Backhanded Compliment for D.C. Biking
Bicycling Magazine named D.C. it’s #1 Most Improved City for biking! Meaning, look how bad we used to suck and how hard we’re trying!
Their profile on D.C., coming out in their June issue, focuses on bells and whistles like the SmartBike program, sort of a Zipcar for bicycles. SmartBike is due to launch this month, with 10 stations and 120 bikes you can rent with a swipecard and return to any other station. It’s kind of cool, though I’m a little hard-pressed to think who needs it. Locals who want to bike probably have a bike already, and tourists wouldn’t pay the $40 annual membership fee if they’re visiting for a weekend.
Yes, bike valet parking at the stadium rocks. And yes, the new Bike Station they’re putting in at Union Station will rock. Now let’s just get back on track for building bike lanes (even Bicycling Magazine had to acknowledge that we’re just over halfway to where we should be with striped lanes at this point) and maybe next time around we’ll be #1 Most Awesome Bikey City Ever. Go, D.C., go!
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3:37 pm
i can’t wait for the SmartBike program to start. I don’t have a bike, but i’ve been thinking about getting one. if nothing else, i will get to see how much i really like biking around dc.
6:30 pm
hey, get your own handle.
1:56 pm
bikey? are you kidding? did a third grader write this?
9:40 pm
Yeah, seems like the stuff featured is mostly high-publicity, low-practicality. This SmartBike program sounds interesting, and I’d love to see how it works, but it is clearly not targeted at the serious bikers that are already riding in DC every day. Bike lanes, laws that protect bikers, and a bike-friendly culture are the building blocks of a a really awesome bikey city.