Speech and Testimony
County Executive Leggett’s Remarks at the Separated Bike Lanes and Mobike Agreement
Intersection: Spring Street, Cedar Street, Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring
As prepared
Today, we are celebrating two important developments in making bicycle travel in Montgomery County easier, safer and more accessible.
First, we are celebrating a critical new section of protected bike lanes in downtown Silver Spring.
Detached from motor vehicle traffic, these new bike lanes run along Spring Street and Cedar Street, connecting to the existing Cedar Street contraflow bike lane at Wayne Avenue to signed bike routes at Second Avenue, Fairview Road, and Ellsworth Drive.
This stretch of protected lane helps connect residents to jobs, retail, recreation, entertainment, and transit.
These bike lanes are the first piece of a network of low-stress bike facilities planned for downtown Silver Spring.
Protected bike lanes are one way that Montgomery County seeks to lower the stress level for cyclists.
These protected bike lanes also include four floating bus stops – a strategy new to Montgomery County.
“Floating bus stop” means that buses don’t have to cross over the bike lane or stop in the bike lane to pick up and discharge passengers. This is safer for cyclists and eliminates a major stressor.
These safer bicycle facilities help to move Montgomery County closer toward its goal of having zero deaths on our roadways.
Second, we are announcing today that Montgomery County is signing an operating agreement with Mobike – to provide greater access to shared bicycles in Montgomery County.
Mobike is the largest bike-sharing platform in the world. Beginning later this month, we will be conducting a pilot project and offering 400 to 500 of these dockless bikes in Silver Spring.
To access one of these Mobikes, users download the smartphone app to find a bike near them. They use the app to reserve and unlock it – and then start bicycling.
When the bicyclist reaches their destination, they park the bike and lock it – which automatically makes it available for the next user.
The bicycles have GPS and smart-lock technology: That’s why they can be made available so flexibly – and also so flexibly parked on the sidewalk at the end of the trip.
Montgomery County is proud to be the first suburban jurisdiction in the U.S. to adopt a dockless bike share system.
Because Washington, D.C. also recently signed with Mobike, people in Montgomery County can use this service to bicycle to and from the District, if they choose.
I am glad to celebrate the new bicycle lanes in Silver Spring and also to be here today with Jillian Irvin, Mobike’s U.S. Head of Government Affairs, to celebrate our new agreement with Mobike.
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Release ID: 17-099County Executive Leggett’s Remarks at the Separated Bike Lanes and Mobike Agreement