The Washington Nationals October playoff run sure was exciting. Almost as exciting was the volume of bike activity around Nationals Stadium. Clearly, lots of Nats fans are realizing that getting to and from the game by bike is the way to go!
The bike parking at the stadium was full, every rack and lamppost in the area had a bike locked to it, and the Capital Bikeshare stations were jamming. In fact, the station closest to the stadium had a staffed bike corral for the playoff games, and it was used by more than 100 riders each game!
We thought it would be interesting to see where all those Capital Bikeshare riders dispersed to after the game. Take a look at the visualization above, created by Mobility Lab’s own Michael Schade.
Red circles represent the volume of bikes going out from the three stations near the stadium.
Green circles represent volume of bikes arriving at other stations throughout the system.
This is for trips starting between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on October 10, 2012, the first playoff game of the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The start stations included are:
1st & N St SE (including corral)
M St & New Jersey Ave SE
1st & K St SE
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice visual. Looks like some people are using a bike to get to Capitol South Metro for Orange/Blue rides home, rather than facing the crowds at Navy Yard and transferring at L’Enfant. Others seem to have headed for Red Line stations at Judiciary Square and Union Station. Either way, it’s a smart multi-modal trip.
Thanks John. Yes, it’s likely that bikeshare is being used often to “skip ahead” to the person’s preferred Metro line and avoid a transfer and the crush at the Metro stations close to the stadium. We certainly hear about bikeshare riders using the system in this way often, and it can be a real time saver for them. Those short trips are likely much faster by bike at that time, and it gets the traveler out in front of the crowd and boarding their train at normal volume levels.
There were 5 trips to 3rd & D SE, which is 2 short blocks from Capitol South Metro.
There were 7 trips to 4th & D NW (near Judiciary Sq). 5th & F NW had 3
trips (also near Judiciary Sq, albeit farther from the stadium).