2008 Election Guide - DC Primary

In the spirit of previous election coverage, I again contacted all of the candidates for DC Council to ask them what they would do, if elected, to improve cycling in the District of Columbia. Because of the large numbers of candidates in some races, I had to make some decisions about who to contact and I hope I've chosen correctly.

DC's primaries are on September 9th.

I'm also giving a little extra information that I may have, like how they voted or what they've said elsewhere.

Every sitting member voted for the Bicycle Policy Modernization Amendment Act of 2008, the Bicycle Commuter and Parking Expansion Act of 2007 and the Bicycle Registration Reform Amendment Act of 2008 except for Barry who was absent for the last two.

Here's GGW on all the races.

Republican At-Large primary (Schwartz v. Mara)

Patrick Mara

Update: Late response from Mr. Mara

"I do not own a car and understand the importance of more environmentally friendly transportation in the District. Cycling is a fun and practical form of transportation in an urban environment. As a Columbia Heights resident, I appreciate the bike lanes on 11th street (my home street). I would certainly advocate more bike-friendly policies and oppose the opening of Klingle road to autos. I am also keenly interested in the new SmartBike DC program. It has the potential to be a great success.

My door-to-door campaign effort has kept me from cycling this summer, but it certainly is something I enjoy. In fact, I was scheduled to participate in the Philadelphia Livestrong event, but had to pull out at the last second due to my campaign schedule. I look forward to riding and raising money for next year's event.

Carol Schwartz

She voted to rebuild Klingle road, questioned the trail and praised the bike lanes on E Street.

Did not respond

For more on this race, here a debate on WAMU.

Ward 2 (Evans v. Silverman)

Here's what GGW says about this race.

Jack Evans

He supports turning more one-way streets into two way streets and voted to make Klingle Road a trail.

In response to my question he wrote:

I completely support increased cycling in the District as it’s better for the environment and great exercise.  However, I believe the City needs to work on ensuring cycling in the city is safer. I am committed to working with the District Department of Transportation to ensure as we move forward with increasing cycling, that safety remains at the forefront of our program.

I support expanding the number of bicycle lanes in the District and improving the enforcement of these lanes.  As we have been redoing streets in Ward 2 we have been adding bike lanes, which I think is great.  Other cities have creative ways to delineate bicycle lanes making it impossible for cars and trucks to double park and block cyclists, making enforcement a priority because it will help improve safety.

While increasing safety is important, I also believe providing biking opportunities to those without bicycles. The new SmartBikeDC Pilot Program is a good first step in providing alternative transportation for residents and commuters. I support increasing the funding for the program throughout the District. Increasing the number of bike racks throughout the District would also help make cycling more convenient.

And just as important to safety and accessibility is education. I believe and support adding bicycle education to the curriculum in DC Public Schools. Learning the rules of bicycling at an early age can make a significant difference in the bicycle culture in DC.

Carey Silverman

On his campaign blog, Carey Silverman writes of bike to work day and adds

There's more we can do to make the District bike friendly. For example, bike lanes on Fifteenth Street in Logan Circle will make it more accommodating for riders and may slow down what has become a four-lane speedway for commuters. In Georgetown, removal of parking meters in favor of the less evasive ticket machine system has had the unintended effect of leaving very few places to lock a bike. All of our commercial areas should have sufficient bike racks to encourage ridership and lessen reliance on driving.

In response to my question he wrote:

"Since arriving in the District in 1997, bicycling has been my primary form of transportation.  As your councilmember, I will increase cycling in the District by:

(1) Increasing bike racks.  I continuously hear complaints from cyclists about the lack of bike racks in many parts of the city.  In Chinatown, you will find bikes chained three and five to a post.  In Georgetown, the unanticipated side effect of replacing parking meters with machines is the loss of bike parking.  I often see bikes chained to trees -- not good for the bike or the trees.  Funding and follow up on installation of bike racks would be a high priority for me.
(2) Increasing striping of bike lanes.  I would also consider adopting innovations, such as painting of "bike boxes" at intersections, used in other cities.
(3) Supporting creation of a user-friendly website that will provide bike-friendly directions similar to Mapquest or Google Maps.
(4) Supporting creation of the Metropolitan Bike Trail.
(5) Revisiting application of traffic laws as applied to bicyclists to ensure they promote cycling and effectively protect cyclist, driver, and pedestrian safety.  For example, there was recently an odd debate at a D.C. Council hearing as to whether there should be a fine for blocking a bike lane or whether the law should remain unenforceable.
(6) Promoting and potentially expanding the new Smart Bike DC program."

Ward 4 (Bowser v. Jahi):

Muriel Bowser

She biked to bike to work day 2008 leading her own caravan and supports turning more one-way streets into two way streets. She supported rebuilding Klingle road. Here's what she said about the Met Branch trail last election.

In response to my question she wrote:

"My hope for cycling, as with walking, is to encourage through public education green transit and healthy lifestyles.

I believe we need to encourage residents, of any age, to consider healthy alternatives to driving whenever possible. The city is fortunate to have a metro system. Even more so, my offices encourage "smart growth", so that people can walk and bike to their neighborhood retail, shopping, and entertainment centers, as well as use bikes or walk through our many trails and parks.

The message of cycling, along with walking, needs to be gotten out through public health education - using our school system, cable tv ads, and promoting those events - such as "Bike to Work Day" - through popular media that celebrate the advantages - personal and collective, for using green and healthy transit. We have partners in this town, such as the Washington Area Bicycle Association, that have cutting edge ideas that can help our government be forwarding thinking in making cycling an ever growing part of our daily living."

Baruti Jahi

In response to my question he wrote:

I support building more biker trails in Rock Creek Park, and I support the Metropolitan Branch trail.  It’s a great idea to have a Bicycle Beltway that connects from Union Station to Silver Spring.  I am also willing to work with the biking community to find creative strategies to improve biker safety and access to challenging trails in the city.  In my younger days, I’m a few months from the big four Zero, I was an avid bike rider, and therefore I know the importance of having a safe and viable biking community in the District. My wife and I really enjoy the Mount Vernon bike trail, and every now and then we ride the tandem bike on that trail. Due to time constraints and because our campaign is very busy with just two weeks left before the election we can’t elaborate anymore, but I welcome the opportunity to discuss biker issues with you in the future.

Ward 7 (Alexander v. Johnson)

Yvette Alexander

She voted to make Klingle Road a trail.

Did not respond

Villareal Johnson

Twice my email bounced back "Mailbox quota exceeded."

Ward 8 (Barry v. Wilson)

Marion Barry

He voted to make Klingle Road a trail.

Did not respond

Charles Wilson

Did not respond

For more about the Ward 8 race here's GGW and the debate on WAMU.

Full disclosure: I must tell you that one candidate misspelled a word in their response. I corrected this rather than leaving it and following it with "sic." A journalist friend of mine agreed that this was the proper way to handle it. As an admitted bad speller and someone completely incapable of using the proper form of its or their, I felt it was unfair to hit them on something like that. But I felt you also have the right to know that such an edit was done.