Overreaction to bike path congestion

A week and a half ago the Washington Post ran an article about the congestion on the popular Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail in Northern Virginia where I live. This just so happens to be the most popular rail-trail in the country according to this chart from the Rails to Trails Conservancy, and one that I ride frequently on the weekends. The article sparked quite the regional cycling dialogue as D.C. area bloggers and cycling club discussion boards came to life with many weighing in with their opinions on whether this article was balanced/good/not good for cycling.

Most seem to agree that the article was largely biased against cyclists as the trail user's causing the congestion and seemed to draw the analogy that riding the trail is like driving on the beltway at rush hour. I was glad to see that most people realize that individuals are responsible for their own behavior on the trail and that there are equal numbers of ignorant trail users across all user types (walkers, rollerbladers, cyclists, etc.).

The thing that struck me the most was the way the trail managers leaped to costly solutions seemingly without calculating the costs and/or all of the options. Let's break this down a little for those that will only skim the article. Three cyclists died in accidents along the trail in the last year. Two of these accidents happened within a week of one another at the same intersection crossing. Five cyclists have died from accidents in the entire 32 year history of the trail. Now, there are three million users of the W&OD trail per year of which only three died (trust me, I use the term "only" very lightly). Let's take a look at the data. That means that .0001 percent of all trail users have been killed in an accident on the trail in the past year, two of which were at the same intersection. Now take the five deadly accidents that occurred over the past thirty-two years and well...you can do the math.

Instantly, trail managers are looking to impose and enforce speed limits and are thinking about installing rumble strips to control speed. What gets me is that the trail managers don't take a step back and look at the big picture here. Does this mean everyone will have to invest in a cyclo-computer? Could it be that the intersections between roads and the trails are the problem? Perhaps the two accidents that occurred at the same intersection was a coincidence? Maybe that intersection should be addressed instead of the whole trail?

Perhaps trail managers should be working with the Virgina Department of Transportation or county officials regarding what could be done to control the road intersections with the trail since most deadly accidents have involved cars? Meanwhile, it would seem to me that education of common sense trail etiquette could go a long way toward reducing incidents between trail users. For instance, signs reminding people to stay to the right, consider removing the iPods, and to provide a warning when passing.

Speed limits and rumble strips will only absolve people of their personal responsibility.