Capital Bikeshare Launches Today!
Hundreds of shiny new red bikes stood in neat rows at Tingey Plaza this morning for the eagerly anticipated launch of Capital Bikeshare, the District’s new and expanded bicycle sharing program. The country’s first regional bikeshare system–it includes stations in both the District of Columbia and Arlington County, VA–will also be its largest, eventually encompassing over 1,000 bikes at 114 stations. Today, bike sharing enthusiasts in red and black t-shirts (including a handful of WABA staffers) led teams of volunteers mounted on the comfortable bikes from the plaza behind the US DOT building to newly installed bikeshare stations throughout the city. The system went live this morning with some 40 stations and around 400 bikes, but the team at Capital Bikeshare plans to have the entire network up and running by the end of October.
The launch event included enthusiastic remarks from DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, DDOT Director Gabe Klein, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Chairman Jay Fisette of the Arlington County Board, Assistant Secretary Polly Trottenberg for Transportation Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation and Roger Plamondon, Chairman of the Board for the Public Bike System Company.
How Capital Bikeshare works:
- Join Capital Bikeshare – For daily memberships ($5), pay at the Bikeshare kiosk with any major credit card. For monthly($25)/annual($75) memberships, join online at capitalbikeshare.com
- For a limited time, annual memberships are just $50 and the first 2000 members receive a “founder’s” Capital Bikeshare t-shirt and a limited edition key fob to unlock the bikes.
- Find a bike – You can check out the map online, use the app (for iPhone, Android or Blackberry) or simply walk down to the station and see if there are bikes there.
- Check it out – For daily members, enter the code you got when you purchased your membership. For monthly/annual members, insert your key fob next to the bike you want to check out.
- Wait for the light to turn green…
- And start riding!
- The first 30 minutes are always free, and you get unlimited trips for your membership period! After 30 minutes, pricing works like this:
- 31-60 minutes – $1.50
- 61-90 minutes – $3.00
- 90+ minutes – $6.00 per half hour