A representative from WMATA was at last nights DC Bicycle Advisory Council meeting to talk, primarily, about their $9M, 6-year bicycle and pedestrian capital improvement program (CIP).
The funding and program have been approved and now they're doing research. They are coming up with a list of needs per station and prioritizing them to see what they can do with the money they have. They're also identifying needed connections, which I think they can pay for with federal transit money (as long as they're under 0.25 miles for pedestrians and 3 miles for bikes). They're also working on a plan to prevent theft, moving forward with a Secure Bike Parking Facility (SBPF) pilot project and replacing old bike racks.
The SBPF will be at College Park. It was chosen because it was the station with the worst theft problem and because there was space available. When the new parking garage was designed, it had space in the SE corner ground level for retail but they're going to use that area for the bike cage. They hope to break ground by the end of the summer, but in the meantime they need to determine how they plan to charge people and how it will work. The facility will hold about 90 bikes inside a fenced off area with restricted access. It will have CCTV for added security. There will be two doors, one for daily use and one fire exit only door. The main door will be wider than usual to make it easy to get in and out with a bike. The access mechanism is still being decided, but it probably won't be your Smarttrip card, since they're moving away from that. It's possible it will be another keyfob or just a credit card. They're leaning towards a pay per day pricing scheme, but are still evaluating other options. They also need to decide if they will allow overnight parking. They want to encourage commuting, but not long-term storage. Afterward they'll study how it works, how it effects locker rentals and possibly construct more. Here's more on access and smarttrip card
CaBi surveys show that a lot of people are using CaBi to replace transit trips, but they aren't concerned about it because it's mostly in the crowded core. They recently met with CaBi directors on how to better integrate Cabi with metro. ideally that would include integrating CaBi's key with the next generation of SmartTrip as well as the Bike Station access key. They all want a seamless system that allows a user to get by with just one keyfob/card.
WMATA is also working with DDOT on the Met Branch trail, which runs on WMATA owned land, and the Rhode Island Avenue Bridge connection that will connect to a Metro station. They recently installed additional racks in Ft. Totten to meet demand.
They've performed a security assessment at high theft stations with transit police. Two of the worst stations are NY Ave ( where bikes tend to have components stolen), and Takoma (where whole bikes go missing). They said they do have a bait bike program that they've been using with success. At one high theft station, they caught one person with it and the thefts ended. They want to encourage cyclists to report all thefts to MTPD, even if it's just a bike light or pedal, because that's how they decided where to deploy the bait bike. On a related note, they're putting together a policy for dealing with abandoned bikes.
On lockers, it was noted that the current locker program is in a state of flux. For starters, it's been moved to the parking dept and there is some clean-up going on right now. But they hope to move to an online reservation system at some point in the future. They've had to remove some lockers downtown as they were too big and businesses asked to have them removed. In addition, some were being used as a hiding place for criminals. They were sent to Vienna (perhaps to a farm where they can play with other lockers?). So thanks a lot DC criminals. This is why we can't have anything nice. Right now the focus is not on more lockers, but rather on-demand parking.
The last bit, according to survey data, very few trips (about 650 a day, a little more that 0.1% of all trips) include people who are taking their bike on the bus. Still, having the bike racks is what pushed me to bike to work. I knew that if I had trouble I could hop a bike home, and on occasion I have. So even when it's not used, it's useful - like a fire extinguisher.
Thank God for bike racks on MetroBuses. Now I don't have to carry pumps, spare tubes and appropriate rain attire.
Posted by: Mark Williams | May 05, 2011 at 11:26 PM
This may sound stupid, but I've never used the racks on MetroBus at least in part because I've never used them and I would be embarrassed to hold people up while fumbling. (Fear of looking stupid is pretty powerful.) If some of the larger bike to work day pitstops had a sample rack that people could try out it would certainly make ME more likely to consider the bike on Metrobus option.
Posted by: Embarrassed | May 06, 2011 at 06:19 AM
Not a bad idea, you should contact Kristin Haldemann of Metro and asking her what they can do. (202) 962-1848.
Posted by: washcycle | May 06, 2011 at 09:24 AM
Interesting to hear about the bait bike program. Do you know at which station they caught someone?
Posted by: IMGoph | May 08, 2011 at 09:02 AM
She specifically wouldn't say - to protect the program.
Posted by: washcycle | May 08, 2011 at 12:08 PM
+1 Embarrassed.
I too have never considered using the racks for the same reason. In the back of my mind has been the idea to collar a driver sometime at a Metro station when they are on a schedule break to try them out.
I think it would be a great idea for each jurisdiction - DC, Montgomery, Arlington, etc to have a bus parked at one of the major rest stops so people and try them out with their bikes.
Posted by: JeffB | May 08, 2011 at 03:41 PM
Unless there are multiple bike thieves at NY Ave. (certainly a possibility), given recent activity, that's not the station.
Posted by: IMGoph | May 08, 2011 at 07:04 PM