District officials hope to break ground this summer on a “bike station” at Union Station, located just steps from both the Metro station entrance and the future route of the Metropolitan Branch Trail. The station will offer bike parking (for an estimated $1 a day, or $100 a year), rentals, repairs, accessories, a changing room, and lockers.
Nestled between the Old Post Office Building and Union Station, the sleek structure will have enough space for 180 bicycles total, and will boast solar panels and high-tech glass to keep the facility cool in the summer. The station is modeled after facilities in Chicago, Seattle, San Franscisco, and Long Beach. The California facilities are inspired in turn by Japanese and European examples. The driving force for the project in DC has been DDOT bicycle manager Jim Sebastian, who began exploring the concept after visiting Seattle.
The Bike Station has been covered by a variety local media, and the great blog WashCycle has even proposed a site for the next facility: the vacant Dupont Circle trolley station.
More Details
> DDOT Bicycle Program
> WashCycle: Union Station Bicycle Station
> Voice of the Hill: Bike Transit Center to be Housed at Union Station
> American Observer: Bicyclists will soon have a plush parking space
The images above were created by KGP Design Studio for DDOT. Additional images available on the city website above.
This is the greatest news I’ve read all day! This will make it even easier for folks who live in the suburbs to ride into work and save themselves the headache, money, and CO2 emissions that go along with driving, all while getting their daily exercise during their commute! Now if we could get some more bike lanes…
I’ve heard different takes on whether or not Union Station is the most sensible location for a bike garage, but regardless, I’m just glad to see any shift in favor of promoting cycling.
I still vividly remember when I first saw the bike garage in Amsterdam and got (literally) teary-eyed that, finally, someone had done something so sensible and thoughtful.
Funny, I was just in Long Beach for business & ran across the original (U.S.) Bikestation. I grabbed a brochure & business card if you want it.
Perhaps, is there anything different than what is on their website?
Nice site and discussion Rob. We too are excited about what a DC facility means for Bikestation.
Bikestation has a board member in DC too – Michael Replogle, Transportation Director, Environmental Defense – if you are looking for the local angle.
Some of the more logical bikestation examples for DC would be barebones stations inside DC subway stations – like our existing bikestations in BART Berkeley and Embarcadero stations.
If your readers are looking at what it takes to develop a bikestation…goto our site: http://www.bikestation.org/Development/Development.asp
I am a board member working on developing bikestations in the NW and other areas. Check out our discussions in Portland:
http://bikeportland.org/2007/02/21/could-defunct-landmark-become-new-bike-hub-facility/
http://bikeportland.org/2007/03/15/update-on-bikestations-in-portland/
Todd Boulanger
Board Member
Bikestation
(and a senior transportation planner)