Left to right: Ashley Halsey III of the Washington Post, Mary Jordan of the Washington Post, and Maryland Senator Ben Cardin.
Mobility Lab and some of our partners like goDCgo, Arlington Transportation Partners, and BikeArlington were very busy tweeting at an excellent event today called Conquering the Commute: Solutions for Washington Transit, held by the Washington Post.
Here is a sampling of the some of the best information we gathered (and tweeted about) from the panel on “Biking, Walking and New Plans for Improving Quality of Life,” which featured David Alpert of Greater Greater Washington, Jim Sebastian of the D.C. Department of Transportation, and Harriet Tregoning, D.C.’s Director of Planning.
- Driving data shows downward trends since 2001. More bike trips in 18-29 age group.
- 87,000 bike trips region-wide daily, 37,000 of those are in D.C.! Biking has grown more than 175% since 2004. If you build it, they will come
- Bike lanes and pedestrian paths are very inexpensive and don’t need to write much of a check at all.
- Transportation choices – biking, walking, transit – are central to our regional economy – DC Director of Planning Harriet Tregoning
- Harriet Tregoning gives a shout out to Arlington County and DDOT for bringing Bikeshare to the region.
- Harriet Tregoning: Nearly 40% of households in the city don’t have an automobile.
- Transportation innovations and choices are key to DC area quality of life.
- Post should write about history of different modes. Horse and buggy riders must have had disagreements – Harriet Tregoning
- Bikes and cars and peds will all slowly learn to coexist in DC region.
- Nationally, there are 7 to 9 parking spaces for every auto. Not quite that unbalanced in DC – Harriet Tregoning
- Resident parking prices are too low – David Alpert of Greater Greater Washington
- Why are we talking about car parking on the bike/pedestrian panel?
- Disappointed that bike/ped session time was cut short, no audience questions, too much time discussing car parking.
- Is biking getting more diverse? How do we help more people feel safe enough to bike?
For the session on rails and buses, click here.
Photo by Michael Schade