Bikeshare in Montgomery County Launches Tomorrow, Sept. 27

Capital Bikeshare, which currently spans D.C., Arlington, and Alexandria, expands to Montgomery County tomorrow. Join the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, Montgomery County officials and residents, and WABA to celebrate the opening at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Maryland and Montgomery avenues in Rockville. District 5 Councilmember Valerie Ervin spoke with NBC Washington’s Adam Tuss about Bikeshare’s launch. See a clip here. And read WTOP on the news here. Bikeshare just celebrated its third anniversary and has over 200 stations in D.C. and Virginia. The expansion to Montgomery County will add 50 stations. This comes just as Census data confirms that more people are commuting by bike throughout the D.C. region. Read more information from Montgomery County below the jump. Bikeshare is coming to Montgomery County! Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) announces the extension of Capital Bikeshare into a number of local urban centers The Grand Opening of Bikeshare in Montgomery County will take place at the corner of Maryland and Montgomery avenues in Rockville on Friday, September 27 at 10:30 a.m. MCDOT’s Bikeshare program will soon expand the Washington Region’s existing Capital Bikeshare program to many locations in Montgomery County. By late Summer 2013 Montgomery County will be extending Capital Bikeshare to:

• Bethesda
• Friendship Heights
• Life Sciences Center
• Rockville
• Shady Grove
• Silver Spring
• Takoma Park

Grants from the Maryland Department of Transportation, and the Federal Transit Administration, together with County funding and contributions from developers and the City of Rockville are providing the seeds for Bikeshare in Montgomery County. The County’s BikesShare Program will consist of two systems: Downcounty Bikeshare System

• 30 bikeshare stations
• 250 bikes
• Service area: along the East and West legs of the Metrorail Red Line from the District Line to Silver Spring/Takoma Park on the East and Friendship Heights, Bethesda and Medical Center Metro on the West

Rockville/Shady Grove/Life Sciences Center Bikeshare System

• 21 bikeshare stations
• 200 bikes
• Service area:Parts of the City of Rockville, Shady Grove, and the Life Sciences Ctr
• Special focus: part of a pilot program to extend BikeShare to lower income workers commuting to work or education and training.

For information on transit connections to these Bikeshare stations as well as many other transportation resources, visit MCDOT’s website. To suggest a Capital Bikeshare station location, visit our crowdsourcing map. Photo of D.C.’s Capital Bikeshare launch (September 2010) by Flickr user DDOTDC