SmartBike shows strong start in first 2 months

The District’s new bicycle rental program has taken off, with almost 1,000 cyclists signed up to use the service during its first two months. — Examiner File Photo

The District’s new bicycle rental program has taken off, with almost 1,000 cyclists signed up to use the service during its first two months.

The city, meanwhile, has started building a $4 million bicycle transit center at Union Station, one of a bevy of initiatives to make the city more bicycle-friendly.

“All I have heard are really good things about SmartBike. A lot of people are really proud of the city for being a leader on this type of project,” said Eric Gilliland, executive director for the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

SmartBike, which started up in August, already has 900 subscribers and logs 150 trips daily, said Jim Sebastian, the District Department of Transportation’s manager of bicycle programs.

Only one bike has been stolen so far, which the Department of Transportation is working to recover, Sebastian said.

The bicycle rental system, the first in the U.S., provides members with access to 120 bikes at 10 downtown locations.

Members pay an annual fee of $40 and are given a card that unlocks available bikes, which can be rented for up to three hours and returned to any location with a free spot.

Sebastian said his agency wants to increase the number of bikes and locations throughout the city, but plans for expansion have not been set.

Gilliland said the bikes are especially useful for those who don’t have access to a bike at work, but would like to use one at lunch or to run errands throughout the day.

“We see these SmartBikes as part of the Metro transportation transit system,” Sebastian said.

The SmartBikes and the bicycle transit center help ease commutes by eliminate switching lines on the Metro system, Sebastian said.
For example, Eastern Market is only a five-minute bike ride from Union Station, but getting there on Metro from Union Station requires switching lines from Red to Orange, adding 15 minutes to the trip.

Construction of the bicycle transit center, which will hold about 150 bikes, began last week. Commuters who leave their bicycles there will be charged $1 per day for limited hourly access or $100 a year for 24-hour access to the building.

Sebastian said the Department of Transportation is not sure whether the center will provide enough space to meet demand, but that’s “a problem we’d like to have.”

Sebastian also said that while he is not sure how the programs will fare through the chilly winter months, Washingtonians bicycle year-round and the bikes are designed to be out in all seasons.