Local
Bike valet service for inauguration moves closer to reality in the District
By: Kytja Weir
Examiner Staff Writer
December 29, 2008
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| Having won key local support for the plan, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association is hoping to offer a bicycle valet service on Jan. 20. (Examiner File) |
The Washington Area Bicyclist Association hopes to set up two valet stations where cyclists could park their bikes on Jan. 20.
The local group won financial support from America Bikes, a national cycling advocacy group in Washington. Minneapolis company Dero Bike Racks plans to lend its bike racks. Most significantly, the District’s transportation officials also gave their approval.
“We think it is a great idea,” District Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle told The Examiner on Friday. “We’re trying to help them work on the plan.”
Yet the biking advocacy group still needs to get final approval of the two sites where it hopes to offer the bike parking service, said WABA’s executive director, Eric Gilliland. One site is proposed for McPherson Square and the other would be just south of the Jefferson Memorial.
Officials expect as many as 2 million people to descend on the District for the Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony of Barack Obama as president. Officials anticipate congested roadways and packed Metrorail cars, so they are encouraging those who can to walk to the event.
But the bike valet services would give attendees of the historic swearing-in ceremony another way to get into the city, even though bicycles will not be allowed in the security perimeter near the swearing-in ceremony, nor on Metrorail.
With the valet service, a crew of volunteers would watch the bicycles while the riders enjoyed the day’s events.
Riders wouldn’t need a lock and would receive a commemorative ticket to reclaim the bike, Gilliland said.
WABA already is signing up volunteers and seeking RSVPs for the bike service to get a sense of how many people might use it.
