The Bike Lobby is too powerful in DC...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s why the development industry lobby is pushing the Connecticut Ave bike lanes so hard. Developers want to build dense and tall up and down the avenue but also want exemption from DC zoning rules that require them to provide some modest amount of offstreet parking in their buildings (rules in place to mitigate the parking impact of their developments on the surrounding area). Of course, the avoided cost of providing offstreet parking drops right to their bottom line. It will be easier to get the Bd of Zoning Adjustment to waive parking requirements if developers can point to dedicated bike lanes outside their projects.

parking attracts cars. we don't need more cars, there are plenty of them as it is. Renters don't want to pay for parking sots they don't need or use nor should they be asked for their rent to subsidize the costs associated with building parking spots. If someone has a car, they will choose to rent in a place where they can also park their car as part of the lease or for an additional fee.

So you’re saying that renters and purchasers in buildings that have been exempted from DC minimum parking requirements get a substantial benefit in the form of more affordable rents and purchase prices?

DP. Eventually yes, that is what should happen. Fewer zoning restrictions, cheaper housing.

So when DC grants zoning relief from parking requirements for a new project but then requires the developer to ensure that residents do not seek RPP stickers for street parking, that’s fair and not “discriminatory” as some claim. After all, the exempted developer is passing along its cost savings from not having to build parking in the form of cheaper rents to the tenants. Everyone benefits then.

Do you understand basic economics?

Oh. Are you saying the saved cost of constructing required parking is pocketed by the developer to fatten its margin and not passed on to the consumers (tenant or purchaser)?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It's funny how cyclists go on and on about how dangerous the roads are, and how we have to spend billions of dollars to protect cyclists, but when you look at the stats, you see that on average there's *one* cyclist death in DC per year.

And then when you point out that, so far this year, there are 259 murders and 5,125 violent crimes, and both of those are up by one third from last year, they say "oh well, that's city living for you. Crime is rare anyway."

I guess the difference is the cyclist killed is white and the people murdered mostly are black.

Why do people constantly make this weird comparison? Yes, crime is bad and mostly affects black people. I, a white person who rides a bike to get to work and do errands, don't want people to be victims of crime, nor do I want them to be hit by a car. (Whether they're hit by a car and killed or hit by a car without being killed.) I don't understand what one policy has to do with the other except that people seem to think that the existence of crime means the city can't possibly spend any money on anything else (a theory that apparently only actually comes into play when the "anything else" is bike lanes).

Why don't you use Rock Creek Park where a bike path that runs parallel to CT Ave NW is already in place?

There is a multi-hundred page thread about this already. Rock Creek is great, but if one is going neighborhood to neighborhood, going into Rock Creek and then back out is way out of the way, particularly if you live west of CT Ave. The shops and stores we want to support are on CT Ave, not in Rock Creek. Don't assume this is all about commuting downtown, though a CT Ave bike lane helps with that, but it is also about people going to school, to shop etc.

The businesses need customer parking. They don’t want bike lanes that would displace parking.

Every study has shown that bike lanes are good for businesses, not bad, but maybe Cleveland Park is uniquely different among all places in the world, because reasons.

Bike lanes are always and invariably terrible for businesses because they reduce the circulation of people within a city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Saturday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

Not billions of course. But if some touch up paint on the mayor’s “BLM plaza” will cost $300K, what do you think bike lanes with the barriers and infrastructure changes nearly the length of Connecticut will cost? That would certainly pay for some needed cops and reading teachers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

Not billions of course. But if some touch up paint on the mayor’s “BLM plaza” will cost $300K, what do you think bike lanes with the barriers and infrastructure changes nearly the length of Connecticut will cost? That would certainly pay for some needed cops and reading teachers

Look at the budget. The city routinely spends a quarter billion dollars each year on bike infrastructure. They’ve been spending at this rate for 15 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

Not billions of course. But if some touch up paint on the mayor’s “BLM plaza” will cost $300K, what do you think bike lanes with the barriers and infrastructure changes nearly the length of Connecticut will cost? That would certainly pay for some needed cops and reading teachers

Look at the budget. The city routinely spends a quarter billion dollars each year on bike infrastructure. They’ve been spending at this rate for 15 years.

that’s a lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride thei subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

Not billions of course. But if some touch up paint on the mayor’s “BLM plaza” will cost $300K, what do you think bike lanes with the barriers and infrastructure changes nearly the length of Connecticut will cost? That would certainly pay for some needed cops and reading teachers

Look at the budget. The city routinely spends a quarter billion dollars each year on bike infrastructure. They’ve been spending at this rate for 15 years.

I don't see how that's possible when Bowser's budget proposal last year proposed spending $6 million per year on 10 miles per year of protected bike lanes, over the course of six years: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/01/dc-transportation-budget/

Either the city hasn't actually spent $250 million per year on bike infrastructure, or there are actually many, many more miles of protected bike lanes than any of us is aware of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

Not billions of course. But if some touch up paint on the mayor’s “BLM plaza” will cost $300K, what do you think bike lanes with the barriers and infrastructure changes nearly the length of Connecticut will cost? That would certainly pay for some needed cops and reading teachers

Look at the budget. The city routinely spends a quarter billion dollars each year on bike infrastructure. They’ve been spending at this rate for 15 years.

I don't see how that's possible when Bowser's budget proposal last year proposed spending $6 million per year on 10 miles per year of protected bike lanes, over the course of six years: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/01/dc-transportation-budget/

Either the city hasn't actually spent $250 million per year on bike infrastructure, or there are actually many, many more miles of protected bike lanes than any of us is aware of.

If only!

-MD resident who would have biked in for a meeting in DC last week, but I couldn't figure out a safe route

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

Not billions of course. But if some touch up paint on the mayor’s “BLM plaza” will cost $300K, what do you think bike lanes with the barriers and infrastructure changes nearly the length of Connecticut will cost? That would certainly pay for some needed cops and reading teachers

Look at the budget. The city routinely spends a quarter billion dollars each year on bike infrastructure. They’ve been spending at this rate for 15 years.

I always love it when NIMBYs resort to blatant hyperbole. It does so much to bolster the credibility for their arguments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

Not billions of course. But if some touch up paint on the mayor’s “BLM plaza” will cost $300K, what do you think bike lanes with the barriers and infrastructure changes nearly the length of Connecticut will cost? That would certainly pay for some needed cops and reading teachers

Look at the budget. The city routinely spends a quarter billion dollars each year on bike infrastructure. They’ve been spending at this rate for 15 years.

I don't see how that's possible when Bowser's budget proposal last year proposed spending $6 million per year on 10 miles per year of protected bike lanes, over the course of six years: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/01/dc-transportation-budget/

Either the city hasn't actually spent $250 million per year on bike infrastructure, or there are actually many, many more miles of protected bike lanes than any of us is aware of.

The city's budget is a public document. You can just look it up. Here's a *small* sampling of what you'd find:

$36 million for bike lanes
$15 million for Capital Bikeshare
$800,000 for electric bike rebates
$56.4 million for Vision Zero
$39.1 million for bike and pedestrian safety
$18.5 million for signs
$32 million for intersections for intersections with safety concerns
$52 million Long Bridge bicycle connection

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

Not billions of course. But if some touch up paint on the mayor’s “BLM plaza” will cost $300K, what do you think bike lanes with the barriers and infrastructure changes nearly the length of Connecticut will cost? That would certainly pay for some needed cops and reading teachers

Look at the budget. The city routinely spends a quarter billion dollars each year on bike infrastructure. They’ve been spending at this rate for 15 years.

I don't see how that's possible when Bowser's budget proposal last year proposed spending $6 million per year on 10 miles per year of protected bike lanes, over the course of six years: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/01/dc-transportation-budget/

Either the city hasn't actually spent $250 million per year on bike infrastructure, or there are actually many, many more miles of protected bike lanes than any of us is aware of.

The city's budget is a public document. You can just look it up. Here's a *small* sampling of what you'd find:

$36 million for bike lanes
$15 million for Capital Bikeshare
$800,000 for electric bike rebates
$56.4 million for Vision Zero
$39.1 million for bike and pedestrian safety
$18.5 million for signs
$32 million for intersections for intersections with safety concerns
$52 million Long Bridge bicycle connection

there’s a lot of stuff there that isn’t for bikes. obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tyranny of the Minority (2020-2023) RIP.

You had a god run. The adults are finally back in charge in 2024. Drive, bus, walk, or Metro. Those are your choices.

Anonymous rando on DCUM on a Friday night, deciding which modes of transportation people should get to use.

Love these entitled white guys who are like, I don’t want to walk or ride the subway or take the bus or drive. You have to spend billions of dollars building me my own separate transportation system because I just really like riding my bicycle. Because a city with one quarter of its kids living in poverty doesn’t have anything better to spend its money on.

Hey jerk, paint and a little concrete isn't billions of dollars. All that asphalt and signaling is. The bike infrastructure costs next to freaking nothing compared to the subsidized car infrastructure.

Not billions of course. But if some touch up paint on the mayor’s “BLM plaza” will cost $300K, what do you think bike lanes with the barriers and infrastructure changes nearly the length of Connecticut will cost? That would certainly pay for some needed cops and reading teachers

Look at the budget. The city routinely spends a quarter billion dollars each year on bike infrastructure. They’ve been spending at this rate for 15 years.

I don't see how that's possible when Bowser's budget proposal last year proposed spending $6 million per year on 10 miles per year of protected bike lanes, over the course of six years: https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/04/01/dc-transportation-budget/

Either the city hasn't actually spent $250 million per year on bike infrastructure, or there are actually many, many more miles of protected bike lanes than any of us is aware of.

The city's budget is a public document. You can just look it up. Here's a *small* sampling of what you'd find:

$36 million for bike lanes
$15 million for Capital Bikeshare
$800,000 for electric bike rebates
$56.4 million for Vision Zero
$39.1 million for bike and pedestrian safety
$18.5 million for signs
$32 million for intersections for intersections with safety concerns
$52 million Long Bridge bicycle connection

The big money comes when they build trails and bridges and redesign roads. Bowser wants $185 million just to build bike trails.