Photo: the long-awaited Bikeshare station at Georgia and Upshur is finally a reality

This has been a long time coming. The Georgia/Upshur Bikeshare station (which, if you want to get more precise about it, is actually located at 9th and Upshur) was supposed to be installed during the first rollout back in September of 2010. The installation was pushed back, presumably due to the construction that was going on at the intersection at the time. The station was finally installed on Tuesday.

Montgomery County plans 50 Bikeshare stations near Red Line

From the Gazette: Fifty bikeshare stations planned for stations along the Red Line; Montgomery County officials still seek funding for project

Montgomery County officials and residents discussed Tuesday adding bicycle stations that would connect to the bike network in Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Va.

The county hopes to add 50 stations with 400 bikes along and around Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Metrorail Red Line, focusing on places like Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Forest Glen and Wheaton.

Many of the stations proposed by the county Department of Transportation were located at or around Metrorail stations, apartment complexes, parks, hospitals and community centers.

The county is applying for a Maryland Bikeshare Program grant. The grant would fund 80 percent of the costs up to a certain point, Brecher said. The state grant application is due Dec. 15 and Brecher said she expected a response next year, since the grant would go toward fiscal year 2013.

A Capital Bikeshare station with 15 bike slots and eight bikes would cost $48,000 for equipment and installation and $21,000 in annual operating fees. If the county receives the grant, officials will order the stations and bikes and draft a station plan for each location. The county would also have to talk to any private parties who own land on a planned station site and make private agreements. The aim is to install stations in winter 2012, Brecher said.

Here's a list of the proposed station locations:
Silver Spring: Lyttonsville, the Summit Hills apartment complex, the future Silver Spring Library and the Silver Spring Metrorail station.
Wheaton: Westfield Wheaton shopping center, Ana Mendez University and the Wheaton Metrorail station among others.
Bethesda and Chevy Chase: 13 sites including Suburban Hospital, Chevy Chase Lake and the Bethesda and Medical Center Metrorail stations.
Takoma Park: Parks, Montgomery College, the Takoma Park Community Center, Old Town and Takoma Junction.
Forest Glen: Holy Cross Hospital and the Forest Glen Metrorail station among others.

Developer-sponsored Capital Bikeshare station rejected in Takoma

Thanks to the Wash Cycle for pointing out this passage from The Atlantic Cities' piece on developers sponsoring Bikeshare stations:

The builders of a planned apartment complex in D.C.’s Takoma neighborhood also say their offer to sponsor a station was rejected by officials who felt the location was too far off the beaten path.

Since there are only so many apartment complexes in the planning stages in Takoma, I assume this passage refers to the developers of either Ecco Park or the proposed development on Spring Place NW.

I understand why Bikeshare would be hesitant to slap a station in Takoma without building up other nearby sites as well, as Bikeshare needs several stations built relatively close to each other in order to be useable. But I'm sorry to hear that the developers' proposal was dismissed seemingly without considering that Bikeshare will soon be expanding to Montgomery County's Red Line stations. It will be in everyone's best interest for Bikeshare to set up in Takoma, Brightwood, and the rest of Ward 4 in order to provide connections between Montgomery County and the rest of the District. Taking the developers up on their offer seems like it would be good planning for the future.


Update: ANC4B02 Commissioner Sara Green just confirmed that the article is referring to the Spring Place development. She went on to say, "You get to Spring Place by driving down Blair Road (toward the Takoma Metro Station) and making a left on Chestnut just after the light at Piney Branch. Spring Place is the first and only right." If you can follow that, you'll understand that the development is indeed slightly inconvenient to Takoma's main commercial area. I assume the location of that specific development is what turned Bikeshare off, but I've asked them to clarify.

Update 2: Bruce Levin, one of the developers of the Spring Place building, confirms that DDOT is concerned about Spring Place's lack of visibility, at least at this time: "The location is less than ideal as compared to more visible locations at or around the (Metro) station. This could certainly change at a later date. The next and most important step will be to work with DDOT to complete the design of the trail between Spring Place and Cedar, secure funding and complete this section."

New Capital Bikeshare crowdsourcing map allows you to vote for your preferred future station locations

Capital Bikeshare has issued a new crowdsourcing map, which you can access here. I'm happy to say that when I looked at it for the first time, all of the locations that I would have chosen (14th and Colorado, Georgia and Missouri, Georgia and Piney Branch, the Takoma Metro, the Takoma Rec Center, etc) had already been added by other users, which tells me that demand for Bikeshare in Ward 4 is growing. Go to the map and vote for your favorite locations; the more voices Bikeshare hears, the more likely we are to get the stations we need!

20 new Bikeshare stations coming this spring; send in your location recommendations!

Via WashCycle, I found Smartplanet.com's
interview with Capital Bikeshare project manager Chris Holben. In it Holben reveals that 20 more CaBi stations will be added this spring:

There are 100 stations now. What’s the plan for expansion?

We’re looking to add about 20 more this spring and then it’s really more an issue of political will and how the budget looks. I know we’re interested in expanding. I’ve worked for D.C. government for close to 10 years and usually things work very slow here, which is typical for big projects like roads and bridges, so being able to install this many of anything in a month is remarkable. The system is so elegant that you can put down one [station] in an hour, and you flip the switch and it’s online. You bring by a truck an hour later and deliver the bikes.


I asked Holben if DDOT is taking suggestions from citizens for locations for those 20 new stations, and he said indeed they are!

My ideas for expansion into Ward 4:

• 14th & Colorado
  
• Georgia & Missouri
  
• Georgia & Piney Branch
  
• Takoma Metro station
  

What's your CaBi station location wish list? Post it here, or send it directly to chris dot holben at dc got gov