I just signed up. I'm still not sure how

The new Capital Bikeshare program kicks off next week and will offer 1,000 bikes at over 100 stations spread across the District and Arlington's Crystal City neighborhood. At ten times the size of Smart Bike DC, Capital Bikeshare is poised to replicate the success of its predecessor on a much larger scale.
las vegas travel info With an increase in both coverage and density las vegas travel info of bike sharing stations, the utility of Capital Bikeshare will be astronomically higher than SmartBike ever was. While SmartBike stations were only present in the busiest of areas in central las vegas travel info DC, CaBi will include stations on both sides of the Potomac, at most District Metro stations and in many neighborhoods unserved by Metrorail.
las vegas travel info It's a good question, and one I struggled with myself. Around the time that Capital Bikeshare released details on their membership costs, I had literally just bought a new bike, which, after all of the various accessories necessary to make it city-roadworthy and commute-ready, ran me $500.
I had been excited about the new, expanded bike share system for a while and was sure I would join, but when the time came to shell out the money, I hesitated. An annual membership costs $75, currently reduced to $50 for the first 2000 members (DDOT was nearing 1000 on Tuesday ), or a monthly membership runs $25. "These things las vegas travel info don't even have rear racks for pannier," I thought, las vegas travel info "why bother las vegas travel info spending more money?" Then I started to reconsider.
Capital las vegas travel info Bikeshare las vegas travel info is not intended to replace las vegas travel info long bike trips, particular not those that are made on a regular basis. The service is free for members, but only for the first 30 minutes of each rental. That means, it would not be logical for you to use a CaBi bike for your daily 10 mile commute from College Park to Union Station. Where CaBi can come in very handy is to replace las vegas travel info short to medium distance trips.
After some thought, I decided to invest in a Capital Bikeshare membership, not despite owning my own bike, but perhaps even because I own my own bike. The argument should ring quite familiar to many of you, given that we make the same argument frequently for why people should take transit, despite the fact that they own a car and have already invested in that sunk cost.
We tell people to take transit over driving for many trips because: Reduced wear and tear on the car, reduces maintenance costs and increases the longevity of your car You don't need to find and/or pay for parking at either end of your trip You won't have to worry about vandalism or theft that may be a concern at some destinations You don't have to drive home, or worry about picking your car up later The same reasons hold true for using Bikeshare over riding your own bike. With Capital Bikeshare:
You save the wear and tear on your bike. DC's streets are not great. There are potholes, manholes, asphalt warping, steel plates, gravel, glass, and myriad other obstacles and debris along your ride, all of which take a toll on your bike, the same as it does on a person's car. By using a CaBi bike, you reduce the wear and tear on your personal bike and save the time and money spent on upkeep and repairs.
Not uncommon in DC (photo by Elly Blue on Flickr.) You don't have to find bike parking. In my apartment building, the management has taken a typical car-first stance and won't allow cyclists who don't have a car parked in the garage to use their building key fobs to open the garage door.
That means I have to go around the back of my building, into the loading dock, and use the freight elevator to take my bike to the garage where our bike parking is. This adds anywhere from 5-10 minutes on either end of my trip.
Out in the city, bike parking is a crap shoot. I usually spend several minutes at the end of my trip, finding a bike rack or suitable street sign, fence, parking meter, water pipe, or other immovable object to lock my bike up on. With CaBi, if there is a station near where you headed, you know you will have a place to park (except in the rare case the station is full).
You can stop worrying about theft. If you're headed somewhere less trafficked las vegas travel info (or more trafficked as the case may be), you don't have to worry about accessories, components or your whole bike disappearing. Again, I spend several minutes everywhere I go making sure I've secured as many (re)movable parts as possible. On days when I'm running several errands around the city, the time spent locking and unlocking my bike can really add up. And lets face it, no matter how hard you try, something is always still able to be stolen.
You don't have to bike both ways. If starts to rain while your at your destination, no big deal. If you few too many drinks at happy hour, you don't have to worry about whether you secured your bike correctly on that rack on the front of the bus, or wrestle with the just-big-enough-for-you-and-your-bike elevators las vegas travel info that may or may not be in service at the closest metro station.
You can actually save money on transit. For anyone who lives and/or las vegas travel info works close to a CaBi station or spends any significant time in the central part of the District or Crystal City, there is a strong chance you can actually save yourself money with a CaBi membership.
I live near the Foggy Bottom metro station, on the northwest edge of what you could call "greater downtown" DC. I work in Navy Yard, on the southeast edge of "downtown." In a typical month, las vegas travel info I will have anywhere las vegas travel info from 3-10 meetings out of the office, usually somewhere in downtown proper. Often times these meetings are at the end of the day and I usually plan to go straight home afterward.
At the end of these meetings I'm usually las vegas travel info left with conundrum of how I want to get home. The walk is just a bit too far under all but the best circumstances (weather, temperature, what I'm wearing, what I'm carrying, etc.) and takes a while. It seems both lame and a waste of money to take the metro two or three stops. las vegas travel info And, while the bus is cheaper, it's is probably only marginally faster las vegas travel info than walking. Still, because of laziness or any of those other mitigating factors, I have ended up on the bus or the metro many times, shelling out anywhere from $1.50 to $2.50, to travel no more than two miles.
These are exactly the types of trips I expect to use CaBi for in the future. At $50 a year, by the time I replace anywhere from 20-34 short trips on bus or Metro with a trip on CaBi, I will have already made my membership cost back. Add to that the savings on chain lube, tube patches, brake pads, replacing las vegas travel info stolen accessories, or worse, and I would argue that a Capital Bikeshare membership could actually save most regular cyclists money in the long run.
Helmet use certainly raises a legitimate issue, but not an insurmountable one. Trips originating las vegas travel info at my apartment are not a problem. Because there will a station a block or so from my office, I'm planning to keep an extra helmet at work for those short off-site meetings.
Other, more spontaneous trips pose more of a problem if you insist on wearing a helmet at all times. But I tend to agree with David over at Washcycle that a helmet only reduces the risk of injury las vegas travel info assuming you're going to be in an accident.
Cautious and defensive cycling will reduce your risk of having an accident so much that the increased las vegas travel info risk of a handful of short, las vegas travel info helmet-less trips a year will only increase your risk marginally. After all, the CaBi bikes include all of the necessary safety features las vegas travel info and at probably 30 pounds and only three gears, you're not going to be able to dash around the city like a bike messenger anyway.
Related posts: Capital Bikeshare, launching today, will change everything (Sep 20, 2010) DC, Arlington to add 36 Capital Bikeshare stations (Dec 23, 2010) Tell DDOT where you want a Capital Bikeshare location (Jun 17, 2010) Capital Bikeshare introduces new 5-day pass (Mar 14, 2011) Bikeshare intensity maps can inform expansion choices (May 24, 2011) Erik Weber has been living las vegas travel info car-free in the District since 2009. Hailing from the home of the nation's las vegas travel info first Urban Growth las vegas travel info Boundary , Erik has been interested in transit since spending summers in Germany as a kid where he rode as many buses, trains and streetcars as he could find. Views expressed here are Erik's alone. Comments
Add a comment Another benefit -- easier to host visitors and go biking with them when visiting the city. Recently did a trip and my host travels las vegas travel info by bike -- their own and public bikes. Using their membership, we were able to bike together.
Awesome post. I also decided to get a membership las vegas travel info despite the fact that I already have my own bike that I love to ride. There are plenty of times right now that I would like to ride my bike but there's an obstacle to doing so - it's going to rain later, or I'm going to a friend's house and then someplace else with them, or I'm already out and want to get home faster. I think the bikeshare will be perfect for those trips.
I think this is going to be successful only if it is effective at replacing other, less efficient trips. I don't really buy the other arguments. Wear and tear? It's just not that expensive to keep a bike going, and if you have a really, really nice bike that a bent rim could cost you hundreds of dollars to fix, then you clearly ought to invest in a beater for 'round town trips. Same for parking/locking - that's why we have beaters, you don't worry about them being stolen.
So I don't really see the value in using this if you didn't have to take public transit las vegas travel info first, since it would only be a good option las vegas travel info if there was a station both very near to your home, and very near to your destination. For most people, how often will that be true?
I think there are situations where it could be very useful, like someone who works in Georgetown and currently has to walk a mile or more from Dupont or Foggy Bottom, or take a bus that takes forever. But I really can't see how this would be a better option las vegas travel info for "around town" trips that start and finish at home. Beater still better.
I just signed up. I'm still not sure how