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?
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.
