Photo by Mr. T in DC
Capital Bikeshare is one of the biggest and most widely used bike-sharing networks in the country, according to a new federal report that Greater Greater Washington pointed to this morning.
The report by the Federal Highway Administration found that in terms of annual members, Capital Bikeshare’s 19,200 blow away the competition in eight other cities. (In second place? Boston with 3,600.) In terms of casual members, we’re second only to Miami Beach’s Deco Bike—it counts 338,828 to our 105,644—and we’ve got the second-largest number of bikes and stations. (Minneapolis leads the charge on that one.)
A few caveats are in order, though. The report used February’s number as a metric, but since then Capital Bikeshare has grown to 175 stations, and Arlington has started seeing an aggressive expansion. Additionally, we’re a much bigger metropolitan area than, say, Boulder, San Antonio or Spartanburg. Finally, once New York’s bike-sharing system comes online at some point next year, it will be much larger than Capital Bikeshare. (CitiBike, as it will be called, is expected to have 7,000 bikes at 420 stations.)
It’s not the size of the network that counts, though, but rather how you use it. Earlier this year a report found that users of Capital Bikeshare could save some $800 a year on transportation costs.
Martin Austermuhle