#SafeTrack: when WMATA made everyone a bicyclist

[bentbike33]

Great movie as always Bobco. You have a typo at about the 11:45 mark, however. The official Forum-sanctioned name of the the trail that branches off from the W&OD just east of the East Falls Church station and crosses over I-66 is “The Custis Spurt“.

[Judd]

Love the music on the new Safetrack video.

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[bobco85]

Thanks! I’m glad you like the video (and music in it).

@bentbike33 149509 wrote:

Great movie as always Bobco. You have a typo at about the 11:45 mark, however. The official Forum-sanctioned name of the the trail that branches off from the W&OD just east of the East Falls Church station and crosses over I-66 is “The Custis Spurt“.

When I read the words “You have a typo” my heart jumped a bit until reading the rest of the sentence! I believe it’s happened a few times that after rendering the video and watching it that I realized there was a big mistake, but I do try to be as accurate as possible. I did have to pull a video from YouTube once due to an update that WMATA announced a day or two before the surge started, though (grr).

[huskerdont]

1) Amazing how much sidewalk riding was needed around a couple of the Metro stations (e.g., McLean, Tysons).
2) Where sidewalk riding wasn’t needed, there were some passes that looked scary (e.g., on Magarity), but maybe that’s a combination of my confirmation bias and the 300% video speed.

[Judd]

@huskerdont 149514 wrote:

1) but maybe that’s a combination of my confirmation bias and the 300% video speed.

No, you’re right Husker. Everyone in a car is a jack hole, including me.

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[Judd]

@huskerdont 149514 wrote:

1) but maybe that’s a combination of my confirmation bias and the 300% video speed.

No, you’re right Husker. Everyone in a car is a jack hole, including me.

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[huskerdont]

…the post so nice it posted twice.

I used to be more of a jackhole driver, but being a pedestrian and a cyclist chilled me out–except on the Interstates, where those effers aren’t allowed so everything goes.

[Judd]

@huskerdont 149518 wrote:

…the post so nice it posted twice.

I used to be more of a jackhole driver, but being a pedestrian and a cyclist chilled me out–except on the Interstates, where those effers aren’t allowed so everything goes.

I’m actually not a jackhole while driving except to others who are being jackholes. I let people in and follow at safe distances and wear a seat belt and wave to strangers on neighborhood streets and everything. Not that I drive much, unless I’m going somewhere to bike.

[bobco85]

@huskerdont 149514 wrote:

1) Amazing how much sidewalk riding was needed around a couple of the Metro stations (e.g., McLean, Tysons).
2) Where sidewalk riding wasn’t needed, there were some passes that looked scary (e.g., on Magarity), but maybe that’s a combination of my confirmation bias and the 300% video speed.

Yeah, the 300% speed sometimes makes things seem a bit more dire than they really were.

I always find it weird how isolated the McLean metro is from everything else (even downtown McLean). It’s so close to Tysons Corner, yet if you don’t have a car, there isn’t a very safe/comfortable way to get between the two. These pics show the most efficient routes between the 2 stations according to mode of travel (transit excluded):

By car, it’s pretty easy, even though you have to do a loop to actually reach the Tysons Corner metro entrance.
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By bike, it’s pretty straightforward, but you will have to ride on-street and deal with high speed traffic and multilane off-/on-ramps with no sidewalk to bail on. I’ve done it twice in my life (the second was for filming my Bike the Metro – Silver Line video) and strongly recommend against it.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12853[/ATTACH]

On foot, there are no sidewalks to use to get past the Beltway, so I mapped out the shortest feasible route. One still has to cross the cloverleaf (read: 4 on-/off-ramp crossings) on Route 7 over the Beltway and deal with the high speed drivers there, but this route at least has a sidewalk the whole way. 2.5 miles would take an average person about 50 minutes to walk (Strava assumes you are running).
[ATTACH=CONFIG]12854[/ATTACH]

[bentbike33]

Gotta love my neighborhood…

Tysons = Cartopia, Now with Metro!

[huskerdont]

I found it interesting that you used much the same route around the McLean Metro that I did when I went there to take pictures for work right after it opened. It really seemed the only sane way to approach it was via Anderson Road and the office park.

[bobco85]

@huskerdont 149534 wrote:

I found it interesting that you used much the same route around the McLean Metro that I did when I went there to take pictures for work right after it opened. It really seemed the only sane way to approach it was via Anderson Road and the office park.

It is definitely a nicer way of getting through that portion of the route. I use Strava Heatmap frequently when planning directions/routes to get a better idea of what cyclists are using. http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/ I find it a very useful reference, but keep in mind that the data is from 2015 (hence no Anacostia River Trail connection to Bladensburg Waterfront Park).

[VA2DC]

I used to think that Ubers, especially with MD plates, were the drivers least respectful of the bike lanes in the Clarendon-Court House corridor. Metro shuttle bus drivers are giving the Ubers a good run for the title during the latest surge. I get that buses need to pull into the bike lane to pick up and drop off passengers. But do they need to drive in the lane between stops too? Drivers on the regular numbered bus routes seem to be able to navigate the admittedly narrow lanes on Clarendon & Wilson without creeping over into the bike lanes. Perhaps some remedial driving instruction for the WMATA shuttle drivers is in order? 😡

[bobco85]

Today, Metro announced the dates for its upcoming SafeTrack surges, and they will both affect stations and lines primarily in VA.

Here is the press release: https://www.wmata.com/about/news/safetrack-schedule-2017.cfm

Surge #12 will occur from February 11-28 and will close the Blue line between Rosslyn and Pentagon (buses will take people from Pentagon to Arlington National Cemetery).

Surge #13 will occur from March 4-April 9 and will severely impact the Yellow and Blue lines from National Airport to Huntington/Franconia-Springfield in 3 stages. Every single station in Alexandria will be affected.

I will be making videos to help people find good bike routes to get around each surge. I have already done my filming for surge #13 (originally, it was going to be surge 12, but it got switched I guess), so if the weather isn’t too severe this weekend, I will try and film for surge #12.

[KLizotte]

I use the McLean metro to visit Mitre for work and it is extremely useful for that. But you’re right, there isn’t anything walkable from the McLean stop except the office park right there. Also, the opening of the Silver Line has made the Rosslyn station a complete mess: very, very crowded and confusing at rush hour.

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