D.C. And Arlington Announce Largest Bike-Sharing Progam In U.S.

By Jonathan Wilson

It's Bike to Work day and though hundreds of commuters left their cars at home and opted to pedal to their jobs, officials in D.C. and Arlington are hoping a new regional bike sharing program will lure even more people onto bikes in coming years.

The bike-sharing program covering D.C. and stretching into Arlington County will be the largest bike-share system in the country.

It's modeled after Montreal's bike-share program and will kick off in the fall, with more than 1,000 bikes available at 100 stations spread across all of D.C.'s wards. Another 14 stations will be scattered in Arlington's Pentagon-Crystal City area.

Arlington County Board Chair Jay Fisette says the new system will replace D.C.'s current 100-bicycle Smartbike program.

"It's a different system, but a much expanded system, that will cut across jurisdictional lines--and actually be one that the entire region can build on in the future," he says.

Fisette made the announcement at a Bike to Work celebration at Arlington's Gateway Park.

Tina Shat was one of the few people there who was not a bike commuter. Though she says the new program should lure some new people into bike lanes, she might not be one of them.

What's holding her back?

"I'm not a morning person," she says, "I like to sleep in."

Annual memberships of the bike share program will be available for $80 a year. A one-day membership will cost you $5. Riders will have to provide their own helmets.