The District Department of Transportation on Wednesday released the locations of 32 new Capital Bikeshare’s stations to be installed in the fall, part of the program’s first major expansion since the program began in September. “We’re very happy with the success of the program,” said District Department of Transportation Public Information Officer John Lisle, adding that he believes it to be the largest in the nation. “We’re very excited to expand to meet demand and to reach new members who haven’t tried it out yet.”
The project would add 265 new bikes to the overall system and expand 18 already existing stations, which entails adding more bikes or empty docks for bikes in order to better meet demand.
Bike sharing has caught on across the Potomac River, too. Arlington County’s Bikeshare, through a partnership with DDOT, also installed four new stations that became instant hits in their communities less than two weeks ago. It laid solid groundwork for their plans to add 30 more stations and 200 bikes along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor by next spring.
Lisle said the District’s Capital Bikeshare plans to start installation for the 32 new stations in October and to finish within weeks.
“They can put down several stations each day,” Lisle said. “It’s a pretty simple process.”
Since its debut in September 2010, Bikeshare program riders have taken more than 700,000 rides. Registered members now stand at about 16,000, and that number keeps growing, Lisle said.
DDOT Director Terry Bellamy said in a news release that the expansions would expand the program downtown by 22 percent, east of the Anacostia River by 80 percent and in all other wards by nearly 40 percent. Lisle said this will help offset the imbalance that commuters naturally create each morning.
After community input, the department decided on station locations with criteria including proximity to activity centers and to high-demand existing stations, solar accessibility, and space and surface requirements.
