A student organization is conducting a survey about cyclists in Foggy Bottom to advocate for bike-friendly initiatives, which they aim to complete before the end of the calendar year.
The GW Biking Club began their research to consistently quantify the amount of cyclists that pass through Foggy Bottom at the start of the semester, doing only one survey last school year and will merge their findings with existing data about cyclists in D.C. from organizations, like Capital Bikeshare and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. Sophomore Matthew Volfson, the club’s president, said the group plans to present their findings to organizations, like the Foggy Bottom Association and the Advisory Neighborhood Commission to press for initiatives, like more bike lanes and bike traffic lights, which helps cyclists safely travel on busy streets.
“If this data collection is successful, and we convince people, based on actual statistics, to say, ‘Hey, Washington Circle needs a bike light or needs more bike lanes,’ then it’s going to make biking safer,” Volfson said. “More people are going to bike because it’s a safer form of transit.”
WABA launched a district-wide crash tracker submission form in March that allows respondents to report full and near crashes, dangerous locations and vehicles parked unsafely. Volfson said the start of the tracker inspired him to start the survey to total an approximate number of how many cyclists come through Foggy Bottom daily in hopes of using that data to supplement WABA’s tracker to estimate how many bike crashes per capita occur in Foggy Bottom.
Volfson said the organization had already been in contact with WABA since they provided helmets for their group’s bike ride to the Capitol building last November, which about 15 students attended. The organization regularly hosts programming, like events with local officials, general body meetings and bike rides to different places in D.C., like the National Mall and the Georgetown neighborhood.
Volfson said the organization discusses the various times and locations of where they will collect data at their “advocacy general body meetings” that the group hosts once a month, which they promote on Engage and Instagram. He said at the meetings, members decide on a time and intersection to conduct the survey, which occurs about twice a month for about 30 minutes to an hour.
“We do it in the morning, afternoon, evening, so we can have the fullest results possible,” Volfson said.
Volfson said the organization has about 20 active members and those present for surveying events stand on all sides of the intersections they survey, like New Hampshire Avenue and 23rd Street near Washington Circle, and tally the number of cyclists that cross through the intersection. He said they each tally a cyclist once and include those on electric scooters because they are “similar” to bikes.
“I preserve the data. I take a picture and make sure we have enough database,” Volfson said. “Then we go another time, and we’ll collect the data. We discuss the data, and we figure out what we can do with it.”
Volfson said the group plans to complete their survey in the coming months and they hope to receive more crash data from WABA, compile both datasets and analyze their findings.
He said he understands there may be limitations to their research and WABA’s crash tracker, like double counting people and unreported cycling accidents, respectively.
He said getting acclimated to biking in a city can add a layer of “trepidation” for students coming from suburban areas where the traffic is less congested and bikers usually can travel on sidewalks away from the street.
“We want to make sure biking is safer in D.C.,” Volfson said. “That’s our advocacy section, and we also want to get more people to bike.”
Volfson said he met with Alyssa Siegel, the D.C. organizer for WABA, and Lester Wallace, who works for Capital Bikeshare, earlier this month who both were “very enthusiastic” about working with GW Biking Club on their project. He added that Wallace provided the organization with posters and other materials to help promote Capital Bikeshare and biking overall.
“We want to bring a light to how many people are biking,” Volfson said. “Just in cities in general because a lot of the pushback from anti-biker organizations, which are hesitant about biking, they don’t really think that a lot of people bike in the community.”
Volfson said multiple vehicle collisions with bikers, which have resulted in the deaths for people around D.C., including the ones for a graduate student who was struck and killed last October by a car and Shawn O’Donnell, a 40-year-old woman killed by a construction truck in July 2022, motivated him to start the club. There were 13 cyclist deaths reported in the District between 2013 and 2022.
Volfson said biking is a cost-effective alternative to Uber and public transportation and the organization advertises Capital Bikeshare’s student discounts through flyers and word of mouth to encourage other students to integrate biking into their routine.
“It’s kind of devastating that all these people are dying because they like biking in D.C.,” Volfson said. “They want to bike as a form of commute, and we want to make that commute safer.”
Charlie Routh, an international affairs student and member of the organization, said places like Washington Circle can be unsafe to bike and walk at some hours because there aren’t enough bike lanes on the circle. He said the organization is quantifying the number of bikers to show government officials the policies impact “a lot” of people.
In April, the organization hosted an event with Kevin Rapp, a member-at-large on the D.C. Council, where Routh said he spoke about the nuances of adding bike lanes and pushback from residents who drive. Some Shaw residents protested a bike lane plan for the neighborhood earlier this month, claiming the lanes would limit parking spaces, according to NBC4.
“At the end of the day, as walkable and transit friendly as D.C. is, it’s still at its core a driving city, and people want to keep it that way,” Routh said. “They don’t want to be bothered or slowed down by bikers, even though it’s much better for the environment, and I think it’s much more fun.”
Junior Alyssa Alvey, a psychology major and member of the GW Biking Club, said she listens to recorded open committee meetings of local government organizations and reads their minutes to determine if bike safety is a current issue for residents and local leaders and or a topic they can make others aware about.
“It gives us a good idea. Is this their primary focus right now, or is it something we can introduce,” Alvey said. “If so, then what is the best way to introduce it?”
Alvey said bike safety in D.C. is dependent on the street designs, as some do not have protected bike lanes, including 23rd Street.
“It is fast moving 40 mile per hour traffic,” Alvey said. “There’s not bike lanes on the side of either road and then there’s cars already parked in that spot, wherein it’s hard for the biker to easily navigate, especially since a lot of cars in D.C., they speed or may drive erratically.”
Jennifer Igbonoba contributed reporting.
