Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Streetsblog

Rep. McCarthy Needs to Check Facts on Bike-Sharing

10:27 AM EDT on April 28, 2009

Yesterday we heard about social conservatives who support a less autocentric transportation policy.

Today, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Adam Voiland at DC Bicycle Transportation Examiner looks at Republican Chief Deputy Whip Kevin McCarthy's scornful remarks about Washington, DC's use of stimulus funds for what he referred to as "bike racks." As Voiland points out, the money isn't going to bike racks at all, it's going to expand the SmartBike DC bike-share program:

1smartbike.jpgNote to Rep. McCarthy: This is much more than just a bike rack.

There’s good reason that District City officials have decided to invest in a bike-sharing program, just as officials in many other major cities around the world have. Namely: creating viable alternative transportation system will help reduce the city’s crushing traffic congestion problems.

Every year, D.C. earns the dubious distinction
of being one of America’s most congested cities. One only needs to
wander downtown or try to get out of the city on one of the main
arteries during rush hour to understand why.  According to a report
from the Texas Transportation Institute, the organization that has
conducted the nation’s longest running study of congestion, the average
District commuters gets delayed in traffic for more than 60 hours per year.

As
we all know, getting caught in traffic is infuriating. Perhaps less
understood is that it’s also expensive. The authors of the same report
conclude that the cost per traveler is more $1,094 per person each
year.  In total, the report concludes, excess traffic costs the DC
region more than $2.3 billion per year. The fewer people in their cars,
in other words, the more money we all save.

Meanwhile, in Charlotte, NC, where for years Republican mayor Pat McCrory put his career on the line to support transit, The Transport Politic reports that funding for more transit might end up being diverted to roads. In Oregon, a vehicular homicide law has died in committee, according to Bike Portland. On a happier note, EcoVelo says these are good times for the bicycle industry.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Analysis: ‘Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program’ is a Failure By All Measures

The Department of Transportation wants the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program to simply expire in part because it did not dramatically improve safety among these worst-of-the-worst drivers and led to a tiny number of vehicle seizures.

September 22, 2023

School Bus Driver Kills Cyclist in Boro Park, 24th Bike Death of 2023

Luis Perez-Ramirez, 44, was biking south on Fort Hamilton Parkway just before 3:15 p.m. when he was struck a by school bus driver making a right turn.

September 22, 2023

Adams Caves to Opposition, Abandons Bus Improvement Plan on Fordham Road in ‘Betrayal’

The capitulation on Fordham Road is the latest episode in which the mayor has delayed or watered down a transportation project in deference to powerful interests.

September 22, 2023

Friday’s Headlines: Yes He Said Yes He Will Yes Edition

That headline above is a reference to the last line of James Joyce's Ulysses, which we won't pretend to have read. But we have that ... and other news.

September 22, 2023

Madness: Port Authority Will Spend $8.3M to ‘Study’ Widening Outerbridge Crossing

Will this $8.3 million find out anything we don't know about induced demand?

September 22, 2023
See all posts