Results tagged “bikesharing”

After a bit of a wait, District residents can finally sign up for SmartBike DC memberships online. The city's pilot bicycle sharing program is already being used by a small number of beta testers, and $40 annual subscriptions are now for sale, according to DDOT's Manager for Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Transportation Demand Management Programs, Jim Sebastian.

What's this? A rack full of SmartBike DC's shared bicycles all loaded up in front of the Reeves Center at 14th and U NW? Yes, but don't get excited: this was only for a photo op staged by the District Department of Transportation that we just happened to stumble upon earlier this afternoon (yo DDOT, how's about inviting us next time so we don't have to party crash?). These SmartBikes are going to be carted away and packed up again once they're done.

We just ran into District Department of Transportation's Manager for Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Transportation Demand Management Programs, Jim Sebastian, at the corner of R Street and Rhode Island Ave. NW, on his way to a meeting on one of the new SmartBikes we've been eagerly anticipating. Doesn't Jim look sporty? While he was test driving one of the bikes, which have smaller front wheels than standard bikes, Sebastian told us that the nation's first bicycle sharing program, SmartBike DC, should be fully operational in early June.

Both the Bike Sharing Blog and some of our Flickr contributors have spotted several of the SmartBikeDC racks being erected around town in the last week. The city's first bike sharing company, which we first told you about last year, is expected to be in full gear in May, with a soft launch rumored by the end of this month. The list of planned bike rental locations can be found here. The rack pictured is in front of the Reeves Center at 14th and U Streets NW.