Bike lanes that literally no one uses -- why are we still doing this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every time I see a ghost bike I say thank you.

Wow, kick rocks you neanderthal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every time I see a ghost bike I say thank you.

This is a pretty terrible thing to believe, no matter how much you don’t like bikes.

There's one at Connecticut and L that memorializes a cyclist who died after blowing through a red light while intoxicated.

Zero evidence of anything you just said. Cite a source or quit shaming a dead grad student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I use the bike lanes every day to buy groceries, take my kids to the Metro, take my oldest to soccer practice, visit my parents, commute to work.

Oh wait. Of course I don’t. I use the bus and car for those.

Some bike lanes work great. Others are pure city-planner GGW (does that exist anymore?) hokum that actually do damage by increasing commuting times and further disadvantaging centralized jobs and retail.

Whatever Duffy is up to is likely politicized nonsense, but the bike lane lobby has got to chill. Losing Connecticut Avenue was a sign.

Bike lanes reduce walking, not driving. Not sure why we want to reduce walking.

Huh? Biking if frequently faster than driving, especially in town. It takes me 25 mins by bike from Bethesda to Water St in Georgetown. Can’t beat that by car in the morning.

Someone's breaking the law. Because that is only possible if you speed and/or run the lights.

You don’t live in the DC area, do you? Bethesda to Water St is down via a bike path - the CCT - that has no lights.

It’s also faster for me to bike to work. That’s because cars get stuck in traffic jams. Bikes not so much.

[Anonymous]

This thread is full American idiocy on display. And not only that, but doubling down on it too.

American car culture sucks ass, and so does American urban planning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I use the bike lanes every day to buy groceries, take my kids to the Metro, take my oldest to soccer practice, visit my parents, commute to work.

Oh wait. Of course I don’t. I use the bus and car for those.

Some bike lanes work great. Others are pure city-planner GGW (does that exist anymore?) hokum that actually do damage by increasing commuting times and further disadvantaging centralized jobs and retail.

Whatever Duffy is up to is likely politicized nonsense, but the bike lane lobby has got to chill. Losing Connecticut Avenue was a sign.

Bike lanes reduce walking, not driving. Not sure why we want to reduce walking.

Huh? Biking if frequently faster than driving, especially in town. It takes me 25 mins by bike from Bethesda to Water St in Georgetown. Can’t beat that by car in the morning.

Someone's breaking the law. Because that is only possible if you speed and/or run the lights.

They are likely using the Capital Crescent Trail.

This is the secret sauce. You don't need lights if cars aren't involved. This quickly makes bikes faster when they have their own infrastructure.

Cars are their own worst enemy, and because of traffic they end up as slow as bikes in urban areas. During rush hour they average 10-12 MPH, which is CaBi speed.

So you might as well save a large fortune and just build cities around the bike instead.

I haven’t seen drivers complaining about dedicated bike trails, just bike lanes that take away driving/parking lanes for cars. Separate bike trails are a win-win.[b]

You would think so, but unfortunately that’s not borne out by experience.

Folks in the Palisades have been asking the city for 50 or so years to convert the old Palisades Trolley Trail into a mixed use path.

In 2019, the city finally got around to commissioning a concept. The project, though, was stopped dead in its tracks though by an avowed velophobe in the GU administration - who also cited aesthetics as the reason it shouldn’t happen - and a group of NIMBYs who own property abutting the trail and didn’t want to have share public land that they use as their own private yards.

Not surprisingly, Kershbaum hasn’t shown the slightest bit of interest in it despite the fact that it would allow students attending and staff working at the half dozen schools and universities in the area to safely commute without further clogging MacArthur Blvd..

If only someone in favor of the project had a direct line to Kershbaum like Paul Donahue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC needs revenue. The city should require all bikes that go on roads to register and have a machine readable license plate, so when they speed downhill/blow through stop signs and red lights the city can issue tickets like they do for cars. want to use the road? then obey the law

How many bikes do you think are actually exceeding posted speed limits, exactly?

every single one that blows through the stop sign at the bottom of a hill near my house, many times a day

If you are in DC and they are not failing to yield or exceeding the posted speed limit, then that is legal:

https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/50-2201.04d

(a) A rider approaching a stop sign may go straight through the intersection or make a turn without stopping; provided, that the rider:

(1) Is travelling at an appropriate speed to reasonably assess and avoid hazards;

(2) Determines there is no immediate hazard; and

(3) Yields the right-of-way to pedestrians and to other traffic lawfully using the intersection.

not according to DC's vision zero site https://visionzero.dc.gov/pages/bicycle-safety

How to Ride
Bicyclists must operate in a safe and nonhazardous manner and not endanger themselves or others.
Bicyclists should not ride more than two abreast except on paths or parts of the roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles. When riding two abreast, bicyclists may not impede traffic and must ride single file on a lane roadway.
Bicyclists are required to slow down and come to a complete stop at stop signs and traffic devices signaling red.

Dude, the legal code is the primary source, full stop. Whatever outdated text the Vision Zero site has is completely irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC needs revenue. The city should require all bikes that go on roads to register and have a machine readable license plate, so when they speed downhill/blow through stop signs and red lights the city can issue tickets like they do for cars. want to use the road? then obey the law

How many bikes do you think are actually exceeding posted speed limits, exactly?

every single one that blows through the stop sign at the bottom of a hill near my house, many times a day

If you are in DC and they are not failing to yield or exceeding the posted speed limit, then that is legal:

https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/50-2201.04d

(a) A rider approaching a stop sign may go straight through the intersection or make a turn without stopping; provided, that the rider:

(1) Is travelling at an appropriate speed to reasonably assess and avoid hazards;

(2) Determines there is no immediate hazard; and

(3) Yields the right-of-way to pedestrians and to other traffic lawfully using the intersection.

The law doesn’t say anything about the speed limit. It says you have to be traveling at a speed appropriate to assessing all hazards. If you don’t stop and you get t-boned or you don’t stop and you plow into a stroller, you’re going to be at fault just like you were before, albeit at fault for a different reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is full American idiocy on display. And not only that, but doubling down on it too.

American car culture sucks ass, and so does American urban planning.

Traditional American urban planning absolutely does not suck it is thw best part of America. The end result of Urbanist lunacy promoted by YIMBYs and biker bros is everyone living tiny expensive Soviet style apartments towers. Don’t ruin the suburbs you don’t even live in with mixed used 24 hour bars (in residential neighborhoods) and high density apartments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is full American idiocy on display. And not only that, but doubling down on it too.

American car culture sucks ass, and so does American urban planning.

Traditional American urban planning absolutely does not suck it is thw best part of America. The end result of Urbanist lunacy promoted by YIMBYs and biker bros is everyone living tiny expensive Soviet style apartments towers. Don’t ruin the suburbs you don’t even live in with mixed used 24 hour bars (in residential neighborhoods) and high density apartments.

Sprawling suburbs are the best thing about America? Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The city is removing a protected bike lane. Good start.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/06/12/arizona-bike-lane-dc/

DOT says people weren't using it.

DOT saying bike lanes aren't being used is like the pope declaring himself an atheist

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I use the bike lanes every day to buy groceries, take my kids to the Metro, take my oldest to soccer practice, visit my parents, commute to work.

Oh wait. Of course I don’t. I use the bus and car for those.

Some bike lanes work great. Others are pure city-planner GGW (does that exist anymore?) hokum that actually do damage by increasing commuting times and further disadvantaging centralized jobs and retail.

Whatever Duffy is up to is likely politicized nonsense, but the bike lane lobby has got to chill. Losing Connecticut Avenue was a sign.

Bike lanes reduce walking, not driving. Not sure why we want to reduce walking.

Huh? Biking if frequently faster than driving, especially in town. It takes me 25 mins by bike from Bethesda to Water St in Georgetown. Can’t beat that by car in the morning.

Someone's breaking the law. Because that is only possible if you speed and/or run the lights.

The only reason biking is faster than driving is because bicyclists are ignoring every traffic law.

As a bicyclist I can say that this is 100% true and if there was an AI traffic control / ticketing system at every stop sign / traffic signal that enforced every traffic law for bicyclists hardly anyone would bike.

The only honest bicyclist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC needs revenue. The city should require all bikes that go on roads to register and have a machine readable license plate, so when they speed downhill/blow through stop signs and red lights the city can issue tickets like they do for cars. want to use the road? then obey the law

The goal of most drivers is to make sure everyone is as unfree and miserable as they are. No one can escape. Crabs in a bucket mentality.

There's been multiple cyclists going around groping women. They count on the fact that, without license plates, they can't be readily identified. Sounds like you're totally cool with people committing sexual assault so long as they're on a bike when they do it.

Cyclists need license plates, and also insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC needs revenue. The city should require all bikes that go on roads to register and have a machine readable license plate, so when they speed downhill/blow through stop signs and red lights the city can issue tickets like they do for cars. want to use the road? then obey the law

The goal of most drivers is to make sure everyone is as unfree and miserable as they are. No one can escape. Crabs in a bucket mentality.

There's been multiple cyclists going around groping women. They count on the fact that, without license plates, they can't be readily identified. Sounds like you're totally cool with people committing sexual assault so long as they're on a bike when they do it.

Cyclists need license plates, and also insurance.

If ever you want a reminder of just how batty the velophobe set has become, this is a good place to start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC needs revenue. The city should require all bikes that go on roads to register and have a machine readable license plate, so when they speed downhill/blow through stop signs and red lights the city can issue tickets like they do for cars. want to use the road? then obey the law

The goal of most drivers is to make sure everyone is as unfree and miserable as they are. No one can escape. Crabs in a bucket mentality.

There's been multiple cyclists going around groping women. They count on the fact that, without license plates, they can't be readily identified. Sounds like you're totally cool with people committing sexual assault so long as they're on a bike when they do it.

Cyclists need license plates, and also insurance.

If ever you want a reminder of just how batty the velophobe set has become, this is a good place to start.

There's something very Trump-y about cyclists in DC. They dont think they have to follow *any* of the rules that everyone else respects and everything is always someone else's fault. Like Trump, they act like a bunch of spoiled, entitled brats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC needs revenue. The city should require all bikes that go on roads to register and have a machine readable license plate, so when they speed downhill/blow through stop signs and red lights the city can issue tickets like they do for cars. want to use the road? then obey the law

The goal of most drivers is to make sure everyone is as unfree and miserable as they are. No one can escape. Crabs in a bucket mentality.

There's been multiple cyclists going around groping women. They count on the fact that, without license plates, they can't be readily identified. Sounds like you're totally cool with people committing sexual assault so long as they're on a bike when they do it.

Cyclists need license plates, and also insurance.

If ever you want a reminder of just how batty the velophobe set has become, this is a good place to start.

There's something very Trump-y about cyclists in DC. They dont think they have to follow *any* of the rules that everyone else respects and everything is always someone else's fault. Like Trump, they act like a bunch of spoiled, entitled brats.

Cyclists don’t think we need insurance or license plates on bikes because, according to the rules that everyone respects, we don’t. I do have insurance, license plates, and identification for when I’m driving. I don’t need those things on my bike or when I walk or take Metro. I don’t think it’s spoiled or entitled not to comply with your imaginary alternative regulatory scheme that requires insurance and more bureaucracy for bicycles that are very unlikely to cause any damage to anyone except the cyclist.