'ello Guv

While driving home this evening I spotted ol' Arnold Schwarzenegger cruising west on the Pennsylvania Avenue cycletrack, right below the Capitol. Caught up to him on Constitution to make sure I had a clear shot from the car. I know, Citizen Paparazzi. Apparently the former governator had a meeting earlier in the day with Obama about immigration reform.

Out with the new, in with the old?

From the Washington Post:

Mayors with vision should get some credit for D.C.'s population gain

[B]y picking can-do managers willing to take risks with new ideas, [Fenty] also helped bring about improvements in public safety, transportation, economic development and other areas.

Some of the accomplishments that contributed to the city's success helped to undermine Mr. Fenty politically. The city's changing demography unnerved some longtime residents, as never-healed divisions of race, class and geography reemerged.

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) was elected mayor with the laudable idea that change can attract new residents without making existing ones feel unwelcome.

Pretty well sums it up.

Though the thinly-disguised code words get so tiring. Just for clarity, for those reading this from other cities, 'longtime residents' and 'existing ones' is DC code to mean black. 'New residents' means white.

Race is an incredibly loaded stew that underlies almost every debate in Washington (meaning the city where people live, not the federal side). Outgoing Mayor Fenty is outgoing largely because race dynamics cost him his job - to oversimplify, whites generally liked what he was doing, blacks generally were pissed off at him. It's really too bad, I really thought that Fenty being bi-racial would be a brilliant way to defuse a lot of the usual brouhaha. In the end he couldn't transcend race with results, which is what he seemed to be trying to do.

Anyway, I can't even begin to get deeper into the complexities and sensitivities of the subject here, and it would be too off-topic. But part of the reason this is actually on-topic at all is the way bike lanes lately have become iconic, lumped with cafes and expensive condos as pseudo-symbols of what whites supposedly want but blacks supposedly don't. At least early on, Capital Bikeshare was sometimes pointed to as hipster folly, even though what could be more Everyman than A-to-B urban transit that costs way less than Metro or the bus?

Vincent Gray says his goal is to create 'One City' from the current parallel universes. We'll see.

full article

18th St and Columbia Rd

Yeah, I know, I've used this building as a backdrop before. But not at night!

Getting better

From today's Washington Post, in case you missed it:

D.C. expands network of cycling lanes, bike-sharing program

"This is not bicycling for the sake of bicycling," [Jim Sebastian, cycling coordinator for the District Department of Transportation] said. "We view bicycling as part of our transportation system, like the Circulator [bus service] and Metrorail. We want to give people an alternative."

And, pleasant surprise, for once no counter-punch quotes from disgruntled drivers tacked on at the end for 'balance'. No, 'uh-oh, driving's about to get a lot more treacherous around here, folks!' kind of thing (which I was appalled to see on a TV news bit when the Pennsylvania Ave lanes opened).

full article

Let there be color

Normally I prefer black and white photos, as you can probably tell from this blog, or if you happen upon my main photo website. For me there's photography and color photography.

But I don't like to be rigid. And somehow today, despite the sort of dreary light, the photo gods commanded color.

Connecticut Ave Bridge (aka Taft Bridge)

Crossing this bridge southbound towards Kalorama, I always feel like now I'm entering the city.

color bridge photo used under Creative Commons from NCinDC

Moving on up

From today's Washington Post:

Bicycle program makes District easier place to get around, residents say

[...] the District has undertaken one of the most ambitious efforts in the country to promote the use of bicycles.

I've always thought that Capital Bikeshare fits perfectly into the ride-as-you-are concept. So great to see it taking off, along with increased bike use in general. Of course, if you check the comments in the Post piece, the haters are out in force. Incredible how some people can't tolerate the combo of beauty, efficiency, and fun. And as a friend of mine said recently, more biking is better for drivers, they just haven't figured that out yet.

full article

Calvert Street (aka Duke Ellington) Bridge

Happy Thanksgiving from DCC!

Going Dutch

Ok, so you may be saying, where can I get these Dutch bikes? Well, in DC the options are limited, but do exist.

The Bike Rack has been open since 2007, located at 14th and Q Streets. They are the only DC dealer (or East Coast dealer south of New York) that carries Batavus, the Dutch brand that's been making quality bikes since 1904. Pictured are the Old Dutch Classic (foreground, priced at $825) and the Favoriet ($1000), which has a cargo-style front rack.

They also carry the Batavus BuB at $650, and can order other models. For another option with chainguard, fenders etc, there's the Giant Via ranging from $380 to $550.

I took my Electra there for a minor issue and found their service to be very friendly, quick, and knowledgable.

More DC chic

Another case of understated DC cycle chic. As I wrote when I started District Citizen Cycling a couple months ago, I didn't think my native Washington was necessarily a chic kind of town. What counts as relatively fashionable here might seem modest by European standards. But the ride-as-you-are (chic or not) ethos of so-called 'citizen cycling' seemed a good fit.

I'm certainly no biking fashion guru. In yesterday's photo, a stylish hat and coat was enough to make me notice the girl riding down 15th Street. This young woman on Q Street is a similar case - ok, no chainguard for the purists (too bad, she could lose the pants strap), but a sweet bike with fenders, somewhat more upright posture, bringing home the shopping, riding slowly, in casual/stylish clothes that made for a nice holistic presentation with her bike. A great ambassador for DC citizen cycling.

Just watch out for that taxi.

DC chic

This chic young woman had the newly two-way 15th Street cycle track almost to herself yesterday. Well, I think she looks pretty chic.

Out of the box

photos © Bill Crandall

I love the idea of DC's first and only bike traffic lights at 16th and U Streets. The whole north and southbound configuration of contraflow lanes, the stopping point sensors, the signals themselves, the bike boxes - all very forward thinking and welcome.

It's also a disappointment, so far.

Of course I say this because I care, not to snark. The experience of using this setup, as I've done in all earnestness on a few occasions, can be confounding, unsettling, unpredictable, and devoid of that reassuring feeling I'm sure it could and should provide bikers. Occasionally the stars align and it works ok, but kind of by the skin of your teeth.

It's very important that it be improved. Failure or underachievement could be pointed to as a reason not to try it elsewhere in the District.

The contraflow lanes on New Hampshire Avenue coming from both directions are the best part. No real issues there. It's actually getting across the street by following the rules that is the problem.

Northbound, the sign explaining things to cyclists is pretty wordy and only slightly more accessible and sexy than an Ikea how-to manual.

If you position yourself dutifully at the stopping point, the bike traffic light itself is hard to see, across the street and somewhat obstructed. The timing is incredibly short, you need to be poised and ready. Once I missed it, then it didn't go green at all for three light cycles, even though I was right over the center of the sensors.

When it does change, and you don't miss a beat, you will often be greeted with this as you approach the bike box.

Ok, so I made it across (which required some shouting to make sure the bus driver saw me, he kept creeping up), now to try southbound. Signage is much cleaner, though a few bikers waited in vain well off to the side of the sensors, before eventually bailing out and going their own way.

First try across, hello Mr. Driver, whoopsie.

Second time all worked ok. So a reasonably happy ending.

Though it's sad how few cyclists seem to use all this as instructed. Who can blame them? When I did this experiment, I often felt like the sucker, getting nowhere. Unfortunately it seems simply easier, safer, and faster to improvise and use the normal signals and crosswalks.

DDOT, any 2.0 upgrades planned soon? I made my observations on a weekend, anyone know how things fare during normal rush hour?

-----

update - response from Jim Sebastian, DDOT's Bicycle Program Manager:

Yes, we are aware of some of the shortcomings of the 16th and U intersection. We may make some short term changes, but there are 2 things going on this:

1) This is part of an approved experiment and we don't want to change too much before we do the evaluation.

2) The street, including this intersection will be reconstructed soon. We hope to incorporate what we've learned into that.

The data collection is ongoing, and the results should be available in the spring.

- Jim

James R. Sebastian

Supervisory Transportation Planner

Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Transportation Demand Management Programs

Policy and Planning and Sustainability Administration

District Department of Transportation

Connecticut Ave and Calvert St

I always wonder who keeps ol' Marilyn touched up over the years. The mural hovering demurely over Woodley Park has been there as long as I can remember.

photo © Bill Crandall

Breezer Citizen

Today's City Zen Cyclist is Larry, proudly displaying his wheels (a Breezer Citizen, available locally) next to the Petworth bikeshare station in front of Sweet Mango Cafe. He said he commutes everyday from Petworth to Georgetown and all over downtown. Likes the upright riding, chainguard etc. His friend in the middle was saying, I like those Dutch frames.

photos © Bill Crandall

We're number six!

Found this good recent BBC article, which focuses on Washington DC:

Cycling surges in the land of the automobile

Jim Sebastian, head of Washington DC's bicycle and pedestrian programme, says his goal is to make the nation's capital "one of the most bike friendly cities in the country".

"This is something that's clean, healthy, efficient," he said. "People are demanding it. It's going to bring people to the city and keep people in the city."

Great to see the explicit link between cycling and the vitality of the city itself.

According to a sidebar stat in the article, the US census bureau ranks Washington DC sixth in the country in terms of number of cycling commuters, at 2.3 percent. Seems like a pitiful number compared to the likes of Copenhagen, where upwards of 30 percent bike to work. But not hopelessly far behind Portland OR (5.9 percent) in the top spot, and well above the US average of .5 percent.

14th and Irving St

She may have been biking in a skirt and heels, but she was really motoring down Irving Street. A brief but eloquent pause. Then just like that, she was long gone.

photos © Bill Crandall

Vincent Gray and DC bike lanes

What does presumed mayor-to-be Vincent Gray think about bike lanes?

At his first town hall meeting recently he was asked about transportation-related issues. According to the Greater Greater Washington website:

He said we need more bike lanes, but that they should be planned in concert with affected residents. The [pro-Gray] crowd hardly reacted to Gray's transportation plans, but it erupted in applause when he said that people shouldn't wake up to find parking spaces on their street replaced by a bike lane without prior knowledge. [full article here]

Hard to know what to make of this loaded comment. Will every bike lane require a community meeting? Does 'prior knowledge' mean notification, or community approval block-by-block? Are 'affected residents' just those who live along a proposed lane? How about those affected positively by using it? And I can't imagine bike lanes somehow replacing neighborhood parking, so I have to assume that was just an applause line, hitting what is obviously a raw nerve in people who feel ignored in the city's hard push for progressive changes. But if that's Gray's idea of a crowd-pleaser, I'm a little worried. Or maybe he only means the community will get some say in certain cases, like if their parking is to be infringed? (In that case, it would actually be a shrewdly finessed comment, pleasing his base with a scenario that would never rarely actually happen.)

Gray has also called the new bike lanes down the center of Pennsylvania Avenue "ludicrous".

On the other hand, this article gives some hope (amid mixed signals) that Gray will continue at least some of the new urbanism progress of his predecessor.

The jury is still out, but personally I really do want to give the guy a chance, and bike lanes are hardly the most important issue facing the city. But as it reflects his broader sensibility, all of this makes me (and plenty of others) a little nervous about losing momentum on the livable city front.

I've been hearing that Gray is a good guy - sensible, intelligent, and actually progressive in many ways (he's no Marion Barry to be sure). I have a hard time believing Gray wants to go backwards, or could even if he wanted to.

Probably he's decided that you can't (and shouldn't, in his view) continue the District's recent changes indefinitely if the majority population feels, rightly or wrongly, like 'progress' is being rammed down their throats.

Perhaps a more diplomatic, inclusive touch means you can get 90 percent of the same things done, but without the backlash. That's what I'm guessing, hope I'm right. That could be a good thing, everybody on board. Or it could mean slowdown-by-consensus in a city that - despite its world-class aspirations - still has provincial tendencies at times.

Girl About Town

Plenty of citizen cyclists out and about on this warm fall Sunday. But I only had eyes for one - my daughter, cruising through a late day shaft of light (and somehow knowing to toss me a little smile at the right moment).

This morning in the car, she had insisted on hearing The Jam's Boy About Town over and over. She got some of the lyrics down pat, but of course changed it to girl about town. I guess that set the tone, we were out using the city all day...

photo © Bill Crandall

18th Street, Adams Morgan

So cool, he had such a stately bearing. Talk about ride-as-you-are. But wish I had gotten more of his hat.

photo © Bill Crandall

Warriors! Come out to play-ay!

Though the upsurge in adult cyclists in the U.S. began in the 1980s, neither the road designs nor the culture have fully adjusted to that fact. "It's a huge contrast to Europe, where drivers most frequently wave, and where I've never seen the behavior I see here," said one Annapolis cyclist.

Astute bit from a Washington Post article today (actually about helpful new bike laws in Maryland) which I won't even link to, because it's too damn depressing. The usual grim cyclists battling for space among DC's marauding road-ragers. Oh yeah, that'll get new butts in bike seats...

Sure, I know it's at least part of the reality, but not the reality we're singing about here. Find that somewhere else and wallow in it.

Citizen Cycling is about a better model of what could and should be - and occasionally even is. While the physical landscape slowly catches up, Citizen Cycling as a different, holistic approach to riding can actually cure many of the woes of the North American urban bike-warrior.

I'm just saying, it doesn't have to be all fear and loathing for the sake of speed. There's another way.

[Ed. note - alright, who gets the reference in the title?]