Washington, DC: A Biking Streetfilms Adventure

At the end of March, The League of American Bicyclists tried out a hybrid style Bike Summit 2022 due to the pandemic's still uncertain effect on daily life. I liked that some of it was on-line and a good deal of it I could do outdoors. So I sojourned to Washington, D.C. to attend and also see what has happened with infrastructure one of the better biking cities in the nation during Covid.
Truth is D.C. is doing a lot! I enjoyed quite a few solid, protected lanes that are new in the past two years and a bridge (Frederick Douglass) that while still not fully finished is already opened to the public for those on foot, bike and scooters with a 20-foot wide path (and on the other side another path will open later this year.) I believe that it could be a record for a multi-use path in terms of width since the two sides will equal 40-feet combined!!
D.C. has a lot of cool stuff going on. One thing I really like is that when they decide to build protected bike lanes they utilize many barriers and strategies and they work extremely well. You will see many styles sprinkled in amongst the footage as we got to talk to Citifi's Gabe Klein (who is a previous head of DC DOT), DC Cycling Concierge's Jeff Miller and Fionnuala Quinn the Director of the wonderful Discover Traffic Gardens who guide us on our fun journey to see a lot in just 48 hours.
One drawback was the weather. I had planned an even far more extensive film but with brutally cold temperatures (there was a windchill of low 20s for our Cherry Blossom ride on Monday morning) some precipitation and frequent 30+ mph wind gusts it made filming a real chore the entire a trip with frozen fingers. So a small apology for being able to hear the wind quite a bit at times. The usual temps in DC are 60 degrees at this time.

[@Cycle_1]

Massive thumbs up from a DMV bike rider!

[@abbaby555]

My family and I spent a day in DC last summer. The bike and pedestrian paths were the 1st thing I noticed. I I we've return I'll be bringing my bike with me to truly explore DC

[@broadfjord7087]

Overall I applaud them for their hard work and strides in improving their bicycle infrastructure and making DC safer for people. I do have to say those middle of the road “protected” bike lanes as they are right know are a total fail. Either they install jersey barriers or it will only be a matter of time until tragedy strikes. It still seems like a miss step in general to even think that’s a good idea barrier or not.

[@StreetfilmsCommunity]

You know many of us were very concerned and thought it was a weird idea when first announced but if you ride them you completely change your mind fast. Some of them have been in DC for over 10 years now and I have always felt completely safe riding in them. Sure, not all center-lane running bike facilities are a good idea - but they really eliminate the fear of buses, taxis, double-parking cars and a whole lot more of vehicles impeding your ride and creating danger.

[@alainterieur4837]

I wish my region was that proactive towards cycling! Instead they're painting 4ft wide bike lane on roads with a lot of traffic and a posted speed limit of 50mph and calling it a day. And transit isn't much better, it's always stuck in traffic in the city center so it's often faster to just walk. Luckily the rest of the country is not nearly as backwards as my region, so they're making amazing and as a result they have much less traffic and much more credible alternatives to driving. In the capital city, 18% of all trips were done by bike, while in my city we're stuck at 3%, which already a substantial improvement from a few years prior. I recently signed up as a volunteer bike advocate in hope to improve the situation. I don't know how it will be going, but there's no doubt that I'll learn a lot from it and that this way I have the potential to make a difference!

[@xouxoful]

4 feet wide seems nice Ok to me!

[@ActiveTowns]

Awesomeness! Thanks so much Clarence. 😀

[@gabeklein115]

Wonderful film in my favorite American city, thx Clarence!

[@Joe90V]

Wow! That's a feel-good video :) 6 metre wide cycle lane - planning for the future!

[@smarkasmc]

Love, love. Love, love. I love it! I am watching you here in Poland because you are doing a great job! I love bikes, I love good cycling infrastructure. Bicycles are one of the best inventions of mankind. Thanks for this episode. Washington DC looks great with these amenities for cyclists and pedestrians. We are all pedestrians too. Car drivers also when they leave their vehicles. They should appreciate these changes, changes for the better. I've never been to the United States, but I might add that the Washington Wizards are my favorite team in the NBA. For several years now, I have been watching their matches in Europe at night. For several weeks, unfortunately, I have not been watching any of them anymore, because when the war broke out in Ukraine, which is neighboring to my country, somehow I gave up entertainment. However, I hope that Ukraine will defend itself against the invader, will be an independent, happy country and I will be cycling a lot again, watching your movies, as well as Bicycle Dutch movies and some other good channels, and at night I will follow my favorite team meetings in the NBA. Maybe Ukraine will take an example from what you showed in this video, rebuilding the damaged road infrastructure in its cities. I wish them this! 💙💛🌻🍀☮🚲😉👍

[@MosquitoFood]

This just warms my heart. Heading to DC tomorrow. Looking forward to using this terrific Infra.

[@sebastianjoseph2828]

Maryland resident who spends a lot of time over the border in DC (I was at the kite festival!). The bike improvements in the last 4 years alone have been visible and impressive. I'd like to see more spill over into segments of DC like in SE (which you highlighted) but also west of Rock Creek Park which is very hilly and would benefit from dedicated uphill bike lanes at very least. And of course the dream is to extend that mindset further into Maryland too. There are so many 3 lane roads that could be converted to 2 lane + cycle or cycle+ped lanes.

[@ericgilliland9291]

Great film Clarence. Way to show off the great work being done in DC. When I first came here biking was for hardcore enviros, and bike messengers. We've come a long way. Thanks!

[@StreetfilmsCommunity]

Thanks Eric. I hope I get more than 2 freezing cold days the next time I am in town. Did you see this cool one also (we debuted our videos at the same time, LOL!) kzbin.info/www/bejne/opbPm6GlmKZ3r5I

[@lyssasletters3232]

This video was uplifting and inspiring! Thank you so much for sharing💗💗💗

[@StreetfilmsCommunity]

Thank you! And I didn't even know it but my friend Arleigh ALSO released a video within hours of this that nicely compliments my experience! kzbin.info/www/bejne/opbPm6GlmKZ3r5I

[@jollyjack67]

Impressive biking infrastructure for an American city. Similar things are happening in Ottawa, Canada. We definitely need more of this throughout north America.

[@williamvan909]

❤❤😊outstanding video great ideas for all city's to learn from this video need more city's to start this less cars on the roads 😊😊 keep up the great videos and stay safe out there.

[@kenbob1071]

This is so friggin' awesome! It's gotten me excited about taking the bike into DC. Since the pandemic, I've rarely gone into the city other than a few times to the Mall so I was unaware of all the improvements. Now I want to explore!

[@TriniFietser]

Over 50 years ago, bikes were used all over Trinidad & Tobago....now, reckless drivers are everywhere and there's no bike infrastructure for transport!

[@StreetfilmsCommunity]

Yeah. The crazy part is we allowed the auto industry to run roughshod everywhere. The cool thing about the rebuilding of the Frederick Douglass Bridge is how much different it is now and better for all (and beautfiul!) I always think about all those damn bridges we built across the country in the 1960s thru 2000 or so where DOTs were like - nah, we don't need to accomodate people walking or biking. And now we continually are seeing when new bridges are being built we are adding at least bare minimum paths. And an increasing percentage are getting very substantial ones. Imagine if all our bridges were built better how much things would be different?

[@TriniFietser]

@@StreetfilmsCommunity yes, it's all about leadership with the political will!

[@gregvassilakos]

Great video, but there is no mention of the recently-built streetcar tracks, which were placed in the curbside lanes with no thought regarding the hazard the groove alongside the rail presents to cyclists. The District Department of Transportation actually recommends that cyclists avoid the streets with the tracks.

[@StreetfilmsCommunity]

Someone should do that video too! I was only on the ground for 48 hours in DC and the weather was dreadfully cold & blustery which limited many of my plans and interviews (I even had two people that would not meet me outside for an interview!). Is there another new line other than DC Streetcar? That has been around for a while. I usually don't bike down it while there.

[@RugbyNick6]

@@StreetfilmsCommunity no there's just that one little stretch on H

[@ryan4627]

Just take the contraflow lanes on either I or G street

[@mrmaniac3]

This new bridge really puts the new viaduct over the LA river to shame. It has unprotected lanes with little rubber curbs and bollards in an easily invaded buffer zone between the car and bike lanes, meanwhile it has a substantial barrier between the bike lanes and the pedestrian walkway. It's nonsense that they built it to DOT code to specifically allow cars to invade the bike lane, which someone promptly did after crashing into another car while doing a burnout. I hope this wide and actually protected pedestrian and cycle path philosophy continues to spread and put those car brained bridge designs to shame.

[@mrericsilverman]

That’s super great and all- I just wish the Georgetown Branch of the capital crescent trail still existed. Total BS that they removed a vital link for a transit line that will take two decades to be completed. Not a great bike city if you can’t actually get there on two wheels. Rather than removing the sparse bike infrastructure for transit, why not build over the plentiful roads?

[@RugbyNick6]

What is this about? The Capital Crescent Trail didn't close, at least not in DC. Is this about the Maryland Purple Line construction?

[@sebastianjoseph2828]

@@RugbyNick6 There's an alternate path along neighborhood roads that, while a little meandering, still lets you get from Bethesda to Silver Spring within 10 minutes of the original journey time. I'm frustrated by the purple line's delays but I wouldn't blame them for this.

[@allws9683]

Wasn't the league of American Bicyclists the organistion of that Lunatic John Forrester , who promoted 'vehicular cycling' and was totally against anything that looked like separate bikepaths? And who in practice expected 'a cyclist be capable of cycling at 40kmh thru car traffic' ...🥴

[@StreetfilmsCommunity]

thankfully they have all been "cycled out" for a while now

[@realityblooms]

Less cars!

[@ashton835]

DC has a long way to go but this is a great round-up of progress made thus far. However, this does little to challenge the notion that only white folks ride bikes - please be more inclusive in future videos and highlight some of the amazing bike advocates of color who are pushing important reforms forward!

[@StreetfilmsCommunity]

I always attempt to get very diverse viewpoints. You can look at lots of my videos to see that. The unfortunate thing about only being in DC for 48 hours is that I was very limited by the extremely cold weather. I had attempted to arrange to meet and ride with Black Girls Do Bike DC chapter but in the end it was brutally cold and the leader is actually over an hour from the site of the conference. So we agreed to meet in the summer when I come back down. And I had two other interviews cancel due to the cold weather. In the end a one-person production team can only do so much but the weather was the real limiter and short period on the ground.

[@wernerrietveld]

Great progress. Not having the urang utang in power there anymore might help even more. One thing though: bikepaths in the middle of the road suck. I have ridden them in Barcelona, and you feel so out of place there. You are very exposed, and with the rumble of the cars coming from both left and right, and the fastest car lanes right next to you, the ride is far from relaxed, safe as it may be.

[@hendman4083]

Yeah, I wouldn't brag about putting cycle lanes in the middle of the road. Some raod designer had a brain freeze there. 🙄

[@RugbyNick6]

They had limited options due to the Presidential Inauguration route. It is really wide though, and that makes it feel relaxed. When it first opened taxis did U-turns through it. That was fixed though.

[@kevinlove4356]

What is with the "penis head" cyclist stencils? I have been called a slang version of "penis head" a few times in my life, and it was definitely meant as an insult.

[@aaron7189]

IM SORRY BUT THE CONRTAFLOW AND THE BIKE LANES SMACK IN MIDDLE OF THE STREET ARE ASKING FOR TROUBLE , DID THEY MODEL THIS AGAISNT THE HORRIBLE BIKE LANE CONCEPT IN NYC, JUST MAKE THE WHOLE CITY FOR BIKES AND BUSES AND SCREW EVERYONE ELSE?