Bike Ridership Outpaces Infrastructure in D.C.

Increasing bike ridership is a major part of Washington, D.C.'s long-range plan to reduce urban congestion. The city has five bike-share programs, each more high-tech than the last. According to the New York Times, those programs may boost the percentage of D.C. commuters who cycle to work beyond that of Portland.

But some worry that the ridership effort may yet be thwarted by "the segmented nature of the city’s designated bicycle lanes"—disconnected and often unprotected paths. The Times identifies two main barriers to more connected infrastructure, both of which advocates say prioritize driving over alternative modes of transportation: local resistance (known as "bikelash"), and the metric for calculating traffic impacts known as Level of Service.