[barbnDC]

Very well said bArlington!

[barbnDC]

I participated in a survey after Smartbike ended and before CaBi started and I put that down as something that would be desirable in a bikesharing program, the ability to borrow a bike to run errands where there weren’t stations, lock it up and then return it to a station. You wouldn’t want to have to ask people to remember to bring their own bike lock but the bikes could come with built-in locks for this purpose. I said the problem with the old Smartbike system was that I often didn’t want to go from station to station. I think that would open up a whole new level of bikesharing and would possibly be too much of a demand on the current system.

BTW I do have to say that I own 3 bikes and I’ve had a bikeshare membership for a month and so far I have found it very useful and convenient. The new system is miles ahead of the old Smartbikes.

[barbnDC]

Is there any possibility to keep pushing the NPS to change its mind about allowing bike share stations near the mall? Obviously they don’t have to be in areas where it would harm aesthetics but at least a couple in a few strategic areas would make it possible for visiting friends and family to hop on a bike and get down to the Jefferson Memorial or to see the cherry blossoms at Haynes Point. Those are a little far away to walk to and as far as I know the only way you can get there is to bike, drive or have a ticket on a tourbus. Being able to hop on a bike to get down to those places would be great.

Another suggestion: could the stations have taller signs or something to make them more visible? Even when standing on the corner looking at the map saying a station should be there somewhere they’re often hard to spot because there’s no sign or anything to make them stand out.

[barbnDC]

I tried this route again this weekend and I have an update.

Regarding the MBT, I’m glad it’s improved 100 fold. I found the ramp on M Street bypassing the stairs and it seems the 6 blocks length has now doubled to 12 so the trail is beginning to become useful. I could actually imagine using it to get up to Mount Rainer and the murals and benches add a lot. The problem with rolling out the trail to the public before it was ready is that if someone goes out to try something and it pretty clearly stinks, it could be years before they go back to try it again and meanwhile they’re probably going to tell others not to bother as well. That’s exactly what happened to me. If I were the person in charge of promoting that particular trail I think I would’ve been more low-key about promoting it to the public until it was ready.

The MBT comes within 2 or 3 miles of that other trail I was trying to reach: the Sligo Creek Trail. I realized that at the southern end it’s called the Northwest Branch Trail. You’d think that since the trails are so close together and it’d be a reasonable assumption to think cyclists would want to get from one to the other, city planners would have figured out a way to link them but it appears they haven’t. Michigan Avenue is not a bike friendly road but it was the most direct link between the two.

Once I got to the Northwest Branch Trail I thought it was great. It was clearly marked and very pretty but even on a Sunday I passed hardly any other people on it. Other trails in the city, (Mount Vernon, Capital Crescent) are so packed with pedestrians, strollers and dogs they’re almost unusable for cyclists on the weekends. I wonder if the city planners realize the difference between popular trails like Mount Vernon and Capital Crescent and under-utilized trails like the Northwest Branch and Sligo Creek has a lot to do with how accessible these trails are to the rest of the city. If you have to take your life in your hands riding on unsafe roads to get to a trail, the only people who will use it are people who live in the immediate area.

I write that hoping that maybe someone who has decision-making power in such things will see it.

It’d be really great if more bike lanes were added to that side of the city. It seems very neglected. Until that changes, cyclists, even ones who live on the east side of the city like myself, will probably continue to do most of our cycling in the west.

[barbnDC]

This is GREAT! THANK YOU!! (although I can’t see a link to the compressed version). I tried riding out to Greenbelt from DC once and it was NOT a pleasant ride. I didn’t know about that trail at the time. I’m inspired to try your route now.

I still think we need a more direct way to get through the CUA-Union Station funnel (roughly paralleling Rhode Island Ave). That part of the city is really really bad for biking. I wish WABA would put some attention there.

[barbnDC]

Thanks y’all! I will investigate both of those options (and thanks for the tip about the MBT –i think they should advertise the existence of the ramp on M Street more)

Doesn’t the Sligo Creek Trail go all the way down south? I’m talking about getting on at the south end and biking north up to Takoma Park.

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