The commuter race, a race between commuters of different modes is an old staple of news networks. Al Roker won one on the Today Show in 2010, and CNN did one in DC in 2008 and Transportation Alternatives runs one every year. The oldest one in DC I know of was done in 1977 about a year and a half after Metrorail service started, and it was actually a series of races only one of which included a bike. The first race was between a driver, a subway commuter who parked at the station and a bus rider. It went from PG County to the old DOT HQ. In it the bus rider missed their bus and hitch-hiked which got then disqualified. The last race was between car, taxi and bus from downtown to the airport. There were other races, and other hitch-hikers, as well.
The race involving a bike commuter was from 7th and East Capitol to the Washington Post building which was then just north of the White House. The four entrants went by bike, car, Metro/walk or Metro/bus. The car won in 16 minutes. Bike was second in 22. The subway/walk took 29 and subway/bus took 35. But the driver had to spend $3.75 for parking and the bike ride was free.
The cyclist, Bart Barnes (who retired from the Post in 2004), took a leisurely ride across the Capitol grounds and the Mall instead of using Pennsylvania to cut the corner. He was clearly a regular bike commuter at the time and enjoyed riding on the Mall, but today I suspect most commuters use the Pennsylvania Avenue cycle-tracks. He also reported having a heavy, cheap 3-speed (so it wouldn't be stolen). He probably could have beaten the car today. Biking has gotten better and traffic has gotten worse.
The subway ride cost 70 cents, including the paper, but Jim Quinn got to read the paper which he seemed to enjoy.
Letters to the editor after the races were over complained about the methodology. One person said that safety should be considered in which cases bicycling would score low due to the lack of bikeways. Several mentioned the impact of driving on air quality and the oil crisis.
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