(Washington, DC) Today, in celebration of Bike to Work Day, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced that more than 100 miles of bike lanes now exist in the District, a 60 percent increase from when Mayor Bowser took office in 2015.
“We have more work to do, but I’m proud that DC has become one of the most bike-friendly cities in the nation,” said Mayor Bowser. “We are changing the way people move around our city and building a greener, healthier, and more sustainable DC.”
In 2015, the District had 63 miles of bike lanes and fewer than six miles of protected bike lanes. Now, there are 104 miles of bike lanes, including 24 miles of protected bike lanes. The Mayor also put funding in place to add 10 additional miles of protected bike lanes every year.
“Because of the Mayor’s support, we’ve not only reached the 100th mile milestone in record time,” said DDOT Director Everett Lott. “We’ve quadrupled the number of protected bike lanes in DC, making the roads safer for not only people who bike, but for pedestrians and drivers too.”
To help support the use of bicycles, DDOT installed 900 bike racks in 2021 and will install 1,000 more bike racks before the end of this year. To further facilitate biking and reduce car travel, Mayor Bowser’s FY23 Fair Shot budget includes $15 million for new Capital Bikeshare stations so that there is a station within ¼ mile of every resident. Currently, there are 330 stations across all eight wards, with more classic bikes and e-bikes continually being added. Mayor Bowser’s investments in sustainable transportation have put the District on track to have eight million e-bike and e-scooter trips taken in 2022.
This year, DDOT is also adding more than eight miles of off-street trails for pedestrians, bicyclists, and scooterists to the 62 miles currently present across the District. The Malcom X Trail in Southeast opened last fall and the Brookland to Fort Totten segment of the Metropolitan Branch Trail opened to foot and bike traffic in April. Improvements to the Rock Creek Trail, including a new bridge near the National Zoo, is almost complete. The Mayor has budgeted for an additional 17 miles of trails over the next five years, which will fund projects such as finishing the last segment of the Met Branch Trail to Silver Spring as well as building the South Capitol Street Trail. For more information about the DC’s trail network, please visit ddot.dc.gov/page/trails-program.
To celebrate the 100-mile milestone and as part of DDOT’s Spring/Summer Bike Campaign, DDOT is raffling off 100 annual memberships to Capital Bikeshare ($95 value each) and hosting bike popup events with free giveaways throughout the District. The campaign runs through June 22, 2022 and also includes an incentive to encourage bike commuting by providing $200 to 50 District residents as reimbursement toward purchasing a new bike for their commute. To learn more about the campaign, apply for the $200 reimbursement, or to download the 2022 DC Bike Lane Map, please visit godcgo.com/bike. To learn more about the District’s biking infrastructure, please visit ddot.dc.gov/page/bicycle-lanes.
The celebration of DC’s 100-mile milestone and Bike to Work Day comes during DC’s Infrastructure Week. In March, Mayor Bowser announced the creation of the DC Build Back Better Infrastructure Task Force, which will advise on priority projects to be funded through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Task Force is made up of experts from District agencies and external partners who will ensure the District’s effectiveness in securing and deploying federal dollars while creating projects that will impact residents across the District and generations of Washingtonians to come.
Social Media:
Mayor Bowser Twitter: @MayorBowser
Mayor Bowser Instagram: @Mayor_Bowser
Mayor Bowser Facebook: facebook.com/MayorMurielBowser
Mayor Bowser YouTube: https://www.bit.ly/eomvideos