From Paris to Montreal to Beijing, bikesharing, or bike transit, has taken the world by storm. It provides a healthy, fun, and fast way to get where you’re going.
Bikesharing is the new way to get around
Bikesharing in the Capital RegionChris Holben – [email protected]
• A joint program between D.C., Arlington County, and now the City of Alexandria.
• 1200 bikes at 151 solar powered docking stations (and growing).
• Government owned.
• Operated by Alta Bicycle Share using PBSC equipment.
• Launched on September 20th, 2010.
• Complements other transport modes and works best in dense urban areas.
• A fast, cheap, healthy and fun way to get around!
What is Capital Bikeshare?
• Designed specifically for bikesharing.• Sturdy design for a utilitarian life outdoors. 24/7 365• Simple, safe, easy to ride, and comfortable for a wide range of
users. And it’s fun!
The Bike
• Consists of a kiosk, map frame, solar panel, and variable number of docks.• Modular and can be picked up and moved by truck to a new location.• Bikes can be accessed at a station by a member key or credit card.
The Station
The Network5
Current Station Map
• Phase 1 of the D.C. portion of Capital Bikeshare was funded by $6,400,000 from Federal Highways Administration CMAQ fund.
• Arlington portion of Capital Bikeshare is funded by $800,000 from combination of State, County and private sector funds in roughly equal thirds.
• Subsequent funding for expansion has been with CMAQ funds for both DC and Arlington
Funding
Program Costs (rough)
• 19 Dock Station – $55,000
• Per bike cost ‐ $1200
• Annual O/M per station – $23K = $2.3 Million for 100 stations
• includes website, call center, bike/station maintenance, redistribution
• does not include marketing and maps
Advertising, Sponsorship
In DC, we can do outdoor advertising (map panels)In Arlington, they can’tBut ads on the bikes are OK in both jurisdictions
Planning: Location Selection
• GIS Analysis• Population Density• Employment Density• Bike to Work Rate (Census)• Proximity to transit
• Other Criteria• Web Survey• Crowd Sourcing• Public Meeting• Common Sense• Approvals• Sunlight• Space!
Data
• 17,000 annual members – fluctuates with renewals
• 95,000 casual members to date
• 1.6 million trips to date
• Since every trip is recorded electronically, we have a lot
• Dashboard provides easy access of data to the public
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
Sep-10 Oct-10 Nov-10 Dec-10 Jan-11 Feb-11 Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11 Jun-11 Jul-11 Aug-11 Sep-11 Oct-11 Nov-11 Dec-11 Jan-12 Feb-12
Total Trips Per Month
Total Trips Per Month
5,501
3,997
1,0701,522
3,184
5,868
9,568
12,29311,751
13,334
10,6779,979 9,735
5,781
3,116 3,2483,402
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
Oct-10 Nov-10 Dec-10 Jan-11 Feb-11 Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11 Jun-11 Jul-11 Aug-11 Sep-11 Oct-11 Nov-11 Dec-11 Jan-12 Feb-12
Number of New One-Day Members
Video
How to Use Capital Bikeshare
98%
2%
Ride Duration - Annual and Monthly Members
0 - 0.5
0.5 - 1
1 - 1.5
1.5 - 2
2 - 2.5
2.5 -3
3+
Hours
Average = 20 min
Video
How to Use Capital Bikeshare
69%
15%
6%5%
2% 1% 2%
Ride Duration - Casual Users
0 - 0.5
0.5 - 1
1 - 1.5
1.5 - 2
2 - 2.5
2.5 -3
3+
Hours
Average = 45 min
First year+: What went well• Early education and promotion. Events, Facebook, website,
media.
• Bike launch event.
• Early annual membership, ridership and sense of public ownership.
• Smooth operations from Alta. Learning as we go.
• Bikes and stations holding up well.
• Additional funding secured for expansion.
Expansion in 201217
• Welcoming Alexandria, VA
• Looking forward to Montgomery County, MD
• Arlington Expanding
• DC Expanding
First year: Challenges• Rebalancing operations, especially for common commute patterns.
Uptown vs. Downtown. Manage expectation
• Maps. Tough to keep up with fast changing system.
• Reaching beyond the early adopters to broaden the demographic of members, increase usage at outlying stations and make it easy for more people to use Capital Bikeshare.
• Outreach to lower‐income neighborhoods and providing a mechanism for the un‐banked or “un‐credit‐carded” to utilize system
Enjoy while you’re in town!
