Bicycle Friendly Communities

Washington, DC | Silver Level

Community Highlights: D.C. is building bicycling momentum! This includes increased numbers of cyclists in the District; dozens of miles of innovative infrastructure and an active bicycle advocacy group, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. D.C. has finished a $6 million New York Avenue portion of the Metropolitan Branch Trail and completed a nearly $500,000 Bicycle Master Plan. The city now has 50 miles of bike lanes, 50 miles pf paved shared use path, and installs an average of one new bike rack a day. Over the last seven years, the city unveiled several signature projects including buffered bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue connecting the White House and the Capitol Building, a world‐class bike parking facility, Bikestation, and the largest public bike sharing system in the country.  DC has one of the largest Bike to Work Day events in the country, with over 35 pitstops and 8,000 participants.  These major projects are supported by an extensive bicycling education and encouragement program for children and adults including a bicycle ambassador program, mobile bike maintenance repairs, a BikeDC community ride and a “bike brand your business” effort.  Washington now has the highest share of bicycle commuters of any major city on the East Coast.

Compelling Statistics: In September 2010 D.C. launched Capital Bikshare, the largest bikesharing system in the United States with over 5,500 members. The program hosts a fleet of 1100 bicycles located at 114 stations throughout the city and into Arlington.