Cherry Blossom CaBi bike

[jrenaut]

I was hoping they’d finally get around to doing something like this. I posted a picture somewhere on the forum of a couple of alternate paint job bikeshare bikes in Melbourne, Australia. They didn’t appear to be from any special event, but I don’t really know.

[PotomacCyclist]

They could also have one for the Passport DC embassy open houses in May and another for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in June/July. Those are both very popular annual events too. They could leave each of these special bikes in the system for year-round use. It would be kind of neat to come across one of these bikes unexpectedly and ride it around on a CaBi trip. It would further increase awareness of these events, maybe among visitors who don’t know about all of these programs. (I never heard about Passport DC until a few years ago, or maybe I just kept tuning it out for some reason.)

[jrenaut]

Yeah, totally agree. I would hope they don’t remove the bike from circulation just because the event is over. Though perhaps there would be legal issues? Aren’t there legal issues in DC at least with advertising on CaBi?

[PotomacCyclist]

I think Virginia has the restrictions on some types of advertising. In DC, there were the old issues that came up from the former SmartBike program, where Clear Channel (I believe) operated the system in order to gain public advertising space. I don’t know the current status of that agreement or DC/Arlington/Alexandria/Montgomery Co. advertising regulations. ARL/Alex./MoCo might be restricted by VA and MD state laws to some extent. I think DC would be clear of Congressional interference in what would seem to be a primarily local matter.

[Mikey]

Better yet, The district could commission local artists to gussy up some of the bikes, kind of like the ‘Party Animals’ statues of the late 90s early 00s. Except you could ride them. I know, I know, the city has bigger issues to throw money at, but might be a cool way to showcase local artists.

[dasgeh]

Oo, Oo, there could be a red-white-and-blue bike put into circulation for the 4th! Of July! When it’s hot!

[PotomacCyclist]

@jrenaut 79011 wrote:

Yeah, totally agree. I would hope they don’t remove the bike from circulation just because the event is over. Though perhaps there would be legal issues? Aren’t there legal issues in DC at least with advertising on CaBi?

There may also be different rules and considerations for nonprofit events vs. commercial businesses. It might be easier to have theme bikes for the Cherry Blossom festival and maybe Passport DC and the Folklife Festival.

Every so often, there are articles about attempts to get name sponsors for CaBi but no major contracts have been announced, that I’ve read of.

There are more limited sponsorship deals though. CaBi started out with a co-sponsorship deal from the Crystal City Business Improvement District. They sponsor most of the stations in Crystal City. Other sponsors now include FAST Potomac Yard (the two in the Arlington part of Potomac Yard) and the Ballston BID, plus the Chevy Chase Land Company in MD. I don’t know of any such deals in DC yet. When you click on the stations at the online map on the CaBi site, these sponsors appear in the pop-up box for the station.

The site lists many other partners and contact info for those who wish to become sponsors or partners. They even suggest that others could purchase bike stations, perhaps a large employer like Capital One in McLean. (Their HQ is right by the new McLean Silver Line Metro station, which will open sometime this year.)

http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/partners

[consularrider]

Well, I for one am glad to see that they designed a special CaBi for Dirt. Wait, is it big enough?

[jrenaut]

It’s okay, the seat height goes to 11.

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