Capital Bikeshare Expansion-aganza

(almost) Everybody wants to expand CaBi

Arlington: The first of what will likely be many CaBi expansion in Arlington stories. "Most of them are going into the Columbia Pike and Shirlington areas. We did a lot of public outreach, and that's what people were saying, that's where they wanted to see Bikeshare go next in Arlington," Eatough said...Expanding Capital Bikeshare is also helping local businesses boost sales. At Fresh Bikes in Arlington, more and more new customers are coming in." You can see the video below the bump.

The newest stations are at 28th S. & S. Meade, the Walter Reed Community Center at Walter Reed and 16th and Columbia Pike and S. Courthouse Road.

Alexandria wants to expand too, from 8 to 16 stations by fall and into Carlyle and Del Ray. "In the next 10 years, she said, the city hopes to add between 25 and 30 stations throughout the West End and near Arlandria. By 2017 they think membership revenue will cover operating expenses. "Though usage has dipped through the winter months, Marks said ridership has exceeded expectations. Officials originally hoped to see 30 percent of the program’s operating costs recovered during Bikeshare’s inaugural year; projections are surpassing that figure. And with summer around the corner, even more residents and visitors are anticipated to use the ubiquitous red bicycles to get around town." 

Meanwhile a letter writer who supports library funding is upset that libraries are being cut while CaBi is being expanded. But she seems confused about what CaBi is (not a business) and how it is funded (not with money available for libraries). 

• "Alexandria’s libraries are on the hit list, while at the same time, the Capital Bikeshare program expands to the tune of $600,000 — on top of $360,000 already spent." But spending that money on libraries was not an option as "The pilot program, beginning in Old Town, will be implemented with Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality/Regional Surface Transportation Program (CMAQ/RSTP) grant funds." I'm not sure where the new round of spending comes from, but I suspect Federal Transportation funding as well. 
•  "Just think, though, with $600,000 you could buy everyone in Alexandria a bike." With 147,000 residents, I'm not sure where you can find $4 bikes. Ironically, with CaBi, you really can buy everyone a bike - if they're willing to share. 
• "Additionally, while Alexandria’s libraries are city-owned and operated, Bikeshare is a private, for-profit organization selling its program worldwide." CaBi is owned by the cities that participate in it. It is a non-profit, government run organization.  
• "Two large bicycle-friendly cities welcomed Bikeshare but without taxpayers’ dollars:" No but they did give up taxpayer owned land and advertising rights. It ain't free.
• "So if Bikeshare wants to expand in Alexandria, let the parent company, Alta Bicycle Share Inc., use some of its profits and reinvest, which is what corporations are expected to do." Again, Alta doesn't own CaBi.
• "Alexandria’s libraries serve many; Bikeshare is for a few." Actually, the models are almost identical, except that bikeshare charges a nominal fee. But since CaBi is used by tourists and libraries usually aren't. I'm not sure which is for few and which is for many. Still, it's not a fair criticism. 

Washington - "The mayor is funding 10 more Capital Bikeshare stations beyond the ones that area already supposed to be going in. In December, DDOT announced 78 locations, of which it had funding for 54 and was going to install those by March. Unfortunately, it's late in installing most of those. That list also identified 24 future locations, so this budget funds 10."

Baltimore, Howard County and Columbia, MD - "The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is requesting a total of $922,000 in federal funds for the implementation of a Baltimore City bikeshare program and a feasibility study of a similar program in Howard County....Charm City Bikeshare plans include placing stations in a variety of areas, including low-income neighborhoods near downtown, with initially 425 bicycles at 44 stations....Evans said Baltimore City was seeking approval from MDOT and the State Highway Administration to begin contract talks with the bicycle-sharing company Alta, which operates the very successful and ever-expanding Capital Bikeshare program in Washington, D.C...In Howard County and Columbia, preliminary demand analysis indicates a strong likelihood for success, according to the BRTB" Maybe it will also be Capital Bikeshare?

Comments

[Eric]

Just a minor clarification Mr. Washcycle. While the bikes and stations of Capital Bikeshare are indeed owned by the jurisdictions, the operator of the system, Alta Bicycle Share, is a for-profit company. It's also useful to note that the operator does not receive any revenues from memberships or usage fees.

[Bike Share]

A few years ago (2010?) Baltimore was ready to begin bike share with bcycle. What happened?

[Michael H.]

Baltimore has been stopping and starting with bikeshare. In a previous plan, they wanted bikeshare without having to pay for it. Nice work if you can get it. But they didn't get it since no company took them up on their offer.

As for Alexandria, it will be great to see Cabi expand to Del Ray, Arlandria and Potomac Yard(?). But I hope it's sooner than 10 years from now. By the way, I think that author is incorrect about CaBi starting in D.C. Didn't it start as an Arlington idea (following on from SmartBike) and D.C. later proposed the creation of a multijurisdiction regional network? I thought the first stations were in Crystal City. Or at least the Crystal City (Arlington) stations were installed at or about the same time as the first D.C. stations.

[charlie]

Yep, it was Arlington.

Washcycle, my reading of CMAQ it the funding should not be sequestered because it ultimately coming from the Highway Trust Fund. I could be wrong about that - very wrong -- but that was my understanding.

Again, I don't think bikeshare should be funded out of CMAQ money. It isn't helping congestion or air quality. According to the dashboard, I've saved 150 pounds of CO2 by biking and that is widely overoptimistic -- it mostly replaced transit and/or walking trips. Or induced demand.

If you think how foundations work, they'll fund the first iteration to show proof of concept, and what we've seen is bikeshare can work very well. The replacement capital costs are going to be high and we are approaching that -- I think the bikes had a three year life.

[washcycle]

1. I think it was 5 years, but that doesn't really matter.

2. How much less air pollution (not just CO2 but all the other stuff too) do you think you created thanks to bikeshare? And how about everyone else? Or how much has it reduced congestion. Is your answer zero? How does this compare to other CMAQ programs?

[ACyclistInTheSuburbs]

if its taken you off transit on a corridor where transit is constrained by capacity, that allows more capacity for someone who might be switching from a car.

also if it enables more folks to live close in, that will reduce their pollution (not just carbon, btw - CMAQ is focused on traditional criteria pollutants)

[charlie]

@Washcycle, pretty close to zero. c02 would be the big one, and yes, other mitigation would have a bigger move on airquality. For example, getting cleaner buses or taxis. Light timing. Getting VOCs off.

BIkeshare has a lot of value. Air quality - not much. Congestion -- probably a bit more but still low.

Look, I know the game, You see a pot of money and pretend it has something to do with your program. Bikesharing is strong enough that cities should just spend the 40-50M out of general funds. The difficulty is you need to start big otherwise it is failure.

(For comparsion, I don't drive a lot, and geneate about 500 pounds of CO2 a month. So my bikeshare for a year or so offset around one week of driving. Weak)

[washcycle]

Just a minor clarification Mr. Washcycle. While the bikes and stations of Capital Bikeshare are indeed owned by the jurisdictions, the operator of the system, Alta Bicycle Share, is a for-profit company.

That's not really a clarification, it's just a tangetially related fact.

If Alexandria chose to hire a company to manage the libraries, it wouldn't suddenly make libraries "for profit".

The woman asserted that CaBi is for profit. It isn't.

Inserting the fact that CaBi pays for-profit businesses for services they provide doesn't make it clearer, it distracts. But Alta's status doesn't change anything. CaBi is a non-profit, government owned entity.

[Jonathan Krall]

On the topic of CMAQ, StreetsBlog has a nice discussion of the relation between car miles reduced and bicycle miles increased for people who make the switch. http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/03/29/how-much-driving-is-avoided-when-someone-rides-a-bike/

I hope it is clear that lots of pollution is avoided whenever someone gives up on car ownership. Access to bikeshare, along with access to transit and carshare, is a factor that makes car-free or car-lite living feasible. It was certainly the case for me.

[Janice Kaufmann]

Your information on why Baltimore was the bike share with Bcycle didn't happen is incorrect. The City of Baltimore entered into an exclusive negotiating situation with Bcycle who was prepared to cover the initial costs for the bikeshare and sell sponsorships and advertising to recoup their initial costs. There was even a profit sharing situation set up with the city after the Bcycle's initial costs were paid for. The City refused to sign a contract with Bcycle and without that Bcycle was unable to sell sponsorships to support the bikeshare program.