What Cyclists Want

[americancyclo]

The biggest thing I look for in my commute is speed. Being able to maintain speed conserves energy and maximizes the time I can spend at home, sleeping in the morning and with my family at night. Ideally there would be a grade separated path from capitol hill to any of the three VA bridges without stoplights. In reality, I try to create a route to work and home that incorporates the least number of lights, or at least a series of know, timed lights.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@americancyclo 34318 wrote:

Ideally there would be a grade separated path from capitol hill to any of the three VA bridges without stoplights.

This actually had quite a bit of bearing on my decision to buy a house in ArlCo rather than staying on the Hill…If I want to go for a long ride, or for my commute, I have to first navigate my way through SE/SW, or through downtown. As was mentioned, the added time this takes (at least 20-25 minutes each way) is time I could be getting more sleep, spending more time with the wife and/or dog, or putting on real miles (riding through through traffic isn’t really exercise for me). Although the DC grid pretty much makes this inevitable, the city would be wise to start developing a much more comprehensive and interconnected network of bike paths/lanes rather than what they seem to be doing now, which is more ad hoc.

I honestly don’t know if Arlington’s overall approach is superior, but it does have an advantage because there are more bike friendly arterial streets with long stretches between stops, so getting around is MUCH easier and more enjoyable than in DC.

[Riley Casey]

Some more detail on the conceptual methodology of this study might have been helpful on this. Its entirely possible that the test pool was largely college age males less risk averse than a MAML such as me. Perhaps I’m just a wuss but my list would have started with designing bike infrastructure that minimizes the chance of death or crippling injury due to interaction with motor vehicles and to a lesser extent road surfaces maintained with motor vehicles in mind. Nothing takes the fun out of flying down a nice hill at 30 mph like hitting the road face first after finding that pot hole at the bottom. The article writer takes in safety at number six on his list and then only glancingly.

[DaveK]

@TwoWheelsDC 34326 wrote:

This actually had quite a bit of bearing on my decision to buy a house in ArlCo rather than staying on the Hill…If I want to go for a long ride, or for my commute, I have to first navigate my way through SE/SW, or through downtown. As was mentioned, the added time this takes (at least 20-25 minutes each way) is time I could be getting more sleep, spending more time with the wife and/or dog, or putting on real miles (riding through through traffic isn’t really exercise for me). Although the DC grid pretty much makes this inevitable, the city would be wise to start developing a much more comprehensive and interconnected network of bike paths/lanes rather than what they seem to be doing now, which is more ad hoc.

I honestly don’t know if Arlington’s overall approach is superior, but it does have an advantage because there are more bike friendly arterial streets with long stretches between stops, so getting around is MUCH easier and more enjoyable than in DC.

I feel like I’m spoiled living in DC but I do have the same issue. If I lived anywhere else this would be a ridiculous complaint, but it’s annoying to have to ride 20 minutes before I get anywhere where I can do some uninterrupted riding.

[OneEighth]

I just want everyone else to get off my road/path/sidewalk/line. Is that really too much to ask? This is DC, after all.

[paytonc]

Revealed route choice preference is an emerging field that really will change transportation planning, and I’m glad to see it applied to cycling. The particular theoretical approach used here is also pretty interesting, with everything posed in terms of trade-offs.

I’m also happy to see that my preferred cycling facility, the bike boulevard, does quite well even among the experienced cyclists in this analysis. On a bike boulevard, unlike on most streets here, bikes are not obligated to come to a full stop (under the broiling summer sun) every 30 seconds; unlike a bike lane, you’re not constantly dodging buses and car doors and taxis.

@Riley: Actually, the study population was specifically weighted to be exactly the opposite. “Compared with a random phone survey of adults about bicycling in the region (Dill and Voros, 2007), the GPS participants were slightly older, were more likely to have a college degree, had higher incomes, and were more likely to have full-time jobs than other regular cyclists. They were also more likely to live in a two-person household. Only 7% lived in a household without a car. This was by design.”

@TwoWheelsDC 34326 wrote:

This actually had quite a bit of bearing on my decision to buy a house in ArlCo rather than staying on the Hill…If I want to go for a long ride, or for my commute, I have to first navigate my way through SE/SW, or through downtown.

At least for recreational rides, the completed Anacostia trail and Metropolitan Branch Trail will directly link Capitol Hill with many miles of recreational trails. Now, if only there were bike boulevards traversing the neighborhood’s umpteen stop lights…

[Guus]

That’s a very nice article, thank you for sharing.

[Author]

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