CaBi Open House, Jan. 28, 6-8 pm: Price increase proposal

[PotomacCyclist]

I expect some people to complain about the price increase proposal. The annual fee will increase by 13%. But it’s only $10 and it remains a good deal for those who use the service frequently, and even for those who only use the service on an irregular basis. If you replace a two-way Metro trip, you avoid $5-6 in Metro fare. (I’m guessing that not too many people will bike farther than that, where a one-way Metro trip would be much greater than $3.) If you commute on CaBi for about 3 weeks, you will break even on the CaBi annual membership.

Prices haven’t increased for annual members in four years. Costs increase, including labor costs for staff members who rebalance stations and repair bikes/stations.

I won’t say I’m overjoyed by this news, but I can live with it. If you disagree or agree with this, you have a chance to speak with the CaBi jurisdiction reps on Jan. 28. Or send them an email at the address listed above.

[PotomacCyclist]

Did anyone go to the open house yesterday? I didn’t go, and I’m not seeing any posts on the CaBi website or CaBi Facebook page either.

While the new fare structure was already available, I would be interested to hear updates about future expansion. Is anything happening with the Motivate (Alta)/8D partnership? Will that bring in new stations and bike models?

[dasgeh]

@PotomacCyclist 106920 wrote:

Did anyone go to the open house yesterday? I didn’t go, and I’m not seeing any posts on the CaBi website or CaBi Facebook page either.

While the new fare structure was already available, I would be interested to hear updates about future expansion. Is anything happening with the Motivate (Alta)/8D partnership? Will that bring in new stations and bike models?

More on this soon, but we’ll also have a representative of Capital Bikeshare at February’s Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting (next Monday, 7pm, 2100 Clarendon Blvd) to discuss…

[Tim Kelley]

We were there. There is an official recap coming out momentarily.

If you’re curious about expansion plans in Arlington, here’s the long term plan http://www.bikearlington.com/pages/bikesharing/arlington-bikeshare-transit-development-plan/

And here’s the map:[ATTACH]7703[/ATTACH]

[PotomacCyclist]

Good to see that the National Airport station is still on the timeline.

I’m interested in the DC expansion plans too, including additional docks for existing downtown stations as well as stations in new CaBi neighborhoods. I look forward to the official recap.

[Tim Kelley]

Storify recap: https://storify.com/goDCgo/wrapping-up-the-capital-bikeshare-open-house

[dasgeh]

@Tim Kelley 106924 wrote:

And here’s the map:[ATTACH]7703[/ATTACH]

Am I the only one who can’t pull up the map?

[PotomacCyclist]

Clicking on the link downloads a PDF file onto your computer. It doesn’t open in a browser window.

[dasgeh]

@PotomacCyclist 106949 wrote:

Clicking on the link downloads a PDF file onto your computer. It doesn’t open in a browser window.

Ah, that’s why. It’s getting bounced by the firewall. Bummer.

[PotomacCyclist]

Membership fees will increase on May 1. Current members can lock in the existing prices by renewing by April 30, regardless of when your membership expires. If you add a year to your annual membership, that year will be added onto the end of your current membership. For example, if your membership expires on Aug. 30, 2015, you can add another year now (before Apr. 30) at the lower price. That will extend your membership to Aug. 30, 2016.

A couple other items that I don’t remember seeing before:

– As of May 1, Capital Bikeshare will no longer place a $101 hold on the credit cards of short-term members: https://www.capitalbikeshare.com/news/2015/03/04/101-authorization-hold-to-be-removed

– Capital Bikeshare will add enhanced rebalancing techniques like bike corrals in high-ridership areas during peak usage hours and improved data analysis for operations. CaBi will also expand to “underserved regions” of the Capital Bikeshare service area.

Some of us have suggested bike corrals as a routine feature before. They have bike corrals at special events, like Nats opening day and large events on the National Mall, but never for regular weekday rush hours. Now it appears that they could do this. This would be an excellent idea, if they can manage it properly. All of the downtown DC stations fill up quickly on weekday mornings (especially around Farragut Square, McPherson Square, Metro Center and Gallery Place). Those stations empty out as quickly on weekday evenings. Many people use CaBi for workday commutes. Even if that wasn’t the original purpose for the system, that’s how it has been used by many people over the past 4.5 years. If they can’t add super-sized stations or many more stations in the downtown DC area, then a regular bike corral system could work. The demand is very high for docks and bikes in those areas on weekdays, as any regular user can tell you.

Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Ave. has been used as a temporary bike corral location in the past. That might work, unless there are aesthetic objections with having a bike corral there every morning and evening. Franklin Square has plenty of space and it’s located right in the heart of the high-demand area. McPherson and Farragut Squares are smaller but they might be able to host smaller bike corrals. I’m eager to learn more about the specifics of this new program.

http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/news/2015/03/04/capital-bikeshare-prices-to-increase-may-1

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