Bike Lanes & Street Cars

Saw these bike lanes when I was in DC a couple weeks ago. They run down Pennsylvania Avenue in the middle of the street and have their own dedicated turn lanes and shared traffic lights. It’s a pretty cool set up, and I saw plenty of people taking advantage.

I suspect these were old trolley right-of-ways, and while it makes me sad those are no longer running, this is at least a nice compromise to an ugly concrete shoulder or yet another vehicle lane.

Side note… our own King Street once had a trolley line running right down the middle of the road. For those nostalgic for the days of reliable, convenient local transportation, check out this street car schedule from the Historic Charleston Foundation archives.