The NYT ran an article last month about business travelers taking the bike to the airport. I guess it was in the business section and so that's why it focused on business travelers, but I suspect leisure travelers - who have to pay their own way - are even more likely to bike to the airport. The article has a local angle mentioning BWI as a bicycle accessible destination and also National and its proximity to Capital Bikeshare.
On trips to Washington, Mr. Semler walks about 10 minutes from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to a Capital Bikeshare station in Crystal City, a neighborhood in Arlington, Va., for the 30-minute ride to his company’s office at the Navy Yard. He uses Google Maps for directions. “With biking, I have a more reliable trip. With Metro, I could be stuck in a tunnel for 15 minutes,” he said.
Other biking routes, including the Mount Vernon Trail along the Potomac River, take bikers through Arlington and Alexandria, Va., down to Mount Vernon.
I've biked to National - and also gotten there via bikeshare and the long walk - but never to BWI. BWI has a bike trail, bike parking near the light rail station and even Zagster bike share. But it's not exactly easy to bike to from DC.
Baltimore-Washington International Airport has the 12.5-mile Hiker-Biker Trail, which circles the airport and connects to public transportation and to Zagster Bike Share.
Ten bicycles are in a rack directly outside the airport rail station. “It’s for members of the community, customers and employees,” said Jonathan Dean, an airport spokesman.
It seems like a way to get some exercise on a long layover, not a way to get there or to get home. It's about an hour bike ride to the inner harbor from the airport, but I think some improved trails and facilities near the airport could make biking there easier for people already close to it - or to nearby hotels. But I'm not familiar enough with the area to make a suggestion.
National is great for biking to with its close-in location and the MVT, but it needs bikeshare on site and has for years. It keeps being promised, but so far it's not there. I'm not sure what the holdup is. And it would be great to be able to take all the new DoBi bikes there and leave them (or vice versa).
Dulles could use a bike-friendly connection to the W&OD Trail, the Silver Line Extension Trail and the Dulles Ring Route that was suggested back in 2003. And then, when a good connection to Herndon is established, a CaBi station.
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