Expect crowded trails tomorrow.

Smugness factor to 11. I will be insufferable in the office tomorrow. Or maybe the only one in the office tomorrow.

@lordofthemark 136795 wrote:

Emergency systemwide shutdown on metro.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/2016/03/15/8e0b2be4-eae8-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-high_metro-4pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Holy ______-ing expletive. if this actually occurs, it may be Newbie City on the trails tomorrow.

Eradicates my decision-making process of needing to be in early and driving v cycling, cycling wins, which I generally like albeit the dark mornings arent always much fun.

Thank goodness the building manager at my work cleared all the dead bikes out of the storage room last weekend.

Sorry, you are all wrong. It’ll be a repeat of Popemegeddon. I expect light traffic as everyone takes the day off and telecommutes. I expect slightly more bikes on the trail and lots of pedestrians on the trail in a valiant but ultimately failing attempt to get ready for bikini season.

Everyone wear a BTWD t-shirt tomorrow!!!!!

I have to agree that there may not be too many new bike commuters tomorrow. Unless people have short commutes, say within 1 or 2 miles, or are already an occasional bike commuters, they aren’t likely to take up bike commuting on such short notice. They may not know about trails or (relatively) bike-friendly roads and routes to work. At least with Bike to Work Day, there is a long lead-up to the event, with people leading newbie groups and more time to prepare mentally for the idea of bike commuting. I think back to 2008 before I started biking as an adult. There is a significant mental barrier to cross for many non-cyclists. It had never occurred to me that people actually biked from Arlington to DC. I wasn’t opposed to the idea back then. It simply never crossed my mind.

That may be how many non-bike commuters think. If they change their view, it takes time. It won’t happen in the short timeframe tonight, with the news first breaking around 3:30 or 4 pm. That’s not enough time for non-bike commuters to decide to bike.

One big difference between this week and 2008 is the widespread presence of Capital Bikeshare. The free 24-hr memberships tomorrow may spur many non-bike commuters to give it a try. But that will only work for people who live and work near bike stations, and who only have short commutes. A spur-of-the-moment first-timer is not going to be riding for 10 miles, 5 miles or even 3 miles in such a situation. At best, it will be people who live relatively close to downtown DC or other work centers.

But if CaBi’s response is seen as a fall-back option for future Metro outages, then perhaps more people will think about CaBi and personal bikes the next time. Or even next week, if they hear about how easy it was to bike to work during the Metro closure.

I was trying to think about how I would be able to take my own bike to work, but the building doesn’t allow bikes inside and I can’t find the key to my U lock. There’s no way I would leave my bike out on the street all day with just a cable lock. So I would have to go with CaBi. I figured that the demand for stations would be much higher than usual in downtown DC, and the regular bike corrals hadn’t started up yet.

Good thing that CaBi was on the ball and came up with the emergency bike corrals, not just at Foggy Bottom and Franklin Square (one block away) but also at Union Station. The free daily membership idea is an interesting one too. I’m not sure how many people will take them up on the offer. It might be a lot, or it could be relatively few.

Perhaps if CaBi pulls off an outstanding performance, it will generate even more goodwill (and less hatred from the vocal minority) and lead to even more financial support. There’s still plenty of room for expansion of the system. If large employers like the federal government decide to fund more stations, that will benefit many people, not just the agencies and their employees. Extra or expanded stations in L’Enfant Plaza, Federal Triangle, etc. and the first stations at the Pentagon would be great. Large private employers might be motivated to help pay for new stations near their locations.

(It would also be nice if Metro had a dedicated revenue source, like every other large transit system does. While there are other issues such as the building of the Silver Line-which supposedly shifted the focus from maintenance to expansion, mismanagement, etc., the lack of stability has caused many of Metro’s problems.)

I noted standard number of folks this am going East on the W&OD from Shreve to Clark’s crossing. (I go West in the am) Perhaps the n00bz don’t want to hit the trails in the cool* and dark at 6 am or are not riding in from that distance range.
My office looks right onto the Spring Hill metro station and Rt7. One is devoid of people the other looks standard. I wonder if lots of folks that work in DC and have a choice just stay home today.

*cool for us = Arctic for normal people.