The D.C. Council voted to increase taxes on ridehailing services from 1 to 6 percent. (Photo by Elvert Barnes)

It will soon be easier to hop in or out of a taxi, Uber, or Lyft in five busy corridors around the city.

The District Department of Transportation is expanding a pilot program to test dedicated pick-up and drop-off zones, which began last year on a stretch of Connecticut Avenue NW near Dupont Circle. Following a comment period, Washingtonians will now see similar zones at The Wharf, U Street, Woodley Park, Georgetown, and NoMa.

“By exploring new curbside management options like the drop-off/pick-up zones, DDOT is building on its commitment to lead the nation in reducing preventable collisions,” said DDOT Director Jeff Marootian in a release.

Unlike the original pilot zone in Dupont—which was only in place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights—the five new zones will be in operation 24/7. DDOT is planning to remove curbside parking entirely and install “streamlined” signage that makes it clear that cars can’t park there at any time. The new pick-up and drop-off zones are designed to serve both vehicular passengers as well as commercial trucks that are unloading their wares.

The first phase of the pilot project, which restricted parking from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on the east and west curbsides of the 1200 and 1300 blocks of Connecticut Avenue NW, launched last October in parternship with the Golden Triangle BID. It followed a model that the transit agency had used during special events, like the papal visit, but it was the first time DDOT deployed it on a regular basis.

Now, the agency is trying to see if it will work in other hubs around the city that also have “high demand for curb space.” DDOT will look at whether banning parking in the pick-up and drop-off zone entirely results in better compliance with the rules.

“Our goal with the expansion of this pilot is to reduce conflicts between vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser in release. “By rethinking how we move people and goods between the street and the sidewalk, we can better adapt to a changing transportation landscape.”

Despite a public commitment in 2015 to Vision Zero, a plan to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2024, pedestrian and cyclist deaths have increased every year since it launched.

So far in 2018, 31 people have died in traffic crashes, the highest total in seven years, and an increase over the 30 fatalities total in 2017.

Facing mounting pressure from cyclist and pedestrian advocates, Bowser’s administration announced proposals last week to reduce speed limits on neighborhood streets from 25 to 20 miles per hour and speed up the construction of protected bike lanes, among a slew of other potential changes.

Here are the locations of the five new pick- and drop-off zones, which DDOT plans to install after a 30-day comment period ends:

14th and U Streets, NW
West curbside of the 1900 block of 14th Street NW
East curbside of the 2000 block of 14th Street NW

Smithsonian National Zoo
East curbside of the 2900 block of Connecticut Avenue NW

Maine Avenue SW (The Wharf)
South curbside of the 800 block of Maine Avenue SW

Georgetown
East curbside of the 1200 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW

NoMa/Union Market
West curbside of the 1200 block of 6th Street NE