Capital Bikeshare has its Day

A newcomer at today's Capital Bikeshare Program roll out, may never have guessed that the jubilant D.C. Mayor, Adrian Fenty, had just received a bruising at the polls not even a week before. "The only thing better than talking about bicycling is bicycling and we're gonna do both!" said Fenty.  The mayor and officials from D.C., federal and Arlington government agencies spoke to an enthusiastic crowd before embarking on a short ride on the new bike system coming to a location near you. 

Fenty explained the system, which will have 100 stations in D.C., 14 in Arlington and a total of 1100 bikes. Stations have been installed throughout the region and all locations should be operational by late October 2010. Fenty boasted that 1200 people already signed up for the program.

Arlington County Board Chair, Jay Fisette, called the program "a regional success" adding that people should not "underestimate how hard it is for one jurisdiction to reach out to another, and for two of them to work together to makes something like this happen." He encouraged the group of bicycle enthusiasts to bike on the main streets and to "be visible," calling the riders messengers for the program.

Great news for federal employees: the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) along with the Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration have each committed $25,000 to get federal  employees to sign up for Bikeshare. Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy at DOT, Polly Trottenberg, praised D.C. for being "leaders in the nation in pursuing 'active' transportation."

District Department of Transportation Director, Gabe Klein, explained the core philosophy behind Bikeshare, "We want people to be able to choose their mode whether it's the last mile from the bus or their primary mode. We don't want people to have to buy their transportation if they don't need to."

Klein added on a personal note, "I think its important that everybody knows that none of this would have been possible without the backing Mayor Fenty, to create balance on our streets, to make walking and biking easier and safe in the District and I think well be forever indebted to the mayor for that." 

Georgetown is scheduled for four locations, three of which are set in stone. Neighbors will find bike stations on K St. near the Swedish Embassy, on Wisconsin near Grace Church, just south of the canal, and near the Social Safeway in front of Hardy Midddle School. The location for the university's station is still up in the air after neighbors objected to the car barn location and the ANC decided not to give approval to DDOT for the proposed location, opting for an alternative, to be reviewed at the next ANC meeting.

Membership options include daily, monthly or annual rates. Join the program here. Bike to work in Rosslyn in the morning and take the Circulator back in the afternoon if it is raining; Georgetown has options.