Bethesda residents and officials want a bike sharing program throughout Montgomery County, starting with Bethesda. Installing a program like Capital Bikeshare in Bethesda would improve traffic congestion, reduce carbon emissions and help residents get healthier, said County Councilman Roger Berliner, D-Bethesda and head of the council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee.
Citing support from state Sen. Brian Frosh, Berliner sent a letter to County Executive Ike Leggett urging him to help the council bring a bike share program to the county. He proposed putting bike sharing stations at the Friendship Heights, Bethesda, Medical Center and White Flint Metro stations.
In light of Base Realignment and Closure-induced traffic, now might be the best time to add bikes in Bethesda, said Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board Chairman Jeff Hearle. His organization also sent a letter to Leggett last month to suggest he incorporate a bike sharing program in the county’s capital budget.
Rockville has approved a pilot program with Capital Bikeshare, a popular program used across the District of Columbia and Arlington in which residents can buy hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or annual memberships.
Bike sharing is growing in popularity, with Capital Bikeshare growing to 1,100 bikes at 110 stations in its first year. Alexandria also is considering starting its own pilot program.
If Montgomery County were to join Capital Bikeshare, members in D.C., Arlington and Montgomery County would be able to pick up a bike at any station in one of the three jurisdictions and return it to any other station.
Berliner said he isn’t pushing for any one program, though he would like residents to be able to use the bikes in D.C.
Adding bikes to Bethesda makes more sense than making Rockville the only bike sharing participant in the county, because Bethesda is much closer to the District, said Chris Holben, Capital Bikeshare project manager for the District Department of Transportation, and people are more likely to bike to a job in D.C.
Hearle said his organization would like to see countywide participation in a bike sharing program, but Bethesda could be a good start.
However, ultimately the question of funding may be the determining factor in Montgomery County’s ability to pursue bike sharing.
“Bethesda and beyond, as far as we’re concerned,” said Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield. “The question is resources.”
In D.C., each station costs roughly $50,000, plus about $23,000 annually to operate it, said Holben said.
