Gabe Klein's 2nd chat featured questions about SmartBike and bike lanes. Most of the SmartBike questions can't be definitively answered yet.
Q: Could you please tell us more about the plan to expand the SmartBike program in spring? In what neighborhoods? How many bikes approx.? Has the program been successful so far?
A: We are looking right now at 1000 bikes at 100 stations in late Spring 2010. More details to come, but I would like to push them out to neighborhoods at some point, hopefully with this round, as people use them to commute as it is a point to point system (unlike current carsharing models). We will then be looking to expand further in the coming years, creating a transit system of bikes, and a network of bike lanes and trails.
Q: Will it be extended beyond downtown?
A: Yes
Q: Will the Smartbike program remain an annual subscription service, or will it also be available for tourist use
A: We are evaluating that now, but would like to make it available to everyone, including visitors
Other questions:
Q: Any chance we can move bike parking into the street?
A: Yes, in certain situations we will look at this option, particularly with bikesharing at the beginning, or end of a block generally
Q: Director, I see a lot of attention paid to transit, bike transportation, and pedestrian safety, yet the condition of DC's roads still leave a lot to be desired. Are you at all concerned that these efforts are taking funding/agency attention away from basic road maintenance? Will we see any new initiatives in the area of road maintenance once we get into Spring?
A: We spend 80% of our budget on "maintenance" of our existing assets including road paving. On top of that, as bids came in lower than expected for many ARRA projects, we are putting a minimum of $10m extra into road paving for FY10. However, we are putting a lot of attention towards maximizing the use of our existing right of way, which includes a lot of pedestrian and bicycle improvements, and of course transit
Q: Who is "responsible" for Pennsylvania Avenue btwn White House and Capitol? What needs to happen for us to answer Blumenauer's wishes (and mine) for a bike lane on Penn Ave?
A: Based on a meeting we had last week with NCPC, NPS, and various other federal agencies (as well as our own understanding), we control the street. So we are moving forward with the planning for a bike lane on Pennsylvania Ave, and there are a few different options to choose from, and more work to do coordinating
at a meeting (at Sumner School) in 1/2006 for the bus shelter program, I raised the issue of SmartBikes and tourism...
Posted by: Richard Layman | December 22, 2009 at 02:45 PM
I'll believe it when I ride it. Didn't Gabe Klein say the exact same thing 8 months ago? We have heard no announcements about a vendor, no announcements about locations, no FONSI (if that's required), no anything. Have neighbors' groups been informed that one of these kiosks will be going on their corner? Will they be OK with it? How will they be powered? Who has the contract to install them? He's literally promising 100 kiosks all over the city in four months. It took an entire year to build one crappy contraflow lane on 15th that attracts no riders because it's connected to nothing.
Gabe Klein and DDOT talk a lot. A LOT.
I'm willing to bet we don't see this in 2010, or 2011 for that matter. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.
Posted by: JTS | December 22, 2009 at 08:14 PM