Abandoned bikes outside the Woodley Park Metrorail station. (Courtesy WMATA)
For cyclists who like commuting, but face trips that are perhaps too lengthy for an early-morning or late-night ride, it’s convenient that Metro stations feature arrays of bike racks outside the gates.
Of course, as with any authority that installs bike racks, Metro is sometimes faced with the ugly reality of bicycles left shackled to the racks and abandoned to the elements. Today, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority released a “census” of bikes left to rot outside Metrorail stations and announced plans to remove them.
All told, Metro counted about two dozen abandoned bikes throughout the system, many of which were found at suburban stations, though plenty were also spotted throughout the District. Some are intact, but many, having been exposed to weather or vandalism, show significant rusting, flat tires or missing parts.
In some cases, the partially disassembled bikes are missing a wheel or seat. Still others are stripped down to their frames, leaving nothing more than a depressing set of metal tubes and gears lying on the ground and shackled to an otherwise useable bike rack.
In the coming weeks, Metro plans to tag the abandoned bikes and set about removing them. Frankly, this can’t happen quickly enough. For commuters who want to bike to their local Metrorail station and ride the rest of the way to work, abandoned bikes are just taking up space.
Metro released a photo summary of the bikes it found throughout its system in hopes that their owners will come and retrieve them within 10 days of being tagged. If not, the bikes will be removed and any working models may be sold at auction.
Last month, WAMU and the District Department of Transportation teamed up to map the bikes abandoned at locations around the city.
