Arlington's Capital Bikeshare Expansion Plan includes Arlington Cemetery, Pentagon, Shirlington and Columbia Pike

I mentioned in February that Arlington was writing a Capital Bikeshare Transit Development Plan to be finished by the end of June. It is out, though the public meeting about it is now scheduled for July 11 from 7-9pm at 1501 Wilson Blvd, Suite 1100, Arlington, VA.

For the 6-year plan period almost all of the expansion will occur in 2013. Of the 39 stations planned for 2013-2015, 33 of those will be installed in 2013.

3 of the 39 planned stations will be funded through external sponsorship by the Potomac Yard Transportation Management Association, the Ballston BID and George Mason University with the others being funded through transportation grants and $200,000 in Arlington County decal fees. After 2015, the capital funding will be needed to keep the system in a state of good repair as the original equipment will be reaching the end of its useful life and need replacement.

Expansion will focus on building out the current system in South Arlington, especially along Columbia Pike east of the W&OD trail, and in Shirlington. Stations will also be placed at Arlington National Cemetery and at the Pentagon pending approval from NPS and the DOD.

In addition to those key locations, stations will be placed at a lower density along key corridors - though no station can be more than half a mile from another. Stations will be along the Four Mile Run and W&OD trails, in the neighborhoods along Washington Blvd and Glebe Road and in Arlington Ridge and Aurora Heights. There are also two "spare" stations and 17 4-dock expansion plates that can be placed later based on future needs.

There is also a plan for some money to be reserved for a 2014 pilot project using smaller 11-dock stations with reduced functionality in neighborhoods without sufficient density to support full size, full service locations.

Specific locations are not identified, just areas as shown below.

Even after the 39 stations are added, they estimate that there will be demand for roughly 50-100 other stations, which are currently unfunded. If more money is made available, stations in North Arlington, East Falls Church and Lee Highway would be the next logical steps. There would also be additional stations in the neighborhoods between Shrilington and Columbia Pike. And of course, system growth will lead to additional demand in the core of the system - Crystal City, Rosslyn and Court House. They developed two plans for "unconstrained expansion" with the map relating to the larger of those below.

It's expected that the expansion of the system will lead to increased shortages in operations revenue, due to a farebox recovery rate of about 50%. The overall system makes money, but not Arlington's share of it. So from a $446,000 projected shortfall in 2013 it would rise to $884,000 in 2018. There is also a projected shortfall in capital expenditures as the Decal Fee alone will not be enough to keep the system in a state of good repair, and CMAQ money is not budgeted beyond 2013.

To close the gap, they will seek funding from many sources. They will try to get a better farebox recovery rate and more sponsored stations. They're open to a title sponsor or advertising on kiosks, though both would require a change to Arlington's zoning codes and prohibitions on outdoor advertising. They'll seek assistance from developers and encourage them to fund stations as part of new developments - as DC did with Wal-Mart. They'll seek funding from private foundations and try to sell more corporate memberships . The county currently markets bulk discounted casual memberships for hotels to sell to guests, but so far that amounts to only 5% of memberships sold, so they'd like to expand that. And of course, they'll look at funding from other government sources at all levels. 

There is much more to the report than I can really cover here, but it is about the most thorough bikeshare plan I've ever seen. You can comment at the Report's website or attend the meeting next week.

Comments

[Falls Church]

Bikeshare needs a more reliable source of funding than CMAQ. Arlington should follow DC's lead (and NYC's) and sell advertising on bikeshare.

[Riley]

"splain me this. AFAIK CABI is a prepaid fee system. You pay with a major credit card before you get the bike. How does a 50% recovery rate on fare boxes figure in this scenario? What am I missing here?

"It's expected that the expansion of the system will lead to increased shortages in operations revenue, due to a farebox recovery rate of about 50%. The overall system makes money, but not Arlington's share of it. "

[washcycle]

Fare box recovery refers to how much of the operation cost is covered by user fees (at the farebox or otherwise). So if it costs $100 to run it and they bring in $50 of revenue, that's a 50% farebox recovery rate. It is not a measure of how much of the money that is due is collected.

[MB]

@Falls Church - Arlington has a legal block to selling advertising on the stations. And I've heard there's even a difference of opinion (within the County) on advertising on bikes (which I think is silly, given that Metro buses are giant rolling billboards). While I'm certainly sympathetic to and share Arlington's historic lack of interest in expanding advertising into our daily lives, I think it's worth looking hard at the realistic revenues advertising might bring in.

@Washcycle - we're in full agreement about the thoroughness of the TDP. Chris Hamilton and everyone involved in this process deserves a lot of credit.

[Greenbelt]

I believe that advertising could bring political protection as well as revenues. When the corporate world buys in to bikesharing, I believe some of the right-wingnut radio guys -- who are making is so difficult for conservative Congressmen to support bike sharing and biking in general -- will back off some.

[Michael H.]

Glad to see that another station will be added to the Potomac Yard area of Arlington. The existing station is frequently full or empty, and it's a few blocks to the closest station.

[Kathy]

I think it is sad that the only way private companies will contribute is if they get advertising rights. Whatever happened to contributing to the public good because it is good for society overall?

[Michael H.]

Crystal City BID is a public/private group that co-sponsored most of the Crystal City stations. Some developers have pledged to pay for new bike stations, including possible stations at the new regional Boeing HQ, the new Harris Teeter in Old Town and the future redevelopment in Arlandria.

It's kind of difficult to ask for private support without advertising rights though. I can't completely blame them for that approach. If too much non-productive money goes out the door, they aren't going to be in business for long.

[washcycle]

I'm not sure that's totally fair. Private companies are often among the biggest donors at most charities.

And I'll paraphrase something that Warren Buffett said about this. He said that given a choice between having a company donate money to a charity of the board's choosing or giving it to shareholders they should give it to shareholders. What if the board chooses a charity that some stockholders don't like or oppose (like Planned Parenthood)? What if the board members gets something in return (which is quite common)? That creates perverse incentives. What if some stockholders NEED that money to pay for heating and food.

Better to give that money to stockholders and let them choose if and where to give it away. There is a certain logic to that.

Now if a company is privately held, that's different.

Having said that, it might be that Arlington County would allow individuals to donate money specifically to CaBi. If not, they should. And then anyone could contribute to the public good.

[Kolohe]

Based on this www.capitalbikeshare.com/assets/pdf/cabi_station_sponsorship_flyer.pdf I don't see why an individual (or individuals pooling their money) wouldn't be allowed to sponsor a station if they ponied up the cash.

(and per that flyer, Arlington seems to allow more logorificness than DC does right now)

[Michael H.]

There's also a more direct way that people can "donate" to CaBi. They could intentionally go over 30 minutes on a ride more frequently, to rack up per-ride fees. I've thought about doing this all the time... once I win the lottery.