Capital Bikeshare Works Again

Following up on last week's experience, I used the Capital Bikeshare system again today.  It was a very similar location.  I was on a discussion panel at 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW, which is about 4-5 blocks north of DuPont Circle.  There's a CaBi station at 19th & Florida right behind the building.  I got a bike there and rode straight down 21st Street to 21st & I.  That took under 10 minutes.  Then I walked the two blocks to Foggy Bottom to catch the Orange Line home.

CaBi saved me a 10-minute walk to DuPont Circle plus the transfer from the Red Line to the Orange Line.  I also saved 40 cents on my Metro fare.  Woo-hoo!

My First (mostly positive) Experience Using Capital Bikeshare

Today I had a great opportunity to try out my new membership to Capital Bikeshare.  I was attending a 1/2 day seminar at the Hilton Hotel on Connecticut Avenue, north of Dupont Circle.

Since I take the Orange Line from Arlington, I decided to disembark at Foggy Bottom and ride up to the conference, allowing me to skip the transfer at Metro Center.

The station at Foggy Bottom is not yet in place, so I had to walk two blocks east to the station at 21st & I Streets.  There were about 12-15 bikes at this station, ready to go.  It was pretty easy; I just inserted my fob in the slot, the light turned yellow, then green, and the bike unlocked.  I put my bag in the rack and secured it with the attached bungee and headed up 20th Street.

(View Steve Offutt's bikeshare map from October 1 2010 in a larger map)

At first I did not notice the station at 20th & Florida.  I had misremembered the location as being at 19th and Florida.  When I got there, I did not see a station.  I called the toll-free number on the bike and was directed to the station by a customer service agent.  The reason I had missed it was because it is a much smaller station and there was only a single bike in it.

About noon I left my event and went back to the station for the return trip.  Unfortunately, there were no bikes at 19th & Florida.  I walked to Dupont Circle to the station on Massachusetts avenue and got a bike there.  During the time I got that bike, two other people did as well.  I had a short conversation with a woman who was using one for the first time and was very excited about it.

I rode back to 21st & I, returned the bike, walked to Foggy Bottom and took the Metro home.  I saved 95 cents over the fares I would have paid had I taken the Metro to Dupont.

From this experience, it appears that the system is getting used:

• At least two others must have used the station near the hotel, since the two bikes that were there when I went in were gone when I came out.  
• The station at Dupont was used by two others just in the few minutes I was there
• The station at 21st & I Street had clearly been used numerous times over the 3 hours between my two visits, because the bikes were all moved around from their original locations.

Here's hoping they get the rest of the stations opened pronto--particularly downtown stations in advance of the Metro shutdown during Columbus day weekend.

Can Capital Bikeshare get up and running in time for Metro shutdown?

(Photo by M. V. Jantzen)

I recently sent this note to the contact person at DDOT working on the new Capital Bikeshare system.

=======================
Hello,

Just in case you were not aware, Metro is planning major maintenance and a huge shutdown on the Orange & Blue lines for Columbus Day weekend.
Farragut West, McPherson & Metro Center will be closed (Red line in Metro Center will be open, though). People will be shuttled from Foggy Bottom and Federal Triangle.

This is an enormous opportunity to show the value of Capital Bikeshare.  All those Orange & Blue Line riders who deboard at Foggy Bottom or Federal Triangle are going to be trying to get somewhere from there. Also Red line riders downtown wanting to transfer. Waiting for the shuttles is going to be a nightmare I'm certain. As you deploy the new stations, it would be really smart to focus on those that serve the affected areas before Columbus Day weekend (which is 11 days away). Think of the awesome marketing when your members deboard at Foggy Bottom, hop on a bike and happily ride off while everyone else stands in an enormous crowd of people trying to shove onto a line of buses. PR and media dream, too.  Don't miss this chance of a lifetime.   Perform well and you will gain hundreds of members just by being in the right place at the right time.

If I were you, I would totally focus on these stations for the next week:

• South of Massachusetts
• West of 6th St. NW
• North of Constitution
• East of New Hampshire/24th St.
  

I count 17 stations in that area, but almost none are up and running except around GW.  At the very least you will want to have the metro stations covered along with the station at RRB not far from Federal Triangle.  Better would be to have all 17 in full service.

I'd like to post something on Greater Greater Washington and CommuterPage about how CaBi is the solution to the shutdown, so if you can let me know which stations will be in service before October 8, that will help a lot.  I hope it's all of them.
Good luck,
Steve