DDOT has announced a preliminary set of locations for its 100 Capital Bikeshare stations (via TheWashCycle):

I’m glad 17th and Corcoran made the list. Are the ones near you in locations you might use?

They’re relatively clustered toward downtown. That’s probably the right decision, as bike sharing stations increase in value the more there are nearby. Creating areas with a high density of stations will maximize the usefulness of the initial investment.

Where stations are farther out, they should meet a specific travel need, like the ones at Tenleytown, Van Ness, and AU which would serve AU students getting to and from campus and the Metro. Ditto Georgetown University and Georgetown Law. Stations in Mount Pleasant and Adams Morgan will help residents there get to nearby Metros and visitors get to the local businesses.

All of DC’s universities, including those mentioned plus Howard, GW and Catholic, could improve transportation for students even more by funding a couple stations elsewhere on their own campuses.

I’m a little surprised there isn’t another station on the east side of Logan Circle, near Howard University, or right at the U Street or Petworth Metro. Of course, they had to prioritize and also had to find space. I’d also move the one at 18th and R to 18th and S to be closer to the commercial strip there, but perhaps there wasn’t a suitable space, or a lot of people right at 18th and R said they’d use one there in the survey.

One seemed to get on the Mall, at 3rd in front of the Capitol, despite reported NPS opposition to stations. Maybe this is Architect of the Capitol land? There are also stations by L’Enfant Plaza and Smithsonian Metros, but the Park Service ought to be funding stations at the Washington Monument and the Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR, WWII, and Marine Corps memorials at the very least.

What are your reactions?

Update: There is one at the east entrance to U Street Metro. Google Maps does a bit of a disservice with the placement of the Metro station symbols, which misled a few commenters about whether bikes will be next to stations.

Update 2: DDOT has apparently been reading your comments and is listening. Stations have appeared at Howard University and Farragut Square, two conspicuous omissions early on. You can see some of the changes by comparing the above map with BeyondDC’s screen capture of the central DC area earlier this morning.

Update 3: DDOT said that the map isn’t final and they’re still making adjustments.

Update 4: The final map is up. The one embedded above now reflects the official locations.