Idea: Bikeshare/Metro discounted transfers

[PotomacCyclist]

If Capital Bikeshare is viewed as a transportation system, and a publicly-owned one at that, why not have discounted transfers between CaBi and MetroRail, and CaBi and Metrobus? Transfers to/from the other area bus systems too (ART in Arlington, Dash in Alexandria, The Bus in Prince George’s, Ride On in Montgomery, Circulator in DC, Fairfax Connector, etc.).

This could encourage even more people to take Metro or CaBi. While many people live within biking distance of work, school or other destinations, many do not. (I’m using the standard of a casual or occasional cyclist. Some people here might bike-commute 10+ miles each way, but very few casual cyclists will do that, especially on the slower CaBi bikes.)

A lot of people say they would like to bike, but their commutes are too far for bikeshare/cycling in general. If they had the option to have discounted transfers between Metro and CaBi, they could ride CaBi to/from Metro stations. Some people could do this at the start of their trips and at the end of their trips. Suppose someone lives near Shady Grove and commutes to Gallery Place. That would be too far for most people to bike, especially on CaBi. But if that person lives near one of the Shady Grove bike stations, he/she could bike to the Shady Grove Metro station in the morning, then take the Red Line to downtown DC and Gallery Place. If the office or other destination is still a bit of a walk, the individual could check out another bike near Gallery Place and ride to the station closest to the eventual destination. (I’m setting aside the issue of full stations in central DC on weekday mornings for now. It’s a consideration, but Motivate has already expanded the temporary bike corrals to Union Station this month. Maybe more bike corrals are on the way, in addition to the two set up last year.)

A casual CaBi user may not want to spend the extra money on a short-term membership, or on an annual CaBi membership. But there would be more incentive if the bike trips help to reduce the Metro fare. I’m not sure how this would affect overall revenue, for Metro and for Capital Bikeshare. There would be many factors: increased usage of CaBi and/or Metro, reduced Metro revenue from the discounted transfers, people changing from short-term to annual CaBi membership, possible incentives or disincentives for Metro riders to purchase one of the new monthly train/bus passes, and so on.

Both CaBi and WMATA are supported by the local governments. (The federal gov’t contributes to Metro. They don’t own CaBi but they do provide some of the funding through various grant programs.) All of the local governments want to improve overall traffic congestion as well as improve the health of local residents. So there is an incentive to boost CaBi and Metro usage. (Transit riders tend to walk much more than those who drive to work/school. Very few people live/work immediately on or above a Metro station or bus stop. Most users have to walk to/from the stations, plus they have to walk a fair amount if they transfer to a different Metro line.)

The necessary data may not be available to determine the effect that discounted transfers would have (on Metro and on CaBi). But someone could study the issue. It wouldn’t have to be someone associated with Metro or the member jurisdictions of CaBi. There are plenty of smart and capable analysts who already study CaBi and Metro data on their own. Some post here. Some post on Greater Greater Washington. WashCycle has some of these posts too. BikeArlington, DDOT and other official organizations also crunch the numbers. Someone could come up with an educated guess. Then a pilot program could be started.

It might be difficult to narrow down the effect that the pilot program would have on revenues and usage numbers, on Metro and CaBi. There would be many other factors in play: Metro service disruptions, weather, etc. But if there isn’t a noticeable negative spike in revenue, at least it could be determined that a transfer program wouldn’t be disastrous for either Metro or CaBi. (Metro numbers have already been falling in recent years, because of the weekend service disruptions, the smoke incidents, the emergency shutdown and so on.) If the program doesn’t have a significant negative effect on revenue, then I think it would be worth it.

Has the idea ever been considered? If not, what about considering it now?

Topic

[mstone]

@PotomacCyclist 137628 wrote:

DISCUSSION is exactly the entire POINT of having this forum in the first place

You’re not interested in discussion. You just posted 3 (!) more walls of text that basically disregarded what anyone else on the thread said, reiterated your original idea at length and without change, and explained your requirements for “legitimate” conversation (which, for anyone else, can’t be “I think this so it must be true”, it has to be extensively footnoted and preferably something you want to hear). That’s not a discussion, it’s a pronouncement.

[PotomacCyclist]

Then don’t read. I already invited you to put me on ignore.

I did look at some of the other posts. Metro has considered moving to a new payment system, but I doubt that will happen in the foreseeable future. (Skip the rest of this post if you don’t want to read more than two sentences.)

Metro has been running a pilot program for the alternate payment system. Those are the silver gates present at many/most stations. The problem is that very few people have signed up for the pilot. Another problem is that even if a lot of people signed up, overhauling the payment/entry system would be very expensive. That would be a major capital project. As others have noted, Metro probably shouldn’t be focused on a major capital project at this time. THAT is why I posted about keeping the standard CaBi keys and SmarTrip cards already in use today.

[PotomacCyclist]

Switching CaBi to SmarTrip would also be very expensive, requiring modifications or replacement of every CaBi kiosk. Unless an independent donor funds such a program, I don’t see how that would happen. You can claim that I’m making pronouncements, but this is based on the financial realities of CaBi and Metro. If a new kiosk were designed to use SmarTrip cards (or smartphones/chip cards), those could be added when the current kiosks are replaced. But systemwide replacement of stations isn’t going to happen for years.

http://wamu.org/news/16/02/03/metro_plans_for_modern_fare_payment_system_delayed_no_word_on_how_long

Even if the $184 million contract with Accenture had been on track, the transfer away from SmarTrip would not have completed until 2021. Now the process has been delayed because of the unsuccessful pilot. Based on the delays with most major projects, Metro and non-Metro, I would guess that even if Metro sticks to their plan, it won’t be finished until the mid 2020s at best.

The article does mention that Chicago’s new gate system resulted in glitches. Everyone has seen enough bugs in software overhauls to know that is a possibility. This is why I would be concerned that this could happen, even if a Metro/CaBi transfer program were added solely through software. I already mentioned this before. It’s a risk, and if it’s too great a risk, it would make this idea unwise.

But what is the risk? I don’t know but I don’t think others know either.

[lordofthemark]

@PotomacCyclist 137636 wrote:

Switching CaBi to SmarTrip would also be very expensive, requiring modifications or replacement of every CaBi kiosk. Unless an independent donor funds such a program, I don’t see how that would happen. You can claim that I’m making pronouncements, but this is based on the financial realities of CaBi and Metro. If a new kiosk were designed to use SmarTrip cards (or smartphones/chip cards), those could be added when the current kiosks are replaced. But systemwide replacement of stations isn’t going to happen for years.

Hmm. Are there are any new parts of the CaBi system, that are relatively isolated from the rest of the CaBi system, but where CaBi as last mile to metro is very important, and where there are local organizations that might want to support this?

Why so there are.

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/30217/heres-where-reston-and-tysons-cabi-stations-will-go/

I would suggest FCDOT, TyTran, and Reston Association might have an interest in doing this.

[Raymo853]

@PotomacCyclist 137629 wrote:

As for Metro rejecting the plan, well, both Metro and CaBi are funded/owned by the same groups, namely the local governments.

Regardless, they still are competitors for the funding stream from these sources, not remarkably than say how Booze Allen and Dewberry are funded by the Federal Gov.

I also fear that a too close of a relationship between CaBi and DC Metro, the horrid work culture and mismanagement of Metro will infect CaBi.

[cvcalhoun]

Of course, the way things are going with Metro, people may have to use CaBi shortly.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/2016/03/30/fba8ae0a-f688-11e5-9804-537defcc3cf6_story.html

If they close down a whole line for 6 months, they will presumably have bus service to replace it. However, two things will happen. First, the bus service will be slower and even less reliable than the trains, so people will be more inclined to give up Metro for their cars. Second, the extra car traffic, plus the extra buses, will give us massive extra gridlock. We already have among the longest commuting times of any city in the country; I don’t even want to think about what they’ll be like once those line closures start.

[Sunyata]

@cvcalhoun 137756 wrote:

We already have among the longest commuting times of any city in the country; I don’t even want to think about what they’ll be like once those line closures start.

And THIS is why I ride my bike.

[mstone]

@cvcalhoun 137756 wrote:

Of course, the way things are going with Metro, people may have to use CaBi shortly.

CaBi would need one heck of an expansion to handle a quarter million morning trips.

[PotomacCyclist]

I’m still not reading all the responses in this thread, including from particular individuals.

Just noting that I’m fed up with the *&^!, so I’m out of here. Maybe I’ll check in on road and trail conditions next winter. Meanwhile, I no longer feel comfortable knowing that posting about Capital Bikeshare OR WHATEVER is causing certain individuals to simmer in their rage, and monitor how many times I post about CaBi or cycling, and leap onto any thread I start that is related to CaBi and turn it into a ridiculous circus.

I’m not getting paid to post here and frankly, the hostility, the tracking and the outright harassment is more than a waste of my time. (I’m sure this will lead to yet another explosion of rage, but not much I can do about that at this point.) So that’s it.

Some of it has been entertaining and informative but it’s too bad the nonsense (and worse) takes over at times. I’m done.

[Author]

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