Spencer Ainsworth
@sp-ainsworth.bsky.social
Mostly DC transit and biking content
Currently listening to the discussion on the emergency streatery bill: Pinto seems to be trying to add a poison pill amendment to Allen’s bill to force businesses to fully submit a new streatery permit every 2 years and allow public comment
December 2, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Currently listening to the discussion on the emergency streatery bill: Pinto seems to be trying to add a poison pill amendment to Allen’s bill to force businesses to fully submit a new streatery permit every 2 years and allow public comment
McDuffie was the lone “no” vote on this for some reason
PORCH POLICY UPDATE: The D.C. Council just passed an emergency bill introduced by @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social that will make it easier for porchfest music events (like those in Petworth and Adams Morgan) to apply for and receive permits from the city.
December 2, 2025 at 7:07 PM
McDuffie was the lone “no” vote on this for some reason
Last January I took the (4 hr late) Floridian from Rockville and I deadass pulled out a @milesintransit.com video to make sure I wasn’t being pranked because there’s pretty much zero Amtrak signage at the station
November 26, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Last January I took the (4 hr late) Floridian from Rockville and I deadass pulled out a @milesintransit.com video to make sure I wasn’t being pranked because there’s pretty much zero Amtrak signage at the station
First streatery coming down on Mt Pleasant St 😢
November 23, 2025 at 8:58 PM
First streatery coming down on Mt Pleasant St 😢
Great (but sad) article about the death of streateries! I’m reminded of a day in June when I stumbled across a NACTO walking tour where DDOT trumpeted the success of the original streatery program. Praying we get a new mayor who will stand aside and let DDOT planners cook again!
November 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Great (but sad) article about the death of streateries! I’m reminded of a day in June when I stumbled across a NACTO walking tour where DDOT trumpeted the success of the original streatery program. Praying we get a new mayor who will stand aside and let DDOT planners cook again!
Walking into the Columbia Heights Crosstown open house I hear “…so the podcast hosts have this new book out called Life After Cars…”
Definitely the most pro-urbanist crowd I’ve seen at a DDOT open house! Scenario 2 is about to be my whole personality
Definitely the most pro-urbanist crowd I’ve seen at a DDOT open house! Scenario 2 is about to be my whole personality
November 5, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Walking into the Columbia Heights Crosstown open house I hear “…so the podcast hosts have this new book out called Life After Cars…”
Definitely the most pro-urbanist crowd I’ve seen at a DDOT open house! Scenario 2 is about to be my whole personality
Definitely the most pro-urbanist crowd I’ve seen at a DDOT open house! Scenario 2 is about to be my whole personality
Love the integration of RTD ticketing with the Transit app! Still wish WMATA had gone the route of partnering with them rather than investing the resources to build MetroPulse
October 17, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Love the integration of RTD ticketing with the Transit app! Still wish WMATA had gone the route of partnering with them rather than investing the resources to build MetroPulse
Ok, hear me out: Virginia is saving hundreds of millions of dollars by not extending the toll lanes to Woodrow Wilson Bridge and they want to reduce congestion?
HYDROFOILS ON THE POTOMAC!!!
HYDROFOILS ON THE POTOMAC!!!
Swedish company to demo flying electric ferry on Potomac River | ALXnow
A Swedish maritime technology company will demonstrate its electric hydrofoiling vessel on the Potomac River next week, showcasing technology that could potentially transform water commuting in the Wa...
www.alxnow.com
October 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Ok, hear me out: Virginia is saving hundreds of millions of dollars by not extending the toll lanes to Woodrow Wilson Bridge and they want to reduce congestion?
HYDROFOILS ON THE POTOMAC!!!
HYDROFOILS ON THE POTOMAC!!!
Oh ok so this would explain why K st was full gridlock and why there was a 15+ min gap in buses on 16th st
Even for DC, traffic anywhere close Georgetown is absolutely horrific tonight, there was Secret Service activity & MPD said the Key Bridge would be closed throughout rush hour. My coworker & I finally abandoned the area completely and are heading north and way out of our way.
October 17, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Oh ok so this would explain why K st was full gridlock and why there was a 15+ min gap in buses on 16th st
Reposted by Spencer Ainsworth
Praise for Montreal's bike-share system, from TIME. Worth a holiday thread on a couple of operational + political aspects of Bixi's history that are intriguingly left unsaid.
“Montreal revolutionized the bicycle-sharing trend. The tech behind BIXI became the backbone for bike-sharing programs in London, New York, Chicago and dozens of other places, turning two wheels into a genuine option for navigating cities.”
BIXI named among top 25 inventions of the past 25 years by TIME magazine
TIME magazine has released a list of the top 25 inventions of the past 25 years, and Montreal's bicycle-sharing system BIXI is on it.
cultmtl.com
October 12, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Praise for Montreal's bike-share system, from TIME. Worth a holiday thread on a couple of operational + political aspects of Bixi's history that are intriguingly left unsaid.
It's been a good ride but Capital Bikeshare's 44 month YoY streak of growth is over. Just 625k rides in Sept vs 665k in Sept '24, a 6% decline. It's easy to point to the Federal occupation and bad vibes in DC, but after breaking down ridership trends, I think the Aug price increase is to blame
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October 13, 2025 at 1:05 PM
It's been a good ride but Capital Bikeshare's 44 month YoY streak of growth is over. Just 625k rides in Sept vs 665k in Sept '24, a 6% decline. It's easy to point to the Federal occupation and bad vibes in DC, but after breaking down ridership trends, I think the Aug price increase is to blame
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I don’t care how poorly planned or executed it was, this makes me so sad. Everything symbolic aside, even with the streetcar averaging 6-7k riders per day, the D20/D2X are overcrowded (13k daily riders) - that’s why they built a streetcar! Crowding will only get worse even with extra buses
Budget cut means D.C. Streetcar will shut down in March
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) stripped funding for the doomed service from future budgets.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 9, 2025 at 6:04 PM
I don’t care how poorly planned or executed it was, this makes me so sad. Everything symbolic aside, even with the streetcar averaging 6-7k riders per day, the D20/D2X are overcrowded (13k daily riders) - that’s why they built a streetcar! Crowding will only get worse even with extra buses
fare evasion this, fare evasion that, meanwhile I’m upset when a broken fare box means my trip won’t get counted for Metro Rewind
October 1, 2025 at 2:03 PM
fare evasion this, fare evasion that, meanwhile I’m upset when a broken fare box means my trip won’t get counted for Metro Rewind
Release the Illustrator files
September 29, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Release the Illustrator files
WMATA moved fast on the bus decals!
September 17, 2025 at 9:25 PM
WMATA moved fast on the bus decals!
“We’re saying goodbye to the single-family home,” Persaud said. “We had a funeral service to say our goodbyes and to look around, because a lot of these people here won’t be here when all this development starts.”
bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/11/c...
bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/11/c...
September 12, 2025 at 7:03 PM
“We’re saying goodbye to the single-family home,” Persaud said. “We had a funeral service to say our goodbyes and to look around, because a lot of these people here won’t be here when all this development starts.”
bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/11/c...
bethesdamagazine.com/2025/09/11/c...
Reposted by Spencer Ainsworth
We can take many paths to improve Transit to Trails access from DC. Here are a few, from most to least feasible:
How to improve trail access, with transit
View this post on ggwash.org
ggwash.org
September 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM
We can take many paths to improve Transit to Trails access from DC. Here are a few, from most to least feasible:
By the width of a spoke, Capital Bikeshare's 44 month YoY streak of ridership gains continues! 639k rides in August vs 614k last year, an increase of just 4% (in spite of the very dry weather!). The price increase is likely to blame - below I discuss how ridership patterns are changing 1/
September 8, 2025 at 2:50 PM
By the width of a spoke, Capital Bikeshare's 44 month YoY streak of ridership gains continues! 639k rides in August vs 614k last year, an increase of just 4% (in spite of the very dry weather!). The price increase is likely to blame - below I discuss how ridership patterns are changing 1/
I’ll post a full deep dive, probably on Monday, but CaBi data for August is out and for once, the vibes are not good! The 43 month YoY streak survived, but barely (just 4% growth!). It appears cost increases and fascism have a negative effect on bikeshare
September 4, 2025 at 7:09 PM
I’ll post a full deep dive, probably on Monday, but CaBi data for August is out and for once, the vibes are not good! The 43 month YoY streak survived, but barely (just 4% growth!). It appears cost increases and fascism have a negative effect on bikeshare
Really proud to share this article I wrote for ggwash! Prior to falling down the transit rabbit hole, hiking (& ultralight gear design) was my main passion so Transit to Trails sits at the intersection of both
You can access these five trail trips via transit, starting at Union Station:
Five trips to trails by transit
View this post on ggwash.org
ggwash.org
September 2, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Really proud to share this article I wrote for ggwash! Prior to falling down the transit rabbit hole, hiking (& ultralight gear design) was my main passion so Transit to Trails sits at the intersection of both
whoa new CaBi station just south of 16th and Park! Already almost empty of course!
September 1, 2025 at 9:36 PM
whoa new CaBi station just south of 16th and Park! Already almost empty of course!
Happy Labor Day! In honor of not working, let’s check in on some of the Bowser administration’s bus priority projects (because DDOT are saints, I’m not blaming them for this):
September 1, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Happy Labor Day! In honor of not working, let’s check in on some of the Bowser administration’s bus priority projects (because DDOT are saints, I’m not blaming them for this):
More typical bunching shenanigans on 16th st but this pic also made me realize that this bus lane isn’t actually useful - the D60 and D6X both turn left onto K st so by the time they pass the M st stop they’re moving to the left lane
August 26, 2025 at 11:51 PM
More typical bunching shenanigans on 16th st but this pic also made me realize that this bus lane isn’t actually useful - the D60 and D6X both turn left onto K st so by the time they pass the M st stop they’re moving to the left lane
From this past weekend…Bladensburg Waterfront Park is such a hidden gem as a transit accessible spot for cheap kayak rentals and equally good birdwatching and Acelawatching
August 12, 2025 at 11:30 PM
From this past weekend…Bladensburg Waterfront Park is such a hidden gem as a transit accessible spot for cheap kayak rentals and equally good birdwatching and Acelawatching
I’m generally a light rail (in the US) and BRT (everywhere) skeptic but when it’s common to see 4 buses (2 articulated) bunched together on a line with dedicated bus lanes and all are packed, we’ve gotta start looking at increasing capacity
August 12, 2025 at 12:50 PM
I’m generally a light rail (in the US) and BRT (everywhere) skeptic but when it’s common to see 4 buses (2 articulated) bunched together on a line with dedicated bus lanes and all are packed, we’ve gotta start looking at increasing capacity