Make Way for the Ignorant

The Washingtonian had a piece yesterday entitled "Make Way for Automobiles," a title which somehow implies that way has not already been made for automobiles to the tune of trillions of dollars and billions of acres. But alas, the errors don't end there. 

Even as many Washingtonians turn to bikes, and as our city faces worse and worse congestion, let us not forget our beloved automobiles.

Congestion in the DC area is worse and worse (according to a widely publicized but controversial study), but I'm not sure of any study showing that as true for DC proper. It feels about the same now as it did when I moved here in 1997. But I'm confident there is no risk of DDOT, or anyone else for that matter, forgetting about automobiles.

I, too, like to bike to work on occasion. Yet since the closure of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in the late 1990s and the "temporary" closing of E Street in 2001, our city has been choked by east-west traffic. Ever try to go from Georgetown to Penn Quarter in rush hour? Good luck. And have you tried it lately?

Yes driving in crowded places at busy times is slow, and there have been some unfortunate (and unnecessary) closures of roads but what any of this has to do with biking, I don't know.

I've sat on the corner of 19th and L and watched each evening as the backup has gotten worse and worse with the addition of the new bike lanes 

Really? Worse and worse over the course of a month. I'm skeptical of the data. Did Ms. Williams perhaps collect any? DDOT's analysis before the installation showed that LOS would mostly stay the same but occasionally improve. I'll bet Ms. Williams a subscription to Washingtonian vs. one for Momentum that the analysis after installation shows little to no change. 

and I watch as the smog from stopped cars pollutes while nary a bike goes by on cold winter evenings.

That's right, accommodating cyclists causes smog. Of course, before the cycletrack, that lane was parking, so I'm not sure why traffic has gotten worse. And looking at the road on cold winter evenings may skew the data she isn't collecting. 

Only 3% of commuters bike. More than 70% still drive or take the bus.

That's citywide, In downtown, about 6% of vehicles are bikes. So asking for one east-west lane in all of downtown is pretty reasonable. 

One has to wonder if there is any strategy to our bike-obsessed city. 

There is. It's called the Bicycle Master Plan. 

 Did it occur to anyone to perhaps put the east-west bike lanes on H, N, or I Streets?

Yes. Those were all considered and dismissed during the Bicycle Master Plan process (or later for I street), which included considerably more thought than Ms. Williams put into this since 2 of the 3 streets she suggested are one-way in the opposite direction of L and thus not suitable substitutes. 

Is anyone measuring how many bikes use the lanes in rush hour to determine whether they warrant the increased traffic backup?

Yes. DDOT is doing that (and again, what traffic backup. I love how she transitions from what she personally has deduced from limited observation to incontrovertible fact. That's good writing there). A simple call to John Lisle would clear that up. He's a very nice man.

In order to get a speed bump in my neighborhood, I must get a petition from 75% of the households and then have the speed and quantity of traffic measured. Are we doing that for bike lanes?

Not that, but we had a Bicycle Master Planning process that lasted two years and the plan then had to be approved by the District Council and each project has to go through its own review and there is a period of presentation and public input. From idea to implementation it took the L Street cycletrack about 8 years. Is that enough hoops?

I assumed it meant to watch for bikers when turning

Yes I can see how a green light on a pole shaped like a traffic light would mean "watch for bikers" since ther green lights on traffic poles mean "watch for cars". 

which I explained to MPD officer who pulled me over--yet I was still fined $100 for "Disobeying A Traffic Control Device."

"Even though I broke the law, I tried to explain to the officer that it was because I was ignorant, but he gave me a ticket anyway."

No warning, no matter that this is not in the DC Driver Study Guide, which lists eleven other signal types.

I agree there should be more information about biking in the DC Driver Study Guide. 

I love that our city has embraced bikes. But let's add some common sense to the equation and find ways to also better accommodate the automobiles we love so much.

Yes if only we could find a way to accommodate automobiles in this city. Why the infrastructure we have is only adequate to be the first choice for a mere 70% of commuters. Perhaps we could find a way to free up parking and remove vehicles from the road - with some using excess space on the sides and others using new facilities built in parks or on old rail lines - so that driving can be easier. But we can't even start to do that until we stop encouraging bicycling. 

Comments

[UrbanEngineer]

Those who drive such short distances in the most congested areas such as from Georgetown to Penn Quarter are contributing to congestion more than anybody.

She complains about congestion, vehicular pollution, and the seemingly unused available alternative transportation infrastructure. Her next step; she chooses to complain about the alternative transportation infrastructure. My recommendation would have been to use it.

[Casey Anderson]

The author's e-mail address does not appear to be on the Washingtonian web site. I hope you will submit this post as a letter to the editor.

[Michael H.]

It's like the bumper sticker says: "You're not IN traffic. You ARE traffic."

[rek]

Well I must admit that I too am confused by the traffic signal pictured in her article.

Is it two separate signals (one for bikes, one for cars)? And if so, why would one be green while the other is red? Is the cycletrack just going along the straight edge of a "T" intersection there?

Disclaimer: Newbie NOVA biker here (mostly ridden in Fairfax County / Alexandria City so far). I haven't ventured across the river yet!

[washcyce]

Yes. One lights for bikes and one for cars. The bike one would be green when the other is red, because cyclists are going across the intersection and turning traffic would hit them.

[Rootchopper]

Congratulations on a excellent post.

One thing that should not be forgotten, is that many years ago Georgetown had the opportunity to have a Metrorail station and they decided against it. If they had one, that trip across downtown would be a whole lot easier.

[arachne]

It seems telling that Ms Williams' article is categorized under "DC" and "Anecdotes."

[Washcycle]

I think the Georgetown Metro thing is an urban legend.

[Moose]

The Georgetown Metro thing is an urban legend. There's a good explanation of the reasons why here.

[tim h]

thank you. The title alone is a travesty.

[Rootchopper]

I stand corrected on the Georgetown Metro thing. Hollywood got it right though. Kevin Costner escaped the bad guys in No Way Out by running out of the Georgetown station.

[Michael Roy]

"Make Way for Automobiles." The title says it all. There's a war on automobiles, just like the war on Christmas. Oh yeah - I think I am going to get a ticket for not coming to a full stop in Maryland yesterday (a camera flashed when I rolled through on right at red). I guess cyclists are behind that too! I don't write for Washingtonian though so I can't publish an article blaming cyclists. Thank go for this blog!

[Lisa]

"Even as many Washingtonians turn to bikes, and as our city faces worse and worse congestion, let us not forget our beloved automobiles."

What kind of a prejudiced imbecile writes that sentence?....I wish we could have our beloved slaves back in Virginia, then we wouldn't have all those black people now driving cars...and causing traffic congestion.

THE CARS are the problem. THIS CULTURE is so blind to CAR-CENTRISM as the CAUSE that I wonder how much progress can be made for alternatives in the next fifty years. This article typifies the blindness.

[SJE]

Nice and thorough fisking, WashCycle. Thanks for the laugh: an extra Christmas present