Sharing the Ride?...or the Whole Bike

The other day I questioned when the District would get on board the bike sharing business now that the concept of car-sharing (ZipCar) has proved to be so popular. Turns out that this concept is well underway. SmartBike DC is beginning to roll out bike sharing racks across the city with a launch later this month and a full roll-out in May. The ten sites include: Logan Circle, 14th Street, N.W. and Rhode Island Avenue; Metro Center, 12th Street, N.W. and G Street; Dupont Circle, Q Street, N.W. and Connecticut Avenue; Reeves Center, 14th Street, N.W. and U Street; Shaw, 7th Street, N.W. and T Street; Foggy Bottom, 23rd Street, N.W. and I (Eye) Street; Martin Luther King Library (Gallery Place), 9th Street, N.W. and F Street (northwest corner of intersection); Gallery Place Metro, 9th Street, N.W. and F Street (southeast corner, eastside of 9th Street); McPherson Square, 14th Street, N.W. and I (Eye) Street; Convention Center, 7th Street, N.W. and Mt. Vernon Place.

The 120 or so bikes for borrow in the District somewhat pales in comparison to the more advanced programs across Europe but it's a start. The thing I find interesting is that all of the sites in this "pilot study" are located in the Northwest quadrant of the city.  Could no sites be found in Southeast or even in the frequently-overlooked Northeast?

Arlington is looking to start its own bike-sharing program and seems to be waiting to see what happens to the District's program before deciding on the technology to use. The big issue is theft. These bikes are made to be more functional than attractive and the chances of them simply being left somewhere were more likely. However, those signing up for the program with an annual fee of as much as $40 will also be liable for the replacement cost of the bike. Oh yeah, membership requires a credit card. Ideally, the Arlington program hopes to duplicate that in the District so that the bikes can be shared across the borders.

Also I find it ironic that as Europe and the U.S. are moving away from the automobile, China and India are becoming more auto-centric. I was watching some documentary the other day on China and it showed how cars are overtaking many of the major intersections in Beijing that had once been almost exclusive to bicycles. This change does not bode well for either the price of fuel or its supply and could demolish all of the charts relative to peak oil.

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Things that make me wonder why: Why are "Yellow Cabs" actually painted orange while "Checker Cabs" are yellow? Why do more and more drivers insist on making a left turn from the second lane from the left even into pedestrian crosswalks? And the old chestnut: Why do we drive on parkways but park on driveways?

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Steve Eldridge is a long-time reporter, observer and commentator on the Washington region's transportation issues. You can contact him directly by writing to: Steve@SprawlandCrawl.com. Unless otherwise requested, letters or portions of letters can be used within future columns. Letter writers will be identified by their first name and city/neighborhood.

Comments

[DC]

The reason that all the stations are in NW is that for the program to work the stations need to be clustered (there are only 10 of them). The ideal distance between stations is something like 0.2 miles I think. So a place where there are more people, more pedestrians, more density and flatter terrain makes sense - and that is downtown DC

[Gloria]

After reading your article regarding bikes I had to express myself about bikes. First of all, shouldn't they also obey traffic laws...are they allowed to ride on sidewalks? What about right on red....or left on red. The other day as I was crossing the street (I had the go ahead from the signal with how many seconds I had to cross)...as I began to cross the street a courier on a bike gave a shrill whistle to get out of the way as he was making a left on red straight into my path. He nearly clipped me and startled me (that's a nice way of saying how I felt.) What gives him that right? Pedestrians only have so many seconds to cross and then they are harassed by cars and bikes that want to turn right (or left in this case)on red. My next peeve is akin to this; I thought the law states something to this effect that it is okay to turn right on red WHEN IT IS SAFE. What happened to "when it is safe?" Drivers including bikers think it is their right to go no matter what. It is not always safe for a car or bike to turn right on red...pedestrians need to be safe...they don't have 3000 lbs of steel to protect them. As for the bikers, I think they need to start following some kind of order so we can be safe from them too.

[Joe]

Of course Gloria is right, bikes are required to obey the law, just as drivers and pedestrians are. Beyond that, we need to be courteous and not treat other people as if they're just obstacles in our path. We certainly should not be deliberately threatening other people with our cars, or bikes. Many drivers, and some bicyclists, seem to think it's OK to communicate, through their actions, "get out of my way or I'll kill you." A problem underlying this attitude is that many people invent their own rules of the road and blame others for not following them. We have shared rules -- they're called laws.

[washcycle]

I have no idea what Gloria's comment has to do with bike sharing.

[huh?]

With all the articles on bike-sharing in DC lately, and an 'expert' on the subject also contributing to this blog thats the best you could come up with?

Agreed, Gloria's post had nothing to do with the subject matter, however to offer a rebuttal anyways, to judge the behavior or cyclists by your experience with a courier is to say all motorists behave like cab drivers or park like the fed-ex guy.

[Gloria]

Certainly my comment indirectly had something to do with bike-sharing....bike sharing will certainly have to have rules and laws to obey as well as others. and yes I do find that many drivers act like cab drivers and park like fed-ex/ups guys. We can use more courtesy and consideration on the road whether it is car-pooling or bike-sharing. If they are introducing the SmartBike Program then people need to know the rules and use them. How's that for tying this all together? Have a nice day and WATCH OUT for that bike driver!!!