Courtesy of DDOT.

Courtesy of DDOT.

Thirty Capital Bikeshare bikes are sporting new branding as part of an effort to gather stories about cycling in the District.

Vision Zero, an initiative to end fatalities and serious injuries on the city’s transportation networks, will track the journeys of each bicycle for about three weeks. Cyclists on the Vision Zero bikes (and regular bikes) are encouraged to “Bikeshare their safety stories” (their words) of a favorite trail or bike-friendly street via Twitter. They ask riders to tweet photos to @DCVisionZero and explain how it keeps them safe.

The 30 bikes will initially be parked at the Dupont Circle Station located at Massachusetts Avenue and Dupont Circle NW.

But there’s also now someone something besides your roommate to listen to your complaints about almost being side-swiped on the commute home. That would be an interactive map created by Vision Zero DC to document safety issues on the city’s streets.

Pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers are encouraged to add their rage-inducing frustrations to the map by inputting descriptions of problems at the spots where they encounter them. Options include a long wait to cross, blocking the bike box, stop sign running, speeding, and double parking, among others. The site went live less than two months ago, and the map is already blanketed in icons.

Via Vision Zero.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Avenue, an area frequently cited as hazardous because of cars making illegal u-turns, will also get the remaining bike barriers that cyclists have been clamoring for.

The barriers, called Park-Its, will be completed on the stretch from 14th to 15th streets by the end of September, according to DDOT spokesman Keith St. Clair. On the stretch between 13th and 14th (where the Wilson Building is located), DDOT has plans to do an “engineering reconfiguration” of the block before redesigning the bike lanes and installing the Park-Its. “That is a more long-term process, which we hope to complete as soon as possible,” St. Clair said via email.

While Vision Zero’s goal of eliminating fatalities and serious injuries related to transportation by 2024 is a lofty one, they have a long way to go. According to D.C. Fire and EMS, in the last few hours alone, a pedestrian was struck, a cyclist was hit, and there was a car accident.

Filed Under: bikedc, bikesharing, biking, capital bikeshare, ddot, vision zero,