DASH buses now have racks, Alexandria adds racks and bike lanes

Update: This story is incorrect. DASH buses do not yet have bike racks. The City of Alexandria and DASH are working to install racks and it is a priority. This need was identified as a possible stimulus project, but has not yet been funded.

One of the local stimulus projects that would serve cyclists is now online. DASH buses have moved from Ugly to Good as all of them now have bike racks like the one photographed at right (leaving just PG county's The Bus as the only close-in system without them). 

The city has also outfitted all Dash buses with bicycle storage racks

Other new projects include

The resurfacing of a 0.5 mile stretch of trail along Eisenhower Avenue; a Duke Street overpass that provides a pedestrian and bicycle link between the Cameron Station Development and Beatley Library; and a new trail along Route 1 that provides a connection between the Mount Vernon Trail in Old Town and the Huntington Metro Station. The city has also installed dozens of bike racks on sidewalks across the city.

"Thanks to these improvements," [pedestrian and bike coordinator for the City of Alexandria Yon] Lambert said, "about nine percent of all commuting trips in Alexandria are now made by cycling and walking, an increase of over five percent since 1994. That’s four times the national average."

9%. Yowsers.

The Bicycle Section of the City of Alexandria’s Comprehensive Transportation Master Plan, adopted April 12, 2008, proposes that Alexandria City Public Schools begin keeping track of the number of children who choose bicycling as a means of getting to school. The plan proposes that schools work towards increasing this number by five percent annually through 2011. The plan goes on to mandate that "more than 50 percent of elementary-aged school children receive bicycle safety education by 2010."

(Thanks to Catherine for the link)

I also learned that CUE buses in Fairfax now have bike racks. Good.

Comments

[anonymous]

The Bus has more problems than lack of bike racks. I think the majority of their bus "stations" are rusty signs that loosely hang from dirt at odd angles.

[Eric_W.]

The bus in the picture is obviously a metro bus... here is a picture of a DASH bus (albeit sans bike rack).

http://www.dashbus.com/uploadedImages/DASHBus-home.jpg

[Washcycle]

I couldn't find a photo of the DASH bus with a rack. If someone takes one and either sends it to me or, ideally, puts it in the Washcycle flickr group, I'll post it.

[Eric_W.]

I hope to see one of them there DASH busses today and if I can whip out my Blackberry Storm fast enough I will take a 3.2MP picture for your use...

[Deb]

They are actually under-selling the Duke Street overpass, because by connecting the Cameron Station development to that library, they're also connecting the Cameron Station development to the Holmes Run Pkwy bike/ped trail. And one thing they didn't mention is that they've been repaving the Holmes Run trail, which it needed, badly. They've done a good job of it too, at least for the .10 mile that I ride it.

[Jay]

My informal survey of the Dash buses I've seen in the past several days leads me to believe that the author of the newspaper article is wrong about the bike racks on Dash buses. There are not any.

[Yon Lambert, City of Alexandria]

CLARIFICATION: A quick correction to this story is nessary. DASH buses do not yet have bike racks. The City of Alexandria and DASH are working to install racks and it is a priority. This need was identified as a possible stimulus project, but has not yet been funded.