Advocates for bicycling worry the city is not living up to Mayor Muriel Bowser's goal to add 10 miles of new protected bicycle lanes each year. 

Why it matters: Slow progress on expanding safe cycling routes means less advancement in tackling traffic deaths and providing a robust form of transportation, advocates say.

• Bowser unveiled the 10-miles-a-year pledge in her budget this year. But several key projects are yet to break ground, sometimes due to neighborhood opposition to removing street parking in order to make way for lanes and other traffic concerns.

Our map of transportation projects (above) shows the protected bicycle lanes that the District Department of Transportation is due to establish by 2024.

• But the segments on the map are all “a projection, and all projects are subject to change,” DDOT spokesperson German Vigil wrote in an email.
• One key project is missing: lanes on Connecticut Avenue, which would connect upper Northwest to Dupont Circle and downtown.

What they're saying: “The reason we don't have a bicycle revolution is because of the political will from our elected officials,” said Jeremiah Lowery, advocacy director at the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. 

• D.C. has had 39 fatalities this year from drivers hitting people. Lowery says protected bicycle lanes make the road safer for all traffic users, including drivers and scooter riders.

DDOT declined an interview request, but a spokesperson wrote in an email that progress on protected bicycle lanes “is at an all-time high.”

Between the lines: A longstanding concern in battles over bicycle lanes has been the removal of parking, fiercely resisted by some businesses and residents. 

• That has played into opposition to the 9th Street NW bicycle lane, which would run from U Street to Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

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The D.C. streetcar extension to the Benning Road Metro station would open in 2026 for service under current plans, DDOT officials said yesterday.

Driving the news: The roughly $200 million project includes a two-mile extension of the streetcar and bridge work on Benning Road NE, from Oklahoma Avenue to East Capitol Street. 

• Bicycle and pedestrian improvements are also included in the project. 

Ronaldo Nicholson of DDOT said in an online public meeting that lane closures during construction will be phased to accommodate access for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit vehicles, and cars.

• “Sometimes you have to have a little pain to have gain,” he said about the construction disruptions.

The streetcar won't run on a dedicated lane, similar to how it operates on much of H Street within traffic. Nicholson said creating a separate lane would have required acquiring private property for space.

Metro announced last night that some 7000-series trains will go back into service.

• Flashback: The 7000-series trains, which make up more than half of Metro's fleet, were pulled from service after an October derailment resulting from a wheel issue.

Yes, but: No additional cars will be released for service for another 90 days, Metro says.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine yesterday filed a civil suit against the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers over the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

During the announcement outside the Capitol, Racine stressed the importance of seeking justice for Metropolitan Police Department officers who responded to the attack. 

• He told reporters he wanted the suit to cause as much financial pain as possible for the groups involved. 
• “Our intent … is to hold these violent mobsters and these violent hate groups accountable. And to get every penny of damage that we can … If it so happens that we bankrupt them, then that's a good day,” Racine said.

The American Federation of Teachers yesterday kicked off its “Reading Opens the World” campaign at Malcolm X Elementary School in SE.

The school received 300 books, which means every student will now have at least one book of their own to keep. 

• “This is something that will be precious to them and their families,” principal Zara Berry-Young tells Axios.

The campaign pledges to give away a total of 1 million books to students across the country.

After first opening in Feb. 2020 (and having to close six weeks later), Japanese-Italian restaurant Tonari is re-opening on Saturday.

The reservation-only restaurant will have mostly new dishes served as part of a $65 five-course menu. Á la carte service will be offered in the future.