Capital Bikeshare

Capital Bikeshare (also abbreviated CaBi) is a bicycle-sharing system which serves Washington, D.C.; Arlington County, Virginia; the cities of Alexandria, Virginia and Falls Church, Virginia; Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Virginia. As of May 2021, it had 627 stations and 5,400+ bicycles, all owned by these local governments and operated by contractor Motivate International. Opened in September 2010, the system was the largest bike sharing service in the United States until New York City's Citi Bike began operations in May 2013.

History

Genesis

The SmartBike DC bike sharing service, a predecessor to Capital Bikeshare, debuted in 2008 with 10 stations and 120 bicycles. It was the first of its kind in the United States. D.C. Department of Transportation Director Gabe Klein came into office four months later and was eager to expand it, but found the private partner had a "lackluster commitment." Because the agreement specifically prohibited DDOT from paying for anything related to SmartBike, an expansion required DDOT to renegotiate the contract. But in his first meeting with Clear Channel he found that Clear Channel believed they had gotten a bad deal on the original contract that created SmartBike; that following their purchase by Bain Capital they were no longer interested in "municipal street furniture" and that they had neither desire nor obligation to expand the program. In addition, it was difficult and expensive to install new stations, because they required the local utility company to bring electricity to each station. As a result, Klein chose to end the program and instead work with Arlington County, Virginia, to build a new, regional bikesharing program to be called Capital Bikeshare.

Capital Bikeshare was to be owned by the local governments and operated by a private operator. Alta Bike Share received the operations contract. Planning and implementation costs for the new system totaled $5 million.

Launch

The new service launched in September 2010 with 400 bicycles at 49 stations. Shortly thereafter, in January 2011, SmartBike DC ceased operations.

Planning and implementation costs for Capital Bikeshare totaled $5 million, with additional first-year operating costs of million for 100 stations. The District's share of planning, implementation and first-year operating costs was partially financed by a $6 million grant by the United States Department of Transportation. Arlington County's operating cost share of the plan was $835,000 for the first year, funded by public contributions including a grant from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation as well as subsidies from Arlington County Transportation, Crystal City Business Improvement District, and the Potomac Yard Transportation Management Association. In April 2011, Capital Bikeshare administrators said they expect earned revenue to cover 50% of the system's annual operating costs. The District of Columbia also planned to sell advertising on Capital Bikeshare stations with the goal of raising .

By February 2011, Capital Bikeshare had expanded to 100 stations in the District of Columbia and 14 stations in the Pentagon City, Potomac Yard, and Crystal City neighborhoods in Arlington. In April 2011, it had 11,000 members and 1,100 bikes in circulation. In September 2011, Capital Bikeshare announced it had reached 18,000 members and one million rides in its first year of operation, doubling initial expectations. During the summer of 2013, riders averaged almost 300,000 rides per month. That means that during the peak season, each bike was being used about four times per day. Throughout 2013, users traveled almost 2.5 million miles and burned 100 million calories. The average weekly savings was calculated as $15.39; the total annual savings for the roughly 24,000 members was about $370,000.

The National Park Service originally prohibited Capital Bikeshare stations on the property it manages, including large areas such as the National Mall. However, the agency later reversed itself and said that it would work to include new stations in future expansions. The first two of five approved Capital Bikeshare stations opened on the National Mall on March 16, 2012, shortly before the start of the 2012 National Cherry Blossom Festival.

In 2010, an unlisted Bikeshare station was installed on the White House grounds, inaccessible to the public. It was removed in August 2017 at the request of the Trump Administration, and returned in September 2021 at the request of the Biden administration.

Also in March 2012, the Arlington County government gave away 550 red Capital Bikeshare helmets and twice as many flashing safety lights as part of a promotion.

Expansion

Capital Bikeshare has grown steadily, which has driven demand for more stations and bikes. Transportation agencies in each jurisdiction select the location of the rental stations, as well as the number of bike docks, depending on planners' estimates of local demand. Most of the system's users live in or near central business districts; stations in the poorer eastern portion of the city are comparatively underused. Bikeshare stations near tourist destinations and local parks are also popular.

At the 2010 opening,local transportation officials were already talking about expanding the system throughout the D.C. area with visions of a 5,000 bicycle system within a few years.

In fall 2011, the District Department of Transportation announced plans to add 32 stations and expand 18 existing ones by year's end, then add 50 more in 2012.

Arlington County also announced plans to add 30 stations in fall 2011, primarily along the densely populated corridor between the Rosslyn and Ballston neighborhoods, and 30 more in 2012.

In October 2011, the neighboring city of Alexandria, Virginia, approved plans to deploy 54 bicycles at six stations in the Old Town and Carlyle neighborhoods in 2012, then add six more stations in 2013. The cost of the first year would be $400,000, including operating costs of $100,440. The first eight Alexandria stations were deployed in August 2012.

Montgomery County, Maryland joined Capital Bikeshare next, adding stations in 2013. In 2011, it approved plans to install 20 stations and 200 bikes in the Rockville and Shady Grove areas near Washington Metro stations and high-traffic destinations such as Montgomery College and Rockville Town Center. The expansion was paid for by a $1.288 million grant from the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board with a $688,000 local match. Officials also cited plans to add 50 stations and 400 bicycles in southern areas of the county, including Bethesda, Silver Spring, Friendship Heights, and Takoma Park. However, bicycling advocates cautioned that clusters of stations in the county could be too far from each other as well as the larger network of stations within neighboring Washington, D.C. There was also concern that the county has too few bike lanes and trails to support the expected number of users. Despite these concerns, Montgomery County added its first stations in May 2013.

By September 2012, these additions and expansions were to have brought the network to 288 stations and 2,800 bikes in four jurisdictions.

In 2014, plans to add about 60 stations were put on hold after CaBi's main source for the bikes, the Montreal-based Public Bike System Co., went bankrupt. Over the next year, Capital Bikeshare bought used bikes and docks from the Ottawa bike-share system and new bikes from Motivate, a "New York-based company formed by investors who purchased previous operator Alta Bicycle Share." The expansion resumed in late 2015. In August 2015, Capital Bikeshare announced that it had found a new equipment supplier and would add 435 bikes and 40 stations in D.C. and 140 bikes and 20 stations elsewhere. It also reported having 29,000 members who had taken a total of more than 10.5 million trips.

On September 1, 2016, the system celebrated the installation of its 400th station at Division Ave & Foote St NE in Washington, DC. On October 21, 2016, Fairfax County, Virginia deployed 29 stations and 212 bikes in the Reston and Tysons Corner areas.

On June 1, 2018, Capital Bikeshare expanded its territory for bike rentals, establishing itself in Prince George’s County, which became the sixth jurisdiction to join the system. An official ceremony kicking off the service was held on June 1. Stations were originally located in Largo and Hyattsville, and then later expanded to Greenbelt, the area along Route 1, and National Harbor.

In September 2018, Capital Bikeshare began offering e-bike as a pilot, Capital Bikeshare Plus. However, brake problems ended the pilot on April 14, 2019. An updated e-bike model returned to the fleet in July 2020 as more than 1,500 e-bikes were deployed. Unlike previous bikes, the new e-bike has a lock allowing users to lock it to a fixed object for an extra fee instead of docking it at a station.

In May 2019, 11 new stations were added in the seventh member jurisdiction, Falls Church, Virginia.

Technology

Capital Bikeshare uses the BIXI-branded system provided by Montreal-based PBSC Urban Solutions. The platform behind the bike share system is created by 8D Technologies, who also supply the server technology for BIXI Montréal, Citi Bike in New York City, Santander Cycles in London, and others.

Rental stations are automated and powered by solar panels, allowing them to be located anywhere space is available. A wireless data link connects the docks and station kiosk to a central bike-tracking and billing database. Riders can use the Capital Bikeshare website and smartphone applications to see where rental stations are located and how many bikes and empty docks they have.

Each bike dock has a repair button; users press this to report a damaged or malfunctioning bike and take it out of service. Riders are expected to notify Capital Bikeshare if a bike cannot dock at a station and are responsible for the rented bike until it has been returned.

The red-colored aluminum unisex bicycles have three gears, an adjustable seat, a front basket, and a headlight and twin red taillights powered whenever the bicycle is in motion.

Unlike some other networks, Capital Bikeshare maintains service year-round except during severe weather.

While all seven member jurisdictions own the physical infrastructure (bikes and docks), operations are handled by Motivate which has been owned by Lyft since 2018.

In May 2011, it cost $41,500 to install a station with six docks and $49,300 each for larger stations with 14 docks. Each bicycle cost about $1,000, and the annual operating cost per bike was $1,860.

Pricing

In October 2021, the seven-member jurisdictions which own Capital Bikeshare made the largest adjustment to pricing since the system began operation. Members pay now $95 per year and receive 45 minutes of free ride time per trip, paying $0.05 per minute after 45 minutes. Members pay $0.10 minute for each e-bike ride to help offset its higher operating cost. Non-members pay $1 to unlock a bicycle and $0.05 per minute. For a single trip, non-members pay $1 to unlock an e-bike and $0.15 per minute. Both members and non-members pay $2 to leave an e-bike outside of a dock, within the e-bike service area.

A replacement fee of $1,200 is charged to the credit card on file if a rented bike is not returned within 24 hours.

The one-trip fare was introduced in June 2016 during WMATA's SafeTrack program, which would shut down segments of the Washington Metro for the following year.

See also

* Baltimore Bike Share
* Nice Ride Minnesota
* SmartBike DC
* Transportation in Washington, D.C.
* Vélo'v

References

External links

Capital Bikeshare official website

{{Bixi

2010 establishments in Virginia
2010 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Community bicycle programs
Cycling in Maryland
Cycling in Virginia
Cycling in Washington, D.C.
Transportation in Alexandria, Virginia
Transportation in Fairfax County, Virginia
Transportation in Montgomery County, Maryland
Bicycle sharing in the United States