In a move to encourage more cycling, Mayor Fenty has announced that bike parking will be free, city-wide, starting today, April 1st. The popularity of free bike valet parking at the Cherry Blossom Festival served as the final catalyst.
"No longer will the city charge the usual fees for bicycle parking and bicycle parking meters will be removed starting with downtown." Fenty announced.
Not to be outdone, other jurisdictions have begun plans to make their bicycle parking free too. Even the new Nationals Stadium, where automobile parking will still cost $10-$20 dollars a game, jumped on the bandwagon reluctantly announcing that bike parking will be free.
"We won't need all that surface parking in the area if everyone bikes to the games," team owner Mark Lerner stated. "Of course, we'll lose money, but that's nothing that $8 beer won't fix."
Local reaction seems mixed.
"Thank God" said local bike commuter Tim Johnson, "I was so tired of feeding the bike meters. It's hard lugging around all those quarters on a Schwinn."
"Why should bikes get free parking? When I was a kid we didn't have 'free parking'. We paid for parking - paid through the nose - and we made our bikes out of old soup cans and we used cats for tires and we turned out just fine! People today have it too easy." complained Angry Old Man McGee
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