With the predictions of snarled traffic and jammed trains, one of the big questions about the effects of Metro’s SafeTrack campaign is starting to be answered: Would people take to biking to avoid the rail system? The early returns are in and answer appears to be YES! No matter how you slice the data, Arlington (which bore the brunt of Surge 1 with single-track service between two of its stations, East Falls Church and Ballston) saw record riderships all week long along its major bike commuting routes. Some counters were more than 90% above the June 2015 weekday averages.

Counts Compared to June 2015 Averages

Not only were the counts well above last year’s averages, the counts were all-time records across the board. The tables below show the Top Ten Five-Day Work Week counts for the same counters above. Again, the biggest leaps were along the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor, with three counters breaking the previous records by 22%-37% margins. Previous record breaking was usually less than a single percentage point, and rarely more than five points. But even the Mt. Vernon Trail had its best week ever, improving on the old mark by 7.7%.

Top Ten Counts for 5-Day Work Weeks, Since April 2014

Rosslyn Bikeometer (Custis)

Rosslyn Scott Street (Custis)

Airport South (Mt. Vernon)

Bon Air West (W&OD)

We’ll continue watch the numbers as one surge gives way to the next. Will the increases stay, grow, or even falter as people filter back to other modes? Will the Mt. Vernon Trail see a double-digit bump once Blue Line Service is affected? We’ll see. One thing is for sure. For bike advocates, these numbers are off to a great start!