What would it ACTUALLY take for you to consider biking or taking the bus, in lieu of motoring?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As we all know, the use of personal vehicles has a significant impact on the environment and presents safety issues to others in the public space, such as pedestrians and bicyclists. For everyone's benefit, it's going to become increasingly important to explore alternative modes of transportation as we get deeper into the 21st century.

To that end, DC and many other big cities are beginning to implement more pedestrian-friendly street and intersection designs, in addition to dedicated spaces for other modes of transportation such bikes and buses over the exclusive use of personal vehicles. I'm familiar with the pushback that a small but vocal minority has made in framing this as a 'war on cars', as they feel their entitlement to exclusive use of the right-of-way is being threatened.

What I find interesting in all of this is that many of these skeptics look at the installation of bus-only lanes or protected bike lanes and NEVER seriously consider personally switching to those other modes now that they are faster, safer, or more convenient. Instead, many seem to express antagonism or cynicism reflexively, possibly because they 'identify' as motorists and would never stoop so low as to take the bus or bike?

Ok, perhaps I'm projecting a bit. But for many of these skeptical folks evidently these measures are not far enough to overcome the legacy car culture this country has, or the perceived convenience or benefits of driving. So I am curious to know what it would realistically take for DC motorists to consider walking, riding a bike or taking the bus to get to work, run errands, etc.

For instance:
What if work or shops were closer to homes?
What if bus stops were located on your residential corner and came every 5-7 minutes dependably?
What if the roads were redesigned so that the bike lanes were universal and protected, or adjacent to sidewalks (not in the roadway)?
What if stores provided free and secured bike parking/valeting?
What if buses were free, and the purchase of e-bikes/cargo bikes was heavily subsidized?

I'm interested in hearing the DCUM community's thoughts and ideas on the matter.

You first

[Anonymous]

There’s literally a million reasons why people don’t want to bike.

Biking only really appeals to a very small subset of white males between the ages of 25 and 40.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s literally a million reasons why people don’t want to bike.

Biking only really appeals to a very small subset of white males between the ages of 25 and 40.

Yes, that explains why there is an organization based in D.C. called Black Women Bike, it's for all the white men.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More expensive options that you would have to be vetted for. For every kid of public transit.

Ah great, yes, this is what we really need: aggressively gentrified public transit

Gentrification can’t happen fast or aggressively enough. I’m all for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s literally a million reasons why people don’t want to bike.

Biking only really appeals to a very small subset of white males between the ages of 25 and 40.

Been pleasantly surprised at the number of mothers biking their kids to school - but really only on protected bike lanes.

[Anonymous]

Have to agree climate and people who don't have showers at work. Its really hot here at least 5 months of the year making walking or biking really impractical. For people who actually need to go into work do they have showers available? How clean are the showers? Also, for women, this in particular is a ridiculous standard to set to get totally ready at work. I personally have A LOT of hair and cannot stop my scalp from sweating and I would need to wash my hear after biking three miles into work in 80 percent humidity.

Of course most bikers work from home now and aren't willing to acknowledge that its just not reasonable in this climate because they want to bike when its convenient for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More expensive options that you would have to be vetted for. For every kid of public transit.

Ah great, yes, this is what we really need: aggressively gentrified public transit

Of course not, let’s keep you in urine and crime
And me in my car.
We are in full agreement

Have you ever taken the Metro? I ride it all the time and never encounter urine or crime. Obviously there have been horrific crimes committed on the Metro, especially recently, but it's not like it's a certainty. I'd rather take my chances with that than drive every day and take my chances on all the other bozos not hitting me. (Have been rear-ended twice driving in D.C., both times by idiots who slammed into me while I was stopped at a red light, and I have never been a crime victim on the Metro, so as far as I'm concerned, public transit is much safer.)

Well anecdotally I saw a man pee all over a metro seat well screaming at us the week I moved into DC in 2015. So yeah you're argument there is no crime or urine based on your personal experience. . .

[Anonymous]

There is now way I would give up my car for coming into the office. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

DC has had bike lanes for more than a decade. It has spent *billions* of dollars building up the infrastructure. The city promotes biking relentlessly. It will even buy people bikes. And yet polls consistently show cycling is the least popular form of transportation in Washington. People just aren’t into biking….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC has had bike lanes for more than a decade. It has spent *billions* of dollars building up the infrastructure. The city promotes biking relentlessly. It will even buy people bikes. And yet polls consistently show cycling is the least popular form of transportation in Washington. People just aren’t into biking….

Where do you get to billions of dollars in bike infrastructure? The current budget proposal calls for $36 million (over six years) to add 10 miles of protected bike lanes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/01/dc-transportation-budget/ So that's $3.6 million per mile. To get to even $1 billion in bike infrastructure, we would theoretically have more than 200 miles of protected bike lanes already in D.C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC has had bike lanes for more than a decade. It has spent *billions* of dollars building up the infrastructure. The city promotes biking relentlessly. It will even buy people bikes. And yet polls consistently show cycling is the least popular form of transportation in Washington. People just aren’t into biking….

Where do you get to billions of dollars in bike infrastructure? The current budget proposal calls for $36 million (over six years) to add 10 miles of protected bike lanes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/01/dc-transportation-budget/ So that's $3.6 million per mile. To get to even $1 billion in bike infrastructure, we would theoretically have more than 200 miles of protected bike lanes already in D.C.

The city has a total of about 1,500 miles of roads, for what it's worth, so if there were already 200 miles of protected bike lanes, I think you'd have noticed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC has had bike lanes for more than a decade. It has spent *billions* of dollars building up the infrastructure. The city promotes biking relentlessly. It will even buy people bikes. And yet polls consistently show cycling is the least popular form of transportation in Washington. People just aren’t into biking….

Where do you get to billions of dollars in bike infrastructure? The current budget proposal calls for $36 million (over six years) to add 10 miles of protected bike lanes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/01/dc-transportation-budget/ So that's $3.6 million per mile. To get to even $1 billion in bike infrastructure, we would theoretically have more than 200 miles of protected bike lanes already in D.C.

Look at the actual budget. DC routinely spends $100M per year on bike related things. It’s kinda nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC has had bike lanes for more than a decade. It has spent *billions* of dollars building up the infrastructure. The city promotes biking relentlessly. It will even buy people bikes. And yet polls consistently show cycling is the least popular form of transportation in Washington. People just aren’t into biking….

Where do you get to billions of dollars in bike infrastructure? The current budget proposal calls for $36 million (over six years) to add 10 miles of protected bike lanes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/01/dc-transportation-budget/ So that's $3.6 million per mile. To get to even $1 billion in bike infrastructure, we would theoretically have more than 200 miles of protected bike lanes already in D.C.

Look at the actual budget. DC routinely spends $100M per year on bike related things. It’s kinda nuts.

To be fair it's bot $100M but there is a lot of bike stuff tucked into the non-bike portions. But even just the pure bike part of the budget equals over $50 for every single resident. It's crazy but true. It would be cheaper to just buy everyone a bike.

[Anonymous]

It’s weird how protected bike lanes have become this false god. The vast majority of accidents with bikes happen at intersections or when a car otherwise has to turn. Protected bike lanes do zippo for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s weird how protected bike lanes have become this false god. The vast majority of accidents with bikes happen at intersections or when a car otherwise has to turn. Protected bike lanes do zippo for that.

That may be the case, but they do significantly increase the comfort levels people who don't currently bike have with biking.