15th Street Protest Ride

Friday, February 27, 2026 - 4:30pm
Wilson Building Steps

We recently learned that federal agencies are planning to remove a section of the 15th Street protected bike lane near the National Mall. Show up, make some noise, and take up space with us.

These bike lanes are a critical part of the region’s bike network. According to a recent study from DDOT, they reduced bike injury crashes by 91%, increased safety for everyone, and even reduced travel times for drivers. Wins all around. Why do the feds want to remove them? Unclear! But this is far from the first time that politics have superseded safety and data in a discussion about bike lanes.

So, we’re gathering at 4:30 this Friday at the steps of the Wilson Building to protest this safety downgrade. Stop by after work, bring your bike bells, your bike horns, your biking bluetooth speakers, whatever you use to make noise on your bike—let’s ride.

We’ll gather at the steps of the Wilson Building and ride up and down the lanes—bring your bike bells, your bike horns, your biking bluetooth speakers, whatever you use to make noise on your bike. (Let’s avoid whistles—they mean something else right now).

Removing these lanes is a targeted attack—it’s not going to improve safety or congestion. These bike lanes are a critical part of the region’s network and we know from study after study after study that bike lanes make everyone safer—drivers, pedestrians, and people on bikes. And they don’t make traffic worse, they make it better.

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More about Complete Streets

Complete Streets are streets designed to accommodate all users, and that prioritize historically underinvested modes of transportation like transit, walking, and biking. An incomplete street might lack adequate sidewalks, low-stress bike infrastructure, or safe and comfortable access to transit.

Effective Complete Streets policies change the way a jurisdiction plans and builds transportation infrastructure—sidewalks, low stress bike infrastructure, and transit should be included in any new or rebuilt street by default, rather than as an add-on when there's space or demand.

While most regional jurisdictions have a Complete Streets policy of some sort, they lack teeth and permit transportation departments to continue to build streets that put cars first and squeeze other modes into the margins.

More about Advocacy

WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.