A Copenhagen-Amsterdam type moment

Bicyclists in the cycletrack on Pennsyvlania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, with the US Capitol in the foreground (cropped).

Generally, I have been critical of the Pennsylvania Avenue cycletrack, which is located in the former median, not because it isn't cool, but because that is a street that doesn't get much use by resident bicyclists, so they are a form of cycletracks to nowhere--except that they do actually connect important destinations, including the White House and the Capitol.

I wish that cycletracks would have been put instead where they are more likely to be used.  (The Pennsylvania Avenue cycletrack was done in response to a kind of "challenge" issued by Rep. Earl Blumenaur, in a talk sponsored by the National Association of City Transportation Officials a few years ago.)

But when they are used, they are beautiful.

Bicyclists in the cycletrack on Pennsyvlania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, with the US Capitol in the foreground, uncropped. 

Yesterday was Bike to Work Day, and the key DC "pit stop" was at the Ronald Reagan (ugh) International Trade Center at 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

So the cycletrack was filled with bicyclists yesterday.

Not quite to Copenhagen or Amsterdam numbers, but a nice sight to see nonetheless, communicating that DC has the potential to achieve high mode split levels for bicycling as transportation.

Cycletrack in Copenhagen.  Photo by Steve Faust.