A rendering DDOT submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts in preparation for the current pilot test.

Despite what some cyclists have observed, an initial study by the District Department of Transportation shows that illegal U-Turns are “way down” on a block of Pennsylvania Avenue NW where safety bumps called “zebras” have been installed.

Data provided by Jim Sebastian, DDOT’s bicycle program coordinator, shows that before the zebras were installed between 12th and 13th Streets, 14 U-turns were observed between 10 a.m. and 2:00 p.m on June 6. After the zebras were installed, DDOT didn’t observe any U-turns during that same time period on November 5.

Between 7 and 10 a.m. on November 6, DDOT observed five U-turns with the zebras in place. Two were observed between 4 and 7 p.m. on that same date. Before data was not available for these time periods.

Compare this to the block between 11th to 12th Streets. During the same time period when zebras were installed on the adjacent block, DDOT observed three U-turns between 7 and 10 a.m., 19 between 10 and 2 p.m., and five between 4 and 7 p.m. These U-turns were made by ten taxis and one police car, among regular vehicles.

The zebra pilot program launched in late October to prevent drivers from making illegal U-turns through the center bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue. As Greater Greater Washington first noted and DDOT confirmed, the zebras were installed 15 feet apart, rather than the intended 10-feet, mainly for aesthetic reasons.

Sebastian said DDOT will “probably not make any changes over the winter, but we will continue to monitor u-turns and also look at the number of report crashes involving bikes, which really what we want to reduce.”

If the numbers of crashes are high, then DDOT will consider other measures, including additional zebras and photo enforcement.