Transportation in Logan

A few things caused me to ponder transportation issues lately. The first is my own increasing frustration when trying to park my car. The second was a post at Greater Greater Washington advocating more infill stations on Metro rather than suburban train sprawl.

I could feel the cold, judgemental stares of some readers even as I typed that I find parking frustrating. Yes, I drive almost daily. Let me explain: I can drive to work in about 35 minutes, but commuting by bus and train would be a 90 minute ordeal, requiring that I leave home shortly after 6 a.m. As I am not a morning person and my chosen profession is teaching sixth graders, this commute scenario conjures up visions of a Lord-of-the-Flies-like scene in my classroom as my students and I become progressively more and more exhausted throughout the week. Even in my wildest fantasies of fitness, biking would be a similar time drain. Granted, though my morning commute by car is relatively fast, my evening commute is hairier. On truly ugly nights, it can take 75 minutes, if I include the time it takes for me to get parked at home in Logan.

Mr. 14th & You also has a commute conundrum. He works about a mile from home, which is great. The conundrum part is that there is no Metro or MetroBus that will get him to work. So Mr. 14th & You takes a Capital Bikeshare bike (when one is available) and gets to work in about 10 minutes. Absent an available bike to let, Mr. 14th & You walks to work. When attired in a suit on a hot or wet day, the commute that otherwise seems like a lovely opportunity for some light exercise becomes a 20 minute slog. Though cabs are certainly an option, the price of a round-trip fare and tips is comparable to the cost of using a parking garage for the day.

Despite these (minor) commuting challenges, both Mr. 14th & You and I love our jobs and love our apartment. Depending on the day, I mostly accept the trade-offs of life in a vital urban area. I offer these scenarios not as complaints. These are the daily journeys that our household makes for better or worse.

Now, let me get to the other reason why I have been thinking about transportation options. While reading the above-mentioned post on Greater Greater Washington, I noticed the following comment from Tom Coumaris: "I live at 14th and S and Metrorail is worthless to me except for DCA." Other GGW readers jumped on Tom for this statement. One retort was, "14th and S NW? 3 blocks from the U Street Station? How is that worthless?" This back-and-forth got me thinking. How often do Mr. 14th & You and I use Metro? How often could we use it.

As it would be for many Logan/U St. residents, the U Street stop on the Green Line is our closest Metro station. My opinion, informed by eight years of experience riding the Green Line from U Street is that it rarely offers a time benefit over other alternatives. The Circulator gets me to DC USA faster than walking to U Street, awaiting a train, and riding one stop. Even driving will get me to CoHi and parked within 15 minutes for very little money. Metro is a great way to get to Penn Quarter, but cycling is still faster. Where time really starts to drag, though, is when one attempts to transfer to the Red or Blue/Orange Lines from the Green Line. In such cases, I will typically begin my trip by walking to Dupont Circle or McPherson Square, respectively. Why do I walk to McPherson? Because, if I jaywalk judiciously, I can keep pace with a bus from 14th and R to 14th and L during rush hour. When one factors in waiting for the bus to arrive, walking almost always saves time.

Speaking of the bus, it's mostly off my radar. Though I can understand the utility of using Metrobus to commute north-south along 14th or 16 streets, it doesn't get me many places where I need to be. Two summers ago as a grad student at GW, I thought I'd finally make friends with the bus. Alas, the WMATA trip planner said it would take me either a bus to Metro tranfer or two bus lines to make that 1.8 mile trip. Total trip time was optimistically estimated at 31-33 minutes by WMATA and 25 to 27 minutes by Google Maps (assuming the bus was one time, heh). Mr. 14th & You, in a push to be an enlightened non-car-dependent urban dweller, once recommended that we take the bus to Georgetown. We spent 15 minutes sitting on G2 bus at 14th and P awaiting a driver shift change that day. Once the bus finally achieved forward momentum, we stopped on the 1500 block, the 1600 block, AND the 1700 block. All members of our party agreed that taking a cab home would be wise.

So the answers to my own questions are that Mr. 14th & You and I might go weeks between using Metro and Metrobus even if we tried to use them more often. Fortunately, walking and driving are typically convenient for us. I might be better able to leave my car parked if I embraced Capital Bikeshare. I'm still overcoming my fears of urban cycling that stem from the close calls I witness between cars and cyclists every day. Also, though I can ride a bike competently on the tow path, I am easily overstimulated and have a significant lack of large motor coordination. If you ever see what appears to be a tangle of knees and elbows zig-zagging down the road, it likely means that Mrs. 14th & You is now using CaBi.

I do understand, though, that we are just one case study of travel habits among Logan Circle households. I'm curious how other residents feel about transportation options along 14th and U Streets. We have more choices in transportation than many of our DC neighbors, not to mention residents of other cities. Trends in parking space utilization at new condo developments certainly seem to show that many folks are giving up cars in the city. Do you feel like you have been able to get away from using a car? Have you tried to avoid using a car and been frustrated by the experience? If you were being 100 percent selfish, how would you re-align existing transportation options to better serve Logan residents?

P.S.: Yes, this post was penned by the Mrs. 14th & You, the very same woman who walked off of blog duty about two years ago to go back to school and change careers. You may see some more of my ramblings between now and the start of the school year.

14th and R Bikeshare station moved to make way for construction

In a further sign that construction on the PN Hoffman project at the Verizon building at 14th and R is about to get underway, Capital Bikeshare workers this morning relocated the station across 14th Street. the station now resides at the northeast corner, in front of the Whitman-Walker clinic.



The PN Hoffman project is one of two significant development projects set to get underway at that corner this summer--the other being the Bonstra | Haresign-designed condo project at 1638 14th Street, next door to the AYT Auto Shop.

Unfortunately, Bikeshare is not adding any docks to the 14th and R station, despite the fact that it--like most area stations--is devoid of bikes by 8 AM most weekdays.

Capital Bikeshare's "Winter Warrior" Contest

Just received this from the nice people over at Capital Bikeshare. This is a clever bit of marketing to encourage use of the bikeshare system during winter weather, I think.

That said, I would be happy to cede the title of Winter Warrior to someone else if these single degree wind chills continue much longer...

Announcing: The Winter Weather Warrior Contest

On January 1, the hunt is on to find Capital Bikeshare's Winter Weather Warrior. The Capital Bikeshare annual or monthly member with the most trips taken from January 1- February 28 will be awarded the title of Winter Weather Warrior, a three-year extension of their membership, two annual memberships for friends, a $100 Hudson Trail gift card and a $25 Starbucks gift card.

In addition to the grand prize contest, Capital Bikeshare members can look forward to two full months of other contests and random giveaways. To participate in the Winter Weather Warrior contests and random drawings, you must opt in.

Visit our contest page for more details and to opt in. The Winter Weather Warrior contest is sponsored by goDCgo and BikeArlington.

Transit Tuesday: Capital Bikeshare Launches, Public Meeting for 14th Street Streetscape Project

EDIT: From an email I received from Mike Bernardo, chair of ANC2F's Community Development Committee:

On Wednesday, September 29, 2010, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) will
hold a public community meeting on the 14th Street, NW Streetscape Design Project. The meeting will
take place from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm in the 2nd Floor Community Room at the Reeves Center (2000 14th
Street NW, Washington, DC 20009).

The 14th Street, NW Streetscape Design Project area covers from Thomas Circle north to Florida
Avenue, NW. At the meeting, DDOT will present its intermediary design, which was developed after
several public meetings in 2009. Public input on the intermediary design will also be requested.

If you are interested in the future streetscape design of 14th Street, NW, please plan to attend this
meeting.

* * * * * *


In case you missed it, today was the official launch of the Capital Bikeshare program, which is being billed as the largest bike sharing program in the country. With an eventual 110 stations and 1100 bicycles throughout DC and Arlington, it may soon become one of the best ways to get around the city.

We've written about some of the details of Capital Bikeshare previously, including information about the location of stations in the Logan, Shaw and Dupont areas. And in case you're intimidated by the process of renting a bike, DDOT's got you covered with a handy little video.

Want more information? Check out Capital Bikeshare's website.

Speaking of transportation, we have been talking for years about the forthcoming 14th Street Streetscape project. And next Wednesday, September 29, we'll get the opportunity to talk some more. DDOT will be holding a public meeting to discuss the project on that date from 6:30 pm - 8:00 PM in the second floor community room at the Reeves Center, located at 14th and U.

I haven't seen an official agenda circulated for the meeting, nor could I locate anything on DDOT's website, but it's likely that DDOT officials will be presenting an overview of the project, timeline (to the extent that one is available) and other such information.

Capital Bikeshare Installation @ 14th and Rhode Island

As promised, the city has begun installing each of the 100+ bike stations that will constitute the new Capital Bikeshare program. The program is a replacement for the existing SmartBike program, which will be discontinued this fall.

I don't know if you can tell with the crummy camera phone-quality pic, but the new stations look a bit more space-agey than the SmartBike stations.

Capital Bikeshare Bringing New Bike Stations to Logan and Shaw

The District is ready to move forward with plans to significantly upgrade its fledgling bike sharing program, and mid-city neighborhoods stand to benefit significantly.

Beginning this fall, the District will roll out the expanded program, now called Capital Bikeshare, which will replace the existing SmartBike program. SmartBike is currently a joint venture between the District and Clear Channel. As you may recall, last year the city announced plans to greatly expand the SmarkBike program, only to have Clear Channel express a less-than-enthusiastic reception. Seems that the 10 station/120 bike program was sufficient enough for them, thanks very much. But it wasn't for District transportation officials, who very much wanted to expand the program so that it mimicked programs in cities such as Paris, whose program features hundreds of stations and thousands of bikes (as well as significant amounts of theft and vandalism).

Undeterred, the District sought out a partner, and found one in Alta Bike Share, a Portland, Oregon-based firm that works with jurisdictions here and abroad to set up bike sharing programs. They recently launched a 600 bike program in Melbourne, Australia. And this fall, they will be implementing the expanded version of DC's program, which will feature 1100 bikes and 114 stations throughout the District and Arlington.

Predictably, most of the new stations are centered around the District's core, with the largest number of stations existing in the area bounded by the Mall, 25th Street, Florida Avenue and North Capitol. However, stations will be located in farther afield neighborhoods in all quadrants of the city, including Tenleytown, Petworth and 16th Street Heights in NW, Brookland and Deanwood in NE, and Fort Dupont and Barry Farms in SE, among others. Nearly 15 stations will also be located in Pentagon City and Crystal City in Arlington, with plans to expand into the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor as well.

Logan and Shaw both stand to benefit significantly from increased stations throughout the neighborhoods. Currently, the are is served by SmartBike stations at 14th and Rhode Island, 7th and T streets, and U and 14th Streets. To these existing stations, Capital Bike Share plans to add stations at 15th and P, 14th and R, 10th and U, 16th and U, 7th and M (Convention Center) and 13th and M. (See area map below for all neighborhood locations.)



According to a message I received this weekend, existing SmartBike users will be able to use Capital BikeShare at no additional cost through April 2011, at which time they must apply for Capital BikeShare membership. The Capital BikeShare membership registration will be available, according to DDOT, sometime this month.

As someone who has pined for the District to continue focusing on alternative methods of intercity transit, particularly with the likelihood of further Metro expansion likely placing somewhere between a Nationals World Series trophy and a Leo Alexander mayoral term, it's truly wonderful to see the city investing so heavily in such a program. With this program and DC's focus on the installation of bike lanes across many major corridors, and development requirements that mandate the placement of bike rails near the new development (and don't forget the recently opened Union Station Bike Center), DC is well on its way to becoming one of the country's most bike-friendly cities--and the more people who can be coaxed off of our traffic-clogged roads (and, increasingly, rider-clogged Metro)--the better off we'll all be in the long run.

One final brief transit note, for those who may have missed it: the infamous "Blue Bus" will soon be no more. Last week, the District announced what many had anticipated for some time: the Circulator will replace the Georgetown Metro Connection on its existing Dupont-Rosslyn route, which passes through Georgetown along the way. This move makes perfect sense, and will provide a roomier and, hopefully, more reliable form of transit into Georgetown. The K Street Circulator line had already replaced the Metro Connection on one route, from the Foggy Bottom Metro stop to Rosslyn. Additional information can be found at the Circulator's website.