Bicycling
Arlington, DC announce 1,100-bike regional bike sharing
A new bike sharing system based on Montreal's Bixi will have 1,100 bikes spanning 100 stations in DC and 14 in Arlington, replacing DC's existing SmartBike system, leaders announced this morning,
Bixi in Montreal. Flickr photo by solylunafamilia.
This expansion has been widely rumored for months, since Cyberpresse reported a deal was in the works. U.S. company Alta Bicycle Share will actually operate the system and employ the staff. The system should launch in the fall.
Clear Channel created the original SmartBike system as part of a contract to run advertising on DC bus shelters, but that relationship ran into trouble because Clear Channel was not interested in an arrangement where local governments would pay directly for system expansions. They were only running it to grow their core business of outdoor advertising.
The new system will allow a wider range of membership opportunities. Annual memberships will cost $80, double the current SmartBike rate of $40, though for a much better service. People can also purchase monthly memberships for $30 or daily ones for $5. All memberships allow unlimited bike rentals, free for the first 30 minutes with usage fees (levels not yet specified) after 30 minutes.
The exact locations haven't been released yet, but Arlington is concentrating theirs in the Pentagon City/Crystal City/Potomac Yard area (the Blue and Yellow Line corridor). The Crystal City BID helped pay for this portion.
Focusing on one area will also allow for a sufficient density of stations to maximize ridership. Bike sharing is best for short trips rather than very long ones, especially since the bikes are designed for comfortable shorter rides rather than longer, higher-speed ones. Arlington hopes to next add the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
Hopefully the Park Service will allow a number of bike stations on the Mall. With poor transportation around much of the Mall, bike sharing could be a perfect way to help many people bridge the gaps if there could be stations at most major attractions (so they can return the bikes quickly upon reaching a desired memorial).
Mall stations are also close to Arlington, and a connected bike share system could let someone ride, for example, from Crystal City to Arlington Cemetery, drop off the bike, see the cemetery, pick up another bike to go to the FDR memorial, drop the bike off, get another to go to downtown DC, and so on.
Last year, we made a map together of potential locations for the new bike sharing.
The system won't be called SmartBike, which is a Clear Channel brand name. DC and Arlington have created a survey to help select among names including WeCycle, UCycle, Capital Bixi, ZoomBike, Velo2Go, Bike Around, Bikington, and more.
The stations cost about $35,000 for a small station (7 bikes and 11 docking spaces), up to $52,000 for a large 13-bike, 19-dock station. The operating cost will be $155 per bike not counting memberships; the membership revenue DC and Arlington get will go to offset each jurisdiction's contribution to operating costs.
It's great that jurisdictions were able to cooperate to create this regional system. Arlington has always been a national leader in Smart Growth and sustainable practices, and County Board members Jay Fisette and Chris Zimmerman provided strong leadership for this project. DDOT under Gabe Klein is quickly implementing some of the most cutting-edge transportation ideas. Together, the system can be better than either's alone.
When Arlington was first exploring bike sharing over a year ago, I worried about the proliferation of incompatible bike sharing systems. In the case of bike sharing, the whole is definitely greater than the parts. With this system, run by companies interested in expanding it rather than just getting ad revenue, it should be able to grow to more jurisdictions in the region, and perhaps local universities or other organizations (USDOT?) can sponsor their own stations.
BeyondDC tweeted from Wednesday's TPB meeting that they're likely to re-submit the regional bike sharing system in the original TIGER grant application for the second round of TIGER funding.
A TIGER grant could boost this system from a nice start to a real showcase of what bike sharing can do for a metropolitan area. 114 stations is fantastic, but if we wanted to match Paris's Vélib's density of bike sharing, DC and Arlington should have 5,400 bikes. The original TIGER application asked for 2,250 bikes at 225 stations in DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax City, Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, Hyattsville, and National Harbor, in addition to the 1,000 the District is already funding and announced today.
 | David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.   |
Comments
- Latest Metro map drafts add Anacostia parks and other tweaks
- Bikeshare is a gateway to private biking, not competition
- DC Council makes major policy changes overnight
- Short-term Washingtonians deserve a voice, too
- Public land deals have both benefits and pitfalls
- Parklets give every block a little park
- Judge denies injunction against closing schools
by inlogan on May 21, 2010 8:52 am • link • report
My understanding of the TIGER application for bikesharing in the last round was that the idea was well received, but wasn't quite ready to roll out. This time around, with Arlington and DC in the lead, we're well on our way. Also, the smaller pot of money might help out a relatively modest TIGER II application for expanding the Bikesharing system.
by Alex B. on May 21, 2010 9:14 am • link • report
by Shipsa01 on May 21, 2010 9:30 am • link • report
by David Alpert on May 21, 2010 9:56 am • link • report
Now, you just have to intergrate your smartrip with your bike membership card!
by charlie on May 21, 2010 9:57 am • link • report
And great idea about integrating it into the Smartrip system. That would be ideal.
by Shipsa01 on May 21, 2010 10:03 am • link • report
The great part about Bixi (as opposed to SmartBike) is that Bixi is both scalable and very easy to install. Solar power means no electrical hookups are needed, the wireless communication means that no data hookups are needed, either. Adding stations is relatively cheap and easy.
by Alex B. on May 21, 2010 10:07 am • link • report
by Reid on May 21, 2010 10:12 am • link • report
by Scott F on May 21, 2010 10:20 am • link • report
and +1 to the "normal" looking bikes
by Ballston123 on May 21, 2010 12:08 pm • link • report
by Rob on May 21, 2010 12:24 pm • link • report
by jcm on May 21, 2010 12:37 pm • link • report
by Erica on May 21, 2010 12:49 pm • link • report
by Chris Hamilton on May 21, 2010 1:32 pm • link • report
by jim on May 21, 2010 2:29 pm • link • report
In honor of Arlington's southern heritage, I propose we name the new system Dixi.
by Gavin on May 21, 2010 2:45 pm • link • report
One thing that this scheme seems to be missing is the link between this system and other provision for Public Transport. In Germany, and Netherlands, and with major French conglomerates the bike share systems, and car share systems are part of the product portfolio of a Public Transport operation. Thus the PT operator can sell a product that genuinely delivers an equivalent - or even a better deal - than the private car
In the UK a commuter driving to the metro station and going onward on foot or by bus/second metro can save around 30 minutes on their total journey time in each direction. As a result, when a clear gain such as this has become apparent we have seen increases in cycle use of over 1000% in a couple of months. The closure of one short section of Metro line for 6 months of renovation has delivered the equivalent of 2 train loads of passengers converting to cycling, and continuing to ride this part of their journey when the line reopened.
It is interesting to see that an annual subscription is now considered appropriate - OV Fiets (NS), Veolia (operating in Chicago) Clear Channel's operation in Barcelona and the UK Group Stagecoach all offer their cycles as Transit for an annual fee and you either keep the bike all the time or collect from an automated hire point.
Thus the hole in this at present is that it is not integrated with the WMATA Transit product - aside from where the station is actually part of the destination, every passenger using transit buys an incomplete product - ("batteries not included") as no transit service can viably offer everyone a door to door journey. Transit plus bike can deliver this.
The other buy-in for the system has to be from big institutions who are committed to TDM - compare the cost of some automated bike lockers (the solution for OV-Fiets) and a Bixi station to the construction (and land) costs for a multi-storey parking garage for 7 cars - basically delivery of cycle sharing (and car sharing) as public transit is a no=brainer.
The established US deal to take bikes on buses (over 70% of US bus fleet) may also mitigate the cost of bike redistribution as credits or payments can be offered for those who are willing to reposition bikes.
by Dave Holladay on May 22, 2010 3:59 am • link • report
Think the link with WMATA needs to develop more thes bikes ARE public transport.
Good thinking to deliver a small scheme in a concentrated area to get required density of bikes & hire points
For commuter use you need a different model which can use the same bikes BUT a charging system that allows the commuter to take a bike to work for the whole day. RfL and the Canadian taxpayer are propping up the cost of using vans to move bikes around where the massive tidal flow of commuters - especially from Waterloo Station (handling 4 times as many passengers per day as Heathrow Airport on a fraction of the land take and in the centre of the city)
If you have a bike sharing system and it has heavy tidal use you will need twice as many docking points as you have bikes in circulation - for a general mixed flow patter you only need around 50% more docking points.
OV Fiets model resolves this but as with Montpelier you can have the same bikes operating with different tariffs for different users. The other system - operated manually at present is the Brompton Dock which launches automated operation next month with 2 rail companies. Here a single docking point can support 2-4 bikes on hire, because the users keep the bike with them in the office or apartment when not using it and take it on board buses trains and taxis (or in their car to park out of town and cycle in).
The Arlington scheme might get additional funding through the advertising route but through the operator offering branding and docking point opportunities - either directly or through an agency. Copenhagen bikes have had core funding for maintenance for 15 years through selling the branding oin their bikes - the original being the red Coca Cola style. NB the White House may still have the presentation bike in 'Ground Force 1' colours. Maybe the President needs a fleet of Presidential Bixi's for getting around the Capital?
by Dave Holladay on May 23, 2011 6:09 am • link • report
Add a Comment