How those red public bicycles are changing D.C.
08-30-11, 07:41 PM
#1
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How those red public bicycles are changing D.C.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...zgJ_story.html
After Tuesday’s earthquake, roads were jammed and Metro slowed, but one mode of transportation sparkled: bicycling. People who had biked to work had little trouble getting home, and the Capital Bikeshare system recorded 1,236 rides between 2 and 4 p.m., more than three times the number for the same period the previous day.
That’s a particularly impressive statistic, given that there are only 1,100 bikes in the system and that the vans that redistribute bikes got stuck in traffic.
Disasters, though, aren’t really what Capital Bikeshare is about. It’s about giving people another option to get around every day. In that, it’s been a rousing success.
Not everyone expected that when the program was launched in 2008. Don’t most people have their own bikes? Bikes aren’t that pricey. Who needs a public one a few blocks away when you could have one of your own at home?
But Capital Bikeshare became one of the region’s biggest recent success stories. It’s obvious that more people, of all shapes and colors, are biking around Washington and Arlington. Many say that drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians are even respecting each other more.
After Tuesday’s earthquake, roads were jammed and Metro slowed, but one mode of transportation sparkled: bicycling. People who had biked to work had little trouble getting home, and the Capital Bikeshare system recorded 1,236 rides between 2 and 4 p.m., more than three times the number for the same period the previous day.
That’s a particularly impressive statistic, given that there are only 1,100 bikes in the system and that the vans that redistribute bikes got stuck in traffic.
Disasters, though, aren’t really what Capital Bikeshare is about. It’s about giving people another option to get around every day. In that, it’s been a rousing success.
Not everyone expected that when the program was launched in 2008. Don’t most people have their own bikes? Bikes aren’t that pricey. Who needs a public one a few blocks away when you could have one of your own at home?
But Capital Bikeshare became one of the region’s biggest recent success stories. It’s obvious that more people, of all shapes and colors, are biking around Washington and Arlington. Many say that drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians are even respecting each other more.
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One day: www.youtube.com/watch?v=20X43026ukY&list=UUHyRS8bRu6zPoymgKaIoDLA&index=1
One day: www.youtube.com/watch?v=20X43026ukY&list=UUHyRS8bRu6zPoymgKaIoDLA&index=1
08-31-11, 05:58 AM
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Workmates were jealous that I had ridden to work that day - Metro slowed to 15 mph. I recommended Bikeshare to several people to get home, though none took me up on it.
Saw four teenagers riding them through Arlington yesterday seeming to have a good time.
Saw four teenagers riding them through Arlington yesterday seeming to have a good time.
08-31-11, 10:52 AM
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It sure has been a success. I always ride my own bike, but some days that I ride downtown or around the Mall it seems like 1/4 to 1/3 of the bikes I see are CBS or Bike-and-Roll rentals.
08-31-11, 10:56 AM
#7
You gonna eat that?
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I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
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"However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.
Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."
08-31-11, 02:28 PM
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…After Tuesday’s earthquake, roads were jammed and Metro slowed, but one mode of transportation sparkled: bicycling...Disasters, though, aren’t really what Capital Bikeshare is about. It’s about giving people another option to get around every day. In that, it’s been a rousing success...
…One of the big changes in the Boston cycling scene over the past couple years has been the interest that Mayor Menino has taken in bicycling, and he has appointed a bike czar, introduced several cycling lanes in those above-mentioned areas in the heart of the city, and instituted [about one month ago] a bicycle sharing system, called “Hubways,” particularly centered in the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. (Boston is known, besides Beantown, as the Hub [of the Universe] 
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