Guaranteed Ride Home: A Real-Life Experience

Not everyone who reads this blog may be familiar with the Commuter Connections' Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) Program. I had occasion to use it on Friday, and no one else in my office was aware of it--even though they all bus or Metrorail to work (except one driver). I was happy to pass along the info (which you can get here).

Unfortunately, it was an unhappy situation that created my need for it. I was biking to work on my usual bike commute from Arlington to Silver Spring. About 1/2 of my commute is along the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT). The CCT is a well used bike commuting route, but after the latest snowstorm, it received no attention whatsoever. There are still sections--particularly east of Bethesda--that are dangerously icy. I went down on an icy patch and injured my thumb. I continued to my office. At first my thumb didn't hurt too much, but it continued to swell and the pain increased, so I decided it would be best to get it x-rayed (10 years ago I broke my thumb in a bike wreck, and this seemed very similar). Since it wasn't life threatening, I decided to go home first and see my local doctor rather than go to a Silver Spring-area emergency room.
I called GRH, and they ordered a minivan cab for me (to carry me and my bike both). It was there in less than 10 minutes and took me all the way home to Arlington for free.

Thankfully, the thumb isn't broken--just sprained. Now what can we do to get local jurisdictions to do something about ice and snow on the multi-use trails? It's been well more than a week since the snow, and there are still unpassable sections on the CCT.

We're #2. Do we do it to ourselves?

Today's Washington Post reported on the annual congestion rankings put out by the Texas Transportation Institute, and the DC area tied for 2nd with an average of 60 hours of congestion for peak period commuters.

What caught my eye, though was this tidbit:

"You feel helpless," an Arlington resident was quoted, who drives between Rosslyn and his job in downtown Washington.

Huh? Helpless?!? He DRIVES from Rosslyn to his office on 15th St. NW! I guess that's his prerogative (maybe), but then he has no right to whine about the traffic and claim that he's "helpless." He could freaking WALK to his office in 45 minutes or less. It's at most a 15-minute bike ride--maybe less. He could squeeze on a metro train for 6-7 minutes from Rosslyn to McPherson Square. He could also get a Metrobus to Farragut Square and walk a couple of blocks.

He complains, but he is also actually part of the problem. Remember, when you are sitting in traffic, you ARE the traffic, too. He's doing both himself and everyone else a disservice by not figuring out all his choices, which are many.

What more can we do? Here's a guy with half a dozen options who still chooses to sit in traffic for a 3-mile commute. No one's going to build a new bridge between Rosslyn and DC, nor add any more roads between the river and his office. Widening I-66 won't make any difference to him. The only thing that would improve his drive is if fewer people were driving. But if he's unwilling to get out of his own car, how can he expect everyone else to stop driving, too? He's his own enemy.