DC's 2005 Bike Plan, a progress report

When Jim Sebastian was hired as the bicycle coordinator for DDOT in 2001, a position which had been empty for a decade at the time, one of the first things he did was to get to work on a new Bicycle Master Plan. The previous plan - the only one DC had ever had - was written in 1976. 

The 1976 Bicycle Plan called for approximately 16 miles of bike lanes, 17 miles of trails, and 38 miles of signed bike routes.

As the 2005 plan notes, some of these bikeways were completed in the 1980s, but even this unambitious plan was never fully implemented. [[FIll in with year that there were that many miles of bike lanes]]

The 2005 plan laid out, in Table 3, specific recommendations for the next 10 years. These recommendations have always been treated as goals ,as I understand it, so I'm treating them as such. Now that it's 2016, we can look at how well DDOT has achieved these goals.

Goal 1.1: 150 miles of Signed Bicycle Routes - DDOT has only installed about 12-15 miles of signed bike routes. But to be fair, this doesn't seem to be something people are clamoring for. I don't recall anyone complaining about this, so DDOT is probably wise to redirect the efforts elsewhere.

Goal 1.2: 60 miles of bicycle lanes - By the end of 2015, DDOT had installed 73 miles of bike lane, included some protected bike lanes, which probably seemed impossible in 2005. In addition they've installed 17.7 miles of shared lanes (sharrows).

Goal 1.3 part 1: Complete the Metropolitan Branch Trail by 2007 - Well, let's just say it was harder than perhaps thought at the time. It's possible this could be completed by the end of 2017.

Goal 1.3 part 2: Complete the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail by 2008 - Also, not easy. There are about 7 of the 19 segments still left to complete, and it will still be many years - perhaps a decade - before they're all completed.

Goal 1.4: Make improvements at 6 bridges from a list of 9 (map 5) - DDOT can count the Roosevelt and the 11th Street Bridges, but I can think of any others. I don't think they got anywhere close to 6.

Goal 1.5:  Install 2000 bicycle parking spaces - Ignoring whatever loss of bike parking resulted from the mass removal of parking meters, DDOT estimates that it has installed at least 2500 racks (for 5000 spaces) since 2005.

Goal 1.6: All parking garages and other off-street parking facilities in compliance with bicycle parking regulations by 2014 - I don't think they have a mechanism for tracking this, beyond complaints, but I'd be surprised if we were at 100% compliance now.

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Goal 2.1:Update of DC planning, laws and regulations - This involves a series of goals such as updating several planning documents, modifying DC regulations and laws and modifying zoning and other such regulations. These weren't all finished in the first three years, but if my memory is correct they've all been done.

Goal 2.2 :Train District staff and consultants about the bike plan, bike planning and bike facility design - This has been done.

Goal 2.3: Review all District of Columbia projects to ensure they provide bicycle accommodation. - I know of a few that got past them, and so there are likely a few I don't know about too. But they didn't budget much money for this so ALL may be a bar too high to reach, at least in the early years

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Goal 3.1: Educate motorists about safe operating behavior around bicyclists - Money has been spent on this - through programs such as street smart and bicycle education classes - but I don't know of any effort to actually measure the effects. It would be great to have a trend of motorist "bicycle IQ" over the last decade, to see if there is a Schwinn Effect, but one doesn't exist

Goal 3.2: Educate bicyclists about safe bicycling - Ditto.

Goal 3.3: Enforce traffic laws related to bicycling.- This is done every year as part of Street Smart. So...Hooray??

Goal 3.4: Establish a Youth Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Education Program. - I don't know if they were hitting the annual goals by number of schools, but in 2015 they started universal bicycle education for 2nd Graders in all DC Schools. That's ahead of the goal of 20 schools by 2015.

Goal 3.5: Distribute the District of Columbia Bicycle Map to a wide audience. - Done. 

I'm not going to give them a grade, but you're welcome to. I will point out that over that 10 years they've also managed to build the bike station, set up Capital Bikeshare, break ground on the Klingle Trail, and rehabilitate the Watts Branch (now Marvin Gaye Park) Trail - none of which were specific goals. You could argue that their goals were not ambitious enough, but mostly they've achieved them

Comments

[DaveS]

(DDOT's own summary of progress toward the 2005 bike / ped plan was included in the final MoveDC report.)

There are some standing concerns about the lack of "wayfinding" and about "gaps in the network", which are issues that might be addressed by development of a signed route system.

I have no idea what resources DDOT expected that goal to require, but in the smartphone era (which was also unthinkable in 04/05 when we helped shape that plan) it probably could be laid out in a couple of weeks with the Strava heatmap and Bikeshare trip data as starting points. Signing it would take a while though, not to mention some funding.

I think we've undervalued this goal. With the creation of Bikeshare we've seen a strong increase in irregular riders, both residents and guests, who may not be aware of the best ways to connect between stations. I've long held the position that Bikeshare demand was an opportunity to drive infrastructure improvements like wayfinding and traffic calming - or official bike routes.

A robust route system could also help maintenance and enforcement agencies to prioritize their limited resources. While bikes are welcome on nearly all 1,500 miles of DC roads, knowing that 150 miles of them are especially critical to the well-designed bicycle route system would probably be a relief!

DC Vision Zero also touches on the idea of priority corridors in its current Action Plan. Creating dedicated, separated space for cycling is the most effective way to increase comfort and safety, and enticing bicycle traffic to use inherently safer roads also helps accomplish that goal. By making use of them in the form of official bike routes and giving them Vision Zero priority, DDOT could take a huge step toward eliminating cyclist deaths and serious injuries with minimal effort.

[Jwetz]

That universal bike education was developed by and is only at DCPS schools, the charters are independent and may or may not offer bike education. This is important to note because only slightly more than half of students attend DCPS schools.

[Smedley Burkhart]

"Schwinn effect." Ha! Love it. I actually do think there has been a noticeable improvement in the intelligence of motorist behavior around cyclists in the 26+ years I've been living and cycling in the area, but I have no data to support that claim. However, if there is a real trend, it must be related to improved nutrition and I thank Whole Foods.

[washcycle]

I have no idea what resources DDOT expected that goal [signed bike routes] to require

$170,000 over 10 years.

[DaveS]

Now that I'm on a computer I have reviewed and can link the MoveDC update. Note that the snapshot date for this is late 2013, so some developments in 2014 and 2015 are not included.

http://www.wemovedc.org/resources/DraftPlan/Appendix_B-1_Bicycle%20Master%20Plan%20Update.pdf

[washcycle]

Thanks DaveS, I forgot about that snapshot, it's more thorough then the one I did, even if it is out of date.

[Tina]

Educating drivers: I recently learned that a question on the DC drivers written test is misleading and possibly dangerous to bikers. The question asks,

"How many feet should you allow from the side of your vehicle when driving around bicyclists?"

A. 2 feet
B. 5 feet
C. 3 feet
D. 4 feet

It's a poorly written question implying drivers can ONLY give 3 ft.

A friend took the test last week and answered 5ft and got it wrong, when 5ft is a correct answer! There is no legal maximum.