Idea – portable stations

@baiskeli 28431 wrote:

I had an idea at the County Fair – why not have a portable CaBi station that you can put up temporarily at high traffic events like the Fair? It would be a station on wheels that you could truck anywhere.

It could either add CaBi to a place where there is no station, or temporarily add to CaBi capacity when there is one. It would be a cool way to promote and demonstrate CaBi too.

For some large events downtown and on the mall, they set up CaBi corrals. Not quite the same as a portable station, but it accomplishes the same goal. I’ve also thought they could try seasonal stations, maybe out in places like the MD side of Great Falls, or Mount Vernon that see a spike in summer traffic, but have limited parking that could spur bike usage. After Labor Day, the station could either be moved, or covered and have the bikes removed until the next season.

I’m guessing technology exists that would allow for a handheld device to be invented to check bikes in and out of a temporary corral. I’m thinking of the gizmos rental car agencies use at airports when you return the car. Would be far easier/quicker than hauling around a whole docking station.

@Tim Kelley 28478 wrote:

Yup, all feasible ideas. There just isn’t much frequency for demand here for it.

True enough, since NPS tends to ban bikes from all the cool events.

Go forth and ride, young man!

@DCLiz 28517 wrote:

Is there any way to put a permanent CaBi corral at Nationals Park? There are already two awesome guys at the bike valet who could assist with checking them in or out. Taking CaBi to the game is just too much of a gamble as it is–it’s a crapshoot whether you’ll be able to find a dock when you get there and unless you bold out of your seat at the last out and dash to the stations madly checking your phone as you watch the bikes disappear, it’s even harder to find a bike to go home.

I’ve often thought a CaBi corral on gamedays would be an ideal solution. The only downside might be that a lot of bikes would be tied up not being used in one spot for the three-hour games.

I definitely agree about a gameday corral. Although if the Nats aren’t willing to pay for Metro to run late, I doubt they’d be up for laying out the cash to make this work.

Another solution would be to just have a larger station right there… the demand is certainly there, at least 81 times per year. But I know that entails some extra cost. (Perhaps make it a 39-dock station from April-October, and move those docks somewhere else for the winter months?)

As it is, if I’m CaBi’ing to a game, I try to sit along the first base/RF side, and take the stairway exit behind the barbeque place, which runs right down to the station. Avoids fighting the crowds out the centerfield gate, and provides those precious seconds necessary to snag a bike. And if not, I now walk to one of the other stations in Near SE. Perhaps once the Boilermaker Shops open this winter, they’ll finally get around to adding the proposed station by Yards Park, which would mean there’d be 4 stations within a few blocks of the ballpark, 5 if you count 4th and M Southwest.