On Street Bike Parking in DC

IMG_7191, originally uploaded by Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

DDOT is experimenting with on-street bike parking. This is in front of WABA's office. Awesome.

Comments

[Michael H.]

Those white discs look pretty sturdy. I'm sure they'll be able to protect the bikes in case a large delivery truck strays out of its lane. Or not.

[washcycle]

They use the same set-up elsewhere, and I've not heard of a case where bikes were destroyed by a wayward delivery truck. Bollards would be better, but this is an experiment.

In 13 years of on-street car parking, my car has been hit three times (and I was always parking at the end of a busy corner). Since this doesn't stick out as far and has a buffer between the posts and the bikes, I'd put the likelihood of a bike parked here being hit at about once in 15 years.

[Contrarian]

I like it, but what do they do when it snows?

[Ron Alford]

Contrarian: What else? They make tacos!

[Scott]

I thought the same thing too with the bike share thing in the street on G in dc. I was counting the days until they were smashed. It's been a long time almost two years and not one mark on them.

[Josh S]

Huh? Why would bicycles deserve bollards but cars who park on the street don't get them? A "wayward delivery truck" can do serious damage to both....

[washcycle]

It's not that bikes deserve bollards, but that they can have bollards and still be workable. How would a bollard lined car parking space be usable?

I've seen this before with motorcycle parking in Montreal. This is not a picture of that, but it gives the idea.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jashil/3045680116/

[Ferdinand Bardamu]

Awesome? Um, no. It sucks. Those huge bollards are totally in the way of people trying to squeeze between the parked cars and traffic. You know, people like BICYCLISTS. That spot was also an ideal place for people on bikes to safely pull aside and wait for the light without getting run the fuck over by people running the red light on right turns onto Columbia... like I do EVERY FUCKING DAY!

[Ferdinand Bardamu]

And yes there are HUGE FUCKING BOLLARDS atop those white discs now.

[Ferdinand Bardamu]

Furthermore, there is no shortage of bicycle parking in this area. There is absolutely no reason why there should be a huge fucking bike rack right on the fucking street when people actually already have plenty of places to park bikes. The only use I can see for this is if WABA meetings see a plethora of bicyclists descending upon that corner. So far, in the (2-3?) months they've been there, I have not seen this.

[washcycle]

Really? you can't walk around a plastic pole? If cyclists wait in the traffic lane behind the ASL, they will not be run over - and they'll prevent drivers from illegally turning right on red. There was a real shortage of parking there for the Christmas party.

[Ferdinand Bardamu]

Wait, are you trolling? I can't tell. Because are you seriously justifying this huge thing stuck in the road for the benefit of a new org in the neighborhood having enough parking space for its Christmas party? Oh sweet jesus... And staying in the traffic lane to keep people from running the red light? Um, no thanks. Not interested in triggering a road rage incident directed at my tiny personage by someone armed with a two ton death machine.

[washcycle]

No, I'm not justifying it for the party. I was pointing out one time when it was needed to contradict your point that it had never been needed. Unless you've been camped out at that corner at all hours studying the intersections bicycle parking needs, you'll have to excuse me if I put more credence in the expert opinion of DDOT and WABA as to it's utility. Some guy who drops into the blog to drop a bunch of profanity laced bitching about how he can't walk in between bollards noting that he doesn't see a need for it doesn't carry a lot of weight with me.

And, staying in the lane, instead of hiding behind parked cars is actually the safer method and the one taught by safe cycling instructors. You should maintain your line, not swerve in and out of parked cars. You have not made a compelling case that this space was being used better before the bike parking was installed.

Has anyone been by lately? Are there bikes parked there?

[Ferdinand Bardamu]

Yes, there were three bikes parked there this afternoon. Meanwhile, there were ZERO on the three racks on the sidewalk adjacent to the WABA office, ZERO on the rack across Columbia, and ZERO on the rack across Ontario. But hey, this is just during the work week, presumably peak load. I'd better wait until the Christmas party to get a better idea if this was worth doing.

[washcycle]

If it's being used, then it has some utility. So that undermines your point that it is useless.

As to the other half of your argument, that it was used by others. Cars should neither drive nor park there. Pedestrians should use the crosswalk, but even for those who don't, the structure can't change the desire lines by more than a step. Cyclists going left or straight should not use that space since they need to maintain their line and cyclists going right can either stay in the center of the lane, or if they're too chicken to do that - as you are - they can still move to the right either in front of or next to the parking area. So what is the problem?

[Ferdinand Bardamu]

Staying in the center of the lane when there is room to allow other vehicles to pass is an asshole move. And "going straight" at this intersection actually means veering pretty hard to the right. (Have you really been to this place?) Therefore, my line begins to bear right just at the intersection. Now there is an obstacle in my way just as I'm altering my line to the right in preparation for this move. It's like a car that is parked two feet from the curb. I have to serve left and then hang out right at the edge of this obstruction as I wait on the light, putting me right in harms way of drivers running the light to turn right. (The final placement of the bollards is farther out than what is shown in the picture.) And no, there is no room to wait in front of this bike parking area because it directly abuts the pedestrian crosswalk and sticking my bike in the crosswalk is another asshole move. If they had just installed something with a sharp angle in respect to the curb instead of perpendicular, it would shave off a yard or more while creating the same amount of parking and not create a choke point right at the intersection.

And as I live and work on Ontario Rd. (work on one side of Columbia, live on the other), I'm at this intersection many times a day and am damn well better qualified to adjudicate the utility of this bike parking area than DDOT bureaucrats. But did the bureaucrats really have anything to do with this anyway? Or did they just cave to WABA lobbying? Why is it that the first demo like this just so happens to be in front of the WABA offices? You really think this has more to do with utility than PR? Pffftt!

[washcycle]

1. Either there is room for vehicles to pass, in which case there is no problem, or there isn't, in which case it is not an asshole move. How is blocking cars from making an illegal right on red an asshole move? And seriously, do you really think someone is going to run you down for waiting at the light? Man up for God's sake.

2. Going straight means making an S-turn. You need to get across all lanes to the left turn lane. I don't see how this involves being to the right of traffic.

3. The point of this is a test of concept. So, yes, they tried it in front of the WABA office, so that later they can say "We've tried this elsewhere and it works."

4. I ride through this intersection once a week. I can't see how this parking is an inconvenience to anyone who knows how to ride a bike in traffic. Based on the fact that you've never commented here before, I think you're the one who's trolling.

[J]

Ferdinand, what was the space used for before? My guess is nothing, as it's so close to the intersection.

So now, you accomplish the following:

-Bike parking (when needed)
-Restrict car parking at all times (much more effective than a sign)

In other words, a great way to daylight an intersection, making it safer for pedestrians.