MWCOG Bike/Ped Subcommittee report

At yesterday’s Bike/Ped Subcommittee meeting, newly-elected chair Kristen Haldeman from WMATA announced the completion of a draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements study which is to be presented to the WMATA board in January. The most exciting element of this study is WMATA’s proposal to adopt a bicycling mode share goal which would triple the current share by 2020. As recently as 2007, only .7% of Metro riders arrive at the station system-wide by bike, compared to 33% by walking. Of course, some stations have a much higher bicycling arrival rate, like NIH/Medical Center, which tops the list. But, unfortunately, most other stations have almost no riders arriving by bike. Because building vehicle parking garages for the projected one million additional riders by 2030 is cost-prohibitive, Metro has to adopt more bicycle-friendly strategies. To achieve this goal, Metro has plans to provide more secure bicycling storage areas to encourage cyclists to leave their bike at the station all day. A lack of secure bike parking facilities was the number one complaint for passengers in the latest survey. Metro will be piloting different ideas for solutions to this ever-present problem including bike cages and additional security cameras in the coming months. WABA has offered to host a visioning session with WMATA bike parking staff to brainstorm on how best to accommodate more cyclists and their bikes safely and securely, and how WABA members can advocate and support WMATA’s increased bike share goal.