BikeMap DC is a community-powered cycling map for the Washington,
D.C. metro area. It pulls together everything a cyclist needs to
plan a trip, find a parking rack, fix a flat, or report a problem —
all in one place, on your phone.
What you'll find on the map:
• 5,500+ bike-infrastructure segments — protected lanes, bike
lanes, contraflow lanes, bus/bike lanes, shared lanes, signed
routes, off-street trails, unpaved trails, and mountain-bike
trails.
• 5,700+ points of interest — bike parking, Capital Bikeshare
stations, fix-it stands, bike shops, water fountains, public
restrooms, Metro stations, commuter-rail stops, recreation
centers, and landmarks.
• 1,700+ cyclist crash locations from the past 4 years (MPD Vision
Zero data).
• Your fellow cyclists' contributions — bike thefts, new fix-it
stands, recent accidents.
Coverage area: DC + Bethesda · Silver Spring · Tysons · McLean ·
Arlington · Falls Church · Alexandria · Capitol Heights ·
College Park · Hyattsville · New Carrollton · Suitland.
▶ Create your account
1. Open the app.
2. Tap "Create account".
3. Pick a username (this is what your contributions are signed
with) and a password (at least 6 characters).
4. Choose one of our 10 DC-fauna avatars — bobcat, cardinal, crow,
eagle, fox, otter, owl, raccoon, skunk, or squirrel.
5. Tap "Create account". You're in.
▶ Sign in
Use the email and password you registered with. Tap the eye icon
to reveal your password if you need to check it.
Forgot your password? Tap "Forgot my password" and we'll email you
a reset link.
▶ The 9 cycle-route line styles
Open the legend at any time by tapping the hamburger icon (top-left).
Each route type has a distinct color and dash style:
• Protected Bike Lane — solid dark green. Physically separated
from traffic by a curb, planter, or barrier.
• Bike Lane — solid black. A painted, dedicated lane on the road.
• Contraflow Lane — dark with short ticks. Lets bikes go against
the flow of a one-way street.
• Bus/Bike Lane — dark with a dot-rect pattern. Shared with
transit buses; no cars.
• Shared Lane (Sharrow) — dashed dark. No dedicated space —
arrows on the pavement remind drivers cyclists may take the lane.
• On-Street Signed Route — small gray dots. Marked with route
signs but no painted lane.
• Off-Street Trail — solid light green. Paved multi-use path
(e.g. Capital Crescent, Mt Vernon, Anacostia Riverwalk).
• Unpaved Trail — brown dashes. Gravel or natural-surface paths.
• Mountain Bike Trail — purple dashes. Single-track / MTB routes.
▶ The 14 point-of-interest icons
Each amenity has its own emoji marker in a white circle:
🚲 Bike Parking 🚴 Capital Bikeshare 🔧 Fix-it Stand
🏪 Bike Sales & Repairs 💧 Water Fill Station
🚻 Public Restroom 🟢 Trail Access Point
🅼 Metro Station 🚆 Commuter Rail 🏀 DC Rec Center
🏛 Landmark / Attraction
🔓 Bike Theft ⚠️ Cyclist Accident ❌ Fatal Accident
▶ Tapping a point
Tap any marker → a sheet slides up with the category, full title,
description, and the contributor's username. Tap "Close" to dismiss.
Every imported point has a reference code (e.g. BP4231 for the
4,231st Bike Parking row) so you can quote it when reporting a
problem.
▶ Layers — show or hide categories
Tap the hamburger icon (top-left) to open the Bike Map legend.
• Each row is a toggle. Tap to show / hide that category.
• "Show all" — turn every category on.
• "Clear map" — turn every category off.
By default the loud-but-rare layers (Unpaved Trail and Mountain
Bike Trail) and the report layers (Theft, Accidents) are off, so
the map looks clean on first launch.
▶ Map gestures
• Pan: drag with one finger.
• Zoom: pinch, or double-tap to zoom in, two-finger-tap to zoom
out.
• Recenter on yourself: tap the navigation arrow (bottom-right).
• Zoom controls: + and − buttons (bottom-right).
Need a bike parking rack? Toggle off everything except 🚲 Bike
Parking — your map turns into a parking-only view. Same trick
works for Capital Bikeshare, water fountains, or any other
category.
Headed to a Metro? Turn on the 🅼 Metro layer and zoom to your
destination — every station shows up.
Bottle empty? Turn on 💧 Water Fill Stations.
Need a fix? Turn on 🔧 Fix-it Stand — most are 24/7 and include a
pump + tools.
You can add new points or file reports as long as you're physically
within 5 miles of downtown DC (we check by GPS to keep submissions
honest).
▶ Add a new point
1. Open the legend (hamburger icon).
2. Tap the blue "Add point" button at the bottom.
3. Pick a category (Bike Parking, Fix-it Stand, etc.).
4. The blue banner "Tap the map to add a point" appears at the top.
5. Tap roughly where the point is.
6. The New Point sheet opens. Drag the pin to fine-tune the exact
location.
7. Fill in a Title (required — e.g. "Whole Foods bike racks") and
an optional Description.
8. Tap "Add [category]".
A moderator reviews every submission before it appears publicly.
You'll see a confirmation toast: "✅ Point submitted! It will be
reviewed by an admin before appearing on the map."
▶ Report a bike theft
1. Open the legend → tap the red "Report Theft" button.
2. Read the safety reminder and tap "Confirm".
3. The red banner "Tap the map where the theft happened" appears.
4. Tap the location, then drag the pin if needed.
5. Fill in:
• Date and time of the incident (we offer to alert nearby
users if the theft was less than 24 h ago)
• Description — what happened, bike features, suspects
• Bike photo (optional, helpful for recovery)
• Contact info (required — phone or email so the community
can reach you)
6. Tap "Report Theft" at the bottom.
7. If the incident was recent, you'll be asked: "Alert the
community?" — choosing "Yes, alert" sends a push notification
to nearby BikeMap users.
Remember: BikeMap is community help, NOT a police report. Always
file a police report with MPD too — your theft report includes a
reminder of this.
▶ Report a cyclist accident
1. Open the legend → tap the orange "Report Accident" button.
2. Read the safety reminder ("If anyone is injured or in danger,
call 911 immediately") and tap "Continue".
3. Tap the location on the map.
4. Drag the pin, fill in Title + Description.
5. Tap "Add Cyclist Accidents".
▶ My Profile
Tap your avatar in the top-right corner of the map to open My
Profile. You'll see:
• Your avatar, username, and edit pencil (blue)
• Administrator Panel (admins only — see below)
• My bikes — registered bikes with photos, brand, color, etc.
• Contributions — every point you've submitted that's been
approved, with its reference code
• Total points (your contribution count — drives the ranking)
• Sign out
▶ Register a bike
1. My Profile → "Register your bike" (or "Add new bikes" if you
already have one).
2. Tap the photo placeholder to attach a picture from your
gallery.
3. Fill in nickname, type (Conventional or E-bike), brand, color,
wheel size, serial number, and any identifying details
(stickers, scratches, components).
4. Tap "Register bike".
Why register? If your bike is stolen, you'll have every detail at
your fingertips for the police report, the manufacturer's stolen
registry, and the community alert.
▶ Edit your profile
My Profile → blue pencil. You can change:
• Your avatar (5×2 grid — tap to select)
• Language — System (follows iOS/Android), English, or Español
• Change password (current → new, with confirmation)
• Delete account (Danger zone)
▶ Delete your account
Edit Profile → Danger zone → "Delete account" → confirm.
Your profile, bikes, and uploaded photos are deleted permanently.
Your map contributions stay on the map anonymously to preserve
community data.
▶ Ranking
Tap the trophy icon (top-right of the map) to see the leaderboard:
• 🥇 🥈 🥉 medals for the top 3 contributors
• Total points = number of your contributions that have been
approved by a moderator
• Your row is highlighted with "(you)"
If you grant notification permission, you'll receive:
• Bike theft alerts when a new theft is reported within ~24 h
near your location.
• Moderation alerts (admins only) when new submissions need
review — and a red dot appears on your avatar in the map.
Manage notifications anytime in your phone's Settings → Apps →
BikeMap DC → Notifications.
If your account is flagged as an admin, you'll see:
• A red badge on your avatar (top-right of the map) when there
are pending submissions.
• An "Administrator Panel" tile right under your profile card
with a count of pending reviews.
▶ Reviewing a submission
Tap Administrator Panel → you'll see every pending point with
its mini-map, description, author, and a 3-button row:
• "Edit before approving" (blue) — fix the title, description,
or pin location before publishing
• "Reject" (gray/red) — discard the submission (doesn't count
against the author's ranking)
• "Approve" (green) — publish to the map (increments the
author's contribution count)
▶ Editing a published point
Tap any pin → the Map Point sheet → "Edit" icon (top-left of the
sheet) — same form as the moderation flow, available on every
published point.
▶ Deleting a point
Same Map Point sheet → "Delete point" tile in the Danger zone →
confirm. The point is removed from the map for all users.
• Long tap a marker to keep the sheet open while you look up the
address.
• Want a clean route map? Turn off all POI categories — just
cycle routes remain.
• Pinch and zoom into a dense area (e.g. Logan Circle) to see
individual bike parking racks.
• If GPS is acting up, the navigation arrow re-centers you at the
Washington Monument as a fallback.
• If you're more than 10 miles from DC, the app opens at the
Washington Monument instead of your location — so the map is
still useful when you're remote.
• Every imported point has a reference code in its title. If you
spot an outdated one, screenshot it and email
bikemap.dc@gmail.com with the code.
We collect the minimum data needed to run the app, and we never
sell it. Full details at:
https://sites.google.com/view/bikemapdc/privacy
Map data comes from:
• DDOT (DC Department of Transportation)
• DCGIS (DC Geographic Information System)
• Capital Bikeshare GBFS feed
• WMATA (Metro)
• MPD Vision Zero (Crashes in DC)
• OpenStreetMap contributors
• goDCgo
Full attribution on the Privacy page.
📧 bikemap.dc@gmail.com — we reply within 1–2 business days.
Found a bug? Have a feature idea? Want to be a moderator? Email
us. Include your phone model, app version, and a screenshot if
relevant.
Thanks for riding with BikeMap DC. 🚴