Options for opposing Connecticut Avenue changes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

why do giant cars with a single occupant get to dominate a “scare resource”? If it’s scarce then get more people into buses and on bikes.

[Anonymous]

The lycra spandex obsession by bike-haters is ridiculous and detached from today's reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

The city has been building protected bike lanes since 2009 and every since then, advocates say if we build it, people will come. Well, it's almost 15 years later and most of these bike lanes are still getting barely used. Routinely see traffic where the line of cars stretches for blocks and next to it, is a bike lane that no one is using.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

The city has been building protected bike lanes since 2009 and every since then, advocates say if we build it, people will come. Well, it's almost 15 years later and most of these bike lanes are still getting barely used. Routinely see traffic where the line of cars stretches for blocks and next to it, is a bike lane that no one is using.

So when I use a bike lane that parallels an empty road - and do so every day - should I conclude that the road is useless and should be torn up?

I regularly see more bikers on bike lanes than I do cars on the adjacent roads. That they aren’t being used is nonsense.

But it’s also true that a lot more people would be using them if they were not disconnected segments but rather part of an actual network. A bike lane that is not connected to other bike lanes is about as useful as a strip of road in the middle of nowhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

why do giant cars with a single occupant get to dominate a “scare resource”? If it’s scarce then get more people into buses and on bikes.

+1.
We agree that transit space is a scarce resource, so we want to encourage commuters to use it in the most efficient and safest way, i.e. more dedicated bus lanes, and more protected bike lanes.

Street Space For 60 People: Car, Bus, Bicycle by Carlton Reid, on Flickr

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your continued repetition of "win all around" and "uniform support" does not make those things true. The fact that there are 13 pages of discussion here and that the moderator of the "NIMBY" listserv had to shut down the discussion there to keep it from getting out of hand are demonstration enough that there is not uniform support.

She shut it down because the same opponents were posting the same stuff...kinda like here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be happy if they replaced all the bike lanes with parking spaces. It just seems silly to dedicate so much space to something that hardly anyone uses. We should be using this space in a way that benefits the most people.

So 20 cars per hour can park instead of hundreds of people biking. Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not drive, i ride the bus to work and walk for everything else - I can't stand the bikes on the road that cut off the bus constantly it is terrifying, what people are thinking biking in and out around the buses is beyond me - this is dangerous and slows down the buses which are filled with people not private cars

Many people cannot bike - unclear to me why so many of our DC tax dollars are going to support one specific part of the population would like to know what percentage of long term residents that really represents

The more people that bike, the more space is opened up for people who HAVE to drive and HAVE to be able to park closer to the businesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

Except this is exactly what happens when new bike facilities are implemented in public spaces. google it. Facts matter.

Just because YOU wouldn't bike, doesn't mean there aren't scores of others who would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

Except this is exactly what happens when new bike facilities are implemented in public spaces. google it. Facts matter.

Just because YOU wouldn't bike, doesn't mean there aren't scores of others who would.

We've had protected bike lanes in D.C. for almost 15 years. Why are there still so few people here who ride bikes? I mean, it's pathetic how few people use the bike lanes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

Except this is exactly what happens when new bike facilities are implemented in public spaces. google it. Facts matter.

Just because YOU wouldn't bike, doesn't mean there aren't scores of others who would.

We've had protected bike lanes in D.C. for almost 15 years. Why are there still so few people here who ride bikes? I mean, it's pathetic how few people use the bike lanes.

Again, you haven't looked at them recently. If you claim the only bikers wear lycra and cargo bikers are rare and remarkable, you just aren't looking today, but basing your statements on what you saw years ago. Habits move fast. Protected bike lanes reaching downtown are packed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

Except this is exactly what happens when new bike facilities are implemented in public spaces. google it. Facts matter.

Just because YOU wouldn't bike, doesn't mean there aren't scores of others who would.

We've had protected bike lanes in D.C. for almost 15 years. Why are there still so few people here who ride bikes? I mean, it's pathetic how few people use the bike lanes.

I don't know where you are looking,. They are reasonable well used, even on crappy weather days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

Yes, our public space is scarce. So why not make it so as many people can use it as possible. If one were designing a city from scratch, planning around a single occupancy vehicle wouldn't be on the top 20 list of getting people around efficiently. As such, we should be doing everything we can to maximize mass transit and cleaner forms of mobility like scooters, bikes and eBikes, which are a game changer.

Thanks for making the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not drive, i ride the bus to work and walk for everything else - I can't stand the bikes on the road that cut off the bus constantly it is terrifying, what people are thinking biking in and out around the buses is beyond me - this is dangerous and slows down the buses which are filled with people not private cars

Many people cannot bike - unclear to me why so many of our DC tax dollars are going to support one specific part of the population would like to know what percentage of long term residents that really represents

The more people that bike, the more space is opened up for people who HAVE to drive and HAVE to be able to park closer to the businesses.

So you do not believe in induced demand?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The roads are a scarce resource - at any given time on any given block the ratio of non-bikers to other people in vehicles including public transportation or walking is huge - yet so many resources money and space are dedicated to bikes - which seems like a giant waste. It is delusional to think that adding more bike lanes will change that ratio in any material way.

Yes, our public space is scarce. So why not make it so as many people can use it as possible. If one were designing a city from scratch, planning around a single occupancy vehicle wouldn't be on the top 20 list of getting people around efficiently. As such, we should be doing everything we can to maximize mass transit and cleaner forms of mobility like scooters, bikes and eBikes, which are a game changer.

Thanks for making the point.

Bikes and scooters are single occupancy vehicles