Arlington CaBi expansion plans available for review

Arlignton will be expanding Capital Bikeshare next year and BikeArlington would like input on the proposed station locations. You can find them on their FY13 Expansion web page. They plan to expand service to Columbia Pike, Arlington Blvd., Shirlington/Fairlington, Long Branch Creek, and Cherrydale thanks to the guidance the community has provided through the development of the Capital Bikeshare Transit Development Plan. An aerial and ground-level photo of each location, with station footprint, is available on these pages. At this web link you will find their Crowdsourcing Map with the proposed stations and be able to comment on them.

My only disappointment is that there is not one at the airport. I suppose you can walk from Crystal City. Still, it will be a very big roll-out.

Comments

[Still Alive]

I agree about an airport station -- and I would think the car rental agencies as well as the restaurants & shops in the main concourse (i.e. outside security) would want one as well.

Maybe it's jurisdictional, and needs to be done by the airports authority rather than Arlington? Don't they actually control all the roads & sidewalks east of the MVT there?

I've seen paid advertising by MWAA on Metro and in Pentagon City/Crystal City promoting DCA, so I'd think they could find the funds to put a station in.

[Gavin]

The proposed stations at the Marine Corps Memorial and Arlington Cemetery Metro are really good ideas. I'm sure they'd draw a lot of tourists and would be a great way to link the monuments across the Potomac. Good on Arlington for pushing for this.

[Dave]

Arlington doesn't have any jurisdiction at the airport. It's federal land administered by MWAA.

[jhr]

Could they put a bikeshare station on the far side of the MVT from where there's the turn into the parking lot that has the tunnel to the airport? That would be pretty close. Or is that also federal land?

I guess either way it would be better for the MWAA to do something but I'm not holding my breath.

Even though I have my own bike and don't currently have a bikeshare membership, since one of the proposed locations is near my apartment I would probably join if they also put a station near the airport (I tend to travel with just a backpack so this would be an extremely convenient way to get to the airport, especially at hours when the metro isn't running).

[paytonc]

I've briefly talked with someone at MWAA, who said that they'd met with Arlington about "the red bikes" at some point last year. A station there would benefit not just air travelers but also airport and airline employees, and it would be a bicycle amenity that few other U.S. cities could replicate. (YTZ, Toronto's downtown airport, has a bike share station at its main access gate.)

For now, I often CaBi over to Crystal Drive and walk back to the airport via the tunnel or Airport Access Road bridge. That adds another 20+ minutes to the trip vs. just having a CaBi station at the airport.

If you're also keen on getting a station at DCA, make sure you note it on the CaBi Crowdsourcing Map. There are four DCA locations pinned there; I recently added two that are away from the terminals, but along easy-to-follow access routes to the trail and in locations that are currently not serving anyone. MWAA may have been concerned about slow CaBis mingling with speeding cabs along the access roads, and keeping the CaBi stations closer to the MVT may prevent that scenario.