What would you do for a klondike bar?

Let's say you were going to testify before the DC Committee that oversees DDOT and bicycling in general. And there was an outside chance someone would listen to you, but you only had 2-3 minutes. What kinds of things would you want to highlight? Remember, it needs to be within the control of the DC Council or DDOT (If it's MPD, you're wasting your time). And it's got to reasonable (sorry velodrome around the Capitol Dome fans). And it needs to be compelling. Asking for a friend. [I have my ideas, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something].

Comments

[ezradf]

to me the biggest issues are --

--total lack of enforcement of cars and trucks blocking bike lanes (including the fact that delivery companies know they will negotiate at the end of the year and pay a fraction of what they owe in tickets). I don't know if that counts as something DDOT can do though.

--the slowdown in building new protected bike lanes around the city (the once-promised Shaw protected lane is a prime example of that). That's definitely a DDOT issue.

I assume you'll report back how it goes?

[Rasputin]

I'd love to see the 'virtual bike routes' like R street get a little more aggressive.
For example, in Portland there are streets (like Ankeny) where every 3-4 blocks the cross-street has a central curb with a small cutout for bikes.
The end result is that cars cannot comfortably drive more than a few blocks without being required to turn off. It takes streets and makes them easy for bikes, and for local traffic, but hard to use as cut-throughs.
It works great!

[DE]

If you are assuming that nothing is going to be done along the lines of enforcement (speeding, distracted driving, passing too close, failure to yield right-of-way, failure to use turn signal),* then improved infrastructure is the only answer. And that would have to be protected bike lanes all over and finishing trails like the MBT.

I say this with regret since I dislike being herded into protected bike lanes.

*Vision Zero is then just lip-service.

[DE]

Also, a pony.

[xmal]

The things that seem to be really making cycling popular are:
1. Protected bike lanes
2. Multi-use trails
3. Bikeshare (both CaBi and DoBi)

Can we continue getting more of these?

Add to that staffed/secure bike stations at major metro stations---like Union Station Bike Station but larger. Richard Layman lists Melbourne's Parkiteer, LA's Bike Hub, and the Biceberg as good examples: https://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2017/05/bike-to-work-day-as-opportunity-to_18.html

Finally, can we get more enforcement cameras, especially in 15 MPH school zones. This seems like low-hanging fruit. Cars routinely go through the one in front of my son's school at 30 MPH.

[washcycle]

It's not that I don't think anything will be done about enforcement, just that it's the wrong committee. It's like complaining to the Post Office about your gas bill. They have very little to do with it. Legislation and facilities are both in play though.

[J]

More protected bike lanes, designed as part of a network throughout the city instead of a piecemeal, block by block thing. And done by this time next year, not the inexplicable decades-long process we've all, unfortunately, become accustomed to.

[contrarian]

--the slowdown in building new protected bike lanes around the city (the once-promised Shaw protected lane is a prime example of that). That's definitely a DDOT issue.

DDOT seems to be really slow at everything these days. Critics have labeled it the "DC Department of Transportation Studies" because studies seem to be all they produce.

[DE]

Understood. PBLs it is then. I am going to be forced to like them. Just today I got slammed into a parked car because a car passed me and veered across the unprotected bike lane for a parking space. Drivers are never going to change so the infrastructure will have to.

[matt b]

I've only begun bike commuting recently, but the bike infrastructure in the area west of Connecticut and 17th, (outside of the M and L lanes) is shockingly small compared to the what exists in East Downtown and Logan Circle. The entire area within L, 17th, Constitution, and 66 is devoid of bike paths, lanes, and cycle tracks. Where are bikers expected to go when they get to the end of New Hampshire Ave.?

The thing that has helped me continue bike commuting and get better at it has simply been seeing how many bikers are out there with me. Realizing I wasn't the only one doing it has helped push me to bike farther, more often, and onto busier more intimidating streets. I think simply letting DC know that the easiest way to convince people to bike more is to have more people biking. Fancy maps and advertising don't inspire or teach the way that seeing your peers actually biking in person can.

[xmal]

Sorry to hear about your crash, DE, and glad to hear about your positive experiences Matt B.

To answer your question, the best I've been able to do is to a) choose quieter streets or b) take the whole right lane on busier streets like Connecticut---it works!

[Crickey]

Connecticut is a funny road. I ride it at times, and I'm fine with it as an aggressive, lane-takin' VC-type rider. But those drivers will eat anyone else alive.

Also, seconding the pony.

[washcycle]

Funny you should mention it, but Cheh actually asked me during the hearing if we could get a PBL on Connecticut Avenue. I was taken aback, my real answer was "You tell me." I mean we're just an advisory council who's advice is rarely taken - she's the chair of the Transportation Committee. Who is in a better position to, as she put it, "make that happen." What I wish I'd done was turn around to Jeff Maroontian and say "Ms. Cheh wants a cycle track on Connecticut Avenue. I advise you to do that." But alas, it was a way homer.

[Crickey]

It would be great, but I rate the political prospects as poor. It would be easier to get something on Wisconsin.

[DE]

This is about the 8th time in 8 years I've been right-hooked in the bike lane eastbound on G Street between the White House and Gallery Place. This one was really close to me being crushed into that car.

I am very aware and always at the ready, but drivers are quick and don't look or signal. I am seriously considering changing my route to a street without a bike lane. I have fewer problems on the way home going F Street with no bike lane because I act like an aggressive driver. I'm not sure about a infrastructure design (unprotected door-zone bike lane) that encourages unsafe behavior.

What kind of infrastructure could we get if only Washcycle could just make it happen?

[Crickey]

Man, that's rough. I'm of the same mind. Unless it has a physical separation keeping cars out, it's worse than nothing.

[DE]

I think unprotected bike lanes may be okay in areas where there isn't a lot of parking turnover or ramp cuts. There are places in Arlington where I like them---as long as folks are aware that they should ride on the far left, out of the door zone, I suppose.

But in high-parking-turnover areas like G Street in DC, I think it's an illusion of safety that we may be better off without.

Of these incidents, only one car actually managed to knock me down. Others I just sort of made lightish contact with and held onto or bounced off or, as in this case, ran into the parked car to avoid.