Interesting Article on Citi Bike in NYC

[PotomacCyclist]

Capital One Bikeshare. An obvious choice for CaBi. The name fits. They are a local bank, based in McLean/Tysons. They have a lot of retail branches in the area (primarily former Chevy Chase Bank locations). They are big enough to afford a major sponsorship deal.

Plus they wouldn’t need to spend as much money as Citibank did. CaBi is already up and running. However, if Capital One ever wanted to fund a massive expansion of the system, I wouldn’t mind. As we’ve seen on the crowdsourcing map, there are still plenty of locations in DC/Arlington/Alexandria where CaBi could add stations. Any advertising money could also help to expand the system into Fairfax, Falls Church and Prince George’s, and fill in the new system in Montgomery Co.

P.S. Barclays may want to change their name. What is “cycle hire”? Couldn’t they think of an even more awkward name? Barclays is already a bit awkward. Then add “cycle hire” and I bet no one has ever used the full name, outside of official press conferences and releases.

[KLizotte]

@PotomacCyclist 68102 wrote:

What is “cycle hire”? Couldn’t they think of an even more awkward name? Barclays is already a bit awkward. Then add “cycle hire” and I bet no one has ever used the full name, outside of official press conferences and releases.

“Car hire” is British lingo for rental cars so cycle hire is an obvious new term; it doesn’t sound odd to them. There are a lot of British terms that we don’t see over here for common objects and activities. For instance, “way out” is used in lieu of “exit”, “rocket” is arugula, a “mobile” is a cell phone, a “sarnie” is a sandwich, “to ring” means to call, and a “cash machine” is an ATM.

I lived in the UK and never found the name Barclays to seem strange; I rather doubt anyone else did either. Certainly no worse than Wells Fargo.

[mstone]

@KLizotte 68104 wrote:

I lived in the UK and never found the name Barclays to seem strange; I rather doubt anyone else did either. Certainly no worse than Wells Fargo.

Certainly better than Wachovia (who is watching over you?) or Fifth Third Bank (was that four fifths? two thirds? really?)

[jrenaut]

I used to be too afraid to bike in the city. Now there are so many people biking because of Citi Bike, it feels safe.

This quote sums up what I think is the #1 benefit of bike share systems. It’s not that they directly take people out of cars (in fact, in DC at least I’m pretty sure most Bikeshare trips replace a bus or train ride). It’s that they greatly increase the size of the set of all people who think biking in the city is an option. The more bikes we have out there, the safer it is for all of us.

Also, Leo should not be talking on his phone while riding a bike.

[americancyclo]

@PotomacCyclist 68102 wrote:

I bet no one has ever used the full name, outside of official press conferences and releases.

Aren’t the Brits tendencies to shorten, abbreviate, or otherwise assign cute names to things? Probably end up something like “Barkie” before too long.

[jrenaut]

@KLizotte 68104 wrote:

“Car hire” is British lingo for rental cars so cycle hire is an obvious new term; it doesn’t sound odd to them. There are a lot of British terms that we don’t see over here for common objects and activities. For instance, “way out” is used in lieu of “exit”, “rocket” is arugula, a “mobile” is a cell phone, a “sarnie” is a sandwich, “to ring” means to call, and a “cash machine” is an ATM.

Honestly, if they want to screw around with stuff like that, they should really get their own language.

[UrbanEngineer]

@jrenaut 68111 wrote:

It’s not that they directly take people out of cars (in fact, in DC at least I’m pretty sure most Bikeshare trips replace a bus or train ride).

I remember reading an article on GGW a while back that said the 2 most common bikeshare trips are Adams Mill/Columbia to Calvert/Woodley and back. That’s replacing a 10 minute walk with a 3 minute bike ride.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@jrenaut 68111 wrote:

Also, Leo should not be.

Fixed.

[vvill]

@KLizotte 68104 wrote:

I lived in the UK and never found the name Barclays to seem strange; I rather doubt anyone else did either. Certainly no worse than Wells Fargo.

Yeah agreed… my perspective is the opposite. Barclays sounds like a fine name for a bank. Wachovia sounds like a made-up fantasy land.

I found many names and terms here strange when I moved. Why was there a bank and suburb named after a comedian?

[dasgeh]

@vvill 68131 wrote:

I found many names and terms here strange when I moved. Why was there a bank and suburb named after a comedian?

Me too, and I moved here from NC

[PotomacCyclist]

@americancyclo 68113 wrote:

Aren’t the Brits tendencies to shorten, abbreviate, or otherwise assign cute names to things? Probably end up something like “Barkie” before too long.

“‘Mur-icans” do that too: SoHo, Tribeca and now in D.C. NoMa (a neighborhood founded by former Boston Red Sox SS Nomar Garciaparra), R-B in Arlington. Even Fairfax is getting into the act. They are now calling it Tysons, instead of Tysons Corner.

[PotomacCyclist]

@vvill 68131 wrote:

Yeah agreed… my perspective is the opposite. Barclays sounds like a fine name for a bank. Wachovia sounds like a made-up fantasy land.

I found many names and terms here strange when I moved. Why was there a bank and suburb named after a comedian?

Chevy Chase founded the bank and the suburb. He is more powerful than you think. All those pratfalls on TV were just a cover to make people underestimate him.

[PotomacCyclist]

@KLizotte 68104 wrote:

“Car hire” is British lingo for rental cars so cycle hire is an obvious new term; it doesn’t sound odd to them. There are a lot of British terms that we don’t see over here for common objects and activities. For instance, “way out” is used in lieu of “exit”, “rocket” is arugula, a “mobile” is a cell phone, a “sarnie” is a sandwich, “to ring” means to call, and a “cash machine” is an ATM.

I lived in the UK and never found the name Barclays to seem strange; I rather doubt anyone else did either. Certainly no worse than Wells Fargo.

But even in articles, I see the term “Boris Bikes” far more often than Barclays Cycle Hire. I don’t know if it’s the same in spoken communication, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were.

[KLizotte]

@PotomacCyclist 68188 wrote:

“‘Mur-icans” do that too: SoHo, Tribeca and now in D.C. NoMa (a neighborhood founded by former Boston Red Sox SS Nomar Garciaparra), R-B in Arlington. Even Fairfax is getting into the act. They are now calling it Tysons, instead of Tysons Corner.

I wish a lot of our metro stop names were shorter.

[PotomacCyclist]

I think the new guidelines do shorten many Metro station names. Vienna is no longer Vienna-Fairfax. The U Street name has been simplified (from U St./African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo).

The Silver Line stations have been simplified or improved from their temporary names. They had some awkward ones like Herndon-Reston West, Tysons Central 7 and Tysons Central 123. The final names are better, I think: McLean, Tysons Corner, Greensboro, Spring Hill, Wiehle-Reston East. (That last one is still kind of long.)

The names for Phase II Silver Line stations have also been improved: Reston Town Center, Herndon, Innovation Center, Dulles Int’l Airport, Route 606, Route 772.

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