New bike lane on Old Georgetown Rd in Bethesda

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+100
The only perspectives commuters have of DC and its roads, traffic and congestion are the ones they create themselves with their own congestion. And rather than yelling anonymously on a message board perhaps they'd be better off pursuing any number of other, better options, like using more mass transit, or lobbying their employers for more remote work, or more flexible work schedules, or finding jobs in less congested areas.

"Commuters" includes everybody going to work or from work, whether they're driving, walking, taking the bus, taking the Metro, bicycling, or anything else. Also, why are trips to or from work more important then trips for other reasons? If you need to drive your car on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, I need to ride my bike on Old Georgetown Road to get to a medical appointment, my neighbor needs to walk on Old Georgetown Road to get to religious services, and my other neighbor needs to take the bus on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, why is your trip the only one that gets talked about?

Agreec..but the needs of 50 walkers are not equal to the needs of 5000 drivers. (totally made up numbers no idea how many of each there are)

Our transportation system prioritizes driving over everything else, and then more people drive, and then that gets used as justification to continue prioritizing driving over everything else.

No, you're not more important just because you're in a car on a road with lots of other people in cars.

Not just our transportation system, but our entire built environment. I wonder which one is the chicken and which one is the egg. I’ve never seen anyone, including the so-called smart growthers, so much as criticize a builder for having too much parking.

Then you're not looking? Municipalities are abolishing mandatory minimum parking requirements all over the country. In fact, there's a bill coming up to do that around transit stations in Montgomery County.

Hahaha. That law is an urbanist meme. Builders almost always build more than the minimum, so eliminating the minimum does nothing in the real world. Where are you when builders are making more than two spaces per unit hundreds of feet from metro fare gates?

What does "that law is an urbanist meme" even mean?

It means the Moon bill will have no real world impact. You don’t seem to dispute that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Too bad this thread is about Montgomery County, which was and continues to be built for cars. Your planning heroes abandon their biking ideals any time a developer shows up. Take your DC statements to another thread.

Old Georgetown Road is a very old road. It predates cars by at least 150 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+100
The only perspectives commuters have of DC and its roads, traffic and congestion are the ones they create themselves with their own congestion. And rather than yelling anonymously on a message board perhaps they'd be better off pursuing any number of other, better options, like using more mass transit, or lobbying their employers for more remote work, or more flexible work schedules, or finding jobs in less congested areas.

"Commuters" includes everybody going to work or from work, whether they're driving, walking, taking the bus, taking the Metro, bicycling, or anything else. Also, why are trips to or from work more important then trips for other reasons? If you need to drive your car on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, I need to ride my bike on Old Georgetown Road to get to a medical appointment, my neighbor needs to walk on Old Georgetown Road to get to religious services, and my other neighbor needs to take the bus on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, why is your trip the only one that gets talked about?

Agreec..but the needs of 50 walkers are not equal to the needs of 5000 drivers. (totally made up numbers no idea how many of each there are)

Our transportation system prioritizes driving over everything else, and then more people drive, and then that gets used as justification to continue prioritizing driving over everything else.

No, you're not more important just because you're in a car on a road with lots of other people in cars.

Not just our transportation system, but our entire built environment. I wonder which one is the chicken and which one is the egg. I’ve never seen anyone, including the so-called smart growthers, so much as criticize a builder for having too much parking.

DC was planned before automobiles existed but sure whatever.

Too bad this thread is about Montgomery County, which was and continues to be built for cars. Your planning heroes abandon their biking ideals any time a developer shows up. Take your DC statements to another thread.

Takoma Park, Garret Park, Glenn Echo and many other communities in Montgomery County were planned as streetcar suburbs. There, does that make you happy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+100
The only perspectives commuters have of DC and its roads, traffic and congestion are the ones they create themselves with their own congestion. And rather than yelling anonymously on a message board perhaps they'd be better off pursuing any number of other, better options, like using more mass transit, or lobbying their employers for more remote work, or more flexible work schedules, or finding jobs in less congested areas.

"Commuters" includes everybody going to work or from work, whether they're driving, walking, taking the bus, taking the Metro, bicycling, or anything else. Also, why are trips to or from work more important then trips for other reasons? If you need to drive your car on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, I need to ride my bike on Old Georgetown Road to get to a medical appointment, my neighbor needs to walk on Old Georgetown Road to get to religious services, and my other neighbor needs to take the bus on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, why is your trip the only one that gets talked about?

Agreec..but the needs of 50 walkers are not equal to the needs of 5000 drivers. (totally made up numbers no idea how many of each there are)

Our transportation system prioritizes driving over everything else, and then more people drive, and then that gets used as justification to continue prioritizing driving over everything else.

No, you're not more important just because you're in a car on a road with lots of other people in cars.

Not just our transportation system, but our entire built environment. I wonder which one is the chicken and which one is the egg. I’ve never seen anyone, including the so-called smart growthers, so much as criticize a builder for having too much parking.

Then you're not looking? Municipalities are abolishing mandatory minimum parking requirements all over the country. In fact, there's a bill coming up to do that around transit stations in Montgomery County.

Hahaha. That law is an urbanist meme. Builders almost always build more than the minimum, so eliminating the minimum does nothing in the real world. Where are you when builders are making more than two spaces per unit hundreds of feet from metro fare gates?

What does "that law is an urbanist meme" even mean?

It means the Moon bill will have no real world impact. You don’t seem to dispute that.

That's great! Then nobody will oppose it, and it will pass. Good news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+100
The only perspectives commuters have of DC and its roads, traffic and congestion are the ones they create themselves with their own congestion. And rather than yelling anonymously on a message board perhaps they'd be better off pursuing any number of other, better options, like using more mass transit, or lobbying their employers for more remote work, or more flexible work schedules, or finding jobs in less congested areas.

"Commuters" includes everybody going to work or from work, whether they're driving, walking, taking the bus, taking the Metro, bicycling, or anything else. Also, why are trips to or from work more important then trips for other reasons? If you need to drive your car on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, I need to ride my bike on Old Georgetown Road to get to a medical appointment, my neighbor needs to walk on Old Georgetown Road to get to religious services, and my other neighbor needs to take the bus on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, why is your trip the only one that gets talked about?

Agreec..but the needs of 50 walkers are not equal to the needs of 5000 drivers. (totally made up numbers no idea how many of each there are)

Our transportation system prioritizes driving over everything else, and then more people drive, and then that gets used as justification to continue prioritizing driving over everything else.

No, you're not more important just because you're in a car on a road with lots of other people in cars.

Not just our transportation system, but our entire built environment. I wonder which one is the chicken and which one is the egg. I’ve never seen anyone, including the so-called smart growthers, so much as criticize a builder for having too much parking.

DC was planned before automobiles existed but sure whatever.

Too bad this thread is about Montgomery County, which was and continues to be built for cars. Your planning heroes abandon their biking ideals any time a developer shows up. Take your DC statements to another thread.

Takoma Park, Garret Park, Glenn Echo and many other communities in Montgomery County were planned as streetcar suburbs. There, does that make you happy?

Multiple Chevy Chases too.

Garrett Park isn't a streetcar suburb, though, it's a B&O railroad suburb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plus how even could you "gentrify" BETHESDA?

These bike lanes solely benefit people who live in expensive, exclusive neighborhoods and make the jobs on the other sides of those neighborhoods less accessible. Adding an extra 15 minutes to a single parent’s commute can make that job impractical from a child care standpoint. We have said yes to more housing and it’s not getting built, so save the housing memes for another thread.

Because car transportation is so much more affordable than bicycle transportation or bus transportation! Wait, what?

Oh look how privileged you are. How long does it take to bike or bus from Germantown to downtown Bethesda? Not everyone can afford to live on a metro line or close enough to bike.

Lots of people actually routinely take transit, mostly buses, from Germantown to downtown Bethesda. Lots of people actually routinely use bikes to get around. Honestly, you don't even need to get out of your bubble. Just actually look at the people who are on the sidewalks and bus stops as you drive by them in your car. But don't look at them long enough to hit them.

How long does it take? How many transfers have go right so you can get to the daycare pickup on time?

Why don't you give it a try and find out for yourself? You can chat with your fellow bus riders while you're doing it, and learn more about it.

You don’t know. You like to lecture and judge people on how to get around from your place of privilege but you don’t actually know.

[Anonymous]

I don’t even know why people are arguing. The current configuration will not stay. That much is certain.

The main question going forward is what a future configuration will look like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plus how even could you "gentrify" BETHESDA?

These bike lanes solely benefit people who live in expensive, exclusive neighborhoods and make the jobs on the other sides of those neighborhoods less accessible. Adding an extra 15 minutes to a single parent’s commute can make that job impractical from a child care standpoint. We have said yes to more housing and it’s not getting built, so save the housing memes for another thread.

Because car transportation is so much more affordable than bicycle transportation or bus transportation! Wait, what?

Oh look how privileged you are. How long does it take to bike or bus from Germantown to downtown Bethesda? Not everyone can afford to live on a metro line or close enough to bike.

Lots of people actually routinely take transit, mostly buses, from Germantown to downtown Bethesda. Lots of people actually routinely use bikes to get around. Honestly, you don't even need to get out of your bubble. Just actually look at the people who are on the sidewalks and bus stops as you drive by them in your car. But don't look at them long enough to hit them.

How long does it take? How many transfers have go right so you can get to the daycare pickup on time?

Why don't you give it a try and find out for yourself? You can chat with your fellow bus riders while you're doing it, and learn more about it.

You don’t know. You like to lecture and judge people on how to get around from your place of privilege but you don’t actually know.

Ride buses, don't ride buses, I don't care. I do care that you recognize the reality that many of your fellow residents of Montgomery County, assuming you actually are a resident of Montgomery County, use buses and rely on buses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t even know why people are arguing. The current configuration will not stay. That much is certain.

The main question going forward is what a future configuration will look like.

The people who hated the Seminary Road diet in Alexandria were also certain that the road diet wouldn't stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+100
The only perspectives commuters have of DC and its roads, traffic and congestion are the ones they create themselves with their own congestion. And rather than yelling anonymously on a message board perhaps they'd be better off pursuing any number of other, better options, like using more mass transit, or lobbying their employers for more remote work, or more flexible work schedules, or finding jobs in less congested areas.

"Commuters" includes everybody going to work or from work, whether they're driving, walking, taking the bus, taking the Metro, bicycling, or anything else. Also, why are trips to or from work more important then trips for other reasons? If you need to drive your car on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, I need to ride my bike on Old Georgetown Road to get to a medical appointment, my neighbor needs to walk on Old Georgetown Road to get to religious services, and my other neighbor needs to take the bus on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, why is your trip the only one that gets talked about?

Agreec..but the needs of 50 walkers are not equal to the needs of 5000 drivers. (totally made up numbers no idea how many of each there are)

Our transportation system prioritizes driving over everything else, and then more people drive, and then that gets used as justification to continue prioritizing driving over everything else.

No, you're not more important just because you're in a car on a road with lots of other people in cars.

Not just our transportation system, but our entire built environment. I wonder which one is the chicken and which one is the egg. I’ve never seen anyone, including the so-called smart growthers, so much as criticize a builder for having too much parking.

Then you're not looking? Municipalities are abolishing mandatory minimum parking requirements all over the country. In fact, there's a bill coming up to do that around transit stations in Montgomery County.

Hahaha. That law is an urbanist meme. Builders almost always build more than the minimum, so eliminating the minimum does nothing in the real world. Where are you when builders are making more than two spaces per unit hundreds of feet from metro fare gates?

What does "that law is an urbanist meme" even mean?

It means the Moon bill will have no real world impact. You don’t seem to dispute that.

That's great! Then nobody will oppose it, and it will pass. Good news.

Typical urbanist BS. You like to say you’re for changing things and making them more affordable but you don’t want to make developers do anything that might make them uncomfortable. Have fun with your virtue signaling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plus how even could you "gentrify" BETHESDA?

These bike lanes solely benefit people who live in expensive, exclusive neighborhoods and make the jobs on the other sides of those neighborhoods less accessible. Adding an extra 15 minutes to a single parent’s commute can make that job impractical from a child care standpoint. We have said yes to more housing and it’s not getting built, so save the housing memes for another thread.

Because car transportation is so much more affordable than bicycle transportation or bus transportation! Wait, what?

Oh look how privileged you are. How long does it take to bike or bus from Germantown to downtown Bethesda? Not everyone can afford to live on a metro line or close enough to bike.

Lots of people actually routinely take transit, mostly buses, from Germantown to downtown Bethesda. Lots of people actually routinely use bikes to get around. Honestly, you don't even need to get out of your bubble. Just actually look at the people who are on the sidewalks and bus stops as you drive by them in your car. But don't look at them long enough to hit them.

How long does it take? How many transfers have go right so you can get to the daycare pickup on time?

Why don't you give it a try and find out for yourself? You can chat with your fellow bus riders while you're doing it, and learn more about it.

You don’t know. You like to lecture and judge people on how to get around from your place of privilege but you don’t actually know.

Ride buses, don't ride buses, I don't care. I do care that you recognize the reality that many of your fellow residents of Montgomery County, assuming you actually are a resident of Montgomery County, use buses and rely on buses.

DP. How many is that? How many ride buses from Germantown to Bethesda each day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t even know why people are arguing. The current configuration will not stay. That much is certain.

The main question going forward is what a future configuration will look like.

The people who hated the Seminary Road diet in Alexandria were also certain that the road diet wouldn't stay.

This proves that you don’t live in Montgomery County or even the state of Maryland. Do what business do you have here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+100
The only perspectives commuters have of DC and its roads, traffic and congestion are the ones they create themselves with their own congestion. And rather than yelling anonymously on a message board perhaps they'd be better off pursuing any number of other, better options, like using more mass transit, or lobbying their employers for more remote work, or more flexible work schedules, or finding jobs in less congested areas.

"Commuters" includes everybody going to work or from work, whether they're driving, walking, taking the bus, taking the Metro, bicycling, or anything else. Also, why are trips to or from work more important then trips for other reasons? If you need to drive your car on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, I need to ride my bike on Old Georgetown Road to get to a medical appointment, my neighbor needs to walk on Old Georgetown Road to get to religious services, and my other neighbor needs to take the bus on Old Georgetown Road to get to work, why is your trip the only one that gets talked about?

Agreec..but the needs of 50 walkers are not equal to the needs of 5000 drivers. (totally made up numbers no idea how many of each there are)

Our transportation system prioritizes driving over everything else, and then more people drive, and then that gets used as justification to continue prioritizing driving over everything else.

No, you're not more important just because you're in a car on a road with lots of other people in cars.

Not just our transportation system, but our entire built environment. I wonder which one is the chicken and which one is the egg. I’ve never seen anyone, including the so-called smart growthers, so much as criticize a builder for having too much parking.

DC was planned before automobiles existed but sure whatever.

Too bad this thread is about Montgomery County, which was and continues to be built for cars. Your planning heroes abandon their biking ideals any time a developer shows up. Take your DC statements to another thread.

Takoma Park, Garret Park, Glenn Echo and many other communities in Montgomery County were planned as streetcar suburbs. There, does that make you happy?

Never heard of Glenn Echo. You clearly don’t live here. When was planning centralized? What was the main mode of transportation for the entire period of the previous general plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lanes are racist. We know exactly who uses them. Rich white men. It’s a garage to say it has anything to do with the environment. It’s called green gentrification.

We know exactly who had to be injured/killed to get them: a 13-year-old, a 17-year-old, and an 18-year-old.

Four bicyclists have been killed in Montgomery County this year: an immigrant woman in her 60s in Gaithersburg, an 18-year-old college student in Bethesda, a US diplomat in her 40s in Bethesda, and a 19-year-old recent high school graduate in Wheaton. So take your bigoted "rich white men" nonsense somewhere else.

I take it that you are a white guy then. Because only white guys are so insensitive yet carry such victimhood as to go around calling people “bike bigots”. You folks spend too much time talking to yourselves in an epistemically closed environment to understand how dumb you sound.

I think you need to acquaint yourself with the meaning of "bigot". No one particular group gets exclusive rights to the term.

People who spread stereotypes about cyclists are as bigoted as those who spread stereotypes about people from other groups.

While this may give you cognitive dissonance, it happens to be true.

I encourage you, aggrieved white man, to keep calling people bigots. It discredits whatever point you’re trying trying to make because you sound totally insane.

DP. Not a white man. Your anti-"cyclist" bigotry is bigotry. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/bigotry

Those who go on public fora to encourage others to believe that all - or even most - cyclists are wanton scofflaws coveting their own death are absolute scum. Not only are they bigots, but the consequences of their bullshit can be likened to COVID deniers and anti-vaxxers. They are a plague unto this forum and general society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plus how even could you "gentrify" BETHESDA?

These bike lanes solely benefit people who live in expensive, exclusive neighborhoods and make the jobs on the other sides of those neighborhoods less accessible. Adding an extra 15 minutes to a single parent’s commute can make that job impractical from a child care standpoint. We have said yes to more housing and it’s not getting built, so save the housing memes for another thread.

Because car transportation is so much more affordable than bicycle transportation or bus transportation! Wait, what?

Oh look how privileged you are. How long does it take to bike or bus from Germantown to downtown Bethesda? Not everyone can afford to live on a metro line or close enough to bike.

Lots of people actually routinely take transit, mostly buses, from Germantown to downtown Bethesda. Lots of people actually routinely use bikes to get around. Honestly, you don't even need to get out of your bubble. Just actually look at the people who are on the sidewalks and bus stops as you drive by them in your car. But don't look at them long enough to hit them.

How long does it take? How many transfers have go right so you can get to the daycare pickup on time?

Why don't you give it a try and find out for yourself? You can chat with your fellow bus riders while you're doing it, and learn more about it.

You don’t know. You like to lecture and judge people on how to get around from your place of privilege but you don’t actually know.

Ride buses, don't ride buses, I don't care. I do care that you recognize the reality that many of your fellow residents of Montgomery County, assuming you actually are a resident of Montgomery County, use buses and rely on buses.

DP. How many is that? How many ride buses from Germantown to Bethesda each day?

This is really frustrating. You know those big things, that stop frequently and annoy you while you're driving? Those are buses. They go places. You know those people standing and waiting by the side of the road? Those are bus riders. They use the buses to go places. Bus fare currently is $1 for RideOn or $2 for Metrobus, unless you're 18 or under, in which case it's free, or a senior, in which case it's sometimes discounted and sometimes free. You know that nanny who was killed crossing Old Georgetown Road at Kingswood in 2018? She was going to a bus stop to get on a bus to go somewhere (home).