FABB Blog

 

Bus Bridge

There are some significant barriers for bicyclists trying to get around Fairfax County. Most of the Beltway crossings have no dedicated bike access. Experienced cyclists can ride in the road using Effective Cycling techniques, which in most cases means taking the lane where it is too narrow for motorists to pass. This takes training and practice and to put it mildly, can be a challenge during rush hour.

There's another way to overcome these barriers, what one FABB members calls a bus bridge for cyclists. An example is Leesburg Pike (Rt 7) crossing the Beltway in the Tysons area. There are no direct alternative bike routes to get from one side of the Beltway to the other without a long detour. However, the 28 buses travel along Route 7, and now that all Fairfax Connector and Metrobuses have bike racks, they can be used as a bus bridge. For the above trip, it will cost $1.25 to take the bus bridge across the Beltway.

To find out how to use the bus bridge, go to the WMATA website and use the Trip Planner to enter origin and destination points and time of travel. When you know the bus number, you can also use Next Bus to find out when the next bus will arrive.

Wouldn't it be nice if bicyclists could get a discount for using the bus bridge for these short trips?

Labels: bus

posted by Bruce Wright at 3:55 PM permalink