Montgomery County residents may be able to rent bikes near transit hubs in the coming year if a councilwoman finds support for her proposal to follow the District’s lead in adopting a SmartBike program.
Councilwoman Valerie Ervin has asked county transportation officials to start a pilot program with about 500 bikes available for short-term rentals in Takoma Park, Wheaton, Silver Spring and Bethesda. Ervin says the program would be cost-neutral: The vendor running the program would charge membership fees and give customers a pre-paid card to unlock available bikes at fixed rack locations and keep them for up to two days.
“It is a good way for people to do a lot of things — get around, get exercise, and get out of the cars and help the environment,” Ervin said. “Talking is way past, now is the time to act. We know we live in the kind of community where people would be really excited to participate in this program, especially in urban areas near Metro stations.”
According to Jim Sebastian, the District Department of Transportation’s manager of bicycle programs, the SmartBike program, which started in the District in August, already has 900 subscribers and logs 150 trips daily. Sebastion said only one bike has been stolen so far, which the Department of Transportation is working to recover.
“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.
D.C.’s bicycle rental system is the first in the United States, providing members who pay $40 a year with access to 120 bikes at 10 downtown locations. Ervin said her hometown of Albuquerque, N.M., has also started a similar pilot program.
She’d like Montgomery County to have a pilot program up and running no later than October 2009.
