SmartBike Debut

Well, today was SmartBike's debut and it certainly got a lot of coverage. The Post ran an article featuring photos of former WABA Executive Director Ellen Jones.  Not much new to report beyond "it starts today"

District officials tried to find a way to equip the bikes with locks, so they could be parked safely outside of a rack. But for now, riders have to provide their own locks.

About half of the fleet, about 60 bikes, is available for rental, Sebastian said. Although only seven kiosks were up and running during a test period last week, he said he expected that all 10 would be ready for use today.

About 150 memberships have been sold so far, Sebastian said.

At the end was this

Jones, transportation director for the Downtown Business Improvement District, walked to the rack at 14th and H streets NW, but it wasn't working. She ended up taking the bus to U Street.

Wah-wan...I've heard at least one other bad report

Went to rent my first SmartBike this afternoon at Foggy Bottom, but the user-interface screen said the site is closed.  Called the 800 number listed and the customer service agent agreed that the facility is closed.  At least one other site (Metro Center) is also closed and has been since at least yesterday, the agent reports.  She said the site should re-open “in a couple of days.”

But y'know, Hubble had a pretty rough start too (that's how we think about these things down at NASA).

Meanwhile Harry Jaffe of the Examiner warns potential customers that they could be entering a war zone.

Has the city prepared bikers and drivers for the kind of confrontations that have led to warfare in other cities?

“I don’t see that happening here,” Eric Gilliland, executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, told me when I asked about the coming conflict. WABA offers classes for schools and adults on bike safety. He worries that cyclists won’t signal or be seen; he fears that drivers won’t respect the rights of cyclists to share the road.

And he did relate the story of the cyclist who was hit by a driver who took a right turn into him on Independence Avenue recently. The police followed the biker to the hospital and gave him a ticket for riding on the sidewalk.

“We’re meeting with the police Friday to talk about enforcement,” he said.

Harry Jaffe, national editor of the Washingtonian magazine, often writes for Rails-to-Trails magazine and was featured in this month's issue. The interview is not online, but you can see his photo on the graphic here (at least for now you can).

There was a ceremony at the Reeves Center today. I couldn't make it but it appears Fenty - injuries and all - got on one for a photo op.

Update: GetThere has something on it too.

Mayor Adrian Fenty formally launched the program today, next to the SmartBike rack at the Reeves Center at U and 14th streets NW.

Chantal Buchser, who works at WABA  in Dupont Circle and has been beta testing SmartBikes, rode up in a dress suitable for office wear.

The bike's design, with its low bar and well-protected chain, should allow just about any office worker to cruise the city in comfort before returning the bike to any of the stations with a spare slot. There's a basket with a Bungee cord in front of the handle bars, which come equipped with a bell.

Buchser, who is used to urban biking, said the transition from her own bike to the SmartBike design felt comfortable and safe. She noted that the SmartBike's distinctive design and red-and-white markings made it stand out, getting the attention of drivers and pedestrians as she rode across town. That's good for safety, she said.

Photo by TrishsWishs

Comments

[MVM]

I honestly don't understand what the target market is for SmartBike.

Bike commuters? No, they already have bikes. And, even if they didn't, the three-hour checkout period wouldn't be practical, since people would need the bikes overnight.

Business errand runners? Downtown DC is fairly compact. Metro's already available and reliable. And (the Post's PR article this morning notwithstanding) many businesspeople -- not all, but many -- don't want to show up to meetings after having biked through the heat, cold, or rain.

Personal errand runners? Maybe, but SmartBike is set up in decidely nonresidential areas.

Students? There aren't any campuses or residence halls in the areas where SmartBike racks are set up. And, don't they generally already have bikes?

Urbanites who have occasional transportation needs but don't want to make the heavy investment (?) in a bike of their own, and are looking for alternatives to ZipCar? Well, maybe, but just how many people can that be? And, how reliable is SmartBike? Will there always be one when you need it? Will regular maintenance be performed? Can you rely on it in a pinch the same way you can Metro, Metrobus or ZipCar?

I don't mean to rain on this parade -- I'd love to see bikes replace cars on DC's thoroughfares. I just don't get how SmartBike is going to accomplish this. I don't get why the city is so focused on it as a means for encouraging bike transportation. And, I don't get why there's so little questioning of the SmartBike strategy.

It all reminds me of The Simpson's Monorail episode. I hope I'm wrong...but I have a feeling Marge and I are right on this one.

[Washcycle]

The system is targeted at those who have a first or second place downtown. Here are some examples of how it will probably be used:

1. People who work downtown and want to run errands during or after work
2. People who work downtown and want to eat lunch outside their immediate area
3. People who work downtown and want to go to happy hour/dinner/kickball outside their immediate work area
4. People who live downtown and want to run an errand on the weekend.
5. People who live and work downtown but have no space to keep a bike or would rather not buy one
6. Bike bloggers
7. People who work downtown and walk home but can shorten their walk by biking part way
8. Same as 7 but they live downtown
9. People who normally ride Metro into downtown and change trains but who can now get off and ride a bike for the last mile.

Also, the idea is that this system will be expanded. The same criticism could be leveled at Metro when all they had was part of the red line. This is just the beginning.

Plus, monorails are unfairly maligned. They're the safest form of mass transit - no deaths in over a 100 years.

[MVM]

Let's agree to meet back here in a year and see if your predictions are correct. I will eat a big helping of crow -- and make a sizable donation to WABA -- if I'm wrong.

But, naturally, I don't think I am wrong.

Of all the constituencies you mention, I suspect #5 is the most viable. As for 1 and 2 on your list, I still doubt most workers are going to jump on a bike during work hours, due to the "sweatiness" factor and the need to shower during the middle of the day. (Plus, what are these folks doing now? Driving, metroing or walking? Unless it's driving, I don't see how SmartBike helps anything.)

As for 3 on your list, maybe -- though I'm not sure the wisdom of building a bike business around drinkers and kickballers. (Joking - I know those were just examples, not an exhaustive list.) I'm not sure the 3-hour limit is going to be practical for people who "work downtown and want to go to dinner."

About 6, I assume you're joking (though, so far, this group seems to be the most satisfied customers.)

For 7-9, with the 3-hour checkout window, I don't see how SmartBike is going to help with commutes.

Even if I suspend my disbelief, it appears you suggest the primary customers are are those who don't want to or can't own a bike; and intown errand runners. Seems to me, that's a difficult business proposition. And, frankly, one that wouldn't seem to hold that much of a benefit for the city.

Finally, I don't get the Metro analogy. When Metro was in its nascent stage, it was always intended to reach out to the suburbs. SmartBike in the suburbs wouldn't be practical: Like you seem to say, this is more of an errand tool than a commuting one.

See you next year on the Monorail!

[Eric]

While I'm a regular bike commuter, I signed up for SmartBike nonetheless.

My my bike is a recumbent, so I don't wear street clothes when riding (chain rub on my leg). Adding to that, I'd have to go and unlock/get the bike from the office's garage.

So SmartBike should work for me.

Except that the closest spot (McPherson Square) isn't terribly close to me. I work near the Wilson Building. A better location would have been Freedom or Pershing Plaza, where there's ZipCar spot I use.

[washcycle]

I guess you're right in that the proof will be in the pudding as they say. I suspect that all the memberships will sell and people will complain that there are not enough bikes - not that the bikes will sit unused.

I don't think 1 and 2 will get that sweaty. We're talking a quarter mile here and a quarter mile there. Now these people are either doing the errands at another time or eating lunch closer to work (We have to be in 45 minutes, I guess we'll eat Chipotle again).

The three hour limit is on one bike. But if you check it out, ride to where you're going and check it in - it's no impediment to dinner. Nor is a 3 hour limit really (where do you eat?)

Here's how Smartbike helps with commutes. My wife works in Dupont but lives on Cap Hill. She won't bike or walk to work for sweat reasons. So she buses in the morning. Sometimes she'll walk home for exercise, but can't fi she needs to get home faster. With Smartbike she can bike from Dupont to Gallery Place and then walk home.

It's true that you're talking about niche users. But there are only 150 bikes. A million people pass through downtown on a business day. Smartbike need only get 0.15% of them to use a bike at any time - that's very nichey (and really not even that since it would be almost impossible for all the bikes to be used at once).

Finally I don't think Smartbike has to expand to the suburbs. But it does need to blanket the urban area of DC - the really dark areas of this population density map

http://www.dataplace.org/map/?cid=21672&place=x124794

As is expands - and that is the plan ["Plans to further expand the program are currently under way. DDOT is planning to place additional stations in other neighborhoods in spherical paths working towards the outer parts of the city."] - it will become more and more viable as a commuting tool and useful for more types of errands.

Don't raise the bar. This is a transportation program - not a car removal program. If people use it, that's all that's needed for success.