my near trampling on Independence last night

[elbows]

Last night heading west on Independence near the Freer, I was riding in the right most lane of the 4 lanes. A commuter bus had pulled over to pick up passengers. I thought that might take a while, so I pulled into the second lane from the right and got behind a metro bus. I didn’t want to end up in the 3rd lane from the right given that I might end up trapped in the middle of what’s effectively a four-lane slow highway, so I decided to stay behind the metro bus as it stopped in the second lane and let passengers walk across the first lane. At this point, the commuter bus is to my right, and starts moving to enter the lane, not seeing me. I screamed like a goat as it got closer. Luckily and to my surprise, the driver heard me. I’m not sure what I could have done if he hadn’t.

I get that I should not have put myself into a situation where the bus driver couldn’t see me, but I’m not sure what my self-maintenance policy should be. Never pass a bus? Never pass a bus on Independence? Practice my ability to hop off my bike and grab onto the door of a bus? Don’t take Independence until X years from now when they install a bike lane?

I do like to take Independence occasionally as opposed to going all the way up to Madison which has an unpleasant intersection at 14th or Pennsylvania, which has bike lanes, but which is a bit far north. Eventual destination for this route is the south side of Memorial Bridge. CBD so sidewalk riding is illegal.

Topic

[ginacico]

@MFC 143051 wrote:

However, you can ride on sidewalks in the CBD if they are subject to NPS jurisdiction, which may allow a cyclist on part of the Independence Avenue sidewalks. Not sure where the NPS jurisdiction starts.

“Within the CBD, bicycling is allowed on lands under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service including places like Lafayette Park, Farragut Square Park, the National Mall and Dupont Circle. However, if cyclists do ride on the sidewalk they must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians.”

Is Independence technically part of the National Mall, or not?

I’ve learned something today. Didn’t know before that these NPS sidewalks are exceptions to the CBD rules. I use them often, and now I know I’m right to do so if they seem safer than road conditions.

And I really want to smack a self-righteous woman who yelled and I mean YELLED at me once as I was enjoying a lovely, slow, peaceful cruise down the Mall at night when no one else was around. It was awhile ago, but whoa, the attitude!

[GovernorSilver]

@ginacico 143055 wrote:

“Within the CBD, bicycling is allowed on lands under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service including places like Lafayette Park, Farragut Square Park, the National Mall and Dupont Circle. However, if cyclists do ride on the sidewalk they must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians.”

Is Independence technically part of the National Mall, or not?

I’ve learned something today. Didn’t know before that these NPS sidewalks are exceptions to the CBD rules. I use them often, and now I know I’m right to do so if they seem safer than road conditions.

And I really want to smack a self-righteous woman who yelled and I mean YELLED at me once as I was enjoying a lovely, slow, peaceful cruise down the Mall at night when no one else was around. It was awhile ago, but whoa, the attitude!

I’m with you there.

CBD vs. NPS sidewalks is not well explained in the official literature, imo.

[VA2DC]

@ginacico 143055 wrote:

Is Independence technically part of the National Mall, or not?

I believe that the answer is no. There are parking meters along Independence Ave. that are controlled by DDOT, which wouldn’t be possible on NPS property. I think that NPS control begins at the edge of the sidewalk opposite from the road, which means the sidewalks on Independence would fall in the CBD. That said, I take the sidewalk from my building (USDA Whitten Building) when Independence is stacked up with all flavors of buses and cars in the afternoon. I just take it easy and give wide latitude to pedestrians.

[ginacico]

@VA2DC 143058 wrote:

I believe that the answer is no. That said, I take the sidewalk from my building (USDA Whitten Building) when Independence is stacked up with all flavors of buses and cars in the afternoon. I just take it easy and give wide latitude to pedestrians.

I can buy that explanation. And I would do the same without hesitation.

Today I took the sidewalk past Farragut Square because both lanes of 17th Street (southbound) were chockablock with buses, including a few trapped in the K Street intersection and impatient to move. It seemed far wiser to stay out of their way. Those gametime decisions are made primarily out of survival instinct, not by mentally sifting through a set of rules, but I find it a minor curiosity that Farragut Square is on the “exception list” and I’m okay in doing so.

@GovernorSilver 143057 wrote:

CBD vs. NPS sidewalks is not well explained in the official literature, imo.

I think WABA tries to simplify things with their pocket guide (from which the language was quoted). But really…. You can ride on sidewalks EXCEPT in the business district EXCEPT for those managed by NPS. They wonder why people are confused? I’m now going to read the rest of it to see what other gems I discover.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I take the lane to pass an idling vehicle. I move to the front of stopped traffic where drivers can see me. I try not to split the lane to pass a bus, but if I do and before I commit to the pass, I make sure I can make it the length of the bus before it comes up to speed, changes lanes, etc. Eye contact to the driver by way of their mirrors is helpful to know the bus’s blindspots, but I don’t count on the driver using his mirrors. The worst blindspots are next to and in front of the driver if you’re below his line-of-sight. Getting under line-of-sight is good for assaulting a fixed position, but not for urban cycling.

Also depends on the bus. Most Metro busses are OK to dance with. The exurban commuter buses like Loudon county are generally jerks. In town coach companies are OK. Out of town coach companies are hit or miss. Chinatown buses are big, dumb and blind and get a wide berth from me.

[VA2DC]

I confirmed with our building grounds folks that the sidewalks on either side of Independence Ave SW are controlled by DDOT, at least between 12th and 14th Streets SW. I presume this also would be the case east of 12th St SW. Thus, they would be subject to the CBD restriction on bikes, although I haven’t seen any enforcement so far.

[elbows]

I appreciate all the thoughts people have shared. Its interesting that two of you mentioned watching out for Loudoun County commuter buses because the bus that started pulling into me was a Loudoun County commuter bus. New negative stereotype formed.

[Author]

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