Bike to Work Day Pit Stops Near You on Friday

Among the hundreds of Montgomery County commuters who will take to their bikes this Friday for Bike to Work Day will be Montgomery County Council members Roger Berliner, Valerie Ervin, George Leventhal and Hans Riemer.

More than 10,000 Washington-area commuters are expected to participate in the event, which the League of American Bicyclists began in 1956, and which first took place in the DC area in 2001, with a few hundred participants, a County Council news statement reported.

Now, Bike to Work Day is an event for thousands of people in the DC area, as bike commuting becomes more common.

On Friday, pit stops—with refreshments, t-shirts, raffles and more—for commuting bikers will be set up all across the region, including:

• White Oak - Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20903
• Blairs Shopping Center, 8380 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD
• Discovery Place, Georgia and Wayne Avenues, Silver Spring MD

By the time Bike to Work Day rolls around in 2014, Capital Bikeshare will be a part of Montgomery County's daily commute.

This "is an exciting year for bicycling in Montgomery County," said Berliner, who chairs the Montgomery County Council's Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee.

"We continue to invest in becoming a more bike-friendly community, and we expect Capital Bikeshare to launch this summer. Biking to work will be easier than ever for our residents, and I hope participating in Bike to Work Day will encourage more people to consider riding a bike as an everyday, convenient option. Even I'm riding my bike to work this year."

Two recent Montgomery County Council initiatives are expected to help encourage bicycling in the county: a bill (No. 25-12) to allow transportation impact tax funds—paid by developers as part of the approval process for new developments—to be used to help fund Capital Bikeshare stations; and a zoning text amendment (No. 12-14) to make it easier for private property owners to get building permits for Capital Bikesharing facilities.

"This is an exciting time for bicyclists as many initiatives I have been advocating are finally becoming a reality, including the [Capital Bikeshare] program and the construction of trails and bikeways such as the Metropolitan Branch Trail," said Ervin, who is the Council’s representative on the county’s Pedestrian, Bicycle and Traffic Safety Advisory Committee, and who has worked since 2008 on implementing Capital Bikeshare in the county.

The county's operating budget for fiscal year 2014, as recommended by County Executive Isiah Leggett, includes more than $1 million to operate Capital Bikeshare in Montgomery County. The Montgomery County Council is expected to tentatively approve the budget within the week.

Will you be participating in Bike to Work Day on Friday? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments.