses on (after the many stories about the many cars he bought and sold, for how much and to whom).

Among everything Thies talks about, the one thing that would help him more quickly drive his son to school and then get to work is replacing a few of those parking spaces with bike racks, even if he never personally locks a bicycle to one.

28 comments

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