Bike Sharing Expands in Washington

September 20, 2010, 10:34 am

By J. DAVID GOODMAN

J. David Goodman/The New York Times

Test bikes sit at a new bike sharing station in Arlington, Va.

As Lauren Statman made her way along Calvert Street in Washington on Sunday, she stopped to investigate a new phenomenon on the sidewalk near her home: a large, empty bike share station.

From just 10 stations and about 100 bikes downtown, one of the first municipal bike sharing programs in the country is ballooning by a factor of 10: 100 stations and about 1,100 bikes are to spread around Washington and across the river in Arlington, Va., by the end of October.

The system officially opens to the public on Monday with 400 bikes at 49 stations. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty plans a morning news conference on the program.

“It seems cool because you don’t have to commit,” Ms. Statman, 23, said. She does not own a bike, she said, but will consider using the city’s bikes now that she has become interested in riding again.

The project, known as Capital Bikeshare, is the latest to come to a major American city, mirrors the systems have become integrated into many European cities. Its goals are both modest and potentially transformative: to get more people riding bikes, thereby promoting health, and shift the way transit systems work in cities.

In June, Minneapolis launched its Nice Ride program, with over 60 solar-powered stations and 700 bikes. A similar effort got under way in April in Denver, with 425 bikes. A major program is set to make its debut in Miami this fall, and New York is studying a massive program, with 30,000 bikes.

“In the early days there were discussions about our rugged individualist culture,” said Parry Burnap, executive director of Denver Bike Sharing, a nonprofit that operates the program. Some wondered whether Americans would embrace the notion of sharing. “But there are so many reasons to share,” he added. “It removes all the headaches of ownership, and people see that pretty clearly.”

For the last two years, Washington has had a very small bike share program, SmartBike, which was owned and operated by Clear Channel, the billboard advertising company. While seeking to build on lessons learned from SmartBike, the new, expanded system uses none of its infrastructure, said Chris Holben, who has been overseeing the program for the District Department of Transportation.


J. David Goodman

A couple perused bike-share instructions on Sunday in Washington.The two systems make use of separate electric docking stations to secure the bikes and will coexist for a month before SmartBike begins to be phased out. The new stations are portable, solar-powered and wirelessly connected to a central processing hub, Mr. Holben said, and are rolling out at a pace of three to five a day.

On a test ride around Arlington on Sunday, one of the program’s fire-red three-gear aluminum bike rode smoothly if a bit heavy — the bike equivalent of a sturdy station wagon.

Ms. Statman said the bikes would be a great alternative to borrowing from friends, as she has been doing recently. She said that using the share program will allow her to try out riding on the street until she gets comfortable enough to consider buying a bike of her own.

Memberships cost $75 a year, and bikes can also be taken out by the day for a $5 daily membership fee paid by credit card. After that, the first 30 minutes are free. The next 30 minutes cost $1.50, followed by $4.50 for the next 30 minutes and $6 for every subsequent hour. “The idea is to take short trips,” Mr. Holben said.

If a bike needs work because of a flat tire or other mechanical problems, a button can be pressed on each individual lockup station. The button effectively locks the bike in place until someone from Capital Bikeshare can take a look.

Vandalism and theft were not a major problem for Washington’s earlier program, as it was in Paris, Mr. Holben said. Of 100 bikes, only two were stolen and very few needed repairs beyond regular maintenance. There were a few incidents of tire-slashing while the bikes sat in the station and of graffiti being painted at the stations, he said.

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A Crop Sprouts Without Soil or Sunshine 9 Readers' CommentsPost a Comment »All CommentsHighlightsReaders' RecommendationsRepliesOldestNewest 1.John
Las Vegas
September 20th, 2010
11:24 amI tried the Nice Ride system in Minneapolis and it was awesome -- so much fun. Minneapolis has a terrific trail system, which helps, but DC has so many more destinations in close proximity, so I think it will be great there too.
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers 2.Joe
CA
September 20th, 2010
12:08 pmBike sharing is great but DC needs more and better bike lanes. The car lanes are very narrow and drivers there are terrible.
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers 3.eric
Boston, MA
September 20th, 2010
12:09 pmAre they using the Bixi system, developed in Montreal? The pricing and solar-power sound very similar--and the stations and bikes look similar... I used the one in Montreal and loved it. I'm waiting for it to come to Boston--it was scheduled to start up last summer, but they delayed it, I hope not forever!
Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers 4.swatter
Washington DC
September 20th, 2010
12:12 pmEven for those of us who ride to work and prefer a higher end bike, it may sometimes be logistically simpler during the day to use one of these to go short distances downtown. Great idea, long overdue, hope it works well.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers 5.swatter
Washington DC
September 20th, 2010
12:54 pmAlso, as was being said on NPR this morning, motorists and bicyclists need to be polite to each other and both need to get away from the in-your-face behavior that is all too evident today in the U.S.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers 6.Mark
Toronto
September 20th, 2010
12:54 pmI'm surprised you didn't mention the Bixi bikeshare program in Montreal. It is certainly North America's most successful program - I think there are about 7,000 bikes available now. Just take a visit to Montreal to see how successful it is. There are so many people riding bikes it is almost farcical.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers 7.FastEddy
Washington, DC
September 20th, 2010
12:54 pmI live in DC and I would love to join. However, the bike lanes here are inadequate and drivers are unwilling to share the road. I'm originally from Boston, home of the aggressive driver, but the road rage exhibited in the DC metro area puts drivers here in a class of their own. For now I'll stick with walking and public transportation.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers 8.G
Montreal, Canada
September 20th, 2010
12:54 pmI am from Montreal and this IS the Bixi locally home grown and developed program. I tend to see it more a political and profit move than an ecological and social movement of more people abstaining from using fossil fuel vehicles and getting better use of their own muscles and health benefits. It is relatively cheap for the yearly membership, but the result of this program produces worse road conditions especially for pedestrians because these new users riding bikes do not know how to abide by DRIVING road rules and laws! This Made in MTL, CANADA program is spreading arou d the world as we speak. Personally I rather own my own bike.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers 9.Schwinnme
Washington, DC
September 20th, 2010
12:55 pm Before unleashing all these bicyclists onto our streets is anyone giving thought to maybe including road safety/rules info either printed on the machine or in a little pamphlet? I'm sick of bicyclists yelling share the road as they bowl over people on the sidewalks, weave in and out of traffic lanes with no hand signals, run traffic lights/stop signs and ride the opposite way on streets. And no these aren't just the bike messengers