SmartBike launches, and more bicycle coverage

Urban-cool: “The District’s urban-cool inferiority complex [is] officially over,” says the Post, because now we have a bicycle sharing program. Via City Desk. One Examiner writer manages to find a hypothetical cloud amidst all this silver lining.

Good for you and popular too: Eric Gilliland of WABA appeared on Kojo yesterday with Rutgers Professor John Pucher. They discussed the fact that one hour of biking adds more than one hour to your life expectancy, the way children in Europe receive training on safe cycling and drivers are taught how to not hit cyclists, and their disappointment that MPD hasn’t issued a report, let alone filed charges, on the death of Alice Swanson. Via Richard Layman.

Great local bike mashup: Capital Bikeways is a Google Maps mashup showing bike routes and trails (more up-to-date than the official map), SmartBike locations, user-annotated trouble spots and more. Via WashCycle.

New lanes in Petworth: The southbound lane on 5th Street in Petworth was just striped, reports Petworth News. Its northbound partner on 7th is soon to follow.