Columns:

Bikeshare Expanding to Columbia Pike

by Katie Pyzyk | March 22, 2013 at 9:40 am | 1,347 views | 62 Comments

Next Thursday (March 28) will be a big deal for those looking for different ways to get around South Arlington. A ribbon cutting is planned for the first Capital Bikeshare station along the Columbia Pike corridor.

Arlington County Board Chair Walter Tejada is scheduled cut the ceremonial ribbon at the event and help to launch the 2013 expansion wave, which includes 33 new stations around Columbia Pike and Shirlington. Last year’s expansion focused on the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. The full list of planned stations is available online.

The station also marks another milestone — it’s the 200th in the Capital Bikeshare system.

The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 9:00 a.m. on March 28, at the Walter Reed Community Center (2909 16th Street South).

Arlington Republican

Why must the County Board force these socialist transit options down our throats?
- NovaKev
  
  It’s bikesharing. It’s Marxist. Why should I share a bike with a homeless person who fists me?
  - drax
    
    NovaKev = new forum meme.
- OX4
  
  I know you’re trolling, but I can’t resist.
  
  I pay for CaBi. How is that socialism?
  - ARL
    
    You either got the joke, or completely missed it, or both at the same time.
    - Trespasser
      
      That was a bad joke.
I’m not on your lawn

Wildly popular and effective – great to see further expansion. So popular, in fact, the misanthropes will whine about it.
- Let_Them_Eat_Cake
  
  mis·an·thrope /ˈmɪsənˌθroʊp, ˈmɪz-/ Show Spelled [mis-uhn-throhp, miz-]
  
  noun. A hater of humankind.
  - Jimbo
    
    Perhaps a more accurate word is metathesiophobic.
  - speonjosh
    
    Pretty much, yeah.
- Cyclist 3
  
  Overheard in 2009: “Capital Bikeshare will be a failure. No one will ever use it. Just another wasteful use of public funds.”
  
  Yes, I would agree. No one ever uses it. Except for the 3 million+ times that people have used it.
  
  Even better, Capital Bikeshare has turned out to be very safe. There have only been a handful of serious accidents. I believe that none of those involved serious head injuries either. This is an amazing statistic, considering that many riders are inexperienced cyclists. Others are out-of-town visitors who may be unfamiliar with local roads and trails. But that hasn’t created the safety problems that critics used to go on a few years ago.
  
  The low center of mass, the heavy weight and the slower speeds greatly help with safety, visibility and user control of the bikes. That Washington Times columnist might be steaming about CaBi bikes, but most people seem to think they are OK for their purposes: general cycling, short rides, running errands, commuting, recreational rides.
novasteve

Imagine how horrible it will be to get run over by a streetcar on one of those.
- novastephanie
  
  Almost as horrible as being run over by an automobile or a bus.
- Zack
  
  Almost as horrible as reading yet another unoriginally unfunny streetcar comment on ArlNow.
  - novasteve
    
    How dare people not agree with you! HOW DARE THEY!
    - Old Saying
      
      Pot. Kettle. Black.
    - ARL
      
      Steve, could you bring your level of thinking out of the 3rd grade please?
  - True Patriot
    
    He’s just angry because people aren’t doing their patriotic duty and driving in a car for every 1-mile trip. After all, what could be more patriotic and All-American than to prop up the world price of petroleum, thereby subsidizing friendly regimes in countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Let_Them_Eat_Cake

At least this ends the need for the Folly Trolley, right?
- Happy Cyclist
  
  Same as it ends the need for cars.
  - Let_Them_Eat_Cake
    
    LoL, forgot about the cyclists…forever ranting like Gollum about their “Precious”; only instead of a ring it’s a perfectly perfect bike trail dripping with Gatorade gumdrops and not a single human in sight…for miles…and all the stop lights are green.
    - HappyCyclist
      
      commenting on an article about CaBi, you forgot about cyclists? Huh?
      - Let_Them_Eat_Cake
        
        Someone needs a hobby…
      - cyclist
        
        Yes, you sure do.
        
        You should try cycling, it’s a really fun, healthy hobby.
    - arlres
      
      LoL, forgot about the motorists…forever ranting like Gollum about their
      “Precious”; only instead of a ring it’s a perfectly perfect highway
      dripping with gasoline stations and not a single human in sight…for
      miles…and all the stop lights are green.
  - OX4
    
    Haven’t you figured it out yet? When the government pays for streetcars and Metrorail, that’s socialism crushing my freedom. When the government pays for roads and highway expansions, that’s good governing.
    - Let_Them_Eat_Cake
      
      The “government” doesn’t pay for jack. We do.
Cakes

Woohoo! Right by my house!
Just Wondering

Will the Bikeshare station cost $1M and take two years to build?
- http://twitter.com/Goodomens Goodomens
  
  Ha it actually takes them only a few hours to set up per station. The bottleneck is the manufacture.
- speonjosh
  
  Your attempt at humor would make a lot more sense if this was the first Bikeshare station. Since it’s not, your joke makes no sense. And is therefore not funny.
Bat

Hope I get a response from BikeArlington about whether time limits will get extended for riders going into DC or if they will have to check in their bikes at Pentagon on the way. Wish these types of questions were asked beforehand…
- SteveP
  
  I doubt they’ll extend the times – the bikes are intended for short trips. I personally use them for longer trips and just check the bike in and immediately out (same bike) at a bikeshare rack along the way. Ex: from Courthouse metro to Eastern Market I’ll check the bike in at the Smithsonian rack. I anticipate doing something similar from Courthouse to Old Town sometime (using the GW Parkway trail the Crystal City racks are just under 30 minutes). I live off Columbia Pike and I could easily see going to Old Town by way of Shirlington and/or Crystal City.
  
  I’d use my own bike for these longer trips but there are times that I know that I’d rather cab/bus/metro back due to darkness.
  - Bat
    
    Yes, I got a confirmation that there will be no exceptions. I can see how exceptions would gum up the system but since Arlington subsidizes CaBi, as do all the regions that use it, that it might have been discussed. I am glad to hear though that the check-in is not as daunting as I thought.
    
    I use my own bike for 99% of my trips but I will certainly be promoting the new docks to my neighbors.
    - http://twitter.com/Goodomens Goodomens
      
      The beauty about bike share is you don’t need to make round trips nor worry about locking it, something your own bike needs. IE ride it into town (or even just to the metro) and cab/metro back. When in DC use it in place of cabing or metroing etc. I have my own bike and gladly use Cabi as well.
    - OX4
      
      Thanks for the info.
  - ArLater
    
    For someone who hasnt used CaBi but happy it is succeeding, could you explain the check in thing? I know there are time limits, does it pay to check in every 30 minutes rather then keep it out for an hour straight? What would be the actual savings? Thanks
    - http://twitter.com/paytonchung Payton Chung
      
      The actual savings for a 29-minute trip vs. a 59-minute trip is only $1.50, but some of us are so cheap that it’s worth it. Plus, there are docks conveniently located at one end of most of the bridges: by the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials and at the south end of Key Bridge.
      
      Jurisdictions keep the revenue from trips they originate, so such an exception would cost Arlington directly.
    - http://twitter.com/Goodomens Goodomens
      
      With a membership fee, you are allowed unlimited rides under 30 minutes (Meaning from one dock to another) with any ride longer resulting in one time fees based on time. A trick that is sanctioned by Capital Bikeshare to allow you to reach a further station is to dock at a station along the way and immediately undock the bike. This resets your 30 minute clock.
    - Bat
      
      If you go 30 minutes over the time limit, so 60 minutes total, you will be charged $1.50, if you have a 30-day or longer membership. It continues to go up every 30 minutes and you can see the specifics here: http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/pricing
- Brandon
  
  I’ve never heard of exceptions to the 30+ minute usage charge so I doubt they would start now. I check in on my way to work and it’s not a big deal (takes about 15 seconds) as long as the dock isn’t full.
- OX4
  
  I’m lucky that my commute on CaBi is just barely under 30 minutes. I can sympathize with the argument that as CaBi expands the trips will get longer, especially through some of those deserts between R-B corridor, Columbia Pike, and Crystal City.
  - Matt Petco
    
    I ride between Crystal City and Rosslyn every afternoon in less than 30 minutes.
    - OX4
      
      Yea but you don’t ride with my significant other.
Todd Todd

This will be a great service until the trolley tracks ruin the road for cyclists.
- SteveP
  
  I wouldn’t ride down the middle of Columbia Pike anyhow, but even if I did I’d stay towards the curb away from the tracks. They’re not an issue to cross perpendicularly.
  
  Instead, going east or west, since I live north of Columbia Pike I’m sure I’d use some combination of 2nd, 7th, or 8th Streets and then turn towards the Pike to get to the racks. There are other useful east/west streets on the other side of the Pike. Anyhow, the county is planning on promoting parallel streets for bike usage, not Columbia Pike itself.
  - Somehow_Sane
    
    As a regular cyclist, I’m not looking forward to slaloming on roads running parallel to Columbia Pike in order to avoid man-made obstacles needed for bloated projects. Direct routes, such as Columbia Pike, are overrated. Perhaps this courtesy can be furthered by replacing the rail tracks on the W&OD trail.
    - cyclist
      
      Do you ride on the Pike on a regular basis now? I sure as hell don’t. I take the side roads.
      - 5555624
        
        I do. It’s part of my daily, year-round commute. (In the afternoon/evening, I skip part of the Pike by taking Southgate Road to Ode Street — I hate that hill at the end of the day — but with the upcoming loss of Southgate Road, I’ll be on the Pike there, too.) The problem with the “bike boulevards” is that they’re not continuous.
        
        South of the Pike, 12th Street is two blocks from Queen to Rolfe, then disappears for a block before reappearing as the paring lot for Dominion Towers. It disappears at S Wayne St for a few more blocks until S Cleveland St. From there, you can get to S Glebe Rd before it disappears again, although a trail does cut through along the Post Office. (Will it be cleared in bad weather?)
        
        North of the Pike, 9th St is a bit better. It is, however, one-way between S Irving and S Ivy Streets and disappears between S Wayne and S Veitch Streets. East of S Courthouse Rd, there is about a two-block stretch next to Towers Park.
        
        If a cyclist is taking 12th St, going the two blocks up to the Pike and then riding the sidewalk — after all, they don’t want to ride on the Pike — a couple of blocks before heading back to 12th St and doing this a couple of times is going to get old. Most will just opt for the sidewalk, if they ride at all.
  - bobco85
    
    There are plans for bike boulevards on both 9th and 12th Streets that could give those streets right-of-way at many of the intersections (probably not at Glebe or Walter Reed, though). Sadly, it doesn’t solve the problem of having to eventually get on Columbia Pike in order to get to Pentagon City, though.
    - SteveP
      
      I agree. Part of my jogging loop takes me along Columbia Pike from the from Pentagon City to George Mason (sometimes on the parallel roads). Washington Blvd is the biggest problem I think. I haven’t done it, but I think you can get behind the Navy Annex buildings and then pop out near the Ethiopian restaurant to cross Washington Blvd and then hit Courthouse road to go to a parallel street. Still you have to cross Washington Blvd and for now there’s all that construction, which is a pain.
      
      There’s no other good options that I can tell. I haven’t looked at the plans for eventual bike trail along Washington Blvd – it should connect to Courthouse Rd & Washington Blvd but that is a longish detour.
      - Peter
        
        What improvements will make the side streets “bike boulevards”? I ride, but rarely use the side streets because they only last a block or two; they’re discontinuous.
      - bobco85
        
        Here’s the Columbia Pike project website for more information: http://www.columbiapikeva.us/multimodal-street-improvements/bike-boulevards/
Kill the Trolley

I just hope they actually get your input as to where to put the station(s) in your neighborhood, unlike where I live, where it was forced upon us.
- bobco85
  
  How was it forced upon you? Please elaborate.
- Michael H.
  
  The Capital Bikeshare program has asked for and received more public input than any government (or private) program that I’ve ever heard of. They have an ongoing crowdsourcing map where people can suggest specific locations for bike stations. They have community events and online meetings. Contact info is available at the BikeArlington website.
  
  However, this does not mean that they can meet every person’s goals. There will be conflicting recommendations. CaBi is also constrained by other factors: the need for access to sunlight for the solar-powered stations, property rights at proposed locations, distance from other stations (isolated stations tend to get dockblocked [full or empty]) and it’s far more expensive for the rebalancing vans to head out to those isolated stations).
CommentBot

I love the bikesharing program, its the bikes i’m not crazy about.
- Crip
  
  I know. Red is the Bloods color, where are the blue bikes?
  - CommentBot
    
    Also the color of socialism, hmm.
North Arlington Man

i would care, but i don’t venture to Columbia Pike
scott

There’s another about to be installed in Shirlington
trumpdump

I have my own bike and use it to get down to 4 mile run trail. Columbia pike is not safe for people to bike on. You have to use the alternative route that is marked “BIke Path”

Morning Notes 5K Fridays Return to Crystal City

Subscribe to our mailing list