I picked up my SmartBike card this morning - yes, I'm a Beta tester. I rode a bike from the Reeves Center to Gallery Place. It was a nice easy ride. I'm used to the smaller wheels from my folding bike so the bike only felt weird if I tried to stand up. One note - this is not your bike, so you'll need to adjust the seat when you get on and check out the location of the bell, shifter etc...I almost made history by becoming the first person to lose their SmartBike card - giving Clear Channel a chance to beta test their lost/stolen card system. I didn't put the card in my pocket as securly as I should have and it fell out. I heard it, but thought it was just the sound of me rolling over somthing so I ignored it. A mile later, I was putting my bike into the kiosk and wanted to take a picture of the bike, kiosk and card together. Then I couldn't find the card. Luckily I hadn't checked the bike back in yet so I went back and - thankfully found it. A woman saw me pick my card up from Q Street and my sheepish look and said "You're luckily no one stole that." Yes I am. Loosing the card on my maiden voyage...ugh.
The District plans to kick off operations on August 13th with 7 of 10 kiosks. If you want to be ready to go then, you need to sign up now. It'll take a week or two to get your card in the mail.
Do you know if waba are still giving out a discount for members. I looked on their website but didn't see any mention of it.
Posted by: Ian | August 07, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Thanks for the alert. I've signed up, looking forward to trying it out.
Posted by: Rocky6 | August 07, 2008 at 12:56 PM
They're marketing to WABA members, but I don't think there's a discount - I didn't get one.
Posted by: washcycle | August 07, 2008 at 01:44 PM
How 'bout a more thorough review of the bike and ease or difficulty of using it?
Posted by: Roger | August 08, 2008 at 08:06 AM
OK. Not much to report but I'll go into excruciating detail.
Swiping the card at the kiosk was pretty easy and intuitive. You have to walk down to the bike to see the green light come on. There were only two bikes on my rack so it was easy to figure it out, but on a full rack it might be frustrating. Other than the seat being set for someone much shorter than me the bike was great. It rode well, gears shifted well. I was able to go the same speed as the other cyclists around - even passed someone. So I got to use the bell.
Locking it at the end was easy too, set it in place and wait a few seconds and you can hear it click and see the light go red. It's faster than using a U-lock.
Really, it's faster than using your own bike - once you count the time it takes to lock and unlock.
Posted by: washcycle | August 08, 2008 at 12:20 PM