{"id":168428011,"date":"2010-05-04T09:33:31","date_gmt":"2010-05-04T09:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=168428011"},"modified":"2010-05-04T09:33:31","modified_gmt":"2010-05-04T09:33:31","slug":"penn-ave-bike-lanes-aaa-is-crushing-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=168428011","title":{"rendered":"Penn Ave. Bike Lanes: AAA is crushing us"},"content":{"rendered":"

by washcycle<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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In a couple of stories about the new Pennsylvania Ave NW bike lanes that are opening this week one thing is clear: AAA is kicking our asses. Seriously, how are they able to get in several unsubstantiated, anti-bike facility quotes while neither Fox nor News8 even interviews WABA? The Fox article<\/a> is like an advocacy piece for them. <\/p>\n

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Two new bicycle lanes have opened up on Pennsylvania Avenue this
\nweekend. However, AAA claims adding more lanes could make D.C. traffic
\nworse than it already is. AAA is also concerned about a plan to add bike
\n lanes to four other major streets. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’d like AAA to produce at least one study showing a negative link between bike lanes and congestion. I don’t think there is one. I’ve looked. There is a study out of New York<\/a> that shows that “the only way to prevent crippling congestion, is for more people to
\nwalk, bike, and take public transportation.” Other cities<\/a> are turning to bike lanes to actually END congestion.<\/p>\n

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The auto agency believes
\nthose lanes will take away lanes used by cars <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So AAA is OK with bike lanes as long as they don’t take away lanes used
\nby cars. Prepare to be disappointed AAA.  <\/p>\n

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as well as increase
\ngridlock. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Maybe this is the writer’s fault – and not AAA’s – but gridlock is absolutely not caused by bicyclists. It’s caused by scofflaw drivers who move into the intersection even though they can’t clear it; and left immobile,  blocking cross-traffic when the light changes. I’ve never seen a cyclist doing this. If gridlock is the problem, cracking down on scofflaw drivers is the solution. <\/p>\n

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AAA is urging anyone concerned to take part in the public
\ncomment period which ends on May 15.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And then they presented another opinion…no wait, they didn’t. They just added<\/p>\n

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To publicly comment or leave
\n feedback on this issue, CLICK
\n HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yes, by all means, please do. <\/p>\n

The News 8 story<\/a> was longer, but no better. <\/p>\n

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While some drivers didn’t mind, others were driven crazy by it.<\/p>\n

“It’s bad enough with the cabs running you over and you can’t hardly
\ncross the street!” said Sandra Powell. <\/p>\n

Northeast’s Sandra Powell works at the National Archives in downtown
\nD.C. She says her commute typically takes just under an hour, but she’s
\nworried her commute time will double because of the bike lanes. <\/p>\n

Powell stated, “The people of Washington D.C. should not have to go
\nthrough this!” <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The only explanation for Powell’s nonsensical responses is that she was literally driven crazy by this. Double her commute time? That seems excessive. She also fails to note that even if there is a negative impact on traffic for some people of Washington, DC, there might be a positive impact on others. <\/p>\n

AAA got in some more choice quotes<\/p>\n

\n

“As opposed to doing open heart surgery to open the clogged arteries and
\n traffic arterials in the city, you clog them even more,” said Townsend. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’m not following this analogy. What is sticking to the sides of roads to “clog” them? It isn’t bikes. When traffic is clogged, cyclists are either filtering past cars or choosing not to.<\/p>\n

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Townsend emphasizes that only 2.5 percent of residents bike to work. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Which is why we need more bike lanes to encourage more people to bike.<\/p>\n

\n

Townsend stated, “They’re taking so much from so many to give to so
\nfew.” <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Is he talking about how we subsidize driving? I agree, it’s wrong to take from the majority who don’t drive and give it to the minority that do.<\/p>\n

Gabe Klein defended the policy<\/p>\n

\n

\nKlein said, “We’re not gonna cram bike lanes or a cycle track onto a
\nstreet that’s already overpopulated with automobiles.” <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That might be exactly where we need bike lanes and cycle tracks. <\/p>\n

The Examiner joined the pile-on with an anti-bike lane opinion piece<\/a> in response to Ray LaHood’s defense of bike lanes<\/p>\n

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I ride the bus to work in D.C. every day, and I\u2019d just like to make an
\nobservation about our bicycle lanes. I usually ride down Georgia Avenue,
\n which flows well at rush hour right up until you cross Florida Avenue. 
\n That\u2019s where you lose a lane of traffic to \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 a bicycle
\n lane.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ummm, no. They did not take out a lane of traffic to add those bike lanes (on what is really 7th street). They used the door zone of the parking lane<\/a> to make those. <\/p>\n

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Mind you, it\u2019s entirely possible that people bike in that lane
\nsometimes, but I\u2019ve never seen it happen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ummm, he’s not paying attention. I’ve ridden this road at rush hour and it is a packed with cyclists. I waited at the light once with six other cyclists (and we weren’t riding together or anything). <\/p>\n

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What I have seen is the other rush-hour result of the bicycle lane:
\nDozens of vehicles idling in the bottle-neck behind too-short traffic
\nlights and left-turners. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It sounds like the problem is the light cycle and left turns, not bike lanes.<\/p>\n

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The same can be said for the one-way section of
\n 9th Street downtown from I to E Street, where a dedicated bus and bike
\nlane (usually empty) contributes to massive, box-blocking backups among
\ncars headed for the National Mall and the 9th Street Tunnel.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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I’m looking to the judges for a ruling on this one…and it’s total BS. Drivers completely ignore these restrictions so if traffic backs up, that isn’t the cause.  Besides, they’re bus\/bike lanes. You’re on a bus. Don’t you want those lanes to be empty? As for box-blocking, see my comments on gridlock above. <\/p>\n

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I would love to see a study of how many extra car-minutes of idling
\nthese largely unused bike paths create.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

They’re not bike paths, they don’t cause congestion and the see above for the answer. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\nhttps:\/\/www.thewashcycle.com\/2010\/05\/penn-ave-bike-lanes-aaa-is-crushing-us.html<\/a>oldId.20100504093331952<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by washcycle In a couple of stories about the new Pennsylvania Ave NW bike lanes that are opening this week one thing is clear: AAA is kicking our asses. Seriously, how are they able to get in several unsubstantiated, anti-bike facility quotes while neither Fox nor News8 even interviews WABA? The Fox article is like … <\/p>\n

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