FABB Blog

Ken Schantz Photo: Washington Post

“It can be 40 degrees in the middle of winter or 90 degrees in the middle of summer — but I am the happiest when I’m out there turning the pedals,” he said.

It’s one thing to get from Point A to Point B without a car in Washington — a relatively compact 68.3 square miles. But navigating the region’s far-flung suburbs — never mind crossing through two counties and the District — offers an entirely different challenge. Doable certainly, but not for the faint of heart.

“That beats any commute I’ve done,” said Mark Plotz, senior associate and program director for the National Center for Bicycling and Walking.

Schantz joins a growing number of workers who have abandoned their cars in favor of bus, rail and bike for their daily commutes. Solo drivers still dominate the ranks of D.C. area commuters, but according to an analysis by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the number of regular bike commuters in the D.C. region increased by about 11,000 between 2000 and 2011. The uptick is largely fueled by people who live and work in the District. But bike commuting also has increased in popularity in other jurisdictions, including Montgomery County, which opened more than a dozen Capital Bikeshare stations last month.

“Driving is sort of an addiction. People get so used to it, they don’t think of doing anything else,” he said. “Then you have these special events. You get on a bike for the first time and think, ‘Hey, that’s fun.’ ”