My Other Bike Is A….

[rcannon100]

Reading people’s posts (and its really interesting to see what people are saying) I wonder if the option of WMATA is correlated to whether people have to ride the bus. I read people saying they are willing to take the subway. I am seeing much less enthusiasm for buses. My problem with WMATA is that my commute is Subway > Rosslyn > Bus > Schlep The transfer at Rosslyn is just terrible. The amount of time I have sat at the bus stop admiring the office buildings in Rosslyn… I mean I might as well walk home. Buses regularly dont come. Or they have something wrong with them…. So I do, I just walk. I take the subway to Ballston and walk 1.5 miles to avoid the bus.

The other correlation I see is the more urban you are, the more willing you are to use WMATA (the more redundant choices & the more frequent the services)

As for the comments about WMATA being better than getting stuck on 495 – um no. You are comparing apples to oranges. Yes, the traffic on 495 sucks. Yes, riding WMATA is better than getting stuck on 495. But ONLY because you have an ENTIRELY different commute. What do I mean.

Okay, so lets take for me what I see all the time – the CJ bridge. These are morons commuting from MD to VA or from VA to MD. We start with the problem of why you dont live where you work – but that is a different discussion. Let’s say its a tech corridor Reston to say Rockville commute.

Can you do this by bike: No
Can you do this by WMATA: According to Google a one way commute is over 2 hours (without any system fail)
Can you do this by car: 23 min assuming a straight shot

The problem with some of this discussion is you are comparing apples to oranges. You are saying that WMATA is better because the beltway is horrible. But you are then comparing completely different commute routes. You are comparing one commuter from the hypo above – to another commuter who probably lives near a subway and is commuting straight into the city without transfers.

While the people in the ‘burbs may be morons for where they work and where they live, and their willingness to spend eternities on the beltway – it doesnt mean WMATA is a better solution for them (it means they should move, and then maybe WMATA would work).

What’s my point. My point is that WMATA is a viable transportation option only for certain commutes and certain parts of the city. The more urban you go, the more viable it is.

For me, my evening commute is something like
Car: 20 min
Bike: 40 min
Subway + 1.5 mile walk: 1 hr 10 min
Subway + Bus: 1 hr 5 min *IF* the buses are running on time

I appreciate WMATA as a backup solution – but as a primary means of getting to work, if I werent on a bike I would be driving.

[Bilsko]

1. Green Bike
2. Silver Bike
3. Yellow Bike
4. Blue Bike (Wife’s)
5. Walk
6. Bus
7. Car

Out in the Palisades means no Metro access for me – bus only. 5 and 6 are somewhat interchangable depending on weather/timing. Car is only an option when its not otherwise in use by my better half.

[consularrider]

My commute options/preferences from home in western Arlington to my office in Rosslyn (4.5 to 5 miles one way depending on most direct route choices):
1. Bike
2. Bike
3. Bike
4. Metro
5. Bus
6. Carpool (slug off wife’s carpool)
7. Walk (am I the only one who would consider this?)
8. Ski (if for some reason there are no snowplows and the federal government doesn’t close down).

The last time I didn’t bike to work was in 2010, and the only reason was that I discovered a flat tire on my bike when I went down to commute home, but for some reason didn’t have the flat repair/spare tube and pump with me. Also only caved in once in 2009 when I had to go to Foggy Bottom first and then back to Rosslyn and took Metro in. With multiple bikes set up for different riding conditions, I haven’t encountered anything here that would keep me from riding when my office is open.

When we moved back to the US for a domestic assignment one of the top three criteria for our house selection was access to public transportation and a reasonable bike commute. Of course what I now think of as a “reasonable” bike commute has evolved. The outer limit of our house search was a 10 mile commute (one way) located near one of the main MUPs. The only time I thought I was reliant on Metro was when I was doing a short assignment in Foggy Bottom and was commuting from Madison Manor (near EFC Metro). Even then I discovered that it was just about as easy to bike commute as take Metro and I wouldn’t even consider driving into DC on a regular basis if I have easy Metro access. Yes, Metro could be better, but I still think it beats driving.

My disclaimer is that while I have always been somewhat of a driver, I have also relied on my bicycle or public transit (or walking, horrors of horrors) everywhere I have lived. Some places it has been easier than others, but I make the effort.

[Arlingtonrider]

My options are:

1. Bike
2. Walk to bus stop, bus to Pentagon, metro to Gallery Place, transfer to another metro line, cross street.

Timing of #3 can be very unpredictable. I much prefer biking. I have a lot of friends on the bus from before I started biking, though, so it’s nice to say hi to them once in awhile on the very few days that I can’t commute by bike for some reason. Am fine with riding the bus when I have to, but waiting around for the bus/metros and all the transferring I have to do gets old fast. Mostly, it makes me appreciate how lucky I am to be able to commute by bike about 99% of the time.

Driving into town is out of the question. I used to do it every day a long time ago, but never did again after I moved to where a bus and metro could get me to work.

I love riding my bike, setting my own schedule and being able to work as late as I want or need to without worrying about catching the last good bus home.

[Rootchopper]

First choice is bike. (I have three; each is set up for bike commuting.) This takes me 75 minutes give or take a headwind.

Second choice is car. (I have free parking.) This takes about 25-30 minutes depending on the traffic in Old Town. I drive when the MVT is icy or I have a commitment after work. This is the only time I get to listen to music.

Third choice is public transport. This takes forever since it’s a 5 mile stop-everywhere bus ride to Huntington. (I’ve done this once since 1989.)

Other options: hop a ride with wife or kid to DCA and take Metro to office. Not bad but the return trip might the dreaded third choice above. Or, simply walk/run home the five miles from Huntington. I’ve done this twice. The downside is that US 1 south of the Beltway is pedestrian hell.

Unless you live near the GW Parkway and can jump on the express bus, the bus system in Mount Vernon leaves a lot to be desired.

Metrorail was once a superb system. I’ve used BART and the T in Boston. Metrorail had them both beat. Now Metrorail is crowded and unreliable. I use it during the work day but try to avoid it at rush hour.

[DaveK]

Metro is an easy enough bailout option for me, but I can’t stand it. I’ve run to and from work before (it takes some advance planning re: clothes) and occasionally I’ve taken CaBi.

[eminva]

I just want to emphasize, in case any newcomers are reading this, that you don’t have to be a super hard core bike commuter. It is OKAY to use a different form of transportation to work if that is best for you sometimes/often/all the time.

During 2012, I biked to work 75% of the days I came to my office. The rest of the time I took metro. While it was perhaps less pleasant than having my own private helicopter to work, it did the job. While I only drove once (when my husband had to bring something bulky downtown and needed another body to ride on I-66), if that works for you, then okay!

A lot of us here are very passionate about cycling, but even riding some of the time or a mixed mode commute is great, especially if it is an improvement in terms of convenience and quality of life over your alternatives.

Liz

[Subby]

@Bilsko 42691 wrote:

Out in the Palisades means no Metro access for me – bus only. 5 and 6 are somewhat interchangable depending on weather/timing. Car is only an option when its not otherwise in use by my better half.

We lived on MacArthur right near the Reservoir when we moved to DC after college back in ’93. So long ago that the CVS was still a movie theater!

I loved it then and I still drive through there every once in a while – after our kids are out of the house I could see moving back there if we could find something under eleventy billion dollars.

When we first got there, I did the bus…it sucked. Then I started riding my bike to DuPont where I worked at the time. Then eventually we moved to Ashburn. That was 70 miles round trip in the car and probably the closest I have ever come to purposely steering in to a concrete median.

Good to be back inside the Beltway.

[Dirt]

@rcannon100 42624 wrote:

Assuming that cycling is your primary way to commute, what is your secondary means of commuting. If you did not cycle to work – how would you get to work?

I’m confused here. What do you mean “If you did not cycle to work”? :confused:

But seriously: There have been situations where circumstances didn’t let me ride to work. I’ve had to pick up people at the hospital or drop them at the airport… stuff like that. I used a car for those. I guess it has happened 5 times in the last 4 or 5 years.

That said, I don’t always ride my bike to work. I have taken in-line skates and run. I’m a little too far to longboard to work from home. I might do a longboard/metro/longboard commute some time for fun. After punching holes in the wind for inline skaters at Hains Point a few times this winter, it makes me really want to get the speed skates out of the shop and onto the road.

Hopefully someone can explain the whole “If you did not cycle to work” thang. That still has me baffled.

Love,

Dirt

[vvill]

RE: the Metro trains

I think it could be a lot better than it is. That’s the issue I have with it. It has almost no redundancy built in, it’s very shaky, quite expensive with a screwy fare system, seems to have serious safety issues, horrible escalator/elevator outages (I would not want to be disabled and rely on Metro), poor capacity at peak hours, strange wet-dog-smells-in-the-rain carpeting, and from an outsider perspective – it’s really very unimpressive for the capital city of the USA. I have also commuted regularly by subway/commuter trains in a few other cities (London, Sydney, Brisbane) and also sampled quite a lot of other systems to come up with these conclusions.

If you have never been delayed by 1hr+ on a Metro ride and you’re a regular peak hour Metro rider, consider yourself lucky! It doesn’t happen frequently, but when it does, it’s a serious clusterfiretruck.

I don’t think the buses are bad at all really. If there was a single bus from home I’d consider it but usually if I get the bus to Ballston, I then have to grab a train or another bus, and train wins.

Comparing metro with driving in traffic isn’t that meaningful, I agree. DC is one of the worst traffic cities in the country.

[mstone]

@rcannon100 42689 wrote:

The other correlation I see is the more urban you are, the more willing you are to use WMATA (the more redundant choices & the more frequent the services)

Or, put another way, “the less time you have to spend on WMATA, the more willing you are to use it”. Yes, driving is bad. But here’s a secret: if you’re a distance commuter, the times generally end up being fairly consistent. Even if the road is tied up and annoying at one spot, it’ll create a clear spot to make the average end up about the same. I used to do about 40 miles one way on the beltway (early contrarush) and it almost always took about 45 minutes in the morning and about 55 minutes in the afternoon. Some spots are congested, other spots are clear. With metro, once it goes south, you’re done. Real commute: get on at vienna. kicked off at EFC because doors won’t close. stuck with doors closed at foggy bottom because of smoke at federal triangle. kicked off train at one of those downtown stations with the obnoxious narrow platform because they decided to turn around the train to fix the schedule. attempt to not die of “pushed onto third rail by ridiculous crowd”. people still coming down the escalators into hell. get on third train. get to work and rant for a while. That sort of thing just doesn’t happen in a car. Worst case, you GTFO and stop for a sandwich.

[consularrider]

@vvill 42728 wrote:

RE: the Metro trains

I think it could be a lot better than it is … I have also commuted regularly by subway/commuter trains in a few other cities (London, Sydney, Brisbane) and also sampled quite a lot of other systems to come up with these conclusions …

I have also used numerous other systems for commuting (Chicago, Atlanta, London, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Bucharest, and Madrid) and riden these systems (where the exist) in several other US cities and countries on three other continents. Probably of all of these only the Madrid system was better than Metro. Unfortunately, other than Atlanta, I’ve not had the opportunity to ride in any system newer than Metro. I rate Metro better than Atlanta’s system because it has much broader coverage (of course that was 25 years ago and I have no idea what it is like now). In London, we ended up selling off one of our government owned apartment buildings because no one wanted to live there and have to commute in on the Northern Line, I was lucky to live right on the Jubilee line near Swiss Cottage.

[pfunkallstar]

Metro is my anti-happy. If I can’t bike, I will usually telework. If all else fails then VERY RARELY, I will take the Metro.

[americancyclo]

@rcannon100 42689 wrote:

I am seeing much less enthusiasm for buses.

That’s because no one wants to ride the “loser cruiser”:cool:

@mstone 42732 wrote:

Real commute: get on at vienna. kicked off at EFC because doors won’t close. stuck with doors closed at foggy bottom because of smoke at federal triangle. kicked off train at one of those downtown stations with the obnoxious narrow platform because they decided to turn around the train to fix the schedule. attempt to not die of “pushed onto third rail by ridiculous crowd”. people still coming down the escalators into hell. get on third train. get to work and rant for a while. That sort of thing just doesn’t happen in a car. Worst case, you GTFO and stop for a sandwich.

I think that sort of thing did happen to the drivers out on the FFX County Parkway in the snow last year. Some folks were stranded for over eight hours. Yes, that was a one time thing, but I doubt your WMATA commute detailed above happens with any regularity. I’ve had a few bad commutes on WMATA, but nothing on a regular basis that would make me think of purchasing a second car, driving to DC everyday and paying for parking.

[jabberwocky]

Working in Great Falls, riding or driving are pretty much my only choices.

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