Capital Bikeshare has happy customers and plans to expand

The Post has a series of  stories and polls on Capital Bikeshare out today. The first is about CaBi's planned and proposed expansions.

By summertime, the bikes should be rolling through the streets of Rockville and Alexandria as the popular Capital Bikeshare program expands into several outer Washington communities. If grant applications come through, they might also appear in the inner-ring areas of Bethesda, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Friendship Heights and Forest Glen. The development of White Flint and Wheaton make those neighborhoods likely candidates as well. College Park, with thousands of students looking for cheap transportation, is also a tempting location. Greenbelt is in the mix, as are Frederick, Howard and Prince George’s counties.

The Arlington GOP must be so upset, all four of them.

Shane Farthing of WABA makes the point that you can't just plop bikes down anywhere and expect people to ride. You need to make roads and facilities that are attractive to cyclists.

“I don’t think that other jurisdictions can just assume that that groundwork was unimportant. There needs to be some intensive investment accompanying bike share that will bring things up to a standard [in which] people will feel comfortable biking. It’s all about the comfort and the ease.”

For farther out communities, connecting to Metro and commuter rail is the key

Because a Bikeshare membership is good throughout the region, planners expect that many Bikeshare riders will use a commuting combination that even includes two bike trips.

A second article is about customer thoughts on the system and mostly it sounds like people are satisfied (even if the title doesn't make it sound that way).

Bikeshare members mostly extolled the service, listing many more positives than negatives. Michelle Terry, who used to take the bus to the Metro, said she came to Washington not even considering biking as an option.

The only cons mentioned were that sometimes Spotcycle doesn't work, it used to be hard to get a bike and things that have to do with biking in general.

The poll asks "If Capital Bikeshare moves to your neighborhood, would you use the service to commute?"

Comments

[Early Man]

OK everybody--freep that poll! At 7:30am we are at 62% would definitely use it to commute but 19% prefer to far*, I mean drive.

[Michael H.]

Good to see so much positive coverage of CaBi from the Post. They've had many positive stories about CaBi and cycling over the past year, an improvement over that obnoxious editorial piece scolding cyclists that if they want to use they roads, they have to learn to follow the law.

(While it's reasonable to expect cyclists to follow laws, it's not reasonable to make that a condition for using public roads. Car drivers are allowed to use the roads and I doubt that more than 15 percent follow the laws. Just look at how many drivers are speeding on the GW Parkway, Rock Creek Parkway and the Beltway at non-rush hour times. Seems like the speed limit is treated more like a minimum recommendation than an upper limit. And then there's the tailgaiting, red-light running, failure to stop at signs, right turns on red even when explicitly prohibited, etc. By the way, I'm not bashing drivers here, just the editorial group that came up with that piece.)

[charlie]

The real takeaway I get from bikeshare is that instead of bitching about cars (cough, Michael H) deal with the real hassles of bike ownership in the city -- storing it, theft, and overpriced bike shops. And I suspect that is more true for women than men; at least that is what my GF says when I have to carry our bikes up four flights of stairs to store them.

customers or members?

[Wayne Phyillaier]

I agree 100% with Shane Farthing's comment that you can't just plop bikes down anywhere and expect it to succeed. I'm excited about the promise that Bike Share is coming to Silver Spring, but MoCo has done little to finish any of the bike trails and bike lanes that have been promised. If MoCo doesn't start doing more soon, then Bike Share will not meet its potential.

[oboe]

It'll never work.

[Michael H.]

charlie, I was not connecting bikeshare to cars. I was talking about the Post's attitude toward cycling, as evidenced by their editorials. They flat out said that cyclists should not be allowed on the roads because some do not follow the law.

Bike storage is always going to be a problem in areas where many people live in smaller apartments. I wish more could be done about bike theft, but thieves even steal bikes from "protected" bike parking inside parking garages with attendants. That's very discouraging.

As for the price of bike shops, well, most goods and services are more expensive here than in smaller cities. There is also the option to order certain items online these day. Not sure what you want Capital Bikeshare or any local government to do about that. Price controls? I don't see that happening.

***
I wonder how good Bethesda's bike infrastructure is, other than the CCT. I don't see many local trails on Google Maps. The side streets can work for short, slow bike trips. But I will gripe about at least one driver in Bethesda. As I was walking through a crosswalk there last month, a driver came speeding down the road, made a hard left turn and nearly plowed into me. He braked slightly, indicating that he saw me. But he still didn't stop. He swerved and kept on speeding through. I was halfway through the crosswalk so it wasn't as though I suddenly stepped in front of the car.

[JJJJJ]

The opinions of the Post has shifted as have the commuting patterns of the employees. 5 years ago, the only one cycling to work was "that guy", the one who gets up at 4:30 for a 150 mile breakfast cycle.

But now, regular employees bike as well. And it's hard to hate on cycling when your coworker arrives every day looking just as sharp as you, but with a helmet in hand.

People are generally sheep. If "everyone" is doing it, than it must be alright.

[Christopher Fotos]

Not quite briefcase-thin but for people who schlep with backpacks etc. this might do the trick if you want to ride CaBi with a helmet.

[Upside]

Don't hold your breath to buy one of those folding helmets to ride with CaBi. It's just designer gear: often these things will never be available to purchase.