National Airport Bike Parking

Airport Bike Parking by M.V. Jantzen

The trail that led here was closed for a while. But this is a good option for airport parking.

Comments

[Foo]

And apparently scooter parking too.

[Contrarian]

There's a better rack beside the metro station -- it's covered and better watched. I remember going to the airport one time and every bike on this rack looked like it had been vandalized.

The funny thing about the one by the Metro is you can't bike to it, cycling is prohibited on airport grounds except on the trail.

The other thing I noticed when I use to fly a lot is that if you drive, each terminal has a parking garage and you don't have to walk much. If you arrive by bike or Metro there is only one entrance, by terminal C, and it's a long walk to the other terminals -- especially if you're wearing cleated shoes.

[Upside]

Are the racks in this picture under a roof? If not, are there any at the airport?

[aaa]

No, there is no roof over these racks, which is infuriating because it is right next to an immense roofed parking garage.

[washcycle]

There is a rack under a roof near the Metro elevator though.

[Matt]

I had the hardest time finding the mythic covered bike parking at National last spring. I spent nearly a half hour roaming the airport on a luggage-laden Xtracycle before stumbling on it.

As far as I can tell, bike parking is not on the airport maps, http://www.metwashairports.com/reagan/DCA_Terminal_Map.htm. The maps have nearly everything: mailboxes, shoe shines, "pet relief areas" (ew!), but no bike facilities!

[MB]

This is only a decent rack if you're flying out of C. If you're heading out of B, just roll straight off the MVT into the (employee) parking lot at the north end of the airport, down the road/sidewalks there, and there are some racks right up against the southern end of B terminal. (Of course, they are just outside of the roofline, so yes, they're uncovered.) I've left my bike there and at the rack pictured above for weekend trips w/o issue.

[Crickey7]

I've used them. Did you know the car rental offices at the airports are pretty much the only ones open on major holiday?

[Bruce Wright]

While the wave racks are better than nothing, inverted U racks would be so much more useful at this location. As you can see from the photo, the bike parked on the rack in the back is parallel to the rack, which is how a lot of people choose to use this type of rack since it allows multiple contact points. In bike-friendly places out west you rarely see wave racks; almost all racks are inverted U.