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5 Things We Learned About Bike Share After A Trip To D.C.
By
Lauren Evans
Published May 3, 2013
Modified May 3, 2013
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By
Lauren Evans
Published May 3, 2013
Modified May 3, 2013
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Citi Bike is coming, and there’s nothing you, me, or anyone else can do to stop it. Tourists may get maimed by cars, old ladies and children may get maimed by Citi Bikes, and Citi Bikes may get maimed by fat people trying to ride them. All of these things could happen, and as a cyclist in New York, I've been as skeptical about its arrival as anyone. But a recent trip to D.C.—held up by Citi Bike enthusiasts as one where "bike share works"—brought to my attention several things I hadn't considered.
Let me first acknowledge that there are several crucial differences between D.C. and New York. The nation's capital is much, much smaller than New York, both geographically and in terms population. Of perhaps even greater importance is the fact that in D.C., cyclists are allowed to bike on the sidewalk [Correction: I've since been notified that cycling on the sidewalk is not permitted downtown, although I'll also note that I did it anyway suffered no repercussions], an activity that in New York will earn you a summons so fast your head will spin. (Unless you're Robin Williams.)
Still, there are several takeaways about bike share that are relevant to New York. Let us begin:
Finding the damn bike share station: Like ATMs and yellow cabs, bike share stations are positively everywhere! Until you want one. Then they are nowhere. Luckily, there’s an app for that, and it is fucking great. Not only does it tell you how many feet you are from the nearest Capital Bikeshare station, it also, critically, tells you in real time how many bikes are left at any given time.
The upshot: Informative and user-friendly, the app earns an A+.
There are no more bikes: This is a problem, especially in heavily-trafficked locales like the National Mall—or Midtown. If you’re with friends, you better decide how much you like them, because securing more than one bike at a time can be a real pain in the neck. Perhaps the most telling indicator of the cutthroat bike share dance was when we saw three men literally sprint across Independence Avenue to secure the handful of remaining bikes. I thought they had to be kidding, skittering in and out of traffic like disoriented squirrels, but kidding they were not. What they lost in pride for running, they made up for in scoring the coveted rides, while my friends and I were forced to trudge to the next station 5 blocks away (and another after that). Beware of membership-toting locals, who are able to snatch bikes straight from the racks without having to wait for the cumbersome pay station.
The upshot: Citi Bike has assured patrons that it will be redistributing bikes from full racks to empty ones regularly. I hope it works better here than it does in D.C.—fisticuffs will ensue.
The stations are full: Equally problematic as empty stations are, of course, full stations. One of bike share’s other great downfalls is that when it comes to locking up, you have no choice but to find a rack—they don’t come with locks, so just securing the thing to a tree for a few minutes is not an option.
The upshot: Again, the city's commitment to reshuffling the racks is key. Different stations will be full at different times of the day—Downtown Brooklyn, for instance, might be active during business hours, and Williamsburg will turn into a maniacal Citi Bike hellscape come nightfall. I do not envy the person whose job it is to coordinate the careful rearranging of the bikes.
The bikes themselves: These bastards are sturdy, which is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you can carry all sorts of stuff on them, looping bags of groceries on the handlebars and feeling safe in the assurance that it’s not going to get tangled in the spokes and explode a dozen ears of corn all over hell. On the other hand, they are slow and not terribly agile.
The upshot: If you are the type of cyclist accustomed to weaving in and out of traffic and careening through red lights, you should rethink your approach—Citi Bikes are the Volvo station wagons of bicycles.
Let’s talk about traffic: I lived in D.C. for three years before I moved to New York, and I can tell you from experience that D.C was not a hospitable biking city at the time. There has been a noticeable change in driver’s attitudes toward cyclists since the arrival of bike share. I saw all manner of tourists (including myself) meandering down the streets like inebriated children, and all were consistently given a wide, if begrudging berth, by cars. It was startling.
The upshot: New Yorkers are going to have to get used to the idea that Citi Bike will put more cyclists on the road. Dominic Boone, a manager at Bike and Roll in D.C., told me that bike share has softened the city's once militant stance toward bikes. "Everybody's used to them now, because there are so many out there," he said. "It hasn’t been a problem at all."
New York is not D.C., and thank god for that. But if you’d told me that bike share was going to change the entire landscape of transportation in D.C., I would have slapped you in the face. But it has. The bike share program there is a success—that much is obvious from the sheer number of them on the street.
Capital Bike Share has some issues, but it's also awesome—with bike share, you'll never have to worry about collecting your bike from across town after a long night out. You'll never have to worry about your own bike getting stolen, or remembering where you left it, or wondering whether, if you ride to work, it's going to rain on your way home. To me, at least, that type of convenience is worth the membership fee any day.
Tagged
bike share
bikes
citibike
cycling
washington D.C.
original
Lauren Evans
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