Pedal power

Providing services for bicyclists

DC Bikestation from Laura Rush on Vimeo.

Bicycle racks were noticeably absent when a massive retail opened last year in Washington, D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood.

Eric Gilliland, executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association, thought fast. His organization brought in an unused rack at the city’s RFK stadium placed it near the shopping center that contains a Target and Best Buy among other retailers.

“It was full before we left,” Gilliland said.

The event displayed a reality often faced by an increasing number of people who use their bikes to get around town and efforts by local groups and governments to provide services for those who prefer low-impact travel on two wheels.

More bike parking, the installation of a new bike lane on 15th Street and the opening of a multi-million dollar bike station near Union Station have all made it easier for an ever rising number of people in the district who rely on bikes for transportation.

About 3.3 percent of commuters travel to work by bike in D.C., according to a 2009 household travel survey by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

The number is nearly a 1 percent increase when compared to a similar survey conducted in 1994.

Surrounding jurisdictions including the city of Alexandria and Montgomery, Fairfax and Arlington counties also saw bike commuting increase between 1994 and 2007/2008.

D.C. bike commuters sound off from Adam Behsudi on Vimeo.

Gilliland of WABA said more services including the recently added 15th Street bike lane and the bike station reflect better responsiveness from local governments to meet the needs of bike commuters.

“We certainly need a lot more,” he said. “The progress around the region is really mixed.”

The group, through its own studies, has counted about 98,000 bike trips per day in the Washington region.

A $4 million futuristic bike station built just outside Union Station is the terminus for some of those rides.

Bicyclists can pay $96 yearly or $12 per month to have a secure area to park their bikes. The glass structure has a small bike shop with maintenance area and areas for commuters to change.

“Most of the people who are using it as a commuter hub are coming off the train,” said Catherine Pear, marketing manager for Bike and Roll, a bike sightseeing company contracted to operate a portion of the facility.

About 130 people are members of the bike station, meaning they can keep their bikes at the facility, she said.

The bike station, the first on the East Coast, was funded through the D.C. city government and with federal money, Pear said.

Gilliland said his group is working with local governments and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to install more, less expensive bike stations at busy metro stations in Maryland and Virginia.

The D.C. city government is also setting goals to increase the number of bike racks where commuters can securely park their rides.

The city has installed about 1,200 bike rack during the last six years, according to Mike Goodno, a transportation planner with The District Department of Transportation.

Business improvement districts have also joined in the effort by installing an addition 300 to 400 bike racks over the same time frame, Goodno said.

The city’s goal is to install about 100 racks a year but usually exceeds that ambition by installing about 250 each year, he said.

-Adam Behsudi

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Bike commuting services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.